I happen to adore cinnamon rolls. Especially Cinnabon cinnamon rolls. Giant, cinnamony, flaky.... need I go on?! I had never tried recreating them until I ran across this clone recipe, originally from Tod Wilbur's "More Top Secret Recipes". I always thought Cinnabons would take sooo long, and honestly when I wake up in the morning the last thing I want to do is spend the first few hours of my day baking bread. I need sustenance immediately, waiting around for breakfast is not a good plan for me, I tend to get cranky without food :) Thus the perfect solution, freeze and bake cinnamon rolls! I used a recipe adapted for the bread machine to make it even more effortless and got tips from the King Arthur website on how to freeze yeast breads before baking. All I had to do was make the cinnamon rolls on a leisurely weekend afternoon and pop them in the freezer. I kept them in the freezer for a week, then the night before I wanted to eat them I just put them in the fridge and in the morning into the oven and voila! Homemade Cinnabons! If you like your cinnamon rolls super decadent (like me) you can whip up an easy cream cheese frosting to slather on once the cinnamon rolls are baked. Yum!
Cinnabon Clones
From More Top Seceret Recipes, by Todd Wilbur via food.com
1 (1/4 ounce) package dry yeast
1 cup warm milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup margarine or butter
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
4 cups flour
FILLING
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
1/3 cup margarine or butter, softened
ICING
8 tablespoons margarine or butter
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
Directions For Bread Machine (see bottom of page for by hand recipe)
Put all ingredients for dough into your bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer (usually wet first, then dry, then make a well in the dry ingredients and add yeast). Set to dough cycle and let the bread machine do it's work!
When dough cycle is complete. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface, until it is approx 21 inches long by 16 inches wide. It should be approx 1/4 thick. To make filling, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.
Spread the softened margarine over the surface of the dough, then sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon evenly over the surface.
Working carefully, from the long edge, roll the dough down to the bottom edge.
Cut the dough into 1 3/4 inch slices, and place in a lightly greased baking pan.
At this point I had one extra that didn't fit in the pan so I stuck it in a muffin tin and baked it right then and there!
Ten minutes at 400 degrees.
But, moving on to the freezing of the rolls... Carefully place them in a plastic bag,
one large enough to “tent” over the risen buns. Place the bag in the freezer. When the buns are frozen solid, gently press the bag more tightly around them, and reseal. The evening before the morning you want to serve the buns, remove them from the freezer. Unseal, and “poof” the bag up a bit, so it’s not touching the buns. Reseal, place the buns in the refrigerator, and let them thaw overnight.
Next morning, remove them from the fridge, and take them out of the bag. Let them sit at room temperature while you preheat your oven.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until light golden brown.
While the rolls are baking combine the icing ingredients.
Beat well with an electric mixer until fluffy.
When the rolls are done, remove from oven. Allow to cool 10 minutes.
Flip pan over onto a serving plate.
Spread generously with icing. If your rolls are still hot, like mine were, when you spread on the icing, it will begin to melt just fyi.
Melty frosting...
If you prefer your rolls without icing, sprinkle with some chopped nuts, and enjoy!
By Hand Recipe
For the rolls, dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl.
Add sugar, margarine salt, eggs, and flour, mix well.
Knead the dough into a large ball, using your hands dusted lightly with flour.
Put in a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size. Once doubled in size continue with directions above (from the step after dough is removed from bread machine).
Linking up at Sugar and Dots, My Backyard Eden, Good Cheap Eats, Paisley Passions, Friday Favorites, Prairie Story, It's A Keeper Thursday, Tater Tots and Jello, By Stephanie Lynn, and Trendy Treehouse.
