90 Minute Cinnimon Rolls

Time Needed: 90 minutes (hence, the post name)
Level of difficulty: easy
Materials needed: 3/4 cup milk, 1/4 cup margarine, softened, 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, 1 (.25 ounce) package instant yeast, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 cup water, 1 egg, 1 cup brown sugar, packed, 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 cup margarine, softened, 1/2 cup raisins (optional)

For your information:
yield: 12
original recipe found at allrecipes.com

Directions

1. Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Mix in margarine; stir until melted. Let cool until lukewarm.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 1/4 cup flour, yeast, sugar and salt; mix well. Add water, egg and the milk mixture; beat well. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has just pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 5 minutes.
3. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, cinnamon, softened margarine.
4. Roll out dough into a 12x9 inch rectangle. Spread dough with margarine/sugar mixture. Sprinkle with raisins if desired. Roll up dough and pinch seam to seal. Cut into 12 equal size rolls and place cut side up in 12 lightly greased muffin cups. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until browned. Remove from muffin cups to cool. Serve warm

Notes

The recipe yields 12 rolls. If you need more/less, the website that I've linked above has a feature that will do all of the conversions for you, which I think is awesome.

Instead of raisins, I put in an apple, which I peeled and diced. This I sprinkled atop the cinnamon. Apples and cinnamon are a delicious combo anyway, and the apples make for a really moist cinnamon roll. While this recipe may be new, the use of apples is definitely an old trick of mine.

When cutting the rolls to place in the muffin tin, I find it helpful to cut the whole thing in half at first, then cut the halfs in half, then cut those into thirds. This helps me to ensure the rolls are roughly the same size rather than just going for it and ending up with all sorts of odd shapes.

I recommend setting the muffin tin atop a cookie sheet. Why? Well, the cinnamon sugar mixture likes to get all bubbly and ooze out. Rather than having this hit my oven floor and start a smoke/fire extravaganza, I will deign to clean another pan.

The recipe doesn't have frosting listed anywhere. The rolls are good, but come on. Cinnamon rolls without icing? Yeah right. I did a cream cheese frosting, which is basically made with a splash of vanilla, a somewhat larger splash of milk, 1/2 packet of cream cheese (I use the 1/3 less fat kind personally) softened, and as much powdered sugar as it takes to make that stuff the consistency you want. This I beat with the hand mixer till I feel good about it. Use whatever frosting you'd like, or look one up online - there's about a bajillion of them.

I used butter rather than margarine in my recipe because I like butter better for baking, and they turned out great. However, since the original calls for margarine, I'm gonna go with you're safe to use either one and have a delicious, quick, easy to do end product.