Cinnamon Rolls

Oh how I love these cinnamon rolls! This outstanding recipe comes from my mom's friend, Michelle. She is famous for these cinnamon rolls in our neighborhood and amongst our Church group! And in turn, I've made these a few times for Church things here and I'm now the "Michelle" of the group bringing these often to our church functions. I love having a good excuse to make these since I'll eat them all myself if I could. I work with the young women in our church and they had begged that I bring these to our annual Christmas party. So I made them yesterday and sadly they are all gone now! They are so soft and moist and bake just perfectly. I used to babysit Michelle's kids every Monday after school and I loved getting to sample her cookies and cakes and felt in heaven if she had made these cinnamon rolls that day. Like I've said before, I am a sucker for homemade rolls and this recipe is in my top three that I've ever tasted (I know...that's a pretty profound statement...they're THAT good). This recipe is a roll recipe that I use to make my cinnamon rolls from. It is AWESOME!

Cinnamon Rolls from Michelle S.

1 C milk
1/2 C shortening or butter
1/2 C sugar
3 eggs (beat really well...that's the trick)
2 tsp salt
2 T yeast
1 C water
1 tsp sugar
About 6 1/2 C flour

Melt shortening or butter in milk over low heat and cool. Dissolve yeast in warm water with the 1 tsp sugar. Beat eggs in a large bowl until foamy. Add sugar and salt. Next, add milk mixture. Add yeast mixture. Stir in flour. Dough will be a little sticky. Let rise about 1 hour. Roll out on floured surface. Cut into parker house, crescent, or cinnamon rolls. Let rise until doubled in size. Bake at 400 degrees until golden brown (about 8-10 min). Frost when slightly warm.

Tips: After the dough is rolled out butter the dough and sprinkle a cinnamon sugar mixture over rolls. I usually do about 1 C of brown sugar and 4 tsp cinnamon. I am not a huge cream cheese frosting fan on cinnamon rolls. I know, I know...some of you might think I'm crazy! So go ahead and use a cream cheese frosting if you like. I think I'm more of a purist and really like tasting the roll over the frosting. So I just do a thickened glaze. I make this by melting about 4 T butter and then adding 1/2 tsp vanilla and then powdered sugar and milk until the desired consistency.