I think I’ve used the “part deux” before.  Oh, well…my jokes are wearing thin.

Thanks to all you readers who gave me great tips to help my cinnamon rolls!  I’m ready to try this again.

So if you remember, I have a cinnamon roll problem.  My mother staged an intervention last week…nevermind, you can read the sad story here.

So…after a few “I told you so, Amy”s…my mother gave me her cinnamon roll recipe.

This cinnamon roll recipe comes from our 4-H books.  If you’re not familiar with 4-H , it’s a youth group that focuses on spending a few months learning new hobbies and skills.  You can take photography, learn how to care for livestock, etc.  My mother took all the cooking classes.  And so did I.  If you remember, my uncle’s favorite Apple Crisp was from a 4-H book.

My mother’s famous cinnamon rolls came from her Yeast Breads in Your Meals lesson book in 4-H.

My grandfather loved my mother’s cinnamon rolls.  My four uncles loved Mom’s cinnamon rolls.  My grandmother’s Bible study group loved Mom’s cinnamon rolls.   The girls in GAA loved my mother’s cinnamon rolls.

Apparently, everyone in the freakin’ town loved Mom’s cinnamon rolls.

When my mother finished her Yeast Breads in Your Meals lessons, my uncles all begged her to take it again so they could have more cinnamon rolls.

So, for ya’ll, I will make my mother’s beloved cinnamon rolls.  And it starts with a Basic Sweet Dough.

I’m going to halve this recipe…

1 tbsp (or 1 pkg) yeast, 1/2 cup warmed milk, 1/4 cup lukewarm water, 2 tbsp margarine, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 egg.

And a pinch of salt.  Which I forgot.

Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water.In a mixing bowl, pour the warmed milk over the margarine, sugar, and salt.Then add the dissolved yeast and 1 cup of flour…Mix together, then add the egg….Then about 1 1/4 cups of the flour…We’re looking for a soft dough – sticky, but pliable enough to knead.

Use the remaining 1/4 cup of flour to lightly dust your surface and dump the dough out to begin kneading.

If you remember from my last post, kneading is where I felt I was having issues…adding too much flour during the kneading process.  I was careful not to add more than the 1/4 cup of flour to the surface of the board, and didn’t add any extra.

After about 5 minutes (it seemed like 300 minutes), I got smooth and elastic.

Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with plastic.

Allow to raise to double in size – mine took about 1 1/2 hrs.

Again, on lightly floured surface, roll the dough out into a rectangle and brush with melted butter.

This recipe said a 19″ rectangle.  Clearly, I thought it said “Large Circle”

This is 3/4 cup of sugar and 1 tbsp cinnamon.  Dust this all over the melted butter, reserving about 2 tbsp.  And roll it up.Pinch the seam, then slice the roll into 1″ slices.I had about 4 left from the end pieces.  I brushed them with more butter and sprinkled on the remaining cinnamon-sugar.

Allow to raise to doubled again.

Here’s mine after 1 hour.Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until lightly browned…And would you look?  None of the cinnamon sugar ran out of the pan…This is pretty fluffy…But it’s not the Mile-High Cinnamon rolls I’m looking for…Maybe I rolled the dough too thin?

Either way – a very nice cinnamon roll recipe.

4-H Cinnamon Rolls

From Yeast Breads in Your Meals from 4-H

1/2 cup warmed milk

1/3 cup sugar

Pinch salt

2 tbsp margarine

1 packet yeast (or 1 tbsp yeast)

1/4 cup  lukewarm water

1 egg

Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water.  In a large mixing bowl, pour the warmed milk over the margarine, sugar, and salt.  Allow to sit until lukewarm.  Pour the yeast mixture over the milk mixture, then add 1 cup flour.  Mix thoroughly, then add the egg and mix completely.  Add about 1 1/4 cups of flour, stir until a soft dough is formed.  With the remaining flour, dust the surface and begin kneading the dough until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.  Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover, and allow to sit in a warm place until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.

Punch dough down.  On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to a 19″ rectangle, brush with melted butter.  Mix 3/4 cup sugar with 1 tbsp cinnamon, spread over the melted butter, reserving 2 tbsp of the cinnamon sugar mixture to use for topping.  Roll the dough up jelly-roll style, pinch the seams to seal.

Slice the dough into 1″ slices, place in a greased baking dish.  Brush tops with melted butter and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon sugar mixture.  Cover and allow to rise to double, about 45 minutes – 1 hour.

Bake rolls in a 350 oven for 20 minutes.

You should probably frost them, too…right?  Buttercream, sugar glaze, cream cheese frosting – any would be good.

I have a couple of other recipes to try…Ya’ll will be sick of cinnamon rolls by the weekend.