Cinnamon Rolls

I had been craving cinnamon rolls for quite some time. It was a quest of mine to find a recipe that both of my boys could enjoy. The thought of spending hours making delicious cinnamon rolls when they weren't around or awake did not appeal to me in the least. A couple weeks ago I finally found a recipe that would work. On Tuesday, I tried the recipe out. I was NOT disappointed in the least! Not only were these the easiest cinnamon rolls I have EVER made, (no need for them to rise or anything), they were amazing. My parents made an unexpected visit Tuesday night. I let them each try a piece. Both of them said they were absolutely delicious. The boys devoured them. My husband said they were too good to save for the boys. (We try to not eat their allergy friendly treats so there are more for them to enjoy.) And the most amazing thing was that I thought they tasted better the second day, cold, taken out of the refrigerator. What cinnamon roll tastes just as good if not better the second day? I can not rave enough about this recipe. The boys both LOVED them too.

I've posted the recipe the way I read it but did mention I substituted water for milk and egg replacer for egg. The notes on the bottom are not mine, but came with the recipe. I agree that the rolls were REALLY sweet and I only used 2/3 cup as recommended. The dough is REALLY soft, but you're not making a mistake. Enjoy! Cinnamon Rolls

Serves 8 or 9

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons shortening or butter (I used our dairy free margarine.)
1/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup of milk, room temperature (I used water.)
1 packet yeast
1 egg (I used egg replacer)
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup potato starch
1 cup corn starch
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 teaspoons xantham gum
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

TO SPRINKLE ON BOARD COVERED WITH PLASTIC WRAP
1 - 2 tablespoons sugar

FILLING (*see Ellen's note at end of post)
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
1/3 cup chopped nuts - optional

GLAZE¾ cup powdered or confectionery sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
milk to thicken (I used water)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In medium bowl, combine shortening (or margarine) and sugar. Mix well. Measure warm milk (or water) and add yeast to milk (or water). Whisk well to fully dissolve (**see Ellen’s note). Add milk/yeast to sugar mixture. Add remaining ingredients. Mix very well, being sure to remove all lumps. Dough will be quite soft (***see Ellen’s note).Take a piece of plastic wrap and lay it out so it covers a 13 1/2" x 13 1/2" square. Sprinkle sugar on the wrap. Lay ball of dough on top of that. Then pull out another sheet of wrap and gently lay over the dough. Pat the dough down into a roughly squarish pancake. Lift the top wrap up and then reposition it. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough in between the two layers of wrap. Occasionally you'll have to lift and reposition the wrap because it gets "stuck" under the edges. You might have to occasionally flip the whole thing over. Make sure that when you're done you've got ABOUT a 13 1/2" x 13 1/2" square of dough.Remove top piece of wrap. Combine filling ingredients. Spread evenly across dough's surface. (Original recipe poster suggested leaving about a 1 1/2" sugar free edge because when you roll the dough all the sugar shifts and fills this in; otherwise all the sugar spills out).Use the bottom piece of wrap to lift the edge of the dough and start to roll it up forming a long cylinder. Start with the sugary edge, which will be the center of your roll and roll toward the sugarless edge. Cut off or trim up the irregular ends of your "log". Then cut into 8 or 9 slices of similar size, about 1 1/2" wide. Place rolls into a greased round glass pie pan.Bake approximately 20 minutes, until tops are lightly browned.Combine powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk to make glaze. The amount of milk you use will depend on how thick you want the glaze to be. Stir until all lumps are dissolved. Drizzle over warm rolls if desired.

Notes:*I thought the rolls were a bit too sweet, so the next time I make them I will cut the amount of filling ingredients to about 2/3 of what the recipe calls for.**It seems odd that the recipe doesn't call for proofing the yeast. I decided to cover the milk and yeast mixture with plastic wrap and allow it to at least begin proofing.***The mixture is very, very soft - I was convinced that I'd made a mistake, but it ended up being fine.