Mackenzie's Cinnamon Rolls

Thank you to Miss Married Mack for sharing her recipe for those soft, buttery, and somehow magically light cinnamon rolls she would so graciously bestow upon her oh-so-grateful roomies back in the Casa. Whenever I make these I think of the wondrous times we shared together, from decorating the Casa for Christmas (complete with paper X-mas tree and fireplace) to watching the garbage trucks trundle up from the depths of Whitman at sunrise, letting us know that we'd made it through yet another long night of thesis-writing.

I've adapted the recipe slightly to include whole wheat flour and Splenda, but no matter how you make them, I'm telling you: you will never want to buy another pre-made cinnamon bun again.

Ingredients

Dough:

2 pkgs. yeast (2 T)

2 cups warm water

2 tsps. salt

1/4 cup sugar (or Splenda)

4 T oil (1/4 cup)

5 cups flour (Mackenzie's recipe calls for white flour, but I used 1/2 white, 1/2 whole wheat)

Filling:

2 Tb unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup sugar (don't sub in Splenda here!)

1 Tb ground cinnamon

~1/4 cup molasses

Pyrex baking pan

Directions: 

1. Dissolve yeast into warm water in a large bowl.

2. Add flour, sugar or Splenda, salt, and oil. Mix by hand until the dough comes together, and knead to form a medium dough (not too soft or too hard).

3. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into the shape of a rectangle, to a thickness of about 1/2 inch.

4. Brush the dough with melted butter. Mix together cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl (using more of less cinnamon depending on your taste) and sprinkle over the buttered dough.

5. Starting with a short edge of the dough, roll lengthwise to form the cinnamon roll log. Once you have formed the log, cut into rolls, about 1 inch wide (or wider, depending on how tall you want the rolls to be).

6. Drizzle the bottom of the baking pan with molasses. Arrange cinnamon rolls on the pan (I prefer to have them not touching if possible), and sprinkle the top with any remaining cinnamon sugar mix. You can also drizzle a little molasses (or pomegranate molasses!) on top.

7. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until rolls have risen and are a light golden brown color.