These CINNAMON RAISIN ROLLS are sweet, fluffy, and melt in your mouth! They are perfect for a weekend breakfast, Christmas brunch, or to take as a holiday gift to friends and neighbors!
Three more sleeps until Christmas!!!!
I shared this recipe as a guest post on my cousin Becky’s blog a few years ago, but they are too good not to share again! Becky and I share a great-grandmother, Adeline, and this her recipe. As a farmer’s wife, they lived off the land and she made everything from scratch, so you KNOW this recipe is a gem.
Fluffy, fresh-baked dough with a gooey cinnamon-sugar filling and a sweet glaze. These are perfect for a weekend breakfast, Christmas brunch, or to take as a holiday gift to friends and neighbors!
A few helpful recipe tips before you get started:
- If you’ve never worked with yeast before, don’t worry, it’s actually easy! All you need to do is pour the packet into lukewarm water, let it sit for a few minutes, then stir to dissolve. Here are a few additional tips when working with yeast.
- Kneading your dough develops gluten strands in the flour, which holds in the gases released by your yeast (i.e. a bread with good volume!) If you’ve never kneaded dough before, check out this video (skip to 50 seconds) and these tips.
- Your dough needs a warm place to rise. Grease it with vegetable oil, cover it with a towel, and put it in your oven (turned off). Get a 9X13 pan, fill it with hot water, and place it in the oven on the bottom rack under your dough. Your yeast will love this environment and your dough will rise, woohoo! 🙂
I’m so excited to spend time with friends and family this weekend and celebrate Christmas. I also plan to spend time in the kitchen doing some holiday baking, and these cinnamon raisin rolls are at the top of my list! Actually, they are on my all-time favorites list, but it’s best I make them only during the holidays. My waistline appreciates it.
Speaking of the holidays and this crazy, busy season, I want to share a few words of encouragement if you are feeling exhausted, over-scheduled, and simply not enough.
I’ve caught myself multiple times the past few weeks scrolling through Instagram and seeing everyone’s “perfect” photos and comparing myself. Or when I haven’t been able to get my to-do list completed, feeling a bit of a failure. That “I’m not a good enough wife/friend/employee/writer/housekeeper/etc.” feeling creeps in too often, and sometimes I feel like I just don’t measure up.
The truth is though, I am not enough on my own.
But thankfully, this season also reminds me of the greatest gift of all… the birth of Jesus. And because of this beautiful gift, we are more than enough. Because of Jesus, we are Redeemed (Romans 5:11). Chosen (Col. 3:12). Blameless (Col.1:22). Complete (Col. 2:10).
So whether you make homemade cinnamon rolls or pop open a can of Pillbury rolls (those are good too), I hope you will rest in those truths. Praise God for the Greatest Gift, and Merry Christmas to you and your family!!
Cinnamon Raisin Rolls
These CINNAMON RAISIN ROLLS are sweet, fluffy, and melt in your mouth! They are perfect for a weekend breakfast, Christmas brunch, or to take as a holiday gift to friends and neighbors!
Ingredients
Dough:
- 3 cups flour
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons shortening
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 2 eggs room temperature and beaten
- Vegetable or Canola oil
Filling:
- 4-6 tablespoons butter softened
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 cup raisins optional
Icing:
- 2-3 c confectioners' sugar
- 4 tablespoons butter melted and cooled
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2-4 tablespoons milk
Instructions
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Sift flour and measure 3 cups in a large bowl. Set aside.
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Scald the milk (heat over medium-low, stirring constantly, until steam and bubbles form around the edges of the pan- don’t let it boil). Remove from heat and transfer to mixing bowl.
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Add sugar, salt, and shortening and mix until smooth (I use paddle attachment on mixer for 30 seconds to 1 minute). Set aside and let mixture cool to lukewarm.
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While milk mixture is cooling, add one packet of yeast to ¼ cup lukewarm water and let sit for 3 - 5 minutes. Stir to dissolve.
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Add yeast mixture and the beaten eggs to lukewarm milk mixture and beat until combined.
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With mixer on low speed, add flour and gradually (about 1/2 cup at a time) until dough forms together.
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Remove the dough onto lightly floured surface and knead by hand until smooth and springy (about 8 minutes).
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Place dough into bowl greased with vegetable oil and make sure dough ball is greased. Cover with a towel and let rise in warm place until doubled in bulk, about one hour (yeast activates in a warm place, so put it in my turned off oven with a 9x13 pan filled with hot water on the bottom rack).
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Optional step: After doubled in size, tightly cover and place in refrigerator for 30 minutes to make rolling out dough easier. You can also let it sit in the fridge overnight to break up the steps.
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Grease 2 8-inch round pans generously with butter.
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With a rolling pin, roll dough into rectangle on floured surface (about 1/4 inch thick).
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Spread softened butter over surface of dough. Mix sugar and cinnamon and evenly sprinkle over dough. Sprinkle raisins evenly on top.
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Tightly roll dough into a log and pinch the seam together.
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Cut into 1-inch thick slices. Place 6 rolls in each pan (do not overcrowd- they will expand while rising). Cover with a towel and place in a warm place for about an hour.
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Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 12-16 minutes or until lightly browned on top (watch carefully).
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While rolls are baking, combine all ingredients and whisk together until smooth. Add milk until desired consistency (less for thicker icing, more milk for thinner constituency).
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After rolls have baked, remove from pan immediately.
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Ice while warm and ENJOY!
Recipe Notes
You can bake the rolls and then freeze (reheat in oven and then ice).
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