Cinnamon Rolls (Paula Deen)

Submitted by Christineyy

"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!"

 

• Ready In: 1hr 30mins
• Ingredients: 16
• Yields: 12-15 rolls

ingredients

• Dough

• 1⁄4 ounce yeast
• 1⁄2 cup warm water
• 1⁄2 cup scalded milk
• 1⁄4 cup sugar
• 1⁄3 cup butter or 1/3 cup shortening
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 3 1⁄2 - 4 cups all-purpose flour

• Filling

• 1⁄2 cup melted butter, plus more for pan
• 3⁄4 cup sugar, plus more for pan
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 3⁄4 3/4 cup walnuts (optional) or 3/4 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

[Marietta G.]

I made these a few years back but melted an entire stick of butter in the pan (to butter it) by accident. It turned out to be a great "mistake" since we now call these the heartattack cinnamon rolls. They are easy to make and come out perfect.

 

[Sharon B.]

These are wonderful! I have never made any kind of bread before so I thought it would be a challenge. The dough was very easy to make. I used a package of active dry yeast, not instant. Be careful how warm you get the water as it needs to be about 110 degrees. If it is really hot it will kill the yeast. Also I put the dough in the oven with the light on and also tried it outside. Both worked well. For the sugar mix, I did 2 parts white to 1 part brown sugar with the cinnamon. It makes it a little richer. She give you ample butter to spread. I didn't use it all inside. I didn't coat the pan with butter; I used butter flavored cooking spray and sugar. The remaining butter I dripped it over each roll because I was afraid of them getting dry. This was a great idea. I used a cream cheese frosting on top. I baked for 27 min and they turned out prefectly. Any longer and they would probably dry out a little. One last note... I baked them the night before and immediately covered them with foil after i frosted them and just reheated them the next morning. In hind sight you could let them rise overnight in the fridge and pop them in the oven the next morning. I was too scared to try it. Good luck.

 

[golfertal_7644912]

Great recipe - will make again

 

[Jenny S.]

I ended up using 3 cups flour. Tried the recipe with 3 1/2 and the dough turned out tough. Otherwise I loved making them! First time making cinnamon rolls from scratch.

 

[Brenda J.]

I made these cinnamon rolls came out great, but for the glaze i just smeared a thin layer and saved the rest for dunking.