My Early Christmas Gift!!!!!!!!!!

I am sooooo excited!!! (You can tell by the !!!!!!!!!!!!)

I have been wanting a Kitchenaid mixer for years and I finally got one this past weekend.

It is the Professional series and came with a whisk, bread hook and beater. I love it!

I put it to good use yesterday evening when I made some homemade cinnamon rolls. YUM! These cinnamon rolls are so good and gooey and I use the Cinn*abon icing recipe to frost them. I baked 12 of them last night for our family, put another dozen in the fridge, then baked them this morning to take to work. My house smells heavenly!

Here is the recipe:

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Rolls
2 pkgs dry yeast
1 cup warm water (105-110)
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup boiling water
2 eggs well beaten
about 6 cups self rising flour (I actually used 7)
1/4 cup butter softened (I used 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I didn't use any nuts)
1 teaspoon cinnamon (I'm sure I used more)

Dissolve yeast in warm water, and set mixture aside.
Cream shortening and 1/2 cup butter; gradually add sugar and boiling water, beating well. Cool mixture to lukewarm. Add the yeast mixture, eggs and 2 cups of flour; beat at low speed with electric mixter until smooth. Stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and refrigerate over night. (I didn't do this as I wanted the cinnamon rolls last night so I let it rise until doubled in bulk and proceed with the recipe)
Roll dough to a 24x18 rectangle on a lightly floured surface, (again I changed the reicpe by dividing dough in half and working with 1/2 at a time). Spread with 1/4 cup butter evenly over the dough. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle evenly over the dough. Roll jelly roll fashion starting with a long end. Pinch edges to seal. Cut roll into 1" slices, place slices cut side down on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Cover and let rise 1 hour or until doubled. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Spread glaze over while warm. Yield 2 dozen.

Cinn*bon glaze recipe: ( I only made 1/2 of this recipe and had a ton leftover!!)

1 lb. butter
1 lb. cream cheese
2 lbs. powdered sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Allow butter and cream cheese to come to room temperature. Beat together in a bowl with a mixer. Gradually added the sugar. Beat the mixture for 12 minutes (I'm not kidding, this is what the recipe said. Again, I improvised and just beat it for about 6 minutes). When done add the lemon juice and vanilla extract and mix well.


Hope everyone has a great Wednesday!
Linda