These cinnamon rolls are a tradition in my house. I make them every holiday morning, but I also make them at least once or twice a month. Last Christmas, I didn’t make them – I tried out some new recipes instead. I thought that they weren’t special because I make them all the time. My children thought differently. They were really sad that I had broken tradition, as it was something they looked forward to each year. Who knew?! By the way, I ended up making them that year, we just had them after Christmas dinner instead!

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 packages active, dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

6 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

3 tablespoons softened butter

Icing (recipe follows)

In a small saucepan, heat milk, sugar, salt and butter until butter is melted. Remove from heat and let cool. In a large bowl, combine the yeast and warm water and let sit until yeast is dissolved. Add milk mixture, eggs, vanilla and 2 cups of the flour. Mix well. Add enough remaining flour to form dough that does not stick to the sides of the bowl. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Knead until smooth and elastic about 10 minutes, it will be very soft. Place dough in greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled, 1 – 1 1/2 hours. Mix remaining sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Punch down dough and divide in half. Roll each half of the dough into an 8 x 12 inch rectangle. Brush half the softened butter on each rectangle and top with half of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Roll each rectangle up, jelly roll style (long end to long end). Cut the dough into 12 one inch slices. Repeat with remaining half of dough. Place the slices into a greased 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 20 – 25 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes and then frost.

Creamy Cinnamon Roll Frosting

5 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup room temperature butter

2 teaspoons vanilla

pinch of salt

In a medium bowl, whisk all ingredients together until well blended. Use immediately.

The total cost to make 24 of these rolls came out to around $4.50 – I know that you purchase ready to bake cinnamon rolls for less – but I promise they are not as good! In my house, my kids prefer extra icing – and my husband prefers no icing. So I frost accordingly! I hope you give these a try – I am sure you will enjoy them!