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They just don’t get any tastier than this! Other than nixing the shortening in favor of butter and sneaking in some whole wheat flour, I’ve pretty much relied fully on my mom’s cinnamon roll recipe just the way she made them (often!) while we were growing up.
Mom’s Cinnamon Rolls
- 1/2 c. very warm water
- 1 T. sugar
- 2 T. yeast
- 1/2 c. melted butter
- 2 eggs
- 2 t. salt
- 1/2 c. sugar
- 1 1/2 c. warm milk
- 5 1/2 c. flour (I usually sneak in about 2 cups whole wheat and then finish it off with unbleached)
- butter
- brown sugar
- sugar
- cinnamon
Icing
- butter
- vanilla
- milk
- powdered sugar
- Combine water, 1 T. sugar and yeast. Set aside for 5 minutes to activate.
- Mix 1/2 c. sugar, melted butter, eggs, and salt. Add yeast mixture.
- Stir in warm milk.
- Add 5 cups flour, 1-2 cups at a time.
- Knead dough on a well-floured surface, adding flour as necessary, until dough isn’t sticky.
- Let rise until double in a clean, oiled bowl.
- Punch down risen dough. Separate into two pieces.
- Roll out dough in a large rectangle. Spread with softened butter. Sprinkle liberally with brown sugar, white sugar, and cinnamon.
- Roll dough. Floss dough into about 12 (1-inch) rolls. Place in 9×13 pan. Let rise until double.
- Bake at 350° for 20-22 minutes. Spread icing while hot.
For icing, melt butter (about 2 T.). Add 1 tsp. vanilla and 2 T. milk. Sift powdered sugar into mixture and stir well. I never measure this. You can absolutely use more of any ingredient.
This post is linked to
- Cook-it Wednesday
- Foodie Friday
- Grocery Cart Challenge
- Mouthwatering Monday
- Your Life, Your Blog
- Slightly Indulgent Mondays
- Tasty Tuesday
- Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
- Ultimate Recipe Swap
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{ 38 comments… read them below or add one }
oh wow – my mouth is watering! Those look fantastic! I think we’ll be trying them soon!
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They sound delicious! I make cinnamon rolls often, using the BH&G cookbook recipe. I’m going to give yours a try & see how they compare. Thanks for sharing!
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Those look wonderful! I bookmarked this so I can make them sometime. I don’t think I’ve ever made cinnamon rolls – monkey bread from middle school life sciences doesn’t count does it
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THANK YOU for sharing your recipe!! I can’t wait to make these tomorrow. I’ve always wanted to try your Big Batch version, but I know that while I may have good intentions of gifting 2 dozen, I know I’ll just eat them myself.
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That picture sold me. Thanks for sharing! I’ve been looking for a great cinnamon roll recipe! YUM!
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could you deliver one of these to me right now? they would go great with the cup of coffee i’m drinking.
extra frosting please.
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Holy cow that picture!!! I want to dive through my computer and devour!!! YUMMY!
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I’ve just overcome my fear of making all things involving yeast and I’ve been thinking about making some cinnamon rolls – I might give this recipe a try soon. Thanks!
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Those rolls look ooey gooey delicious! I find myself replacing shortening with butter, too, in older recipes. Thanks for sharing a great family recipe.
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I love YUMMY!!! cinnamon rolls. I think I will make some this week. THANKS!!! Geri
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Ooooh! They look yummy! I came across you through Blogfrog!
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I love your recipe – I am just starting to bake bread and cinnamon rolls are on my list.
They make non-hydrogenated shortening now but it’s so expensive – $7 for a little tub. I’d rather use butter.
Thanks so much for linking to Slightly Indulgent Mondays!
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Those look delicious. I will be making a batch next week. I’m all baked out after last week.
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These look fantastic! My mouth is watering.
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Great idea to floss the dough, I bet thats easier than cutting.
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These look too yummy!
I hope you’ll stop by and enter my blogiversary giveaway. I’m giving away an apron from Happy Find.
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Yummy! This sounds delish!! Love me some cinnamon rolls – homemade that is!
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hubby grandma used to make the best tasting cinnamon rolls
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YUMMY! These look delicious and sound delicious. I’m definitely printing this recipe to try for the holidays!! Thank you.
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Okay, so I am really new to this baking thing.. so please explain to me what is flossing the dough??
By the way my mouth is watering, and in NY it’s cold and raining, so could you deliver me some??
Charna
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Amy Reply:
October 16th, 2009 at 8:22 am
@charna scarpati, Follow the red link to the flossing tutorial. In a nutshell, using dental floss to “cut” cinnamon rolls is quicker, less messy, and makes the rolls so pretty.
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Hey you been talking with my dentist? I floss okay. I do!
The best thing about coming across another recipe for cinnamon buns is that, well geez I have to try them to see if they are better than the last ones. Again.
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oh they look fabulous!
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These look scrumptious. I’ve spent a lot of time looking for the “best” cinnamon rolls. I’m looking forward to trying your recipe. It sounds great. I hope you are having a wonderful day.
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Ahhh… I can smell them now! Thanks for sharing your mom’s special recipe!
ButterYum
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Wow, those look good. Wow. I need to make those! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
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Is this supposed to make 1 dozen or 2 dozen?
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Amy Reply:
October 18th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
@Jill, It makes 2 dozen.
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Oh and do you ever make these and freeze them? If so do you just freeze the dough and assemble them later or do you assemble, cut, and then freeze?
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Amy Reply:
October 18th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
@Jill, I have made them and frozen them. That’s best for our family, or we’ll eat 2 dozen rolls in 2 days. Not good!
I’ve never tried to freeze UN-baked rolls, though I have heard it’s possible. Maybe I’ll try sometime!
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I’m drooling now! Those look and sound soooo yummy!!
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I just made these last night and they turned out great! Thanks for the recipe!
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Amy Reply:
October 21st, 2009 at 10:22 pm
@Katie, Yay! So glad you liked them.
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Those look great. How much cinnamon in the rolls, I did’nt see it in the recipe
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Amy Reply:
October 21st, 2009 at 10:22 pm
@Lisa, I have no idea how much cinnamon I use. I just shake it straight from the spice bottle, sprinkling it evenly until the dough is covered.
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I made these this morning for breakfast and the family loved them. I’ll have to make sure to put the cinnamon and sugar al the way to the edges next time because the end pieces didn’t have much in them. So yummy!
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OMG–They were so delicious!! Our family devoured them. But it’s hard to make when I’m half asleep. Have you ever tried making them the night before, storing them on the pan in the fridge, and baking them in the morning?
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Amy Reply:
December 2nd, 2009 at 3:29 pm
@Lauren, Yay! So glad you liked them. Yes, I’ve rolled them out at night and stuck ‘em in the fridge. Put a damp towel over the top. In the morning pull them out and they should take about an hour to rise. Enjoy!
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Did you use self rising flour or all purpose?
Thanks in advance for your reply! These look yummy!
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Amy Reply:
December 4th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
I use all purpose flour. Let me know what you think of them!
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Just curious if next time you make these, can you give us just an “idea” of how much powdered sugar you use to make the frosting? I’m so not good at “eyeballing” it. Thanks. I know when you’ve done something a thousand times it just seems automatic. Sorry to be a pain!
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Amy Reply:
December 16th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
@Stephanie, Not a problem! I’m actually making a batch tomorrow. I’ll try to get it measured for you.
If you don’t hear from me, shoot me a reminder email.
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Stephanie Reply:
January 4th, 2010 at 11:47 am
Hey Amy, just curious if you jotted down your icing measurmments when you made these over the holidays. Thanks! We LOVE these rolls!
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Amy Reply:
January 4th, 2010 at 9:33 pm
Ack! I did, Stephanie, but clearly I got distracted and didn’t send them to you. Rats! I remember thinking I didn’t use nearly as much sugar as I thought. 2T butter, 3T milk, vanilla, and maybe 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar? Try that and see what happens. So sorry!
Can you give me a tip on how to make these the night before so I can pop them in the oven the next morning?
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I am planning to make these for Christmas morning. I am wondering how much you can do the day before so I have less to do in the morning.
Thanks for your help. Monkey bread is a tradition for us, but looking forward to trying these ooey gooey substitutes.
Jessica
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Amy Reply:
December 23rd, 2009 at 9:29 am
On Sunday evening I whipped up a batch and let them sit out all night long (in my cool kitchen, with a tea towel over them). Never had done that before. Was sure hoping I wouldn’t regret it in the morning! You know what? They were beautiful in the morning, and ready to pop in the oven. Yay!
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oops, sorry. Just saw that someone else asked this above. I didn’t take time to go thru all the comments.
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I’ve got a batch rising right now. I had to add a LOT of extra flour – is that normal? The dough still tasted ok; can’t wait until I bake them in the morning!
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Amy Reply:
December 29th, 2009 at 11:41 am
Hmmm… not sure about that. How did they turn out for you? I like my dough to be very soft. Definitely softer than bread dough, just not sticky. How much flour did you end up using?
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K @ Prudent and Practical Reply:
January 4th, 2010 at 11:56 am
@Amy, The dough was very sticky until the (gradual) addition of a couple more cups. They tasted wonderful though! No complaints – I was just curious about the flour
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