This recipe is based from a recipe book I recieved when first married in 1979. Because I have fiddled with it so many times, changed it to my liking and added my own hints, I think I can claim it as my own creation now. One of my recent changes is: I started making it with coconut oil instead of shortening. The coconut oil helps it rise better, taste better and is (more than a fraction) less on the guilt spectrum. Hurray!
Yield: 2 dozen medium, or 18 large
I usually double the recipe and give them away or freeze them in the pan they were baked in, covered with plastic and foil. Defrost ahead of time and heat up with foil on top in 325 degree oven. In preparation, it helps to keep the dough warm at all times. Place in warm place to rise, and place newly cut rolls on warmed jelly roll pans. Don't bake until they are fully risen, even if you have to wait!
5 teaspoons instant yeast , i.e. SAF
7 cups flour (divided)
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup powdered milk
1 cup potatoes, cooked until very soft, then mashed . Reserve liquid. (Real mashed potatoes for best results!)
2 eggs, room temperature
2 1/2 cups hot water, (includes the saved potato water)
1/2 cup melted coconut oil (formerly used Crisco shortening)
raisins, optional
nuts, optional
butter, melted
cinnamon
sugar, granulated or brown
Cook potatoes until very soft. Drain and reserve the liquid. Mash the potatoes.
In large bowl, stir together sugar, powdered milk, dry yeast, and salt with HALF the flour. (3.5 cups)
In large glass bowl, microwave coconut oil with left over potato water (and more water to equal 2.5 cups) until water is hot and coconut oil liquified.
In blender: beat eggs, adding mashed potatoes 1 cup at a time, adding a little of the hot water/oil mixture. Blend until smooth.
Make a well in dry ingredients. Pour in the blended potatoes and eggs; pour in all the rest of the hot water. Stir til smooth.
Add in second half of the flour (3.5 cups), stirring with a heavy wooden spoon. Stir into a soft roll, adding a little more flour, if needed, so dough is no longer wet to the touch. Your stirring spoon should be able to snap off without sticking.
Dough requires a warm place to rise. Turn on "keep warm" setting, or turn oven to 350 for a minute; turn off. Cover with tea towel and let rise until double.
Warm up some jelly roll pans at the same time.
Remove dough from bowl onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in two. Before rolling, pat each mound into a rectangle shape, sprinkle with a little more flour; roll dough to 1/4 inch thick rectangle. Shrink the dough slightly by sliding your hands under it and giving it a gentle flip. Brush with melted butter. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup white or brown sugar and generously with cinnamon; nuts or raisins and fruit if desired. Variations: Add choppen pecans in or on top of cinnamon rolls, zest of orange with craisins, crushed raspberries or raspberry preserves.
Starting with long side, roll up jellyroll style, keeping the roll tight. Even the roll out , gripping with both hands and pinch edges closed. Cut into 1-1/2 to 2 inch slices. A 2 inch roll makes quite a large roll, about 12 per pan. I like the 1.5 inch roll, as it is more reasonable to eat, and I arrange them 15 per pan, 3 across, 5 down. Place on warmed and lightly greased jellyroll pan; putting them back in a warm area again to rise until double (1/2 hour to 1 hour usually) The risen rolls should be barely touching each other. Bake at 375 for 15-18 minutes until golden brown. If your oven doesn't bake evenly, turn pan around half way through the baking. Cool for 10 minutes; frost immediately.
IMPORTANT HINTS:
Wnen making rolls or cinnamon rolls, I usuallly buy a quality high gluten bread flour, keep it in the freezer, and take it out ahead of time to let it "unchill". Golden Loaf and Lehi Roller Mills have good flours; I have principally relied on the Bosch Kitchen Center for excellent quality "high gluten" flour for these purposes only. It really makes a difference.
Use instant yeast for this recipe, that has been kept sealed and fresh in the freezer. This can make or break your rolls.
FROSTING:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 -4 cups powdered sugar
Boil 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup butter for one minute. Add 2 -4 cups powdered sugar and beat with electric mixer until smooth. Add vanilla flavoring to taste. Consistency should not be too thick; it should be able to spoon onto the rolls, without being runny, yet it settles and moves as you spoon it on. This thinner frosting runs down easier into the crevices of the roll, adding to it's delictableness, (if that's a word!) Add more powdered sugar as needed. Be aware, it usually thickens after it has sat for a half hour or more. If you need to add more milk, make sure it's HOT, one tablespoon at a time, to desired consistency. You can make a cream cheese frosting ( good, but not my favorite) by beating 8 oz. cream cheese before adding more milk. Spoon onto warmish cinnamon rolls, after cooling at least 10 minutes. Homemade caramel drizzled on top, with chopped pecans, is a winner.
STORYTIME
Daughter Jayni:
If there ever was a moment to boast about my mother's cooking, this would be it. My mother's cinnamon rolls are FAMOUS. For years I just thought that cinnamon rolls were always fabulous, until I tasted one from somewhere else. In my younger years, I sold cinnamon rolls on Saturday mornings on the corner of our street. I wasn't out there for very long, because 6-8 dozen cinnamon rolls would sell FAST. My mother would receive calls requesting orders for cinnamon rolls. At one point, my mother started a home bakery, where she overloaded herself with cinnamon rolls. Pretty soon the kitchen became too small, and my mother too tired. From then on, only a few close friends and family placed orders. There isn't a time that I mention my mother's cinnamon rolls that I don't hear someone say: "Those are the BEST rolls I have ever tasted!"