This is a quick and easy recipe for making instant classic, home-style warm cinnamon rolls using a soft, quick rising dough. The dough is slightly sweet, so yeasty and incredibly soft and buttery. More importantly its unbelievably super easy and fast to make by hand. It is a soft dough that you can't go wrong with!
Place 3/4 cup milk into a small saucepan over medium heat until bubbles appear. Add 1/4 cup of butter. Stir until it melts. Then remove it from the heat. Set the pan aside to allow mixture to cool until LUKEWARM.
In a large mixing bowl, place 2 1/4 cup of flour. Add sugar, salt and yeast. Stir these dry ingredients well. Then add water, egg and LUKEWARM milk mixture. Stir the mixture well. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition.
When the dough has begin to pull together into a ball, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead dough for about 5 minutes or until smooth.
Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let it rest for 10 minutes. It won't really rise in this step, it just needs a chance to let the gluten settle.
While the dough is resting, lightly greased 12 muffin cups. You can also bake these in a 9 x 13 baking pan. Then place brown sugar, ground cinnamon and soften butter in a medium size bowl. Beat the cinnamon sugar mixture until its combined well. Set aside.
Roll the dough into a 12x9 inch rectangle. Then spread the sugar cinnamon mixture on top of the rectangle. Spread it until its about 1 inch from the edges. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts. (Or raisins). Roll up the dough and pinch the seam to seal it.
Cut into 12 equal size rolls and place each roll, cut size up into a muffin cup. If you are using a baking pan, let the rolls touch each other in the pan.
Cover the rolls with a damp towel and let them rise until double in size, about 30 minutes. While the rolls are rising, preheat oven to 190 degree C (375 degree F).
Place the rolls in the oven. Make sure to place a baking sheet underneath to catch any drips. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until browned. Remove muffin pan to wire rack to cool 5 minutes. Then remove rolls from muffin cups to cool. Serve warm.
If you bake the rolls in a 9x13 inch pan, you need to increase the baking time to 25 - 30 minutes. You can also make a cream cheese icing to spread over the rolls.