Cinnamon Rolls

This recipe is an in-law family recipe. For my first Christmas with the in-laws, my sister in-law gave me a recipe book of all her favorite/family recipes!

Frosting, icing or butter all go well with these. The dough has a mild taste (but you can add more sugar to sweeten it up for those of you who have more of a sweet tooth.) If baked the perfect amount of time, these cinnamon rolls turn out moist and delicious! The dough is very workable and is easy to roll up into a spiral. Cinnamon rolls have always been a favorite (and probably will be for the rest of my life!) There is nothing like the aroma of sweetness, cinnamon-y, yeast-y smell that fills the house when they bake. (Except maybe apple pie!)

Cinnamon Rolls
from the in-laws

Ingredients

The Dough
1/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/2 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 large egg, beaten
1/4 cup cooking oil
1/2 tsp salt
approx. 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour

The Filling
1/4 cup margarine or butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon

The Icing
3/4 cup icing/powdered sugar
1/8 cup margarine or butter
1 1/2 tablespoons milk or water
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
For the dough: In a medium sized bowl, add sugar and water, mix. Sprinkle yeast on top and let stand for 10 minutes. Mix in egg, oil and salt. (note: for the oil, you can use melted butter but if it is salted butter omit the salt.) Work in enough flour until dough pulls away from bowl. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead 8-10 times until smooth and elastic. Divide dough into 2 equal parts. Place in separate greased bowls and let rise until doubled (about 1 hour) in a warm place.

Punch dough down and let rest for a few seconds. Then turn out onto a floured surface and either roll or pat each dough into a 9 x 12 inch rectangle, 1/4 inch thick.

For the filling: Spread each rectangle with 1/2 the amount of butter and sugar with 1/2 the amount cinnamon. Roll each rectangle up. Slice into 1 inch pieces with dental floss (the floss technique works great!)

Place each roll into a greased 9 x 13 pan, cover and let rise till doubled (about 45 minutes) in a warm place.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees f, bake for 25-30 minutes.

For the icing: In a small bowl add all ingredients and either with a fork or stand mixer, mix until smooth and little to no clumps. You can either put the icing on every roll at once or keep separate and add whenever a roll is eaten. The benefit of keeping it separate is the cinnamon rolls can be kept at room temperature in an air tight container. But if it's all covered with icing then you'll wanted to keep it in the fridge because of the milk in the icing.