Sticky Cinnamon Rolls

The great thing about these cinnamon rolls is that you can make them the day before & leave them in the fridge overnight, baking them fresh in the morning. Giving everyone the impression that you are an early morning over-achiever when in fact you. Believe me, to a tired husband who hasn't had his coffee yet, pulling this out of the oven is like "The parting of the Red Sea & now THIS!!".

Mind you, I don’t take take these babies lightly. Nor do I make them very often for fear that I’ll find certain little boys will turn into sugar crazed lunatics like the time they emptied a garbage can out the 2^nd floor window. But they make for a great brunch or special occasion breakfast & though the list of ingredients looks long, if you look closely sugar & butter are used in the rolls, filling, & topping. So hey ho, let’s go!

I am embarrassed to say this recipe stems from my very first cookbook ever & though I'm pretty sure it's not the worlds best cinnamon rolls, they work fine for me. (I've adjusted the sugar content according to what I thought was sweet enough but not too bland!)

The rolls:

4 c all purpose flour

¼ c brown sugar

1 tsp salt

2 packages active dry yeast (or 5 tsp)

1/3 c butter or margarine melted & cooled

1 c very warm milk (scald it on the stove & cool down)

1 egg

Mix ½ flour, sugar & yeast in a large bowl. Add warm milk, margarine & egg, beat with stand mixer 1 min, or with a wooden spoon till it’s blended well & easy to handle (pulls away from the side of the bowl) Turn onto lightly floured surface & knead for about 5 min till smooth & elastic. Turn into greased bowl cover & let it rise for about 1 ½ hrs in a warm place.

Now we’ll make the topping (which incidentally starts as the bottom):

2/3 c brown sugar

1/3 c butter or margarine

¼ corn syrup/golden syrup/ mizuame (god forbid)

½ c pecans or walnuts

Heat the sugar & butter to boiling in a small saucepan till totally melted & well blended. Stir in corn syrup. Pour into an ungreased 13x9” casserole dish & make sure it spreads over the whole bottom. Drop the nuts evenly over the sauce.

Grrr....are you a nut nut? Man, I am!

And now for the filling, don’t you dare get tired & quit halfway, that would stink & you’d be left with lots of nuts & brown sugar in various locations in your kitchen making for a pesky snitching problem tomorrow morning:

2 tbsp butter softened so it’s easily spreadable

½ c raisins

5-6 tbsp brown sugar

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

Now grab the dough & punch it down. (Whether you do this lovingly & gently or actually “punch” it, it’s sooo much fun!) On a lightly floured surface flatten into a rectangle about 15-10”. Now spread with butter, mix the sugar/cinnamon & dust over the dough & sprinkle the raisins last.

Roll it up at the 15” side & cut it using a string (ooooh, it’s just like play dough time) into 1 inch rolls. Place them like so onto the baking pan.

Now if you’re going for the over night thing here’s the part where you cover with kitchen wrap & store in your fridge till you bake it.

If you can’t wait (yeah, you know who you are!) and must have it ASAP, cover it again with a towel & wait 30 min, then bake in a preheated oven at 350f (175c) for 30-35 min till golden brown. Turn them over quick before they get stuck forever that way.

And now take a moment to watch the caramel drip down the sides of the rolls. Better yet gather your family together & watch the caramel drip down the sides of the rolls for approximately 3.5 seconds & then regret it as they trample you down in a caramel dripping craze to get a piece.

And there you have it folks. Go forth & make some great rolls.