Cinnamon Rolls

As a kid, orange rolls and sausage were the traditional Christmas Day breakfast. Since my husband isn't a huge fan of orange rolls, I made cinnamon rolls to go with maple sausage for Christmas breakfast.

Cinnamon Rolls
from the Better Homes and Gardens New Baking Book

4 3/4 to 5 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 t.)
1 c. milk
1/3 c. butter
1/3 c. granulated sugar
1/2 t. salt
3 eggs
1 recipe Brown Sugar Filling (below)
1/2 c. golden raisins
1/2 c. chopped pecans
1 T. half-and-half or light cream
1 recipe Vanilla Glaze (below)

1. In a large mixing bowl combine 2 1/4 cups of the flour and the yeast. In a saucepan heat and stir milk, butter, granulated sugar, and salt just until warm (120 to 130 degrees) and butter almost melts. Add milk mixture to dry mixture along with eggs. Beat with electric mixture on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl. beat on high speed 3 minutes. Stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can..

2. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough that is smooth and elastic (3 to 5 minutes total). Shape into a ball. Place in a greased bowl, turning once. Cover; let rise in a warm place until double (about 1 hour).

3. Punch dough down. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide in half. Cover; let rest for 10 minutes. Lightly grease two 9x1 1/2-inch round baking pans or two baking sheets. Roll each half of dough into a 12x8-inch rectangle. Sprinkle Brown Sugar Filling over dough rectangles. If desired, sprinkle with raisins and/or pecans. Roll up each rectangle, jelly-roll style, starting from a long side. Seal seams. Slice each roll into 12 pieces. Place, cut sides down, in prepared pans or on prepared baking sheets.

4. Cover dough loosely with clear plastic wrap, leaving room for rolls to rise. Refrigerate for 2 to 24 hours. Uncover, let stand at room temperature 30 minutes. (Or, to bake rolls right away, don't chill dough. Instead, cover loosely; let dough rise in warm place until nearly double, about 30 minutes).

5. Break any surface bubbles with a greased toothpick. Brush dough with half-and-half or light cream. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until light brown (if necessary, cover rolls loosely with foil for the last 5 to 10 minutes of baking to prevent overbrowning). Remove from oven. Brush again with half-and-half or light cream. Cool for 1 minute. Carefully invert rolls onto wire rack. Cool slightly. Invert again onto serving platter. Drizzle with Vanilla Glaze. Serve warm.


Brown Sugar Filling: In a medium bowl stir together 3/4 c. packed brown sugar, 1/4 c. all-purpose flour, and 1 T. ground cinnamon. Cut in 1/3 c. butter until crumbly.

Vanilla Glaze: In a small mixing bowk stir together 1 1/4 c. sifted powdered sugar, 1 t. light-colored corn syrup, and 1/2 t. vanilla. Stir in enough half-and-half or light cream (1 to 2 T.) to make drizzling consistency. (I used 2 t. of vanilla; you may want to start with 1/2 t. and add vanilla to taste).