susan hayward photography : Recipe: Easy Cinnamon Rolls

photograph by Susan Hayward

Do you ever get a hankering for cinnamon rolls but don't feel like scalding milk, kneading dough, waiting for the dough to rise, and doing all the other stuff involved in making the darn things? Why not hop on over to Cinnabon and just buy one, right? Well, not to worry. You can satisfy your craving without slaving over the stove or forking out your hard earned money. Remember Janni Totsch's Easy Roll Recipe ? You can make cinnamon rolls with it, too!

Here's how to modify it for cinnamon rolls:

6½ to 7 cups flour (I use 6 cups of regular flour)

2½ cups hot tap water (run the tap until you see steam. That's when you know it's hot enough)

2 tablespoons quick rise yeast (or 2 packages)

⅓ cup sugar

2 teaspoons salt

1 cube (½ cup) butter or margarine

1 egg

Filling for cinnamon rolls

melted butter, to taste

cinnamon sugar, to taste (or you can use brown sugar and then sprinkle cinnamon on top)

nuts (optional), to taste

butter cream or cream cheese frosting

Measure flour into a large bowl. Put remaining ingredients into a blender and mix well. Pour over flour and stir with a wooden spoon until all of the flour is mixed in. Cover with a wet towel (or a clean plastic bag that you can tie shut) and let rise for one hour. (Note: dough will be sticky. DO NOT ADD EXTRA FLOUR.)

Using cooking spray on your hands will keep the dough from sticking to you while you work with it in this next step. Split the dough into 3 parts. Roll each out on a sprayed/greased counter to about ¼ inch thick. You'll have a big rectangle. Next, slather melted/softened butter on the dough. Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on top of that. If you like nuts, toss the nuts on top of everything. Roll the dough up into a fat log. With the seam side down, take a piece of fishing line (a new piece of course, and not one fished out of a tackle box!) and cut slices of the log to make rolls. A slick way to do this is to hold both sides of the fishing line, slip it underneath the log, then draw up the two sides and cross them over as if you were getting ready to tie a knot. Voila! You will have a slice of cinnamon roll. Alternately, you can use a knife, but the fishing line doesn't squash the dough like a knife will.

Place your rolls on a greased pan and let rise until double (about 15 minutes). I like to place mine close together so they rise high instead of wide.

Bake at 375º on the middle rack for 15-20 minutes. When they're just slightly golden on top, pull those puppies out and turn them out on a cooling rack. When they're cool, frost them with copious amounts of butter cream icing.

Here's a recipe for frosting.

½ cup softened butter (more or less to taste)

3 cups or so of powdered sugar

5-6 tablespoons milk or condensed milk

1 tsp of good quality vanilla

Whip with an electric mixer. Taste and add as you go along. If you want your frosting thicker, add more milk. If you can't taste enough vanilla, add a little more. If your frosting is too runny, add more sugar. If all you can taste is sugar, add more butter. Frosting is very forgiving. Unlike my cat.

Bon Appétit!