Brendas Perfect Cinnamon Rolls Recipes

THE PERFECT CINNAMON ROLLS

Steps:

• PROOF THE YEAST: Warm the milk and water to 110° to 115°. Mix in the sugar and yeast. Let sit for 10 minutes, it should be frothy after 10 minutes.
• BREAD MAKER: In a bread maker, add the proofed yeast first, then egg, then butter, then salt. Add the flour last. Set the bread maker the dough setting.
• DOUGH BY HAND: In a large bowl mix proofed yeast, melted butter, salt and egg. Add 2 cups of flour and mix until smooth. Mix in remaining flour until dough is easy to handle. Knead dough on lightly floured surface for 5 to 10 minutes. Place in well-greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size, usually 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Once the dough is ready (from either bread maker or by hand), punch down dough. Roll out on a floured surface into an approximated 15 by 9-inch rectangle (1/2 inch in thickness).
• Spread melted butter all over dough. Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over buttered dough.
• Sprinkle with toasted pecans, if using.
• Beginning at the 15-inch side, role up dough and pinch edge together to seal.
• Cut into 12 to 15 slices using a piece of string or floss and place in greased pan. (See picture posted with recipe) You can also use a really sharp knife, but in my experience the knife squishes the rolls.
• Cover rolls and let rise until nearly doubled, about 1 hour or so.
• Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 25 to 30 minutes.
• For the icing: mix all the ingredients together and serve over warm rolls.
• REFRIGERATION METHOD: Once the rolls are cut and placed into a greased pan, you can cover and place in refrigerator overnight and just pop them into a pre-heated oven in the morning. ENJOY!

PERFECT CINNAMON ROLLS

Steps:

• Heat milk to 105-110°F Place 1/4 cup of warm milk, 1 tsp of the sugar, and yeast into a small bowl. Stir well to combine. Set in a warm place for 5min. (If yeast doesn't proof, start this step over. Yeast should rise to roughly 3 times its previous depth. I like to use an instant-read thermometer for this step to make sure the milk isn't too hot or too cold.).
• Sift four cups of the flour into a large bowl. Mix in the salt. In a separate bowl, mix the yeast, remaining milk, eggs, vanilla, and slowly pour in the melted margarine. Combine wet ingredients into the flour. Let rest 5min. Turn out onto lightly floured surface. Knead dough 8-10min, adding more flour as needed. As this is a brioche dough, the dough should still be slightly sticky but shouldn't stick to your hands or work surface. (Flour is very sensitive to humidity: if it's a humid day, you'll need 5 or even 5 1/2 cups flour; on a dry day, you might get away with as little as 4.).
• Place dough into a clean, greased bowl, rolling around so that surface is slightly greased (I use extra virgin olive oil baking spray; you can also use melted butter or margarine, or any baking spray). Cover top of bowl with a clean cloth and set in a warm (65-75 F), draft-free place for 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, assemble the filling. Combine all ingredients and mix well.
• Assemble the frosting. Again, combine all ingredients and mix well. (You can choose to use a mixer for this step.).
• When dough has risen for 1 hour and doubled in size, punch down and knead gently. Roll out on a lightly floured surface to a rectangle roughly 1/2" thick, 18" x 9". Spread FILLING over the dough, leaving a bare 1" strip at the top. Roll dough up into a log, being sure to tighten it well as you go along. End with the bare strip facing down. Let sit 2min.
• Grease two baking dishes (I use 9"x9" square pyrex or 9" pyrex pie dishes).
• Cut rolls to 1/2" rounds. Arrange in baking dishes. Cover surfaces with clean dish towels, set in warm place to rise 45min.
• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Bake 15-20min until golden brown all over. Let cool in baking dishes. Frost. Delicious with cold milk or good coffee. :).