An Uprising!

Who doesn't love hot cinnamon rolls fresh from the oven? If you can honestly answer no to that question, there may be something wrong with you.

I haven't had a lot of experience with yeast breads, however, I thought I would take a shot at cinnamon rolls. I figure, even if I mess them up, they would still taste pretty decent.

These weren't terribly hard to make. The only thing that was worrisome for me was where in the world I was going to roll out my dough. Let me explain: My kitchen is tiny. Very very tiny. See proof below:

See? So, instead of rolling out the dough in my kitchen nook on our breakfast table, I decided to use the counter. I moved those canisters you see, and it worked out just fine!

I can honestly say that these were a success. They were easy, fun to make, and tasted really really good. I pulled the frosting recipe from another cinnamon roll finding on allrecipes, and the two recipes in combination were a hit! I normally don't like cream cheese frosting, but this wasn't overly cream cheesy (is that a word?).

See my progress in the pictures below.

Here is the dough all rolled out ready to rolled into the rolls. That's a lot of the word roll in one sentence. Doesn't the filling look yummy? I used the Makara cinnamon that Cinnabon sells.

All ready to go in the pan. Look how tiny they are!

Here they are halfway through rising. The picture looks funny because there is plastic wrap over them. I set the pan on top of my washing machine. It was the warmest place in the house since the sun comes through the window there. It ended up being the perfect place for them.

Here they are after completely rising.

Now it was into the fridge for a couple of hours until Jason got up to enjoy them also.

Cinnamon Rolls
from: http://www.allrecipes.com/

1 package (.25 oz) active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water (110 degrees)
1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, room temperature
2.5 cups bread flour

1/4 cup butter, softened
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup brown sugar

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture with the sugar, salt, egg and 1 cup flour; stir well to combine. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well with each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Cover with a damp cloth and let rest for 10 minutes.

3. Lightly grease an 8x8 square baking pan. Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch thick rectangle. Smear the dough with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar. Roll up the dough along the long edge until it forms a roll. Slice the roll into 16 equal size pieces and place them in the pan with the cut side up.

4. Cover pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or cover and let rise at room temperature until doubled in volume, about 45 minutes.

5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake rolls until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Out of the oven. Yummmmm.

Cinnamon Roll Icing

1/2 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons milk

1. Mix all ingredients together and spread over warm, not hot, cinnamon rolls.