Cinnabon!

Have you ever had a cinnamon roll from Cinnabon? If not, you are missing out! I'm not even a huge cinnamon roll fan, but cinnabon's are INCREDIBLE!

In my ward in Seattle, there was a family who really liked cinnabon's but they could't afford to buy them whenever they wanted. The dad used to take his kids to the local Cinnabon and ask the employees if his kids could LICK the parchment paper the cinnamon rolls were baked on!!! I'm not kidding. Mom, Dad, back me up here! I'm laughing right now just thinking about it!

Anyway, today I had a hankering for a cinnamon roll. I flipped through a few recipe books and internet sites looking for an interesting cinnamon roll recipe. Then I remembered that my mom had emailed me a 478 page recipe book awhile back that has recipes from different restaurants in it. I looked, and sure enough, there was a recipe for Cinnabon cinnamon rolls.

I'll admit, several times in the process of making these cinnamon rolls, I was completely overwhelmed...especially when I had rolled out a huge rectangle of dough that took over my whole counter! I kept laughing and saying to myself "I'm in over my head...just walk away!" I persisted though, and the results did not disappoint! I'm not even kidding, these cinnamon rolls tasted EXACTLY like Cinnabon's! So, roll up your sleeves, be prepared to be a little overwhelmed, and have at it! Oh, and make sure you know who you can share these with because it makes about 20 huge rolls!

Cinnabon Rolls



Rolls:
1/2 cup warm water
2 packages yeast
2 Tablespoons sugar
3.4 ounce package vanilla pudding
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 eggs
1 tsp. salt
6+ cups flour

Filling:
1 cup soft butter
2 cups brown sugar
4 tsp. cinnamon

Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar
1 Tablespoon milk

In a bowl, combine water, yeast and sugar. Stir until dissolved. Set aside.

In large bowl, take pudding mix and prepare according to package directions. Add butter, eggs, and salt to pudding. Mix well. Add yeast mixture. Mix well.

Have 5 1/2 cups flour in mixer, fitted with dough hook. Add pudding mix to flour to combine. Knead until smooth. I had to add about 1 1/2 cups more flour until the dough held together and cleaned sides of bowl while mixing.

Place dough in a greased bowl. Spray top of dough with non-stick spray and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Rise until double.
Punch down dough and let rise again.

Roll out dough on floured surface to a 34" X 21" rectangle.
Take 1 cup softened butter and spread out over dough.
In bowl, mix 2 cups brown sugar and 4 tsp. cinnamon. Sprinkle brown sugar mixture over butter.

On the long side of the rectangle, roll up very tightly and pinch the edges closed.

With a serrated knife, cut the roll every two inches.

Place on parchment lined cookie sheet, 2 inches apart.
With your hand, lightly press down on each roll.
Cover and rise until double.
Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.
Remove when they start to turn golden. DO NOT OVERBAKE.

Mix all frosting ingredients and blend until smooth.
Frost warm rolls with cream cheese frosting.

Bon Apetite!

Laura and Tom, thanks for letting us hang out in your new house tonight! I hope you enjoyed the goodies!