cinnamon rolls

ok, so paula deen is the matriarch of all things butter and big hair - and i love her for that.
i did change a bit in this recipe of hers, though - less sugar and butter - but not too much less!

these are the first cinnamon rolls i have ever attempted, and they are SO easy and really actually quite fun to prepare and make! 

firstly, heat your oven to 350, and dissolve the yeast in the warm water in a small bowl.

Cinnamon Rolls

dough:
1/4-ounce package yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup scalded milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter or shortening
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour



filling:
1/3 cup melted butter, plus more for pan
1/2 cup sugar, plus more for pan
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon


glaze:
4 tablespoons butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 to 6 tablespoons hot water





in a giant bowl, mix together your scalded milk, sugar, melted butter, egg, and salt. this is also the first time i have ever scalded milk, and it wasn't too difficult - yes!

ok, so now that you're an expert milk scalder, you can add the flour into the giant bowl and mix everything together until it's all lump free and glorious. add your bowl of dissolved yeast/water, and add the rest of the remaining flour until you feel like your dough is going to be a good consistency for you to work with.

place your dough on a floured surface and knead for about ten minutes.
get out a medium sized bowl and grease it up with some butter and place the dough in it, cover, and let it rise for a good 1 1/2 hours.


after the dough is doubled in size, punch it down and roll it out into a rectangle that is about 15in by 9in. 
spread the melted butter out and evenly coat the dough. then mix together the cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle all over the dough. at this point, you can sprinkle on some raisins, walnuts, or whatever else you think would taste good inside these delicious rolls!

here comes the fun part - rolling the dough!
start at the 15in side (hot dog style, not hamburger!) and roll up the dough; pinching together the edges to seal it up. if the ends are a little ugly, just trim them off, or let your kids destroy play with them!
to finish up, slice your dough to make 12 - 15 rolls.

almost done! now grease your pan (i used a 9 by 13in) with some more butter (butter!!) and place your rolls in it. they can totally be close together. then they need to rise some more, so let them sit for about 45 minutes.

finally, bake for 25-30 minutes, or until slightly brown on top.
let the rolls cool just a little bit before glazing them.

for the glaze, mix up the vanilla, powdered sugar, and butter (butter!!) until smooth, then add hot water 1 tablespoon at a time until it is the consistency you desire.

enjoy!