Cinnamon Rolls

This week I pulled myself together enough to make 8 dozen cinnamon rolls for my friend's daughter's wedding reception! It was a great night with lots of yummy food and I'm glad that I could help out with something since I've been kind of useless lately. If you've ever wondered what 6 dozen cinnamon rolls looks like here is a picture of them rolled out before I baked them:

Anyway, this has been my favorite recipe for cinnamon rolls! It is supposed to taste like Cinnabon and it comes pretty close when they're warm. Hope you enjoy!


Cinnamon Rolls
Dough:
1 cup warm milk (110 degrees)
2 1/2 tsp. yeast (or one packet)
2 eggs
1/3 cup margarine (melted and cooled slightly)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
4 1/2 cups flour

Filling:
1 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 T. Cinnamon
1/3 cup butter (softened)

Icing:
3-4 oz. cream cheese
1/4 cup butter (softened)
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. salt

Warm milk to 110 degrees. Add yeast and stir until dissolved. Add all remaining dough ingredients except flour. Slowly add flour while stirring. Let set until doubled. In separate bowl mix brown sugar and cinnamon together. Roll dough into 16x21 in. rectangle and spread with 1/3 cup softened butter. Sprinkle evenly with cinnamon mix. Roll dough into long tube and cut* into 15 rolls (about 1 1/2 in. thick). Place rolls on a cookie sheet. Cover and let rise until double. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. While rolls are baking, cream together the cream cheese and butter for the icing. Slowly beat in the powdered sugar. Add vanilla and salt and beat until creamy. Let rolls cool 2 minutes and then spread with frosting while still hot!

* A great trick I learned to cut cinnamon rolls is to use dental floss. Simply pull floss underneath the dough and wrap it up and around. As you pull it tight it cuts the dough from all directions at once (so it doesn't smoosh) and it helps to un-stick the dough from the counter so that you rolls stay in a nice circle shape!