Cinnamon Rolls 1 Tbsp Quick acting yeast (or one package) ¼ cup water 1 cup milk 2 Tbsp sugar 2 Tbsp shortening 1 tsp salt 3 ½ cup bread flour 1 egg ½ cup raisins ½ cup whole or coarsely chopped pecans Set your oven to warm if you have that setting. After 3 minutes set your oven to proof if you have that setting. Otherwise, just heat you oven until it feels like an 85 degree day and shut it off. Run tap water until it is nice and warm on your hand to get the ¼ cup of water. Add 1 tsp of the sugar and all the yeast to the water and place it in the oven to proof for about 10 minutes. I use a whisk to help the yeast dissolve. The sugar helps the yeast get started. Add the shortening and the remaining sugar to the milk and microwave it short of boiling, but enough to fully dissolve the shortening. Most recipes call for scalding the milk, but I find that is not necessary and this makes for fewer dishes and quicker baking. Let the milk cool a bit before the next step. When the milk is cool enough that it won’t cook the egg, add the egg to the milk and whisk it all together. Add all the flour to your mixer. Add the salt to the flour. Mix the flour and salt briefly to distribute the salt using your dough hook. When the yeast has proofed, add it to the mixture and then add the milk mixture to the dough. Keep mixing it with the dough hook until it makes a nice dough. You may have to add more water as you mix it. A lot depends on the moisture in the air and in the flour. You don’t want the dough to be sticky, but you want it fully pliable. Continue mixing for about 10 minutes to form the gluten in the dough. Dump the dough onto a floured breadboard and knead it by hand to make a nice round lump. If you don’t have a mixer, you can do this step by hand on a breadboard, but it is hard work and you will quickly grow tired before the 10 minutes are up. Spray a glass or ceramic bowl with cooking spray, put the dough in the bowl and cover it with a damp towel. Place the bowl in the oven or other warm place and wait about 30-45 minutes. The dough should have doubled in volume. While you are waiting for the dough to rise, mix ¾ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup melted butter and 2 tsp cinnamon in a small sauce pan. Add about 1/8 cup water to the pan and cook it until the sugar is fully dissolved and the mixture is nicely lightly caramelized.
When the dough has doubled in volume, dump it back on the breadboard and use a rolling pin to roll it to about 1/8 to 3/16 inch thick. Spread the sugar mixture over the dough. Sprinkle raisins over the surface of the dough. If you like pecans, sprinkle them as well. I found that I had to cut the dough into two equal sized pieces for the next step. Starting at one end, roll the dough into a cylinder about 1 ½ to 2 inches in diameter. Slice it into 1 inch slices and place the slices in a buttered baking dish. Repeat for the other piece of dough. Don’t crowd the slices. They should just touch. I found I needed two baking dishes. This recipe makes 16-20 rolls. At this point you can stop the action by covering the baking dishes with plastic wrap and refrigerating it until the next morning or you can set it back in the oven for 30-45 minutes to rise again. If you refrigerate it overnight, take it out in the morning; place it into that 85 degree oven again for 30 minutes to complete any remaining rising. Cook the cinnamon rolls about 30 minutes at 350. When done they should be slightly brown on the top. Before you take them out of the oven, have a surface covered with wax or parchment paper prepared where you can dump the rolls as soon as you take them out of the oven. To dump them, just turn them upside down on the paper and shake slightly. Don’t let the baking dish set or you will never get the rolls out of it. At this point I think the rolls are perfect, but some like an additional glaze on them. You can make a nice glaze using:
1/2 stick butter, melted 4 tbsp. milk 4 c. powdered sugar 1/2 tsp. vanilla Spread over the rolls when they have cooled.