Cake Mix Cinnamon Rolls

Tish's Note:

Easy to make Cinnamon rolls that will melt in your mouth. You can add raisins or nuts to this basic recipe.

• Total Time: 1 hrs
• Prep Time: 40 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 16 rolls

• 3 (¼ ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 2 ½ cups water
• 1 (14 ½ ounce) package white cake mix
• 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup butter , softened
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ¼ cup butter , melted
• 1⁄3; cup white sugar
• crushed pecans , if desired
• raisins , if desired

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.
2. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
3. In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture with the cake mix and 3 cups of the flour; stir to combine.
4. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition.
5. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.
6. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil.
7. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes.
8. Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.
9. Roll the dough into a 10x16" rectangle.
10. spread the softened butter over the rectangle; sprinkle on brown sugar and cinnamon (and raisins if desired).
11. Starting from one of the long sides, roll up the rectangle and cut into 1" wide rolls.
12. Preheat oven to 375F.
13. Grease a 9x13" baking pan.
14. Pour the melted butter into a small bowl and mix the white sugar (and pecans if desired) in another small bowl.
15. Dip the top of each roll in the melted butter, then in the sugar and pecan mixture, then place the topped rolls snugly into the prepared pan.
16. Cover the rolls with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes.
17. Bake at 375F for 20 minutes, or until rolls are golden.

Reviews

[CaramelPie]

Made as written, these rolls were way too big & doughy for us. The middle rolls didn't get done enough. My husband liked the taste better than the cinnamon rolls made with crescent roll dough because they weren't quite as sweet. I'll make these again and make twice the number of rolls out of the same dough. Using 2 9"x13" pans to bake them in, I think they'll all be done enough. Thanks for the recipe. I'm updating my review & changing to 4 stars. I tried this again, using 5 cups of flour, dividing the dough in half, and making 32 rolls. I baked them in 4 9" round pans for 17 minutes, and they were "just right" for my husband. I used a "Cinnamon Swirl" cake mix with the cinnamon sugar packet included. Instead of dipping in melted butter & sugar, I iced them, after baking, with cream cheese frosting. I kneaded the dough in my Kitchenaid mixer last night, refrigerated it overnight, and rolled them out this morning. Very good & easy!

[MaMa's Apprentice]

Before trying this recipe, I tried a recipe in my Betty Crocker cookbook. I had never even attempted to make cinnamon rolls before and those cinnamon rolls turned out tough and not what I expected. I was so disappointed that I didn't want to keep trying BUT I'm so glad I did because than I found this recipe and it was exactly what I was looking for. Soft and moist cinnamon rolls. Fantastic! I was very comfortable with the addition of the cake mix. I did need to add a bit more flour than called for to get the dough to come together but other than that I followed the recipe exactly. Yum! Thanks so much!

[Ellen Langworthy]

These rolls are to die for! I won't be using any other recipe to make my cinnamon rolls. They were moist and just darn good! Thanks for the recipe!