Cinnamon Rolls

One of our favorite "breakfasts" at Disney World is the HUGE cinnamon roll from the Main Street Bakery at the Magic Kingdom (drooling here). That is a must for us on every trip- can't wait to have one in May!!

There are a few good cinnamon roll recipes floating out there and I decided to start with this one titled "Clone of a Cinnabon" from Allrecipes.com. This makes a really great cinnamon roll that we all enjoyed. This is definitely NOT a last minute or spur of the moment recipe though. I used my bread machine for the mixing/ rising part and from starting the dough to enjoying the delicious rolls is 3 hours! Having cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning is a tradition in our house, so that means getting started early! Or just bake them the night before and reheat ;-)

A few notes on this recipe...I read a lot of the reviews and many people suggested that you double the icing, so I did. But as much as I love icing, in the end I only used the amount listed below. Double the icing would have been way too much for me- but that's purely a personal taste! A few reviewers had problems with the cinnamon mixture oozing out of the bottom, but mind held together fine. When I make these again, I will turn the temperature down to about 375 and cook a little longer. I felt that the tops were getting too brown while the parts of the rolls that were touching were still gooey (uncooked gooey- not yummy gooey). So, just a few modifications to make this an awesome breakfast or dessert!

Ingredients
1 cup warm water (110 degrees)
2 eggs at room temperature
1/3 cup margarine, melted
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup white sugar
2 1/2 tsp bread machine yeast

1 cup packed brown sugar
2 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened

1 (3 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt

Directions
1. Place ingredients in the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer (Mine recommends wet ingredients followed by dry ingredients). Select dough cycle and start.

2. After the dough has doubled in size, turn it onto a lightly floured surface; cover and let rest 10 minutes. In a small bowl,combine brown sugar and cinnamon.



3. Roll dough into a 16 x 21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/ cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls.

Place rolls in a lightly greased 9 x 13 inch baking pan. (Many people recommend cutting these using a piece of dental floss, but I find that to be too messy. A serrated knife works perfectly for me).

Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. (If I don't have a "warm" area to put these in, I preheat the oven to 200 and turn it off, then put the rolls in the oven to rise- works like a charm). Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees.

4. Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioner's sugar, vanilla and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

These are of course served best nice and warm. The wonderful wife that I am had these ready for my dear husband right after his 6 mile run Sunday morning! Talk about ruining a workout, huh?

But I'll take this to mean that they were good....

Enjoy!