Halfway-Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
Yadda yadda yadda, Natalie loves breakfast foods...you guys know this already. So I'll skip that part and tell you about how much I love cinnamon rolls specifically, and why. Warning: charming family backstory below. If you're just interested in the recipe, scroll to the bottom.
For as long as I can remember, whenever my family and I made the trek up to Pennsylvania to see my mom's mom – we call her Nanny – she's had some kind of baked treat to share. And I mean always. One time when Evan and I realized we were unexpectedly about to drive right near her house on a road trip, we called and asked if we could stop by to say hello. About 10 minutes later we were there. She had banana muffins ready on the table when we arrived.
Most of the time, however, the baked treat waiting for us was a 13x9 pan packed full with homemade cinnamon rolls. Always generous with the butter and salt, my Nanny is an incredible cook, but what I will forever associate with her are those cinnamon rolls. Most trips, we wouldn't even wait until the next morning to eat them. My parents, sisters, and I would dig in just after arriving around 10 at night (we were always heading up there on Fridays after school and work), then go to sleep, then wake up the next morning and eat another one. I've managed to tame my impulses a bit more as I've gotten older, but as long as my Nanny keeps making them, I'll keep eating them.
Full disclosure: this recipe is not for a fully-homemade cinnamon roll. The title should have keyed you in to that, but hey, I'll lay it out plainly here as well. This involves a box mix. It is, however, pretty close to being homemade, both in the time commitment, the process, and the taste. This mix is even Nanny-approved, so that should tell you everything you need to know.
It's called Hot Roll Mix, and it's made by Pillsbury. The mix can make a wide variety of things, from rolls, to pizza, to cinnamon rolls, etc. It's a slightly-easier method than homemade that tastes almost the same. If you know me, you know this is the dream.
I'm sure this recipe can't ever be as good as my Nanny's (why yes, that should be the new name of this blog!), but it's pretty close. One day I'll master the truly homemade dough as well, but until that day, I will happily munch away at my halfway-homemade version!
HALFWAY-HOMEMADE CINNAMON ROLLS
Bake Time: 20 minutes
Total Prep Time: ~2 hours
Ingredients
1 box Pillsbury Hot Roll mix
2 T sugar
1 cup hot water
1 egg
2 T butter, softened
Filling:
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
2 t cinnamon
Icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
2½ T cream cheese, softened
2 T butter, softened
1/4 t vanilla
1½ T milk
Directions
Grease a 13x9-inch pan* and set aside. Prepare the Hot Roll dough as the box instructs, but adding 2 tablespoons sugar to make the dough sweeter. Set aside to rise 5 minutes after kneading. Mix together your cinnamon and brown and white sugars in a small bowl, and set aside.
Flour a prep board, or your countertop, and roll out the dough into a roughly rectangular shape until it's about ½ centimeter high, around 12 by 16 inches. Spread your softened butter as evenly as possible over the dough. Then, sprinkle the buttered dough with the cinnamon sugar mixture you prepared earlier, also as evenly as possible.
Starting with the smaller side of your dough rectangle, start to roll it up tightly, and as you finish rolling it up try to press the edge of the dough onto the roll to seal it. Note: the rolling is easier said than done, so take your time and really make sure it's a tight roll! Then, using a good knife without a serrated edge, slice the roll into 8 equal slices.
Place the cinnamon rolls into the greased 13x9, evenly spaced, and let them sit in a warm place to rise for about 30 minutes. An easy way to do this is to preheat your oven to 375 F and let them sit near that! After the rolls have puffed up in size, bake them in a 375 F oven for about 20-25 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.
Once they're out of the oven, prepare the icing. Rapidly stir the softened butter, cream cheese, and vanilla until smooth and whipped in consistency (or use a hand mixer). Then stir in the milk. Mix in the powdered sugar gradually until you have the consistency you want. Then, spread the icing over the warm – not hot – cinnamon rolls.
Makes 8 large rolls. Enjoy with coffee (or a mimosa) and good company. Do not think about the amount of butter you're consuming.
*Small note: since I baked these for just Evan and myself, I split them into two smaller bakers – one 7x9, and one 5x7, so I can freeze some for later. If you do this, you'll also need to adjust your bake time, and remove the smaller baker before the medium-size baker (I did ~15m and ~18m, respectively).
Happy Eating,
Natalie