Ahhhhh... cinnamon rolls!

I don't know about you, but when it comes to comfort foods, cinnamon rolls rank right up there at the top of the list. Today I had an order from a regular customer for 4 dozen cinnamon rolls. Since it's still quite cold here in Colorado Springs, it was a perfect day for baking-not only did it warm things up, but the house smells, well you know, heavenly. Since I had a little extra time today, I shot a few pictures while I was working so I could do a little tutorial on making cinnamon rolls. For the complete recipe, click here.

Here's the dough, ready to roll out.

The filling is a combination of melted butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon.

The dough is rolled out to a 24 x 10 rectangle on my silicone baking sheet.

I like the silicone baking sheet because it is measured off in inches and it is exactly 24 inches long.

After spreading on the filling, roll up the dough tightly, starting with the long end closest to you.

It should look like this when you're done.

For medium rolls, cut into one inch pieces, following the measurements on the baking sheet.

Tuck the loose ends underneath.

Put rolls on parchment lined bun pan and press down slightly with your hand.

The rolls should look like this when you're done putting them on the sheet. Now let them rise.

In the meantime, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

The rolls are finished rising and ready for the oven.

The cinnamon rolls need to bake for 25 minutes total. I exchange and rotate pans after 13 minutes.

While the rolls are baking, I mix up the glaze. This is powdered sugar, melted butter, pure vanilla extract, and enough warm water to get the proper consistency.

 

Spread the glaze on with a small spatula as soon as they come out of the oven.

Let cool (if you can wait that long) and enjoy!

Update: You can also roll out half of the dough at a time. Still roll it out to 24 x 10. It will just be thinner. Roll up as normal, but cut the rolls in 2 inch pieces. Tuck ends under and press down well after putting on bun pan. This makes the rolls a little more separated if you like them that way.