Cinnamon rolls are fun to make with children of all ages because

• they can help rub the butter,
• sprinkle the sugar and spices, and
• even roll up some of the buns in spirals.

When you bake with children, use the kitchen table so they have room to help. However, when busy, you can do the measuring and let the children help with sprinkling or shaping, just to save time–it depends on how much teaching you want to do.

When you use our farm’s pasture-raised eggs, the rolls have more moisture and richness. Our farm avoids soy and has no-GMOs, so it helps me feel better about what I bake, especially since soy is a common allergen for people with eggs–it makes ours easier to digest.

Save time and make these in the afternoon before for a special breakfast treat and fun time together. –You can put the icing on right before serving or not.

Christmas Morning Cinnamon Rolls

Dough Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 or 2 large Asper Family Farm pasture-raised eggs plus enough water to make 1 cup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons softened butter (We like SC’s Happy Cow Butter the best.)

Filling:

• 1/4 cup soft butter
• 3/4 cup sugar mixed with 1 TB cinnamon (I’ll end up just using about half or 3/4 of this just so its not too sweet)
• optional: 1/2 cup pecans or chocolate chips or raisins

Icing (optional):

• 3 TB heavy cream or water
• 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
• OR just use cream cheese instead of icing

Step By Step Instructions

1. Mix dough ingredients and let rise in covered, greased bowl until double in size, about 1 – 1 1/2 hours
2. Roll on greased parchment paper or silicone mat until a big rectangle like 11×20 inches. (I take a butter wrapper and rub the surface to grease it and use up extra butter on the wrapper. A really special “farm friend” gave me these silicone mats from Wal-mart.)
3. Let children help rub the softened butter over the dough. Then sprinkle with sugar and spice and everything nice (toppings).
4. TIP: Cut in 1 inch strips and then roll each up in a spiral. Set spiral side up in a cast iron skillet, pie pan, whatever, and don’t leave too much space in between.
5. Let rise again covered with a clean kitchen towel in a warm place until they’re quite puffy–may be 1 hour–depends on the warmth.
6. Bake at 350F for 20 – 25 minutes until the tops are golden.
7. Let cool for 10 minutes in pan.

Icing: ONCE COOL, mix ingredients and spread overtop–add water to icing if you need it thinner.

Tips if wanting more protein and less sugar: Reduce sugar amount by 1/3 and use more pecans to up the protein. You can substitute plain cream cheese instead of frosting. You could also use 2 eggs for more protein, and add milk instead of water at that step, but still have the one cup of liquid.

I hope this recipe is a blessing to you and your family.