No. These are not good for you. Nooo redeemable nutritional value whatsoever. A warm from the oven, caramelized brown sugary, buttery, cinnamon-y tasting, ooey-gooey frosted treat like this is not for a weekday morning if you’re on a stick-to-my-clean eating-all-days-but-take-a-break-on-Sunday plan. So… let’s go with Sunday! I originally got this recipe off of a food message board that began for followers of Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) shows and cookbooks, etc. The recipe is not one of Ina’s, but was submitted from a fellow poster, Janine ‘Nenz’, and has been wildly popular and my “go to” cinnamon roll recipe ever since. I don’t think you can improve on these. They’re a snap to make and even cured me of my bread machine snobbery – the days when I used to turn up my nose at the thought that someone would use a machine and not their own hands to make a dough. (Humph! ) …Yes, times have changed for this baker… I’m all in with the bread machine for this one. Nothing could be easier. Trust me when I tell you that as your friends or family take their first bite, they aren’t going to care if a bread machine was used or not…all they’re gonna be thinking is… These. Are. Killer.
At this point, rolls can be refrigerated overnight and taken out to rise in the morning before baking, or…if your house is fairly cool, you could make late and leave out on your kitchen counter, covered, to rise overnight. (I usually throw them in the fridge overnight.)
You can use a frosting as shown in the pictures (which kids seem to love), or make a lighter glaze which is noted in the recipe.
Cinnamon Comfort Rolls aka ‘Clone of a Cinnabon’
(Adapted from Janine ‘Nenz’ on Contessa’s Kitchen message board)
Ingredients:
1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F, 45 degrees C)
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup butter, melted
4 1/4 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened
Frosting (Option 1)
1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
Glaze (Option 2)
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Water (enough to make a thin frosting/glaze when combined)
Directions:
Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press Start.
After the dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
Roll dough into a 16 X 21-inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a well-greased (Crisco) 9 X 13-inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes, Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Bake rolls in preheated oven for 20 minutes. (Watch them and cover with foil after they become golden so they won’t get too brown.)
After removing from the oven, IMMEDIATELY lift the rolls out of the pan gently with a metal spatula. If you wait too long, they won’t come out easily. While rolls are baking, beat together either the frosting or the glaze and spread onto warm rolls before serving.