Mary Janet MacDonald's cinnamon roll recipe (2024)

Text:

HALIFAX -- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees and have your cookie sheet ready with some parchment paper lining your pan.

Ingredients for dough:

• 4 cups flour
• 6 tsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. salt
• 2 heaping tbsp. white sugar
• 1/2 cup shortening or butter
• 2 cups of milk

Ingredients for filling:

• butter or becel
• brown sugar
• cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Mix the dry ingredients -- flour, baking powder, salt and white sugar -- with your hands.
2. Add ½ cup shortening (or butter – your choice – and make sure it’s at room temperature) and blend it into the flour with your hands until crumbly (mealy).
3. Make a well in centre and add 2 cups of milk.
4. With a fork – scrape all the flour into the milk and combine until all the flour is absorbed and you have the dough nicely combined.
5. Sprinkle a little flour onto your counter and form the dough into a ball and place on the floured surface.
6. Sprinkle a bit of flour on the dough and on your rolling pin and roll out until about ½ inch thickness.
7. You can use butter (or I use Becel because it’s nice and soft) and spread some all over the surface of the rolled out dough – just like you were spreading peanut butter on the surface of a slice of bread.
8. Now add some brown sugar – sprinkle enough on – probably more than a cup, maybe a cup and a half - until all spread out all over the surface and right to the edges.
9. Now, sprinkle cinnamon over the complete surface – don’t be shy.
10. Roll up the dough like a jelly roll.
11. With a serrated bread knife, cut off both ends of the roll (these pieces you can cook on your second pan) but for now – cut your slices about ¾ inch thick and place on the cookie sheet. (I use a stoneware 9x13” pan as I find they scorch easily in a metal pan – or perhaps you might want to try a lower temperature if you are using a metal pan.)
12. Bake for 18 minutes on middle rack (18 minutes in my oven – yours might be done at 14 minutes - check often).

This will make about 15 cinnamon rolls.

While they’re baking – make the frosting/glaze:

• 3 tablespoons of soft butter or Becel
• 2 tsp vanilla
• About 2 cups of icing sugar
• A little bit of milk

Combine ingredients in a bowl. If too thick, add a bit more milk until you have a nice consistency – similar to peanut butter.

Spread over warm cinnamon rolls.

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