MOR'S CINNAMON ROLLSS WITH RAISINS

Contributed by Florence Drummond, Sigrid Undset Lodge #32, Palo Alto, CA

  • 2 cups boiling water
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar (or fructose 1/3 cup)
  • 1 Tbsp. salt
  • 8 cups flour (bread preferred)
  • 2 eggs (beaten)
  • 1/4 cup lard (or butter)
  • 2 cakes yeast (or 2 packets)
  • 1/4 cup lukewarm water
  • 1 tsp. granulated sugar (or fructose 2/3 tsp)

Filling:

  • Granulated sugar (to taste...ca. 1/3 cup) (fructose ca. 1/4 cup)
  • Ground Cinnamon (to taste...ca. 1-2 Tbsp.)
  • Raisins (to taste, ca. 1-4 cups)

Bottom of muffin-well mixture:

  • water (amounts given below)
  • brown sugar (amounts given below) (or fructose 1/3 less than brown sugar amt.)
  • butter (amounts given below)
Mors' Cinnamon Rolls

Served up warm every Christmas morning

and great on cold winter days!

Yields: 24 rolls

Allow plenty of time to make this.

  1. In large bread bowl, mix boiling water, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, salt and lard (or butter) together; cool to lukewarm.
  2. Soften yeast cakes (or disolve active or quick rising dry yeast packets) in lukewarm water. Add 1 tsp. sugar over top of yeast mixture. Set aside in lukewarm place to raise. (Bowl should be large enough for mixture to double.)
  3. When bread bowl mixture is lukewarm and yeast has bloomed, add yeast mixture into bread bowl. Beat well. Next, add beaten eggs to bread bowl and mix well. Then, slowly stir half the flour as you beat mixture continually. Slowly stir in remaining flour by cupful until unable to mix, and then use hands to incorporate enough flour to makea smooth and elastic dough. Don't make it too moist or too tough. Knead the dough slightly so as not to warm dough (about 10 times).
  4. Grease the bread bowl with butter and add dough back and grease top of dough with additional butter or simply turn dough over once you have placed it in greased bowl. Cover bowl with dish towel and either continue or store dough in refrigerator until ready to proceed. (Dough will keep up to 3 days this way). Let dough double in size in warm area. Punch down.
  5. Divide dough into two equal pieces. Take one piece and shape it into a rectangle (about 18" x 20") using a floured rolling pin as needed. Time to place raisins into a bowl of warm water (ca. 1/2-1 cup per dough part usually used). Either brush shaped dough with melted butter, or spread softened butter over it. A light brushing works fine. [ca. 2 Tbsp. per rectangle.] Sprinkle cinnamon (in desired amount) over top of buttered dough. Drain the raisins, and sprinkle or place them evenly over dough. Roll the dough (with 21" as width) tightly and slowly up until a stick has been formed.
  6. Prepare two muffin pans (12/pan) by oiling them first. Place about 1/4 Tbsp. butter in each well. Then add 1/2-1 tsp. brown sugar per well. Finally, add about 1/2 tsp. water to each well. This will form a carmel topping during cooking that comes out on top.
  7. Take stick of filled dough and shape into a nice even roll. Divide it first in half with a knife. Then divide by cutting each half in half (making 4 1/4 pieces). For each of these pieces, cut dough into 3 even pieces. Total pieces will be 12. Place each piece into prepared muffin pan. Push any raisins down into dough if coming out. Place in warm area to raise and cover with kitchen towel. Do same with remaining dough.
  8. Allow rolls to double in size (ca. 2 hours). Preheat oven to 425°.
  9. Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Watch as they will brown quickly in last few minutes. Have a sheet of parchment or waxed paper out to invert the cooked rolls onto when they first come out of oven. Allow pan to sit on top and drip out sugar-coating. Let cool slightly and serve. Remaining cooled rolls store well in zip-lock bags for up to 3 days. When serving left-overs, either microwave for a few seconds to heat them, or place in aluminum foil in a 325 oven for about 15 minutes.
  1. The use of lard makes for a flakier dough then the butter version. Also, the use of caked yeast now can be replaced with packets of fast-rising yeast.
  2. This recipe has been handed down for four generations. Each generation has it's own version. This one is based on the third generation's verison updated to cooking norms of today.
  3. Note: The exact amounts of some ingredients, depends on your tastes. If you like things sweeter, add a heavier coating of sugar, cinnamon, raisins, butter. Also, using fructose instead of sugar means using 1/3 less the amount of sugar called for.
  4. Contact web-master for cinnamon roll pictorial guide & photo above was made [using fructose instead of the other brown/white sugar].