60 Minute Cinnamon Rolls

It was another bake-a-thon weekend! Daughter and son-in-law from Texas made a surprise visit for Don's birthday so there were celebration meals. After the Saturday evening baked steak dinner with butterscotch pie (Sara's recipe - a later blog) on Saturday evening, and the Sunday lunch of Cheesy Beef Tetrazzini (May 19, 2012 blog) followed by Molten Chocolate Cake (February 15, 2012) with ice cream, it was breakfast for supper on Sunday evening. One of my favorite meals: scrambled eggs, fruit salad, bacon, and cinnamon rolls.

These 60 Minutes Cinnamon Rolls are a favorite because they really are that quick. Other recipes I've used require more time and planning ahead. I've also found that mixing them in a bowl with a wooden spoon saves clean up time (no mixer bowl and beaters to wash) and makes a very good dough. This recipe is from the Kansas Wheat Commission and the Home Baking Association.

60-Minute Cinnamon Rolls

makes 18 (2.5 oz) cinnamon rolls

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cups milk, scalded

3 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons butter

¼ cup cold water

1 teaspoon salt

1 large egg, beaten

3 to 4 cups bread or all-purpose flour, divided

   (flour may be half whole wheat flour and half bread or all purpose)

1 envelope (¼ oz or 2 ¼ tsp) fast rising (highly active) dry yeast

Filling Ingredients:

4 tablespoons butter, softened

4 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons flour

Directions:

1.     Heat the milk until it steams (scald). Stir in sugar, butter, water and salt. Measure the temperature, allowing the mixture to cool to 120 degrees F.

2.     Mix in beaten egg, 2 cups flour and yeast, mixing for three to five minutes on medium speed or by hand. Mix in the remaining flour by hand or with dough hook. Mix with dough hook or knead by hand for five more minutes to form an elastic dough.

3.     Cover the dough with the bowl and let it rest 5 – 10 minutes and proceed to step #4 two day method. OR form dough into a flat oval and place in a greased (or sprayed) large food bag or bowl. Squeeze out air and refrigerate overnight, punching down once before shaping.

4.     Mix the butter, sugar, cinnamon and flour together. Grease or spray a 9 x 13-inch pan.
Roll out the dough to 18-inche x 10-inches. Spread with softened butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture to within 1-inch of one of the long edges. Moisten the edge with water. Roll up, ending with the moistened edge. Pinch to seal seam. Cut into 12-15 , 1 ½-inch slices and place in the pan. (I just discovered that a plastic lettuce knife makes a great knife for cutting cinnamon roll dough!)

5.     Cover pan with a piece of plastic wrap sprayed with pan release spray to avoid sticking to the rolls. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Let rolls rise for 20 minutes.

6.     Bake at 400 degrees F. for 15-18 minutes.

7.     Cool briefly on a wire rack, drizzle with icing if desired. Serve warm.

Vanilla Drizzle:

1 cup powdered sugar

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

water or milk to mix until able to drizzle

Options: Shape as tea ring OR before filling, shape in balls, roll in melted butter and cinnamon sugar. Place lightly in two loaf pans or a small bundt pan. Allow to double in height and bake at 350 degrees 25-35 minutes. (190 degrees internal temperature)