Sweet Tooth Sunday

Ahhh.....Sweet Rolls.

These have kind of become a staple in my neighborhood during the cold winter months, although they've been welcomed any time of year. These are also our Christmas morning breakfast. After putting the kiddos to bed on Christmas Eve we make these while we put the finishing touches on everything to be ready for the big day. It makes the house smell SO good!

And we have friends two houses down that each year let us knock on their door around 11:30-midnight on Christmas Eve with a plate of warm gooey goodness.

You know good people when they wait up until midnight for sweet rolls. Yup.

My oven broke a couple of weeks ago. It was fixed on Thursday night at 10:17 pm.

Hey, it was an important moment in this house. Don't judge.

I have baked every day since then. Apparently I needed some back-order therapy.Though brownies were the first thing I baked, these made for a beautiful Saturday morning.

I now make these in my mixer, but until last year when I first got a mixer, I spent all those years making them by hand. And I triple the recipe every time I make it. It takes a little bit of work when mixing, but how did you think I ended up with these arms?

And people think baked goods only increase your waist line! Pshaw!

So don't let the mixer throw you off, if you don't have one, make these anyway!

Also, I triple this recipe every time I make it.

We like sweet rolls, what can I say? And the neighbors never complain about it either!

First, throw everything dry in there. Flour (half of it), sugar, powdered milk, salt, yeast.

A plethora of dry ingredients.

Add in your hot water and shortening (or butter or margarine, though honestly I prefer shortening in this recipe).

Uh, don't forget eggs. I almost forgot the eggs. Whoops.

Now you have something that resembles paste.

And probably tastes like it too. I wouldn't know. Yeast dough is one of the very few things that I don't taste in the making process. I was not the paste eater type. If you were and you want a trip down memory lane, go for it. Just please don't actually admit to being a paste eater. Thankyouverymuch.

Once that's all mixed in, start adding the rest of the flour gradually,

until a soft dough forms.

It will start to pull away from the sides of the bowl (whether mixing by hand or mixer).

Don't make it too thick or the rolls are tough and chewy instead of light and fluffy.

Please don't make them tough and chewy.
Once you get to the right consistency, let it rest for 5-10min, then knead it (with your mixer or by hand) until it is smooth and elastic.
Cover it.

You don't want the kids to know what you're doing. Trust me.

Otherwise they will begin hounding you from the minute the dough finishes, right on through the rising, into the baking time, and relentlessly begging you for one the second the oven timer goes off. Then they will bring their friends in to do the same because you insist that if they take one of that baking sheet right now it will burn your tongue off. Though at this point they'd deserve it for pestering you about "STARV-ing" 57 times in the last 2 minutes.

Wait, where were we?

When it doubles in size, punch it down, and let it rise again. It does go faster the second time. (you can skip this part, but it does lend a little something extra to the finished product)

And now, the moment of truth has arrived.

Roll the dough out into a rectangle.

(about 14"x22" -ish)

Pour some melted butter on there

Then spread it around.

Now for the cinnamon/sugar mixture.

And a little secret-throw just a bit of brown sugar in there. It makes a difference. Trust me.

Roll that baby up,

and break out the floss.

No, you're not eating yet. The floss is cutting things.

Thread works too, but I've found that more people have floss than thread. Then there are the people that have neither and have stuff stuck in their teeth and un-mended seam splits. Please help them.

Back to the point; cut your rolls,

place them on a baking sheet.

You can also use a glass dish (like a 9x13) if you prefer.

I like to let them sit for a few minutes longer for just a little extra time to rise.

And now, we bake!

The anticipation just kills them!

Tell me this doesn't make your mouth water.

Finish up with a glaze (milk or water + powdered sugar, and a touch of vanilla), or if you're the cream cheese frosting on everything type, go for it. I stick with the simple glaze, 'cause it complements these just right.

Black and white. Bread and butter. Peas and carrots. Sonny and Cher. Sweet rolls and glaze.

See? it just works.

Now grab a fork (or two)

and dig in.

Excuse me, my oven is calling me again.

Sweet Rolls

4 c flour

1/3 c powdered milk

1/4 c sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp yeast

1 1/3 c hot water

1/3 c shortening or margarine

1 egg

Cinnamon/sugar mixture

1 cup sugar and 2-2 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Glaze

Powdered sugar, vanilla, milk or water

Mix 2 cups flour, powdered milk, sugar, salt and dry yeast in a large mixing bowl. Add hot water, shortening, and eggs. Add the remaining flour a little at at time until it forms a soft dough. Do not add too much flour. Allow to rest for 10 min. Knead until smooth and elastic. Let rise until double in bulk. Punch down and allow to rise a second time. Roll the dough into a very large rectangle approx 14x22 inches. Spread with warm melted margarine or butter. Sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar mixture. Roll into shape (one long roll), cut into 12-15 rolls. I find it easiest to cut with thread or floss. Please on baking sheet, let rise until double in bulk and nice and light. Bake at 375 12-14 minutes until light golden brown.

Mix ingredients for glaze until desired consistency, spread over baked rolls.