Recipe: Collection: Cinnamon Rolls with Variations

"The following is a collection of Cinnabon variations posted by Linda Magee. She started with the basic recipe, then did lots of experimenting and graciously shared the results with us."
From: B. Keith Ryder/rec.food.cooking

I think the "yellow" color of the rolls was due to the eggs, and, possibly, the vanilla pudding. This is supposedly a clone of "Cinnabon's" rolls. I've not tasted Cinnabon's, but I have made them several times; they're delicious. Hope you have lots of room to stretch the dough. Stephanie Ramsey is the woman who formulated the recipe, someone else made variations. Oh, I prefer the "Sticky Bun" version...don't care for cream cheese frosting.

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STEPHANIE RAMSEY'S CINNAMON ROLLS
(Makes 20 very large rolls)

1/2 cup warm water (105- to 110-degrees)
2 pkg active dry yeast
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 (3-1/2-oz.) pkg instant vanilla pudding
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp salt
8 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup butter, melted

In small bowl, combine water, yeast and sugar. Stir until dissolved. Set aside.

In large bowl, make pudding mix according to package directions. Add butter, eggs and salt; mix well. Add theyeast mixture; blend. Gradually add flour and knead until smooth.

Place in very large greased bowl. Cover and let rise until double in bulk (about 1 hour).

Punch down and let rise again (about 45 minutes).

On a lightly floured surface, roll out to a 34" x 21"rectangle. Spread 1 cup of melted butter over surface.

TOPPING:
2 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
4 tsp cinnamon

In small bowl, mix brown sugar and cinnamon together. Sprinkle all over top of surface. Roll up very tightly.

With a knife, put a notch every 2 inches. With string or thread, place under roll by notch and criss-cross over tocut roll (makes a nice clean cut).

Place on greased baking pan, 2-inches apart. Lightly press rolls down with your hands (just a LITTLE, it helps to holdthem together better).

Cover and let rise until double again.

Bake at 350-degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. Take them out when they JUST start to turn golden. DON'T OVER BAKE! Frost warm rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tbs milk, just enough to fluff (approx)

Combine all ingredients and mix until smooth. Spread on verywarm rolls. Rolls are best when served warm.

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Here's the first version (my fav). My mom had a garbage (akagarage) sale and I sold the rolls (free coffee, of course):) for $1.00 each and sold all of them. One guy bought one,headed to his car before tasting it and came back for 2 more...tell you how good they are?

CINNABON CARAMEL STICKY ROLLS

1 recipe stephanie ramsey's cinnabon rolls
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
9 tbs light corn syrup
1 cup pecans or walnuts, coarsely chopped nuts

In a sauce pan or in your microwave oven combine butter, brown sugar and corn syrup. Heat and stir until blended. Pour topping into the bottom of the pan (pans) you are using for the rolls, place unbaked cinnamon rolls on top on the caramel sauce.

Allow to rise in a warm place until double in size (about 1hour).

Preheat oven to 350-degrees.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly brown. After removing pans from oven, cover with foil; invert onto cooling racks, cool 1 minute, and remove pan. Cool before serving.

You could cut Stephanie's dough in half and also cut thec aramel sauce in half, and make half Caramel rolls and half of the frosted rolls, or still you could make the other half the Cinnabon Bubble loaf too, or just make a big batch of the Cinnabon sticky rolls!!!!!!!! So many options!!

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CINNABON APPLE NUT BUBBLE LOAF

1/2 recipe stephanie ramsey's cinnabon dough
1 cup brown sugar
3 tsp cinnamon
1 cup pecans or walnuts, finely chopped
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 or 2 green apples, peeled & chopped

Make Stephanie's cinnabon dough recipe up to second rising.

In a medium bowl combine brown sugar and cinnamon, stir in ground nuts, set aside. In another medium size bowl, melt butter in microwave.

Divide dough into four pieces, take each 4th and pinch off about a one inch part, roll into a smooth ball, dip into butter, then roll in brown sugar mixture, place in a greased loaf pan or bundt pan. Continue til bottom of pan is covered with balls, sprinkle chopped apples on top and continuer olling balls in butter and brown sugar and layer them on top of other balls. Leave enough room in pan (pans?) for rising.

Place in a warm place and allow to double in size.

Preheat oven to 350-degrees.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until just starting to turn brown. After baking cool, and drizzle Stephanie's cream cheese frosting over top of balls, adding a little more milk to frosting recipe so it will pour Can be served warm or cold. We like to reheat ours in the microwave!!!!

P.S. You can omit the apples and or nuts and the cinnamon balls are great too.

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APPLE RAISIN ROLLS WITH MAPLE BUTTER GLAZE (CINNABON CLONE)
(Makes 20 very large rolls)

1/2 cup warm water (105- to 110-degrees)
2 pkg active dry yeast
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 (3-1/2-oz.) pkg instant vanilla pudding
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp salt
8 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup butter, melted
5 (8- or 9-inch ) square baking pans, greased (i used those flimsy aluminum pans * or whatever size pan works for you--my oven temperature could be off)

In small bowl, combine water, yeast and sugar. Stir until dissolved. Set aside.

In large bowl, make pudding mix according to package directions. Add butter, eggs and salt; mix well. Add theyeast mixture; blend. Gradually add flour and knead until smooth. * You can also use "cooked" pudding (cooled);actually, that's what _I_ use--can't stand instant anything. Don't use HOT pudding, or it will kill the yeast. Cool it to within 105- and 115-degrees.

Place in very large greased bowl. Cover and let rise until double in bulk (about 1 hour).

Punch down and let rise again (about 45 minutes).

On a lightly floured surface, roll * (actually, "stretch" out to an approx.--I don't measure EXACTLY, 34" x 21"rectangle. Spread 1 cup of melted (*COOLED TO ROOMTEMPERATURE) butter over surface to within about 1/2 an inch from the edge (not any closer or your rolls will not stay together) (*you could use room temperature butter and spread it over the dough) I cut off any excess dough from the edge I'll be rolling from, the FAT dough doesn't make for easy rolling.

TOPPING:
2 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
3 tbsp cinnamon (you can use less--we like lots)
1 1/2 cups raisins, plumped
2 medium granny smith apples, peeled, grated

While the dough is rising the second time, place the raisins into a bowl and cover with hot water; let stand for about 15minutes. Drain well, then blot with a tea towel or paper towels to remove excess moisture; set aside.

Preheat oven to 350-degrees.

In small bowl, mix brown sugar and cinnamon together (*if your brown sugar has lumps in it break the lumps up with afork). Sprinkle all over top of surface. Grate the apple over the top, making sure to cover the entire area. Scatterthe raisins over the top.

Starting at the long end of the dough, roll up tightly. I have a plastic (rubber?) tablecloth that I put onto my kitchen table. It makes it a little easier to roll out.

With a knife, put a notch every 2 inches. With string or thread, place under roll by notch and criss-cross over tout roll (makes a nice clean cut). I found that when Rolled the dough, it stretched out wider, that's probably where it gets close to 40" wide (2" per roll). Also, Didn't measure EXACTLY 2" per roll, they were close though. I ended up with 20 rolls, even after cutting the very ends off (they were not much more than dough).

Place 4 rolls per pan (NO MORE) into greased baking pans,2-inches apart. Lightly press rolls down with your hands(just a LITTLE, it helps to hold them together better). I've received several emails saying they've used everything from jellyroll pans to lasagna pans; I've experimented and found that the square pans (4 rolls per pan) worked best for me, but that could be because of my oven...who knows. Use whatever size pan works for you.

Cover and let rise until double again, 1/2 hour to 45minutes.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes. Take them out when they JUST start to turn golden. DON'T OVER BAKE! Frost warm rolls with Maple Butter Glaze. * I baked this batch (actually, forgot about them) until they were "brown", not "lightly browned"...worked fine, the weren't dry at all; actually, I liked them better.

MAPLE BUTTER GLAZE

3 cups powdered sugar
1 tbsp milk, just enough to make the glaze barely pourable
1 tsp maple butter flavor (i used watkin's brand)

Combine all ingredients and mix until smooth. Spread on very warm rolls. Rolls are best when served warm.

OK, storing these babies. You can freeze the unbaked rolls and bake later. Allow to rise (room temperature), until they're double in bulk (after freezing), then bake per recipe directions. Another woman said she refrigerated the dough overnight, then baked them in the morning. She said that they weren't as "fluffy" as the ones that were baked right away. To reheat (frosted) rolls, pop one into the microwave (on HIGH)for about 20 seconds, or until warm. Don't overheat or they'll dry out (or get soggy--depending on which version you're using). My guess is that freezing retards rising, there-fore the rolls rise/bake better after freezing. We'll see after this Thursday (when I bake my 2 pans). I WISH folks would post their results publicly, so I don't have to fill in all the blanks.

This recipe IS a learning experience. I HOPE I've not left any DETAILS out!

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APPLE-COT PINEAPPLE ROLLS WITH APPLE-LEMON GLAZE
(aka Cinnabon clone new version)
(Makes 20 very large rolls)

1/2 cup warm water (105- to 110-degrees)
2 pkgs active dry yeast
2 tbs granulated sugar
1 (3-1/2-oz.) pkg instant vanilla pudding
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 large eggs, beaten
1 tsp salt
8 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter, melted (1 stick)
5 (8- or 9-inch) square baking pans, greased

In a small bowl, combine water, yeast and sugar. Stir until dissolved. Set aside.

In a large bowl, make pudding mix according to package directions. Add butter, eggs and salt; mix well. Add the yeast mixture; blend. Gradually add flour and knead until smooth. I initially add 7-1/2 cups of the flour and knead, adding the remaining flour by "sprinkles", until the dough is soft and silky feeling, but no longer sticky.

Place in very large greased bowl. Cover and let rise until double in bulk (about 1 hour).

Punch down and let rise again (about 45 minutes).

FILLING:
1 (40 oz) pkg dried apricots
1 (8 oz) can pineapple (crushed), with juice
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 (6 oz) can pineapple-orange juice (dole brand)
3/4 cup water
1 medium granny smith apple, peeled and grated
2 tbsp butter or margarine
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp water
2 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
2 tbsp cinnamon

Using kitchen scissors or a knife, cut the apricots into small pieces. If the apricots are small, cut them in half, if they're big, cut them into quarters.

In a medium saucepan combine the apricots, pineapple, sugar, pineapple-orange juice, water, apple and butter. Cook over LOW heat, stirring occasionally, for about10-15 minutes, or until the apricots are soft. Mix the cornstarch and 1 TBSP water together; add to the mixture and stir in. Cook until the mixture is a bit thick. Set aside to cool completely. I made the filling while the dough was on it's first rising.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out to a 40" x 21"rectangle (DOESN'T have to be EXACT). The dough is VERY elastic and I usually have to stretch it once I've gotten my rectangular shape (after using the rolling pin). If,by chance you poke a hole in it, take a small piece of dough and patch it. Again, you can cut the dough in half and roll each half out to about 10" x 21". Spread 1/2 cup of melted butter over surface.

In a small bowl, mix brown sugar and cinnamon together. Sprinkle all over top of surface. As evenly (as possible), spread the apricot-apple-pineapple mixture over the dough.

Starting at the LONG edge of the dough, roll up very tightly. With a knife, put a notch every 2 inches. With string or thread, place under roll by notch and criss-cross over to cut roll (makes a nice clean cut).

Place 4 rolls in into each baking pan, 2-inches apart. Lightly press rolls down with your hands (just a LITTLE, it helps to hold them together better).

Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place, until double again.

Bake at 350-degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. Take them out when they turn golden brown.

Frost warm rolls with APPLE-LEMON GLAZE

APPLE-LEMON GLAZE
(Makes about 2 cups)

4 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
6 tbsp apple juice concentrate, frozen/defrosted
2-3 tbsp lemon juice (fresh)
1 lemon rind, grated (yellow part only)
2 tbsp butter, softened (do not melt)
1/2 tsp lemon extract

Combine all ingredients and mix until smooth. Sorry, I didn't measure every EXACTLY, just added the lemon juice until the mixture was thick--thicker than runny, but not as thick as regular "frosting". I tasted as I went--when it tasted good to me, it's done!