Best Ever Cinnamon Rolls

Best Ever Cinnamon Rolls, Adapted from my Grandma's Cinnamon Twists.

Happy Labor Day friends! I hope that you all are having a wonderful holiday weekend, and for those of you with a 3 day weekend I hope you're making the most of it and having fun!  We only get our standard farm weekend... Sunday. Haha! Oh well, we had a wonderful time yesterday relaxing and chowing down on some fabulous food. And you know me, no weekend would be complete without a delicious morsel of yummy baked goodness to go with my morning up of coffee (I say morning because there is also the afternoon cup, and early evening cup... hehe!) This week I decided (at the VERY last minute) to whip up a batch of cinnamon rolls, but not just any rolls, I wanted to take a recipe that was my Grandma's for Cinnamon Twists and change it up a little and make rolls instead. Sometimes I love my brain.

I know the title says Best Ever in it, I hate doing that, honestly I do. But when my little Sous Chef took a bite and immediately made yummy noises and then promptly announced "These are the BEST EVER Cinnamon Rolls Mommy!! You have to post about them, go take a picture!" I knew that I really had to include it in the title. lol! Pleasing a 3 year old's palate is the hardest thing to do if you ask me, so when you hit a home run with it the feeling of success is overwhelming. We were so pleased with how these came out to be completely honest with you, cinnamon rolls are not something I make very often. Probably about once a year, and as soon as I start I remember instantly why I hadn't made them in a year, because let's face it homemade cinnamon rolls may be good, but they are a royal pain in the rear. But these? Let me tell you, it only took me 30 minutes to get the dough made, rolled out, coated in cinnamon-sugary goodness, cut and in the oven to rise. I'm not kidding. Then after a fairly short rising time they baked... SO freaking easy! I know I have found my new go to Cinnamon Roll recipe, this is the one that will become a new family Holiday tradition. Christmas Morning will be better because of these rolls... haha! *Channeling Christmas time....*

"Sleigh bells ring, are you listening? 

In the lane, snow is glistening. 

A beautiful sight, we're happy tonight... 

Walking in a winter wonderland!"

Yes, yes I did just sing a little Christmas song. Yes I also danced around in my chair whilst singing it. You know you wanna join in song and go bake yourself some of these. I promise I won't tell... ;-) Merry Cinnamon Roll Day! (hehe! and Happy Labor Day too!)

Ingredients:
Dough:
1 cup non-fat sour cream
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast (or one package)
1/4 cup warm water
1 egg
2 tablespoons soft shortening
3 cups flour

Filling:
2 tablespoons soft butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
dash of cinnamon
2 tablespoons milk

 Directions:
Heat sour cream to lukewarm in a large pan.  Remove from heat and stir in sugar, spices, baking soda and salt. In a separate container dissolve the yeast into the warm water to activate the yeast. Once activated add that to the sour cream mixture. Add egg, shortening, and flour to the mixture. Mix well, use hands if necessary. Turn dough on floured board or counter and knead until smooth. Roll the dough into an oblong 24 x 12". Spread the butter over the whole thing, then sprinkle evenly with the sugar mixture. Starting at one end, tightly roll up pinching the seam together. Cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls into either 2 cake pans, or one 13x9 pan. Cover and let rise until doubled in size about 1/2 hour (heat oven to 200 Degrees for about a minute and then shut off, this will be warm enough to raise the dough). Once risen, remove from the oven and preheat to 350F degrees, and bake for 15 minutes or until slightly golden and the center is firm. In a bowl combine the glaze ingredients and glaze the rolls while still warm. Serve warm.

Review:
I will never make another cinnamon roll as long as I live. I've found my recipe, we love it and I hope you will too! They are flakey, but not so much that they fall apart. Moist (thanks to the sour cream) and so sticky and gooey with cinnamon goodness... And the absolutely best part?!? They are ONLY 207 calories a piece... All put together and this recipe get 5 stars.

Happy Baking!