Cinnamon Rolls

This was from a previous post - but I posted it with another recipe - I just wanted to seperate the two for 'searching' purposes.

If you want to impress (your hubs boss – or your in-laws!) make these…

CINNAMON ROLLS
Makes 20 rolls
Dough:
¼ c warm water
1 T yeast
1 c warm milk
½ c canola (or veg) oil
½ c sugar
1 t salt
5 – 5 ½ c flour
2 eggs

Filling:
6 T softened butter
½ c granulated sugar
½ c brown sugar
2 t ground cinnamon

Optional: walnuts, raisins, dates Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)

Measure the water into a small bowl and add the yeast. Stir to dissolve and let stand 5 minutes. Heat the milk in the micro and pour it into a large mixing bowl. Add the oil, sugar and salt. Mix in 1 cup of the flour. Add the eggs and beat again. Stir in the yeast mixture. Adding 1 cup at a time, stir in 4 more cups of flour. Add enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead gently until the dough is smooth and elastic. Cover and let rest.

Lightly grease the mixing bowl and put the dough in it. Spray plastic wrap with Pam and cover the bowl. Let rise until the dough is doubled in bulk, 1 to ½ hours. Grease a 12x18” sheet pan and set aside. Punch down the dough. Rollout the dough on a floured surface into a large rectangle, about 20x14” or larger. Spread generously with the butter. Mix both sugars and cinnamon and sprinkle the mix over the dough. Starting on the long side of the dough – roll up the dough into a tightly rolled log. (So, you don’t want a short, fat log – you want a long, thinner log).

Mark the center of the roll with a knife – then mark evenly spaced rolls on the entire log. Slice with a strand of heavy duty thread or dental floss. Place the thread under the dough; crisscross it over the dough, and pull quickly to make a clean cut for each roll. *I thought this was a funny tip – but it works awesome – and doesn’t flatten the roll!

Place the rolls in prepared pan(s). Cover the filled pans with dish towels and let rise again until nearly double – about 30 minutes. This is when I usually make the frosting (below). Preheat the oven to 400°. When the rolls have risen, bake 10 – 15 minutes, until just lightly browned. Frost the rolls while they are still hot!!

Cream Cheese Frosting:
4 oz cream cheese, softened
2 T butter, softened
1 c powdered sugar
1 t milk
½ t vanilla extract
1 t lemon juice
Combine all ingredients with an electric mixer until smooth.