The Best Cinnamon Rolls. Ever.

This recipe is THE BOMB / AH-mazing / Scrumptious and all the rage with my hubby & me right now (kids don’t know what’s good, so they won’t try it. I know, I have very weird kids. But I’m not complaining cuz… well… more for us!) 😛

For Christmas, my dear mom bought Javi and me a cast iron skillet. She’s been raving about hers for years now, and we finally said OK, we’ll try it.

OMG. We have been MISSING OUT!

The first recipe we tried–besides steak–is this freakin’ awesome Cinnamon Roll recipe. This is courtesy of Taste of the South magazine, but I have a few tweaks to it, namely the cook time, the “ends,” and the glaze.

Old-Fashioned Cinnamon Rolls with Browned Butter

Yields: approximately 1 dozen rolls
Ingredients
1 cup warm water (105° to 110°)
1 (¼-ounce) package active dry yeast
4 tablespoons sugar, divided
2 cups bread flour
2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1½ teaspoons salt
½ cup canola oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Browned Butter (recipe follows)
Cream Cheese Icing (recipe follows)

Instructions
1. In a small bowl, combine 1 cup warm water, yeast, and 2 tablespoons sugar; let stand for 5 minutes.

2. In a medium bowl, combine bread flour and 1 cup all-purpose flour, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, and salt, whisking to blend.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, combine yeast mixture, oil, egg, and vanilla.
Gradually add flour mixture to yeast mixture, beating until smooth after each addition. Add remaining 1 cup all-purpose flour, beating to make a soft dough.

4. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 3 to 5 minutes. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover, and let stand in a warm place (75°), free from drafts, until doubled in size, 1 to 11⁄2 hours.

5. Punch dough down; cover, and let stand for 15 minutes Tip: Make the Browned Butter during this time, since it needs to cool

6. Lightly spray a 10-inch cast-iron skillet with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.

7. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to an 18×10-inch rectangle. Brush dough with melted brown butter. Sprinkle with brown-sugar mixture. Starting at one long side, roll dough into a log, and press edge to seal. Cut into 1 to 11⁄2-inch slices. Tip: Cut one, then use it to measure the rest, so they will be uniform in height. Or, get a ruler and measure, like my brothers does 😉

One more tip: The ends don’t look quite as nice as the middle rolls, so we cooked them separate. Only problem was I used a muffin tin, which made the sides and bottom too hard–fair warning!

8. Place, cut side down, in prepared skillet. Cover, and let rise in a warm place (75°), free from drafts, until doubled in size, approximately 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350°.
Bake cinnamon rolls until lightly browned, 25 to 30 minutes (for me, it was 30 min or longer).

9. Drizzle Cream Cheese icing over tops of warm rolls.

10. Yum! Enjoy 🙂

Browned Butter

1/2 cup butter (I like KerryGold)

In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Cook until butter turns a medium-brown color and has a nutty aroma, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, strain into a small bowl, and let cool to room temperature.