Mom's Cinnamon Rolls

I love Mom's cinnamon rolls. Just LOVE them! I had forgotten how much until she came to visit me after I had my baby in March and made me lots of rolls for the freezer. How fun it was to pull out a pan of my mama's homemade cinnamon rolls... what a delicious kind of comfort. This dough recipe actually came from her mother (the same Grandma we feature often on the this blog!) but the way it's all put to together and baked is all Mom. She doesn't do very much butter or sugar - the emphasis is on the cinnamon. Often there were nuts and raisins rolled up inside but I'll be honest... my favorite has always been plain cinnamon rolls! (Grandma has her own way of making "sticky buns" which are delicious too.) Mom always used a powdered sugar glaze on top. I tried cream cheese frosting this last time and it was super good but a little too sweet. I'll stick with a light glaze from now on. Mom always placed the rolls close together in a 9x13 so they would all squish together and rise upward... I don't know why but that will always be my favorite way of baking them!
Mom's Cinnamon Rolls
submitted by Brittany at www.thesisterscafe.com

printable recipe here

One recipe of Sweet Roll Dough
1/2 cup softened butter, divided
granulated sugar
cinnamon

Glaze:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 Tb soft butter (not melted)
1/4 tsp vanilla (this will make the icing a creamy color)
2 T. hot water
Combine all the ingredients and beat until smooth. Drizzle onto the buns with a spoon. The icing will thicken as it cools so ice the buns immediately.

Grandma's Sweet Roll Dough
2 rounded Tb yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 cup warm milk
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup shortening
2 tsp salt
4 eggs
7-8 cups flour

Beat all ingredients except flour until smooth. (I use a Kitchen Aid with paddle attachment.) Add flour until it cleans off edge of bowl. (Switch to a dough hook for this part.) Knead for 5 minutes (or 10 minutes by hand). Let it rise until double (about 2 hours, depending on the temperature of your kitchen). Punch dough down and allow to rise again. This time it will rise much faster so keep an eye on it! Punch dough down again and divide into 2 parts.

Roll one part into a rectangle. Spread half of butter (1/4 cup or 1/2 stick) on dough. Sprinkle with white sugar then cinnamon - making sure you go all the way to the edges. Mom never measured the sugar or cinnamon - I sprinkle on enough sugar to leave a light coat on dough - maybe about 1/2 cup? Here is a picture of how much cinnamon I like to use:

Roll up rectangle lengthwise and pinch edge to seal. Use a knife to gently mark the top how thick you want each cinnamon roll, that way they end up being more consistently sized and you can plan how many you want for your pan. (I will usually do 16 for each roll) Using plain dental floss, slip the floss under the roll, cross over and pull each end to slice off each piece: Repeat entire process with second half of dough.

Place rolls flat side down into two greased 9x13 inch pans; 3 across and 4 down (12 total for each). With the extra rolls you can either fill a 9x9 or a round pie pan.

Cover rolls with plastic wrap and allow to rise briefly - about 30 minutes or less - while oven is heating to 350. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Spoon glaze over cinnamon rolls after they have cooled.