This is the recipe for a single batch--I double it every time, which makes two 9X13 pans with 12-15 cinnamon rolls in each.
4-4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp. yeast
1 cup milk
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter or margarine
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
3 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
In a large mixing bowl or Bosch (or similar) mixer, combine 2 cups of the flour and yeast; set aside. In a medium saucepan heat and stir milk, the 1/3 cup sugar, the 1/3 cup butter, and salt just till warm and butter almost melts. Add milk mixture to dry mixture along with eggs. Beat on low to medium speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl. Beat on high speed 3 minutes. Mix in remaining flour. When it comes to adding the last cup (or two if you're doubling this recipe), add the flour slowly. The dough should be sticking to the sides of the bowl some but also not be too sticky. It should look like this:
Allow dough to knead for 5 minutes after the correct consistency has been reached. Cover with a damp cloth and allow it to rise until doubled in size (30-60 minutes), like this:
Beat down the dough. Turn out onto a floured surface. Let rest for 5-10 minutes. Prepare melted butter and cinnamon sugar. If you made a double batch, divide dough in half. Roll dough into a rectangle that is 1/4 inch thick. Spread with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar:
Starting at the wide side, roll into a cylinder, pinching the edges of the dough onto itself. It should look like this: 
Next, cut roll into 1-inch thick cinnamon rolls
Place in a greased pan with some space around them.
Cover again with the damp cloth and allow to rise for about 30 minutes (this is key--sometimes I want to reduce this rising time because I can hardly wait to bake and eat them, but they have a much better texture if you're patient and wait until they look like this):
To make the cinnamon rolls into a wreath (a family Christmas morning tradition), roll up the dough jelly-roll style as usual. With a good, serrated knife, make cuts in the roll, 1 inch apart, but don’t cut it all the way through (just almost all the way through.) You will end up with a segmented jelly roll. Carefully lift the roll to a cookie sheet (or, if you are giving it away, you can bake it on a square of cardboard covered with foil--which should be sprayed with cooking spray). Attach the two ends of the roll to make a circle, and seal the dough together. Arrange the dough in an attractive manner and let raise according to the directions in the recipe (until doubled). The middle of the roll often takes the longest to cook. You can place a piece of foil over the top midway through baking to prevent the top from burning before the middle of the wreath is done. Or, you can cut the cinnamon roll as normal and simply arrange the rolls in a circle to form a wreath (as you would to display cookies, etc.). I did this for the first time last Christmas, and it worked quite well. It seems to bake more evenly that way. It looks like this:
Place in a greased pan with some space around them.
Cover again with the damp cloth and allow to rise for about 30 minutes (this is key--sometimes I want to reduce this rising time because I can hardly wait to bake and eat them, but they have a much better texture if you're patient and wait until they look like this):
Bake in a 375-degree oven for 15-20 minutes or till golden. Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes, then frost with this frosting recipe (I think it’s very close to Cinnabon’s frosting):
Ingredients:
1/2 lb. butter
1/2 lb. cream cheese
1 lbs. powdered sugar
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Preparation Instructions:
Allow butter and cream cheese to reach room temperature. Beat cream cheese and butter together in a bowl with a mixer. Slowly add in all powdered sugar. Once all of the sugar is in the bowl, mix for at least an additional 12 minutes. When almost done, add in the extracts. Enjoy!
Kristin’s note: The above ingredient amounts for the frosting are cut in half. The original would make a HUGE amount (it called for 1 lb. of margarine and cream cheese, etc.). Even if you only make half of the above recipe, it could cover 2-3 batches of the cinnamon rolls. If you don’t want any leftover, you might want to cut the above amounts in half. I wouldn’t store the frosting for more than a week. I did, and the frosting was still good, but not as tasty as it was when it was fresh.
Ingredients:
1/2 lb. butter
1/2 lb. cream cheese
1 lbs. powdered sugar
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Preparation Instructions:
Allow butter and cream cheese to reach room temperature. Beat cream cheese and butter together in a bowl with a mixer. Slowly add in all powdered sugar. Once all of the sugar is in the bowl, mix for at least an additional 12 minutes. When almost done, add in the extracts. Enjoy!
Kristin’s note: The above ingredient amounts for the frosting are cut in half. The original would make a HUGE amount (it called for 1 lb. of margarine and cream cheese, etc.). Even if you only make half of the above recipe, it could cover 2-3 batches of the cinnamon rolls. If you don’t want any leftover, you might want to cut the above amounts in half. I wouldn’t store the frosting for more than a week. I did, and the frosting was still good, but not as tasty as it was when it was fresh.
To make the cinnamon rolls into a wreath (a family Christmas morning tradition), roll up the dough jelly-roll style as usual. With a good, serrated knife, make cuts in the roll, 1 inch apart, but don’t cut it all the way through (just almost all the way through.) You will end up with a segmented jelly roll. Carefully lift the roll to a cookie sheet (or, if you are giving it away, you can bake it on a square of cardboard covered with foil--which should be sprayed with cooking spray). Attach the two ends of the roll to make a circle, and seal the dough together. Arrange the dough in an attractive manner and let raise according to the directions in the recipe (until doubled). The middle of the roll often takes the longest to cook. You can place a piece of foil over the top midway through baking to prevent the top from burning before the middle of the wreath is done. Or, you can cut the cinnamon roll as normal and simply arrange the rolls in a circle to form a wreath (as you would to display cookies, etc.). I did this for the first time last Christmas, and it worked quite well. It seems to bake more evenly that way. It looks like this:
My mouth is watering! Must. Have. Cinnamon. Rolls!
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