Perfectly Wonderful Cinnamon Rolls (& Orange Rolls)

We made four batches of these on Christmas Eve and delivered them to friends and let me tell you, they were delicous! I got the recipe from The Sister's Cafe and it's a keeper! The key is to not over bake them. They are just barely golden when they are done. So, don't let them get too browned. The recipe comes with a buttercream glaze but I made mine with a homemade cream cheese frosting. I also made an orange roll variation which I will post at the bottom. These were a great treat to have Christmas morning!

Cinnamon Rolls - from The Sister's Cafe
2 c. milk
2 cubes butter (1 cup)
2 pkg yeast (4 ½ tsp)
1/3 c. warm water
1 1/3 c. sugar
1 tsp salt
4 beaten large eggs
8 c. flour
Filling: 1 square softened butter & cinnamon(lots) & sugar

Heat milk and 2 cubes of butter together until butter is melted. Cool and set aside. Mix yeast and warm water; let stand 5 minutes. Add cooled milk, 1 1/3 c. sugar, 1 tsp salt, 4 beaten eggs. Add 4 c. flour and mix and gradually add 4 additional cups flour. Dough should be firm but sticky. Cover with cloth and put in a warm place, and raise 1 ½ to 2 hours. Dough should nearly be doubled in size. Divide dough in half and empty onto floured surface and knead a little. Roll dough into rectangle, about ½ inch thick. To this half of dough, spread on ½ cube of softened butter, completely covering dough. Then sprinkle a coating of sugar over entire piece of dough. Then a layer of cinnamon. Be generous with the cinnamon; this is what makes it tasty. Roll into long roll, pinch edges together and slice with dental floss. Place on a cookie sheet covered with a silpt or parchment paper. Do same thing to second half of dough. Cover with a clean dishtowel (or saran wrap sprayed with cooking spray) and put in warm place, free of drafts, for 2 to 5 hours to raise--just depends-but the should be double in size. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until barely browned. Remove from oven and let set for 5 minutes. Drizzle with glaze while still warm. Makes 3-4 dozen.

Butter Cream Glaze:
1 cube softened butter (1/2 cup)
1 tsp vanilla
dash of salt
dash of cream of tarter
1 1/2 lbs powdered sugar
scalded milk or cream

Add all together...adding milk a little at a time, alternately with the powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached. For cinnamon rolls, it needs to be a little thinner than regular icing.

We also made the orange rolls with the same dough recipe. Be generous with the orange glaze when rolls are done.

Orange Rolls

Also from the Sister's Cafe

Make dough recipe above as for cinnamon rolls but instead of the cinnamon/brown sugar filling use this orange filling.

Filling:
1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup sugar
2 T. freshly squeezed orange juice
Grated orange rind from two large oranges

Mix together and spread on dough as you would the brown sugar and cinnamon for cinnamon rolls. Roll up and make like the cinnamon rolls.

Orange Glaze:
Mix together;
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
3 T. freshly squeezed orange juice
½ tsp. grated orange rind.

Spread over cooled orange rolls