Cinnamon Rolls for Father's Day (or any day!)

Today for Father's Day I made the husband cinnamon rolls for breakfast - actually, I made them last night, then they rose in the 'fridge overnight and were baked this morning. They turned out nicely and I documented the process with no less than 16 photos to share (and this is after editing out several shots), because a recipe isn't fun without pictures. I warn you ahead of time that the recipe seems quite involved, in reality, it's actually very simple, especially with practice. It also may seem long, but I added quite a few of my own comments to the basic recipe.

Okay, here's the recipe...

Ingredients:

1 (.25 oz) package active dry yeast

3/4 cup warm water (110 F)

1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 tspn salt

1/4 cup vegetable shortening

1 egg

1 tspn vanilla (the real stuff made out of bourbon - if all you have is the imitation stuff then skip this)

2-1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup butter melted (the real stuff - not margarine!)

1 tbspn ground cinnamon

1/2 cup brown sugar (or more to taste)

Directions:In a small bowl (I use a 2-cup pyrex measuring cup) dissolve yeast in warm water, stirring at first. Let stand 10 minutes until creamy.

While waiting for yeast to dissolve completely, combine in your mixer bowl (I have a kitchenaid that I use for this - I put the dough hook attachment on from the start) sugar, salt, egg, shortening, vanilla, 1 cup flour.

Add the yeast mixture to all of this and mix well.

Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well with each addition.

When the dough has "pulled together" - meaning no more loose flour, then turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic - about 8 minutes. (The truth is that I don't do this - I just let the dough hook on my mixer do the kneading work for me - I run the mixer a couple of minutes after the dough has pulled together, seems to work fine and then I don't get dough in my rings or fingernails.) Let the dough then rest, covered with a damp cloth, for 10 minutes.While the dough rests, grease your pan. If you want your cinnamon rolls to be extra gooey, spread a layer of brown sugar on the bottom of the pan, it will carmelize into a sticky, yummy, mess - easy to clean though because the sugar dissolves in water.Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to a 1/4 inch thick rectangle.

Use a pastry brush to spread the melted butter on the dough (I never use all of the butter - it makes the cinnamon rolls too rich/greasy for my taste, but it's up to you).

Then sprinkle with the cinnamon - you can spread the cinnamon with your pastry brush to keep it even.Next coat the dough with a layer of brown sugar. (I am very generous with the brown sugar - that's the part they like alot in my house.)

If you want more smaller rolls then roll the dough along the long edge until it forms a roll - you should be able to get 16 or so small rolls this way. Because these rolls really are best right when they come out of the oven and there aren't that many mouths in my house, I usually roll the dough on the shorter edge - then you get fewer rolls but they are bigger.

Either way, cut the roll into pieces and place them in the pan with the cut side up.Cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight...OR cover with your damp cloth and let rise at room temperature until doubled in volume (usually takes about 45 minutes). I think they taste better if you make them the night before - and then you don't have to wait in the morning for them to rise before putting them in the oven, but I've done it both ways. Here they are after they were in the 'fridge all night - look at that yeast work!

Preheat the oven to 335 and bake 20-28 minutes (depending on the size of your rolls and your oven). If you make the rolls bigger they will take longer to cook through and you may want to reduce the temp to 325 so you don't burn the outside and have a doughy inside.They are so good on their own that they really don't need any frosting - I tried it once but it was overkill - too sweet.

These are requested for special occasion mornings at my house - which is easy because I just mix them up the night before...Enjoy! You'll never buy another cinnamon roll again, these really are that good!