Well guys? The day is finally here. I have finally returned to Mad Batter Baking… took about 5 years though. It’s a strange thing. I started this when I was 13 and now… well, I graduate from college in about two years.

But enough. You’re not here for my life story. You’re here for my cinnamon rolls. And I don’t blame you – I really love cinnamon rolls. Or maybe I just like making cinnamon rolls… either way is fine.

The truth is, I really, really, REALLY love making rolls. But if I’m going to share my experimentation recipes, don’t I need to share the most basic recipe first? Sure. You’re right. So we’ll start here.

So I found this recipe in a church cookbook. It was actually technically a recipe for pulla (which is a Finnish Cardamom Bread, in case you’re wondering, and yes, it is absolutely delicious), but I decided (or my mom decided) it would be good for rolls to, so I took out the cardamom and now we have this lovely, wonderful base dough. It’s a great base to work with and I’m entirely thankful for that because now I can experiment with all sorts of other flavors within the rolls. You know? It makes everything so wonderful.

So let’s get started, shall we?

Cinnamon Rolls: The Recipe

Yield: 2 pans/24 rolls

Time: About 3 hrs

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups very warm milk
• 2 packets or 4 1/2 tsp yeast
• Pinch of salt
• About 6 1/2 cups flour
• 2 sticks butter
• Brown sugar
• Cinnamon
• Powdered sugar
• Vanilla
• Milk

1. To start, add the eggs and 1 cup of sugar to mixing bowl and mix until light and fluffy.
2. Add 2 cups of warm milk – typically, I microwave the milk for 2 minutes before adding it. If your eggs are cold, you might need to microwave it more to keep the eggs from bringing the temperature down.
3. Add the yeast, salt, and 4 cups of flour and mix until combined.
4. Add one stick of softened butter and mix.
5. Change to a dough hook, or pour onto floured surface and knead in the last two-ish cups of flour. Don’t add too much – your dough should still be sticky when you’re done. Knead for 5-10 minutes.
6. Place the dough into a well-buttered bowl, cover with a towel, and let rise for about an hour, or until double in size.
7. Take the dough and separate into two lumps.
8. Spray the counter surface with cooking oil and roll out one half of the dough until square-ish in shape.
9. Spread butter onto the rolled-out dough, then cover with brown sugar and cinnamon.
10. Roll the dough into a cylinder… if that’s a good way to describe it.
11. Cut the roll into about twelve pieces and place in a pre-prepared (sprayed with cooking oil) 9×13 pan. I use a knife and disposable pans, but unflavored floss and other pans work just as well, if not better.
12. Repeat 8-11 with the other half of the dough. If you’d like, you can add walnuts, pecans, raisins, or whatever you’d like in with the brown sugar and cinnamon.
13. Let the rolls rise for about 30 min.
14. Preheat the oven to 325 F.
15. Place the rolls in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until lightly browned on top. Don’t overbake.
16. Take out of the oven and let cool.
17. Make a frosting of your choice. I like a thicker buttercream with 1 stick butter, powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla, but cream cheese or coffee frosting also go well with these rolls.
18. Enjoy 🙂