Cinnamon Rolls (Paula Deen)

Christineyy!'s Note:

I watched Paula make these numerous times on her show and I just now got around to making them myself. I have to say these are by far the best cinnamon rolls I have ever made. The dough is so soft and easy to work with (and can you believe she didn't load it with butter?) and the baked rolls are fluffy, flavorful, and perfect! I made the filling 1/2 white sugar-1/2 brown sugar along with the cinnamon since I prefer a darker, richer filling. The recipe says to bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes, but I put my rolls into the oven and THEN preheated it and they were baked perfectly after being in the oven for about 25 minutes. What can I say? These are perfect!

• Total Time: 1 hrs 30 mins
• Prep Time: 1 hrs
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 12 rolls

Dough

• ¼ ounce yeast
• ½ cup warm water
• ½ cup scalded milk
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1⁄3; cup butter or 1⁄3; cup shortening
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 3 ½-4 cups all-purpose flour

Filling

• ½ cup melted butter , plus more for pan
• ¾ cup sugar , plus more for pan
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• ¾ cup raisins or ¾ cup walnuts (optional) or ¾ cup pecans (optional)

Glaze

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 -6 tablespoons hot water

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside. In a large bowl mix milk, sugar, melted butter, salt and egg. Add 2 cups of flour and mix until smooth. Add yeast mixture. Mix in remaining flour until dough is easy to handle. Knead dough on lightly floured surface for 5 to 10 minutes. Place in well-greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size, usually 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
3. When doubled in size, punch down dough. Roll out on a floured surface into a 15 by 9-inch rectangle. Spread melted butter all over dough. Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over buttered dough. Sprinkle with walnuts, pecans, or raisins if desired. Beginning at the 15-inch side, role up dough and pinch edge together to seal. Cut into 12 to 15 slices.
4. Coat the bottom of baking pan with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Place cinnamon roll slices close together in the pan and let rise until dough is doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake for about 30 minutes or until nicely browned.
5. Meanwhile, mix butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Add hot water 1 tablespoon at a time until the glaze reaches desired consistency. Spread over slightly cooled rolls.

Reviews

[djafishfria]

The dough was very easy to work with, and had the 'light and flaky' texture I was looking for! Not hard to make either!