Don't kill the yeast!

That is my #1 concern when making any bread that has to rise. It seems unless you use a thermometer or you've been doing this a while, you will kill the yeast. This has been a horrible realization for me because I get to the easy part of letting my dough rise, and realize it isn't because I once again killed the yeast.

Today has been a lazy day for me and with the knowledge that I dont have to go to work later I decided to make cinnamon rolls. I've used this same recipe a few times and they always seem to turn out well (when I don't kill the yeast!). So enjoy and I'll write some more comments after they come out of the oven, yumm =).

Clone of a Cinnabon

Ingredients:
1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees
C)
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup margarine, melted
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened

1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese,
softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1.Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press Start.

2.After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.

3.Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

4.Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

I always read the reviews for the recipe a few times before I start making anything because I figure someone who's made the food before knows how to make it better then me.

The most important review I found was the steps to make this recipe without a bread machine. Very important to me, because.. I don't have a bread machine!

*Dissolve yeast and warm milk in a large bowl.

*Mix in sugar, margarine, salt and eggs.

*Add flour and mix well.

*Knead dough into large ball. using your hands lightly dusted with flour.

*Put in bowl, cover and let rise about 1 hour or until double in sized. Then continue on where the previous recipe left off.


I found some helpful hints like a glass pan works best. When spreading the cinnamon mixture on the dough go ahead and mix the butter, cinnamon and sugar mixture together first because if you don't the drippings will fall to the bottom of the pan. The last hint is to use a 350 degree oven rather then 400 and to cook for 20 minutes, not 15.

When I made these cinnamon rolls at school I remember the tops burning and then the middles being undercooked. So I learned and spread the rolls out more, didn't overlap them, covered them with foil for the first part and then took it off to let them brown. But then again that was with a convection oven (which cooks 25% faster due to a fan in the back), so i'll see how these rolls turn out in a regular old oven from the 70's.

Recipe Credit: Marsha Fernandez
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Clone-of-a-Cinnabon/Detail.aspx
Photo: Echo