This recipe is the best I have found for cinnamon rolls, something about the pudding in the dough, been making them for years:
Cinnab’n Rolls
Yield: 16-20 Lg rolls
1/2 c Warm water (105-110 degrees)
2 pk Active dry yeast
2 tb Granulated sugar
3 1/2 oz Pkg instant vanilla pudding & 2 Cups ice cold milk
1/2 c Butter, melted for in the dough
2 Eggs, beaten
1 ts Salt
8 c All-purpose flour
1 c Butter, melted for smearing
----------------------CINNAB’N TOPPING---------------------------
2 c Brown sugar, firmly packed
4 ts Cinnamon
-----------------OR* CREAM CHEESE FROSTING----------------------
8 oz Cream cheese, softened
1/2 c Butter, softened
1 ts Vanilla
3 c Powdered sugar
1 tb Milk, just enough to fluff
-----------------OR* STICKY BUNS & TOPPING----------------------
1 c Butter
1 c Brown sugar
9 tb Light corn syrup
1 c Pecans or walnuts,
- coarsely chopped
BUNS: In small bowl, combine water, yeast and sugar. Stir until
dissolved. Set aside. (Yeast should bloom with a large foamy head like a beer while you make the pudding)
In large bowl, make pudding mix according to
package directions. Add butter, eggs and salt; mix well.
Add the yeast mixture; blend. Gradually add flour and knead until smooth,
adding "sprinkles" of flour as needed to control stickiness. Once the
dough is no longer sticky and is soft and silky feeling (like as
baby's behind), the dough is ready.
Place in very large greased bowl.
Cover and let rise until double in bulk (about 1 hour). Punch down
and let rise again (about 45 minutes). On a lightly floured surface,
roll out to a 34" x 21" rectangle. Spread 1 cup of melted butter over
surface.
CINNAB'N TOPPING: In small bowl, mix brown sugar and cinnamon
together. Sprinkle all over top of surface and spread even. Roll up very tightly.
With a knife, put a notch every 2 inches. With string or thread,
place under roll by notch and criss-cross over to cut roll (makes a
nice clean cut). Place on greased baking pan, 2-inches apart. Lightly
press rolls down with your hands (just a LITTLE, it helps to hold
them together better). Cover and let rise until double again. Bake at
350-degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. Take them out when they JUST start
to turn golden. DON'T OVER-BAKE! Frost warm rolls with Cream Cheese
Frosting if you didn't make the sticky.
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING: Combine all ingredients and mix until smooth.
Spread on very warm rolls. Rolls are best when served warm.
CARAMEL STICKY BUNS & TOPPING: In a sauce pan or in your microwave
oven combine butter, brown sugar and corn syrup. Heat and stir until
blended. Pour topping into the bottom of the pan (pans) you are using
for the rolls, place unbaked cinnamon rolls on top on the caramel
sauce. Allow to rise in a warm place until double in size (about 1
hour). Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or
until lightly brown. After removing pans from oven, cover with foil;
invert onto cooling racks, cool 1 minute, and remove pan, be ready
for the hot syrup. Cool slightly before serving.
Darrell's Notes: these are BIG!!! They rise like crazy!! 4 rolls will fill a
9x9 pan, 6 to a 9x13.
UPDATE: The cream cheese frosting is delicious but I would put a very
thin layer if not just a few ribbons on the roll, the recipe was enough to totally
frost the rolls and the thick coating spawned complaints of the rolls being
too sweet.
The sticky ones were way better.
Update 2: reduced the sugar in the cream cheese frosting to 2 cups powdered sugar
and it was much more tolerable. Sticky ones are still the favorite
This is a large recipe, it is to much dough for a 5 qt kitchen aide, a 6 qt handles it fine.
Enjoy these, Darrell