Christmas Morning Cinnamon Rolls

Every Christmas morning, we have cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  We place them in the shape of a cross with three candles across.  Then we sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus and the younger boys blow out the candles. 
This is by far our favorite recipe.  We've used it for a couple of years now and it's a great hit!  It yields 24 rolls, so, to my brothers' great disappointment (they love leftovers! :), we are going to 1/2 the recipe from now on.  :)
I like to make these the day before and refrigerate them overnight.  I let them finish rising in the morning and then bake them.  This makes everything less crazy on Christmas morning.  :)


Ingredients:

Dough:

1 C milk
1/2 C (1 stick) butter
1 C water
1 Tbsp active dry yeast
1 C white sugar
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
6 C flour (Last time I made this recipe, I used 1/3 wheat flour and they turned out amazing!)

Filling:

3 tsp ground cinnamon
2 C dark brown sugar
1/2 C butter, softened

Topping:

2 C confectioners' sugar

1 (3 oz) package cream cheese, softened

1 Tbsp butter, softened

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3 Tbsp milk

Directions: (I've made some slight changes from the original recipe and added in my own comments.)

Warm the milk in a small saucepan, stirring occasionally, until it bubbles, then remove from heat.  mix in the butter and stir until melted.  Add the water and let cool until lukewarm.

In a large bowl (I use a Kitchen Aid stand mixer, fitted with the dough hook) combine the milk mixture, yeast, white sugar, salt, eggs, and 2 C flour.  Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 C at a time, beating well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes (the mixer does most of this for me!).

Divide the dough into 2 pieces. Roll each piece into a 12x9 inch rectangle (I usually make it larger). In a bowl, mix the cinnamon and brown sugar.  Spread each piece with half of the butter and half of the cinnamon/brown sugar mixture.  (I mix all three ingredients together and dot the dough with the mixture.)  Roll up the dough, using a little water to seal the seam. 

Cut each roll into 12 slices using dental floss or a very sharp knife (I find that a sharp serrated knife works best.).  Place rolls into two well greased 9x13 baking pans.  Cover and let rise until almost doubled, about one hour.  Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. 

To make frosting; mix the confectioners' sugar, cream cheese, butter and vanilla.  Add milk gradually until frosting reaches spreading consistency.  Spread over warm (but not hot) cinnamon rolls.  Be generous!  :)

ENJOY!

I made the smile and Elijah took care of the nose!  :-) 

Sorry the color is so funny.  They looked much better in real life. 

And...the finished product.