Thursday, January 24, 2013

Overnight Gooey Cinnamon Rolls


I'm embracing life as a mother of two young kids. What does that mean, you ask? It means that on most days, I am wearing pajamas all day, quickly tying my unwashed hair into a messy bun, doing never-ending laundry, drinking extra coffee to get through the day, stepping over Legos and squeaky baby toys, having conversations that are constantly being interrupted, shoveling food into my mouth because I don't have time for a leisurely meal, ordering toiletry items from Amazon because the thought of driving with the kids to a store just for toothpaste is overwhelming, and crashing into bed by 10:00pm to maximize sleep before the baby wakes to feed again. My life is messy, and I'm kind of enjoying it.

And somehow, in the midst of the messy, sometimes there is enough time to slow down and make things like cinnamon rolls. Cinnamon rolls are the kind of thing that reminds you that life is good. As they bake, they fill the house with rich scents of bread and cinnamon. They are soft and sweet, and make for a delicious breakfast for everyone to enjoy.

The dough is the same bread recipe as these dinner rolls. In fact, I've used this dough to make pizza crust as well. Just mix the dough together, and let it sit in the fridge for up to 4 days. Most cinnamon roll recipes include icing, but I like these without additional sugar. They are plenty sweet as they are!

Overnight Gooey Cinnamon Rolls

print this recipe  

1 cup warm water (105-115 degrees)
2 packets active dry yeast 
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
4 to 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, softened 

Combine warm water and yeast in a large bowl. Let mixture stand until yeast is foamy, about 5 minutes. Stir in butter, sugar, eggs and salt. Beat in flour, 1 cup at a time, until dough is too stiff to mix (some flour may not be needed). Cover and refrigerate 2 hours or up to 4 days. Grease a 13X9 inch baking pan. Turn the chilled dough out onto a lightly floured board. Cover the dough with plastic wrap, and let rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together brown sugar and cinnamon, and set aside. Roll the dough out into a 12x9 inch rectangle. Spread butter over entire surface of the dough. Sprinkle the brown sugar mixture evenly over the butter. Roll up dough, and pinch seam to seal. Cut into 12 equal size rolls, and place cut side up into the pan. Cover, and let rise until doubled, about an hour. Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes. Makes 12 rolls.

1 comment:

  1. These look so good... Yeast always intimidates me, but I think these are worth facing my "dough not rising" fears!

    ReplyDelete