Father’s Day Cinnamon Rolls

These cinnamon rolls make the best Father’s Day gift ever.  I try to make them every Father’s Day.  I even made them the day I went into labor and had Danny, which happened to be the day before Father’s Day.  They are a bit of a challenge, but worth every minute.  And hey, if you need to induce labor….

Ingredients
4 c hot water
4 t salt
4 c flour
½ c vegetable oil
1 c sugar
4 eggs, beaten
4 T yeast, soaked in 1 c warm water
 
Stir hot water, salt, flour, oil, and sugar together. When cool, add eggs and yeast mixture. Let set 10 minutes. Work in enough flour so you can handle dough, but don’t make it too stiff. (We’re talking about a lot of flour here! If you don’t have a very large or industrial sized mixer, you may want to divide the recipe in half.)

My mixer can’t handle this much dough, so I have to finish kneading it by hand.  Just put a little flour down on a large cutting board or the countertop, and work the dough by folding in half, turning it and folding it in half again until the dough is perfectly soft but elastic.

Let rise till double.

Set up a work space for making the rolls.  You need baking sheets (lightly greased with shortening), a rolling pin, a bowl full of brown sugar and cinnamon (it probably won’t be enough and you’ll need to refill it before you are done), a stick of melted butter and a pastry brush, a good tool for cutting the dough and a towel to wipe your hands on.  Having your work space set up properly saves a lot of time and frustration later when your hands are covered in shortening, butter, dough and sugar.

I use a large cutting board for working dough.  I totally reject the notion of “lightly flouring the surface.”  I prefer a little oil or shortening to provide the non-stick surface because it does not make my dough tough.  Just rub the wooden surfaces of the rolling pin and the cutting board with oil and slather some on your hands like lotion.  Trust me on this one…

Roll into large rectangles, spread with butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and nuts.

Roll up and slice 1” thick.

Let rise 1 hour.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Let cool and drizzle with a thin icing.
Icing: 3 cups powdered sugar, 2 t vanilla and enough half & half to make a thin icing. Mix well.
This recipe makes about 50-60 rolls.

*** for a very rich and lovely cinnamon roll, replace 3 1/2 cups of the water with warm milk...Oh my!