sunday morning cinnamon rolls

With fall comes the holidays and with the holidays comes cinnamon rolls. Sure, you can eat them all year round but there's something extra yummy about eating them on a Sunday morning when the frost is thick on the ground. A good cinnamon recipe is worth more than the weight of its pan in gold, and here's a real treasure from my girlfriend Chris Rich. (Thanks, Chris!) Refrigerate, roll, raise, slice, bake and enjoy!

Sunday Morning Cinnamon Rolls
Note: Make the dough the day before

1 c water
1 c butter
3/4 c sugar
2 t salt
1 c cold water
4 eggs slightly beaten
2 packages yeast or 4 ½ t yeast
1/2 c warm water
7 1/2 c flour
1/2 c butter softened
1 c brown sugar
1/4 c cinnamon
1 recipe Powdered Sugar Glaze

In a large pot bring 1 cup water to a boil. Add the 1 cup butter, sugar and salt. Remove from heat. Add the 1 cup cold water. When mixture is lukewarm, add beaten eggs. In a separate bowl dissolve yeast in the 1/2 cup warm water. Allow yeast to rise about 5 minutes, until foamy. Stir into mixture. Add flour and stir together. Cover pan with lid and refrigerate overnight. (A 5-quart ice cream bucket with lid also works well.)

When ready to roll out, divide dough into thirds. Lightly flour surface of bread- board. Roll dough out into a 12x6-inch rectangle about 1/2-inch thick. Spread each rectangle with one-third of the softened butter. In a bowl combine brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle 1/3 of brown sugar and cinnamon mixture over surface of dough.
Roll up jelly roll style and cut into about 12 rounds. Place on greased baking sheet. Follow same procedure with other two portions of dough. Let raise 2-3 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake one sheet at a time for about 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Spread with Powdered Sugar Glaze while still warm. Makes 3 dozen rolls.

Powdered Sugar Glaze
1/2 c butter, softened
2 c powdered sugar
2 T milk
2 t vanilla or 1 t vanilla and 1 t almond extract (her secret ingredient)

Cream above ingredients together and spread over warm cinnamon rolls. Don't forget to lick the bowl!

"I like cinnamon rolls, but I don't always have time to make a pan. That's why I wish they would sell cinnamon roll incense. After all I'd rather light a stick and have my roommate wake up with false hopes." --Mitch Hedberg