Linz Here!
Alright let’s start with the title of this post. This post was born out of the desire to make the BEST cinnamon rolls that my G-Pa (mentioned here) has ever tasted. I call this mission impossible because unless your his Aunt Audrey apparently it is not possible to make a decent cinnamon roll – and that goes for even the best bakery in California…he has tried many and none have been able to compare.
UNTIL NOW!
So it was the Friday before New Years, before the resolutions, diets, and promises we make to ourselves. And I thought to myself…what better way to end the year than to bake a cinnamon roll that would not only impress my G-Pa but that would be melt in your mouth, delectable, brown sugary, buttery goodness. The pictures don’t do them justice. I can SAFELY say they were THEE best cinnamon rolls I have ever had. And it was my FIRST time making them. I used a general cinnamon roll recipe (which I will show below) and then I just eye-balled the butter and brown sugar content. I figured…the more butter (and more and more and more) the BETTER. I hope anyone reading this and anyone who appreciates dessert for breakfast, will attempt to make these. Or just email me and we can meet for coffee and I will bring some and impress the HECK out of you {hehe} Now, onto the goods!
I used the recipe for “Ooey Gooey Cinnamon Buns” from Allrecipes.com (no pecans for moi) as a base recipe for the dough and general glaze recipe…and the rest is my creation :)
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
- 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
- 1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups butter
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup melted butter
DIRECTIONS:
1. In a small bowl, dissolve 1 teaspoon sugar and yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. (Mine was “creamy” on the top and still a bit watery on the bottom, didn’t make a difference)
2. Warm the 1/2 cup milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Mix in 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup butter and salt; stir until melted. Let cool until lukewarm.
3. In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture, milk mixture, eggs and 1 1/2 cup flour; stir well to combine. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together (which will probably be very quickly), turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. I wish I had a picture of my hands after moving the dough…I looked like swamp thing with all of the dough sticking to my hardly floured hands…awesome.
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| Mixer gone mad with dough. |
4. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
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| Dough, pre-rise. I just kneaded it into this shape and put it into a large bowl with oil and a damp towel. |
5. While dough is rising, melt 3/4 cup butter (I eyeballed this and kept adding butter…probably came out to about 1-1 1/4 cup) in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in 3/4-1 cup brown sugar, whisking until smooth. Pour into greased 9×13 inch baking pan. (As you can see I used two pans and I did this to make the bottom glaze very thick)
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| Butter Melting |
6. Combine remaining 3/4 cup brown sugar, and cinnamon; set aside. Also set aside about 4-5 tablespoons of very soft butter, not melted.
7. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, roll into a big rectangle (who really measures their rectangle…just eyeball it). Brush with tablespoons softened butter, (I didn’t melt the butter because I wanted it to have a thick texture and be able to really soak into the dough with the cinnamon and brown sugar) leaving 1/2 inch border uncovered; sprinkle with brown sugar cinnamon mixture.
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| Dough waiting to be rolled out |
8. Starting at long side, tightly roll up, pinching seam to seal. Brush with remaining 4-5 tablespoons butter. With serrated knife, cut into 15 pieces; place cut side down, in prepared brown sugary buttered pan. Cover and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled (mine did not double in size…I just waited an hour) in volume.
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| A nice dough roll…packed with goodness…ready to be cut! |
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| Ready to go in the oven SOAKING up the brown sugar/butter and look at the nice amount of cinnamon and brown sugar within! Also, I kept the dough pretty thin due to the additional rising it would do. |
9. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Bake in preheated oven for about 25 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool in pan for 3 minutes, then invert onto serving platter. ***BEFORE YOU INVERT….if you feel so inclined, invert each roll into its existing pan to get the bottom all gooey with more brown sugar butter. Scrape remaining filling from the pan onto the rolls.
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| Right out of the oven..look at the middle…brown sugar butter boiling up! |
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| OMG I am having withdrawals just looking at this pic |
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| Yea…I am legit. These things were flipping DELECTABLE. |
And the most important part…what did my G-Pa think of them? First let me say that he is the most honest person…whether you want to hear it or not, so I knew I could count on a no-frills answer from him. I am proud to announce that he claims they are not only EXTREMELY good but ADDICTIVE. I gave him 3 large rolls and they didn’t last more than 24 hours. Looks like I better go into business :). If you do try the recipe out let me know how it turns out and feel free to ask any questions!
Mission Complete.
Ciao,
Linz & Holl
