Gio’s Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

Dough-

1 cup warm milk (110 degrees)

2 eggs

1/3 cup butter, melted

4 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Filling

1 cup brown sugar, packed

2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1/3 cup butter, melted

Frosting

1 package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

1. Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a small bowl, wait until yeast creates a foam

2. Mix in the sugar, butter, salt, and eggs.

3. Add flour and mix well.

4. Knead the dough into a large ball, using your hands dusted lightly with flour.

5. Put in a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour.

6. After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.

7. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon for filling.

8. Roll dough into a 15×20inch rectangle.

9. Brush dough with melted butter for filing, then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture on top of the butter.

10. Roll up dough starting along the long side and cut into 12 rolls.

11. Place rolls in a greased 9×13 inch baking pan, I like to use a deep set pan.

12. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes.

13. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

14. Bake for about 20 minutes.

15. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla extract and salt.

16. Let cool for 20 minutes then frost, you can take them out or keep them in the pan, I don’t use take them out.

I decided that I would put the recipes first because I hate when blogs give you the whole backstory and all you were looking for was the recipe. So if you are interested here is the story behind these rolls!

The first Thanksgiving I had away from my family I spent with my best friends in Northern California, I wanted to contribute to the dinner so I was asking to make cinnamon rolls as i was the only one that had experience in making desserts.

They were very popular with one friend in particular: Gio. Every time a special event came around or even just for the fun of it he would ask for these cinnamon rolls. The more I made them the better they became and this was the recipe I settled on, now I might change a few things here and there to make them more festive such as add pumpkin or other spices, but this base recipe is one of the best!

If you have any questions about what products I use or anything else leave a comment! And feel free to send in your pictures of the rolls you make!