a new tradition

I started a tradition last year with these cinnamon rolls. Or perhaps I should say, I continued a tradition with these rolls. This recipe comes from Brad's grandmother. I never got the chance to meet either of his dad's parents, but I've heard many stories and I have a feeling we would have gotten along great.

For my bridal shower, each guest brought a recipe to share to add to my collection of recipes. I loved this because I ended up with quite a grand array of recipes. Brad's Aunt Jean passed this recipe onto me and after letting it intimidate me for our first 2 Christmases together, I decided to give it a shot last year. I used skim milk and didn't squish the rolls together in a pan (as seen below) instead letting them spread out on a cookie sheet...they turned out fine and quite tasty, just not as pretty as I imagined. This year I splurged and bought organic whole milk (something tells me Brad's grandmother didn't use skim either), I think it made all the difference.

They were delicious and moist and cinnamon-y and just tasted like Christmas. I made the dough 2 nights before Christmas (it has to chill overnight), then rolled it out and baked them on Christmas Eve morning, this way everyone in Brad's family could enjoy them on Christmas morning.

Grandma's Cinnamon Rolls

1/4 C warm water

1 t sugar

1 package of yeast

Stir in small bowl til dissolved

4 C Flour

1 t salt

1/4 C sugar

Combine in large bowl. Cut 1 C of butter into flour.

1 C milk, scalded and cooled to lukewarm.

2 eggs, beaten add to milk - also add yeast mixture.

Stir into flour. Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight.

Combine 1 C sugar, 1 T cinnamon & 1/4 t nutmeg.

Melt 1/2 C butter.

Roll out 1/2 of dough to a 12" x 18" rectangle on a floured surface.

Brush dough with butter, sprinkle 1/2 of sugar mixture over dough. Roll into a tight roll, cut into 1" slices. Place in greased 9" round cake pan (I used a springform, worked great). Flatten with palm of hand. Bake at 350 degrees until brown (about 1/2 hour). Spread frosting over rolls while still warm.

Frosting

1 C powdered sugar

2 T crisco

1 T milk

1/2 t vanilla