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As we all know, good things come to those who wait. Homemade cinnamon rolls are one of those good things. They do not just magically appear on the table. They take a while to to make…..but they are SOOO worth it!
This recipe came from our special auntie, who LOVED to feed people GOOD food. She had LOTS of good recipes, go here for her granola recipe…Oh, my! It too, is wonderful!
Of course, you can add nuts or not. I am the only one in our family that really appreciates nut, so for us, I usually only put nuts on one half of the pan.
Major Tips–Cutting Cinnamon Rolls with a Knife
Now, I have a thing to say about cutting cinnamon rolls.
I am all about doing things the easy way, and cutting them with a knife is the easy way. I know there is a fancy way of cutting your rolls with a piece of thread, and that is fine, but is it the most efficient way? To each their own, but I don’t think so. Of course, if you like using thread, do it! 🙂
Using a thread looks painfully time consuming to me. To slide that thread under the roll, pick up the ends and slice it just so, then do it again, and again, and again 15 times! Then again, maybe I’m in too big of a hurry!?! Maybe I need to slow down and enjoy life!?
How do you cut your cinnamon rolls? With a thread? Bread knife? Chain saw? Let us know in the comments!
Here is a little cinnamon roll cutting tutorial, showing my way of just quickly slicing through the roll, with no squishing or distorting, with a serrated bread knife….
Cutting cinnamon rolls with a serrated bread knife is quick and efficient! Using swift, quick motions, and very gentle pressure, even one pass with a floured, serrated bread knife cuts them perfectly!
Flipping Hot Pans — Practice First!
There is another necessary tip about cinnamon rolls. And actually, it’s more important than the first one: Flipping the pan, so the lovely gooiness ends up on top of the rolls.
It needs to be done immediately when they are taken out of the oven, so everything is still VERY hot. If you wait too long, and the rolls cool too much, the gooeyness stays in the pan, not on top of the rolls….and that defeats the purpose!
If you’ve never flipped a hot pan of cinnamon rolls before, you may want to practice a few times beforehand with an empty pan/baking sheet. That wonderful, gooey syrup is HOT, and it sticks like glue if you get any on you!
There’s a knack to it! It must be done quickly, and the pans MUST end up flat, to avoid spilling the hot goo onto you!
As noted in the recipe, instead of a 9 x 13 pan, you can, and I do, use a 11 x 15 inch, (5 quart) baking pan. This is the pan I use all the time. (paid link) Neat magic trick: same amount of dough, but the rolls are bigger! 🙂 The topping ingredients will need to be upped by 1/2, if you want really gooey cinnamon rolls, but the normal amount works too!
Cinnamon Rolls — Homemade, Nutty, Gooey Bliss!
Equipment
- 1 9×13 inch baking dish OR (11×15 inch pan) If you use the 11×15 dish, you may want to increase the Gooey Topping ingredients by 1/2, as the rolls are larger.
- 1 saucepan
- 2 medium mixing bowls
Ingredients
Dough Ingredients
- 1 egg **** plus enough warm water to make 1 1/3 cup. Put egg into measuring cup, then add water to make 1 ⅓ cups.
- ¼ cup oil
- 4 cups all purpose flour, or 1/2 whole wheat, and 1/2 white.
- 1¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons yeast
Gooey Topping Ingredients
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed.
- 1/2 cup butter
- ¼ cup white corn syrup–or any other kind of syrup you have on hand.
- ¾ cup chopped nuts — OPTIONAL, but sends them over the top!
Cinnamon Roll Ingredients
- ¼ cup softened butter, for spreading on dough with cinnamon and sugar.
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 3 TBS cinnamon–or to taste.
Instructions
Make Dough
- You can either put your ingredients into a bread machine in the order given and set it on the “Dough” setting. OR you can make the dough the “old fashioned way. See below for the abbreviated instructions.
Handmade Dough
- In medium bowl, stir yeast into the warm water/egg and set aside.1 egg **** plus enough warm water to make 1 1/3 cup., 2 teaspoons yeast
- In another bowl, combine all dry ingredients.4 cups all purpose flour, or 1/2 whole wheat, and 1/2 white., 1¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ cup sugar
- When yeast is bubbly, add oil to yeast mixture and whisk to incorporate.¼ cup oil
- Add dry ingredients to yeast mixture slowly, and in increments, until you have a nice soft dough. You may need a sprinkling more of flour, but use as little as possible. If you think your dough is too stiff, add a bit more water.
- Turn out on lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Around 8-10 minutes.
- Put dough into lightly oiled bowl, and cover and put in a warm place to rise for about one hour, or until double. My house is cold, so it takes a bit longer than that sometimes.
Making Gooey Topping (Bottom–it goes on the bottom of the pan!)
- In small saucepan, over medium heat, melt butter and brown sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring pretty much constantly.1/2 cup butter, 1 cup brown sugar, packed.
- Remove from heat, add the corn syrup and mix well.¼ cup white corn syrup–or any other kind of syrup you have on hand.
- Pour evenly into a greased 9 x 13 inch baking pan. If you like, you can use an 11 x 15 inch baking dish, and the rolls will be bigger, but you may want to increase your Gooey Topping ingredients by 1/2.
- OPTIONAL: sprinkle with chopped nuts. Set aside.
Making the Cinnamon Rolls
- When dough is ready, whether from your machine, or handmade, turn out onto lightly floured surface, and roll out into a large rectangle, approximately 12 inches x 18 inches.
- Spread with softened butter, clear out to the edges, minus the top (long) edge- keep it about ¼ inch from top.
- Mix your cinnamon and sugar together, and sprinkle evenly over the butter.
- Staring at the bottom, long side, start rolling the dough evenly towards the top. When you have reached the top, pinch all along the top rim of the dough, to attach it to the roll.
- Slice the long roll into 1 inch pieces. Place evenly into baking pan.
- Cover, and let rise in a warm place for 30 or so minutes.
- When the rolls fill the pan, place in preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until golden brown.
- NOTE: If you’ve never flipped a hot pan before, you may want to practice a few times beforehand with an empty pan/baking sheet. There’s a knack to it! It must be done quickly, and the pans MUST end up flat, to avoid spilling the hot goo onto you!When done, immediately place a sheet of foil over the pan of rolls, then place a large baking sheet over it. Then…**** CAREFULLY and FIRMLY, with hot pads, grasp ends of baking sheet AND hot cinnamon roll pan, and flip over, so rolls are bottom side up. Carefully remove baking dish from rolls, and let cool on a rack. Syrup is HOT!****
I hope you try them….and I hope you enjoy them as much as we do! And if you’re on a diet, it’s ok….just one won’t hurt! 🙂
Thanks for stopping by,
Good Thoughts
“Anyone who gives you a cinnamon roll fresh out of the oven, is a friend for life.” – Lemony Snickett
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