Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon Rolls

Dough
4 tsp. dry yeast
1-1/2 cups warm milk

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup margarine

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

3 eggs

6 cups flour

Filling

1-1/2 cups packed brown sugar

3 Tbs. cinnamon

2 Tbs. flour

6 Tbs. margarine, softened

Ground or chopped pecans, optional

Raisins or Zante currants, optional

Icing

2 Tbs. margarine

4 Tbs. cream cheese

2 cups powdered sugar

3/4 tsp. vanilla, optional

2 Tbs. milk, or as much as needed

Directions

For the rolls, dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl. Add sugar, margarine, salt, eggs, and flour. Mix well. Knead the dough into a large ball, using your hands dusted lightly with flour. Put in a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface, until it is approx 32 inches long by 16 inches wide. It should be approximately 1/4 thick.

To make filling, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour in a bowl. Spread the softened margarine over the surface of the dough, then sprinkle the brown sugar mixture evenly over the surface.

Working carefully, from the long edge, roll the dough down to the bottom edge. Cut the dough into 18 (1-3/4 inch) slices, and place on a lightly greased jelly roll baking pan. Let rise for about 15 minutes. Put in cold oven and turn to 350° and bake for 15 minutes or until light golden brown. While the rolls are baking combine the icing ingredients. Beat well with an electric mixer until fluffy. When the rolls have cooled for a while, spread with icing or pipe the icing onto the rolls. You can substitute a cup or two of white wheat flour for the white flour.

Eliza's notes: I put in at least a cup of wheat flour and no one notices. I used 1-1/4 cups sugar for the filling (3/4 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup white sugar) and then some leftover cream cheese frosting from a different recipe. The flour in the filling keeps the filling from puddling underneath the cinnamon rolls. After seeing the results, I will try adding a bit of flour in the filling of other cinnamon roll recipes. I put the cinnamon rolls in a Christmas tree shape for a fun Christmas breakfast. Unfortunately, we ate half the tree before I could get a picture.