Liz makes easy cinnamon rolls

I've been wanting some homemade cinnamon rolls for a long time. My mom used to make some really tasty ones, but since I live four hours away from her now, she can't really make them for me anymore. I decided to tackle the daunting task myself, using a recipe I adapted from The Food Network and I found out that working with yeast isn't so bad at all. (After all, I've made pretzels before!) The recipe is adapted from a Paula Deen recipe, so you already know there's going to be a ton of butter. You'll see my recipe is slightly different and the icing has a nice surprise to it as well. Let's make some cinnamon rolls!

If you want to make cinnamon rolls, you'll need these things for the dough:

1/4 ounce package yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1/2 cup milk (I used vanilla soy milk, but regular milk will work too)

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter

1 teaspoon cup salt

1 egg

3 3/4 cup flour (you might need more or less depending on a multitude of factors)

You will need these things for the filling:

1/3 cup cup softened butter, plus more for pan

1/2 cup sugar, plus more for pan

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

You will need these things for the icing:

2 cups powdered sugar

4 tablespoons of butter

2 - 4 teaspoons of vanilla / caramel coffee creamer (you can use plain milk or water as well)

First, you'll need to dissolve your yeast in your warm water. Set aside.

Then you'll need to mix the rest of the dough ingredients in a bowl, starting with the milk, sugar, butter, salt and egg. Mix in two cups of the flour, then the yeast mixture, then the rest of the flour. It should look like this when you take it out of the bowl.

Set on a slightly floured surface and knead for 5-10 minutes. Put it in a greased owl, cover with saran wrap and let rise for a couple of hours or until it has doubled in size.

After it's doubled in size, roll out onto a lightly floured surface into a 15" x 9" rectangle.

Spread the softened butter onto the rectangle of dough. Then sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar.

Roll it up!

Now slice it up into 13-15 cinnamon rolls. I made 14. Here, you can use a knife, or you can do like my mom taught me ages ago to use dental floss. To do that, slide the floss under the dough, lift up and criss-cross the strings so you can make a clean cut. Using a knife tends to smoosh (is that not a word?) the dough.

Place all of the rolls into a baking pan. Let them rise for about 45 minutes!

Then bake them in a preheated 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until slightly browned. Now is the time to make the icing!

Melt the butter for 15 seconds in a microwavable cup or bowl. I used my measuring cup! Then add in rest of ingredients and stir with a fork. Perfect! When it's time, take the rolls out of the oven. They will be a hint of crispy on the outside, but cooked to perfection. It's a wonderful texture!

Slather on the icing once the rolls have cooled for a minute or two. If you were bringing this to an event or something, put all of the icing on. If you're going to eat them throughout the week (like people actually do that, am I right?) then refrigerate your icing in an airtight container and ice them right before serving.

Have a wonderful Sunday afternoon! I know I will with all of the cinnamon rolls in my kitchen. :)

-L