I'm writing about veggies and cinnamon rolls in the same week, because I believe in balance and moderation in all things ;). I'm often surprised by how many people don't love cinnamon rolls- but then I realize it's because they didn't grow up with my mom's cooking! A plain old cinnamon roll from the grocery store is super blah and gross and not worth the calories- but a chewy, sugar coated, dripping-with-frosting cinnamon roll from my mom's kitchen is TOTALLY worth it. And the reason I love cinnamon rolls so much!

However, cinnamon rolls are a lot of work. And sometimes, I am absolutely up to putting in the time and effort it takes to make some high quality cinnamon rolls. My mom's recipe creates the chewiest dough- my mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Lin's Roll Dough

This is the BEST dough for cinnamon rolls! You might want to 1/2 the recipe if using a KitchenAid.

Prep time:
Cook time:
Yield:

Serving size: 1
Calories per serving: 10,233.334

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 tablespoon sugar
4 cups hot water
1 to 1 1/2 cup sugar
1 Crisco All Vegetable Shorteningshortening
5 teaspoons salt
3 eggs
1/3 cup dry instant potato flakes
12 to 12 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup dough enhancer
Cinnamon Filling
2 pounds brown sugar
10 tablespoons butter (one cube and 2 tablespoons)
1/2 cup cinnamon (scant)
Frosting
1 tub Betty Crocker Whipped Buttercreambuttercream


Directions:

In a small bowl, mix 3 tablespoons of yeast with 1 Tablespoon of sugar. Add 1/4 cup warm water to activate the yeast. In large mixing bowl, add 4 cups of hot water, 1 cup Crisco, 1 to 1 1/2 cups of sugar, 5 teaspoons of salt, 3 eggs, 1/3 cup potato flakes, 6 cups flour, and 1/4 cup dough enhancer. Mix well then add the yeast to the water. Beat mixture on high for 3 to 5 minutes. Then add the remaining 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 cups of flour until dough cleans the side of the bowl (for Bosch or KitchenAid mixer) or until a soft dough is formed by hand. In a machine let the dough knead for 5 more minutes; by hand knead for at least 10 minutes. Then shape into a ball and place in an oiled bowl. NOTE: On a hot/dry day, you will need less flour, on a damp/rainy day you will use the full amount (and perhaps a bit more) of flour. Let rise in warm place until doubles or triples in bulk. Roll out your dough in a large rectangle and coat it with the cinnamon mixture. Roll up and cut into desired size of rolls. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes if baking in a 9x13 pan, or 12-15 minutes if cooking each roll separately on a cookie sheet. Frost while still warm.

Recipe formatted with the Cook'n Recipe Software from DVO Enterprises.

But, there have been times I haven't had the time or mental capacity to dedicate the hours required to make these delicious rolls! I also don't always have dough enhancer on hand, a crucial ingredient. In these cases, it's nice to have a couple back up recipes!

One is my grandma's recipe, and instead of dough enhancer, it calls for mashed potatoes. Now, this is a perfect recipe for when you have more mashed potatoes than you know what to do with! And this dough also turns out incredibly chewy and delicious!

MOM'S WARD FAMOUS CINNAMON ROLLS

Grandma's tasty rolls!

Prep time:
Cook time:
Yield: 4 dozen

Serving size: 48
Calories per serving: 187

Ingredients:
2 cups real mashed potatoes (lukewarm)
2 eggs lightly beaten

1/2 cup melted butter cooled to lukewarm
1/2 cup lukewarm water (use the potato water)
lukewarm
2 tablespoons yeast
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups lukewarm milk
6 to 7 cups flour
Filling:
1/2 to 1 cup melted butter
2 cups white sugar
2 cups brown sugar
cinnamon to taste
Glaze:
1 bag powdered sugar
5 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cubes butter
Dash of salt
2 tablespoons to 3 milk


Directions:

Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water. Add melted butter to milk to get it to lukewarm. When yeast is bubbly, add sugar, eggs, milk, melted butter, salt, and 4 cups of flour; mix
well. Add enough additional flour to make a workable dough. Let rise until doubled (1 to 1/2 hours).
This is an extremely soft dough. Roll out in plenty of flour. Spread melted butter on rolled out dough. (You'll have to do it in parts.) Sprinkle with desired amount of cinnamon sugar mixture; roll up. Seal seam; cut in about 1 inch thick slices. Place on greased baking sheets. Let rise till double (about an hour). Bake at 350 for 12 to 18
minutes, depending how you like them, and frost and serve! Make about 4 dozen

Recipe formatted with the Cook'n Recipe Software from DVO Enterprises.

The final recipe is a wonderful backup for when you literally just don't have the time to spend hours making cinnamon rolls! You still need to let the dough rise, but for only 30 minutes compared to hours! And they're still quite chewy and tasty! And easily adaptable. This particular recipe calls for the gelatin powder from a flan custard mix, but one time in a pinch I decided to use instant vanilla pudding mix instead- and they turned out great!

Shortcut Cinnamon Rolls

These are chewy and tasty and are much quicker to make than mom's typical cinnamon roll recipe!

Prep time:
Cook time:
Yield:

Serving size: 20
Calories per serving: 96

Ingredients:
2 (1/4-ounce) packages active dry yeast
1 1/4 cups warm water
1 package (4.4 oz) Jello custard flan mix (just the powder, not the sauce packet!)
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon salt
3 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Cinnamon Filling
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Frosting
1 can Betty Crocker Whipped Buttercream Frostingready-to-spread frosting


Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add custard mix, butter, salt and 2 cups flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead 25-30 times (or more if you want them really chewy!) Roll into a 20 in. by 8 in. rectangle.
Melt the 1/2 cup of butter and spread across the dough with a pastry brush. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together (you can always add more if you want!) and sprinkle it across the melted butter. Roll the dough tightly so you have a 20 inch roll. Cut into 1 inch pieces and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake for 7-10 minutes. Spread the buttercream frosting on the rolls while they're hot.

*You can also bake them in a deep dish pan and bake for 30-40 minutes.

Recipe formatted with the Cook'n Recipe Software from DVO Enterprises.

With all these recipes, the one CRUCIAL element is the cinnamon sugar. While everyone prefers different ratios of cinnamon sugar, the one thing that you just can't beat- use brown sugar instead of white sugar. The brown sugar adds a depth to the cinnamon roll that you just can't top! It makes these rolls so flavorful and just heavenly!

For the frosting, my mom always just uses Betty Crocker's whipped buttercream frosting, and frosts them when they first come out of the oven. You could definitely make a homemade buttercream, but after all the work that goes into the rolls in the first place, this frosting is definitely tasty enough to do the job- especially when you've used your special brown sugar and cinnamon mix!

I hope you families enjoy one (or all 3!) of these cinnamon roll recipes! I know mine does!