Makes: 18
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup warm water (roughly 110 degrees)
- 2 packages dry yeast
- 2 T. sugar
- 3 1/2 oz. package vanilla instant pudding
- 1/2 cup margarine, melted
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp. salt
- 6 cups flour (plus a little more)
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- 1 lb. brown sugar
- 1/4 C. cinnamon
Directions:
- In a measuring cup combine 1/2 cup warm water (approximately 110 degrees) with 2 packages dry yeast and 1 T. sugar. (Add the sugar to the dry yeast and warm water. It makes the yeast wake up faster. It should start frothing within about 5 minutes.
- In a large bowl make the pudding according to the directions on the package. Once it starts thickening, add 2 eggs, the melted margarine, the remaining sugar, the yeast mixture, salt and mix really well.
- Add 3 cups of flour to the mixture. I use a mixer with a dough hook. It's so much easier.
- If you're doing it by hand, the mixture will start to come together with the 3 cups of flour. Just keep mixing while adding 2 more cups of flour.
- Once it's mixed, put the remaining 1 cup of flour on the surface you are using and dump the mixture on the surface and knead until smooth. This will take a about 5-7 minutes. Keep turning the dough and kneading. Pretend you're giving someone a massage. The dough will not take all of the flour on the surface you're working on. Don't worry about it. Dough only uses the flour that it needs.
- Oil (cooking oil) a large bowl and drop your ball of dough into the bowl. Flip it over and add a little more oil to the top of the ball and rub it all the way around. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise. I learned a little trick from Alton Brown. I'm sure you are wondering what the bowl is sitting on in the picture. It's a heating pad sitting inside a large casserole dish. This keeps a constant low heat on the dough and it rises much quicker.
- Once the dough has doubled, punch it down. Put about a cup of flour on your counter and turn your ball of dough out on the counter and start rolling with a rolling pin. Your finished measurement should be approximately 36" wide by 21" long.
- Once the dough is rolled out, take about 1/2- 3/4 cup of softened butter and brush it all over the dough.
- Sprinkle about 2 cups of brown sugar on the butter and then top with the cinnamon.
- Start rolling the dough into a 36" log. I use a measuring stick at this point so I cut the rolls equally.
- Each roll should be 2" wide and you should have 18 rolls when you are done. I also learned another trick. Take some sewing thread or meat twine and slice the rolls with it. Loop the thread around the dough and pull. It cuts them perfectly.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place 6 rolls in each pan. Cover and let rise until doubled in size. Pop the 3 pans in the oven and bake for about 13-15 minutes. Remove from oven and let them cool down.
Note: You will have18 rolls when you are done and it's hard to figure out what kind of
pan to put them in. After many different tries, I finally came up with using 3 brownie pans. Each pan holds 6 rolls. You don't want too many in one pan because the rolls in the middle won't cook completely and you will have a big doughy mess. Take your 3 pans and place a sheet of parchment in the bottom of the pan and place 6 rolls in each pan, cover and let rise one more time.
Now for the frosting....
Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 1/2 cup margarine (I use butter, because I can)
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 T. milk
- Place all the ingredients in a food processor and mix or beat with a beater until creamy. Frost your rolls when they have cooled and enjoy! You will get a lot of smiles out of these rolls and once they bite into them they're eyes will tell you that you did good!
