I made some cinnamon rolls from scratch today. I felt like I had earned them. I halved the recipe - cause who needs 12 huge cinnamon rolls?! Here's the full recipe which makes a dozen. Great if you are having guests - they will all be super-impressed. I got the recipe from Fleischmann's (that was the type of yeast I had on hand.) In the future, I will double the delicious cinnamon sugar filling inside the rolls - that is reflected here in the recipe. Somehow I ended up with way more frosting than I needed. So I'm halving that part of the original recipe - that is also reflected below.
Dough
4-1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 packets Fleischmann's® RapidRise Yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups water
6 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 egg
Filling
2/3 cup sugar
4 teaspoons ground Cinnamon
6 tablespoons butter or margarine, very soft
Frosting
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1 to 2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Combine 2 cups flour, sugar, dry yeast and salt in a large mixer bowl and stir until blended. If you have a Kitchenaid mixer use your paddle attachment. Place water and butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH in 15 second increments until very warm but not hot to the touch (120° to 130°F. Butter won’t melt completely). Add to flour mixture with egg.
Beat 2 minutes at medium speed of electric mixer, scraping bowl occasionally. Add 1 cup flour; beat 2 minutes at high speed, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in just enough remaining flour so that the dough will form into a ball.
Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic and dough springs back when lightly pressed with 2 fingers, about 6 to 8 minutes. I didn't really know what I was doing, so I pretended I knew how to knead bread and it turned out great. Just found this video which would have made life a little easier. It recommends using your bread hook (again, if you have a Kitchenaid mixer) to do the kneading for you. Cover with a towel; let rest for 10 minutes.
For filling, combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside. (I just mixed all of the filling ingredients together - cuts out a step.) Roll dough into a 15 x 10-inch rectangle using a rolling pin. Spread 6 tablespoons butter over dough stopping at least 1/2-inch from the edges on the long sides. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture. (Or just put all the filling in, making sure to leave that 1/2-inch edge.)
Beginning at long end of each rectangle, roll up tightly. Pinch seams to seal. Cut into 12 equal pieces. Use unflavored dental floss instead of a knife to cut rolls. (I did this! It worked quite well.) Cut a piece of floss about 12 inches long. Slide floss under the roll; bring the ends up and cross over to cut each slice. Place, cut sides down, in greased 13 x 9 inch baking pan. (If you are halving the recipe an 8 inch round works great.) Cover with towel; let rise in warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Bake in preheated 350ºF oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until rolls are golden brown. Cool on wire rack for at least 20 minutes.
Combine all frosting ingredients (start with 2 tablespoons milk and add more if needed) in a large bowl and beat until creamy. Spread over rolls.
