Sheila's Killer Cinnamon Or Caramel Rolls
When I was a young mom, I always longed to make really killer homemade cinnamon rolls. Dripping with real butter, oozing cinnamon goo, loaded with raisins (or not) and drowning in homemade buttery cream cheese frosting, they are simply a treat not to resist!
I have to admit, every attempt I made at creating these gorgeous little monsters was a complete failure! Usually the rolls wouldn't raise and ended up hard, chewy little rocks! So when I craved them, I'd end up buying them from the bakery section at the store!
Well, somewhere in my early forties, I tried making my grandma Ethel's sweet rolls recipe (sweetened roll dough) and modified it a bit. They were a smashing success for me! Before long I was making my "Lazarus Rolls" (so named because they just keep raising) for every special meal.
Eventually it dawned on me that I now had a great basic hot roll recipe and could probably pull off the incredible cinnamon roll thing at last! I tried the basic cinnamon raisin rolls first. Oh my gosh, they were amazing! Inspired by that success, I tried doing my other favorite, caramel pecan rolls. Oh, my my, they worked too!
You can find the link to my regular Lazarus Rolls dough at http://www.squidoo.com/lazarusrolls. In this recipe, I'll show you how to turn my dough into some pretty amazing cinnamon or caramel nut rolls you can impress your family and friends with at your next special occasion!
Ingredients
- 1 Recipe Lazarus Rolls Dough (see link below)
- Butter (Best) or Margarine
- White Sugar OR Splenda
- Brown Sugar OR Brown Sugar Splenda Blend (Caramel rolls only)
- Cinnamon
- Raisins (optional)
- Nuts (optional)
- Frosting (optional)
Instructions
- Prepare Lazarus Rolls recipe as directed.
- Roll out dough on flat lightly floured surface (parchment paper works great for this)
- Spread liberally with butter or margarine
- Sprinkle heavily with cinnamon and white sugar. If you are making caramel rolls, omit the cinnamon.
- If you're making caramel rolls, sprinkle on 1.5-2 cups of brown sugar or Splenda Brown Sugar Blend
- Add a layer of chopped nuts and/or raisins if desired
- Roll up lengthwise jelly roll style. Gently stretch roll lengthwise until it is at least 12 inches long.
- Cut slices at least 1" thick. As you cut them, carefully pick up and lay into 13 X 9 baking pan lined with parchment paper, Sides of rolls should touch.
- Sprinkle sugar mess from parchment paper all over rolls in pan.
- Sprinkle additional sugar and cinnamon on top of rolls
- Top each roll with 1-2 tsp. butter or margarine, or more if you want maximum sin!
- Cover pan with clean white dishtowel or parchment paper
- Allow rolls to rise until they are doubled in height.
- Bake in oven preheated to 400 15-20 minutes or until rolls are done and lightly browned. I always pull the whole pan out, open up the center roll and test for doneness. If it's done, they all are. If not, bake 5 more minutes and re-test.
- If desired, frost rolls while hot with cream cheese or vanilla frosting.
- Serve hot with excellent coffee or tea!
If you want the original Lazarus Rolls Dough recipe, go to: http://www.squidoo.com/lazarusrolls.
Thanks for stopping by to check out my recipe! Nice to meet you! If you make the rolls, please leave a comment here telling us how you like them! Or you can just say hello now!