Cinnamon Rolls

Rolls:
1¼ oz. pckg. Yeast
1 c. warm milk
½ c. granulated sugar
1/3 c. melted butter (do not subsititue margarine- blech!)
1 t. salt
2 eggs
4 c. all-purpose flour

Filling:
1 c. packed brown sugar (I just sprinkle as much as I can and like, never measuring)
2½ TBS. cinnamon
1/3 c. butter

Icing:
7 TBS. butter, softened
1½ c. confectioners sugar
¼ c. (2 oz.) cream cheese
½ t. real vanilla extract (or almond extract, which I prefer and use)
1/8 t. salt (I don't always use the salt, and in fact, like the taste better without it)

Rolls: Oven to 400° F.
(1) Disolve yeast in milk.
(2) Mix in sugar, butter, salt, eggs, flour. Mix well.
(3) Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Knead into a large ball. Cover; let rise 1 hour.
(4) Roll dough into a 21" x 16" wide rectangle. With the butter softened, I just use my fingers to spread it generously over the dough. Load 'er up with the filling (see below).
(5) Roll from long-side to short-side. Pinch the ends.
(6) Using very sharp knife (I prefer a serated one) cut into 1 inch wide rolls, making sixteen. If want fewer, bigger rolls, cut them wider.
(6) Grease (butter) your preferred baking pan (I like mine to be all squished up next to the other)- I generally use an 11"x 15" pan. Then place rolls in pan and into oven. Let the rolls rise for 30 minutes.
(8) Bake until the rolls are slightly browned and not doughy. This will vary according to your oven. Just don't overbake.
(9) When done, take 'em out and cover them in the delicious icing.
(10) Do I have to admonish you to "enjoy?" Surely not. Then go eat!

Filling:
While dough is rising, prepare the filling and the icing. Clean-up a little and then go read a chapter or two in your book.
(1)Soften butter, so that it is spreadable.
(2) After dough has been rolled out to the gigantic rectangle, spread the softened butter all over.
(3) Sprinkle brown sugar over entire buttered rectangle. Use more if you like more.
(4) Now sprinkle the cinnamon over the now sugary, buttery, doughy, rectangle.

Icing:

Cream it all together with an electric mixer (or by hand if you just want to exhaust yourself for some reason). Spread on hot rolls.


(Like Cinnabon). A few hints though.  If you want it really close to the real thing roll out the dough super super thin.  Ours probably had enough brown sugar and cinnamon but I think it needed more butter to make it extra gooey.  The centers seemed to be a little over sugary so you might want to experiment with putting less sugar and cinnamon on one side so when you roll it up the center doesn't get quite so much.  Also in a dark pan they cook really fast so watch them closely (I'm talking around 10 minutes in our oven).  And last which this is pretty important.  Sprinkle some flour in with your center mixture so that it thickens and doesn't all run out while it cooks.  I made the dough the night before and rolled out the rolls the next day and it seemed to work pretty good.   Makes about 12-16 rolls.  Enjoy!  They really were tasty.