Cinnamon rolls the easy way

Thanksgiving morning. A full day of family and food lies ahead. For me, Thanksgiving is like the Super Bowl of food. All year long I start planning what new treat I will bring to share or how I can put a spin on an old favorite. My family speaks love by filling each others tummies until bursting. Many feasts have ended with a table that looked almost untouched, despite the sighs of satisfaction coming from those around it. My brain is spinning just thinking of everything I get to make today, but that comes later.

For now, all is quiet in the house. How to pull everyone out of bed? ( and am I sure I really want that?....) The cousins are awake and waiting for our arrival. Let's get moving!

Fresh baked CINNAMON ROLLS! They are about the easiest hot breakfast I have made. All it take as is 3 ingredients and a few minutes of assembly. Honestly, the hardest part is remembering to have the ingredients on hand. If I watch the grocery store sales I can whip up a dozen rolls for less than $5.

Item #1:  a bag frozen cinnamon roll dough (12 count). I have used many different brands, Rhodes and HyVee are the easiest for me to get my hands on here.

Item #2: a box of vanilla cook-and-serve pudding . I have used instant pudding in a pinch. It works OK but doesn't melt into the butter and become the rich luscious glaze like the cook-and-serve does.

Item #3: a stick of butter. DO NOT USE MARGARINE!! Butter is a must here. The higher water content of margarine will sog your rolls, and nobody likes a soggy roll.

That's it. The combination of those 3 simple items will change your breakfast life. You can either assemble them before bed to be baked in the morning or you can let them rise until doubled and bake them same day.

Here's how.

Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and place your frozen roll dough in. Sprinkle the pudding mix over the rolls and pour the stick of melted butter over that. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and pop it in the fridge. (Tip: tear off your piece of plastic wrap and lay it on the counter top, spray it with cooking spray and then cover your rolls with it- sprayed side down of course. That way, when you pull the wrap off of your pan of risen rolls, the wrap comes off without messing up your dough.) Go to bed.

In the morning, pull out your rolls and preheat your oven to 350.

When you pull off the plastic wrap it should look like this. See how the butter and pudding made a glaze?




Bake them 15-20 minutes on the middle shelf of the oven, until they rise and turn golden.



I'm not sure what happened with that one roll in the middle row. It tasted good though. My youngest volunteered to eat that one, just in case it was sub par. It was not and he was happy. He did, however, make a case that he should really get a second roll since the volume was not equal to his siblings portion.







The frozen roll dough comes with some cream cheese frosting. Use it. Yes, I know my homemade frosting is close to divine but this morning is all about simplicity.

Tah dah!

If you  have a big family like mine, you might want to make two batches. They're going fast....get 'em while they're hot!