These cinnamon rolls are my favorite baked dessert. The light bread combined with the gooey filling and then a nice thick frosting really satisfy my sweet tooth while simultaneously representing the quintessence of a blessed childhood memory in a way that few other if any desserts can truly hope to match. A bonus feature of these is that they are easy enough you can have your kids make them for you.

Cinnamon rolls are a dessert that any level of baking skill can make. They have quite a few steps and there are plenty of tips and tricks to elevate it to the next level, but I've found this recipe to be so amazing that even if you get mixed up or mess up, you are still likely to end up with an amazing dessert.

The first step you want to get started on is getting your yeast activated. Get a small bowl with warm but not hot water and then toss in the yeast. Give it a little bit of sugar because yeast loves sugar, and a happy yeast makes a good bread.

While we are kind to our yeast and want it to be strong and healthy, we want to weaken our milk by scalding it. Basically you put your milk in the microwave for a few minutes or on the stovetop until temperatures reach 180 degrees. This is before it would boil. Then you let it come back down in temperature until it is around 100 degrees. Scalding breaks down the whey in milk which will allow your bread to get a nice rise.

Now we are ready to start loading our mixer. You can also do this by hand but you'll run the risk of an incredible arm workout. Add the yeast, eggs, sugar, salt, milk, and melted butter. Give it a second to get reasonably combined and then start adding the flour. Then start adding flour a half cup at a time.

Whenever I think about baking, I think about how shockingly convenient the ratios seem to be. It's always like 2 cups to 1 cup... just wildly convenient ratios. I used to think surely we could improve on this system and figure out that for ideal rise and airiness you actually want a 1.9 to 1 cup ratio or something like that. I would've figured that with how many 5th graders have to do a science fair project each year, we would have a pretty thorough mapping of perfect ratios.

I do think that for a lot of cooking and baking these ratios and the science are super important to master. However, I have grown to appreciate more and more the ability to understand and experiment with your food.

Have you ever been at the grocery store and seen someone slap a watermelon and they just know if it's going to be juicy? That's the type of energy I want everyone to experience while adding flour to this recipe. It might call for six cups but that is more of a guideline.

There are a number of variables such as altitude, size of egg, if you spooned and sifted your flour, or just took a big old scoop and gave it the old shakey-shakey to sort of get it the right amount filled and dumped it in, or even the humidity, that could mess you up. So as you add the flour don't be afraid to stop early or add a little extra to get it to that nice consistency.

Thankfully this dough is pretty much foolproof so if you add a bit extra it'll still be amazing and you'll probably think you just created something better than sliced bread.

Once it's doubled in size or you've ran out of time and are ready to compromise quality for speed (it's okay we've all been there), it's time to roll it out. Make sure to flour the surface well because you don't want your dough to get stuck once it's time to roll it up.

Now its time to build the filling. Melted butter followed by a simple egg-wash go first. And then its sugar-time. Make a quick cinnamon sugar mixture. You can follow the one below or increase cinnamon amount for added kick or decrease it to focus on the sweetness. Then sprinkle that on, followed by the brown sugar. Sprinkle it out the best you can and then get a spoon and start moving it around. It should form a reasonably thick paste of pure deliciousness.

Now for this part it can be nice to get some help to get a more consistent roll, especially if you've doubled the batch. You want to start on the long side of the rectangle and roll that side up. Then grab a piece of dental-floss and slide it underneath the roll for about 1 inch and then bring it around and pull it. This will give you a nice clean cut.

Repeat this process, placing the cinnamon rolls moderately close on the pan. I've found that I really enjoy it when they push together because they support each other and you get a taller, lighter roll. Bake the cinnamon rolls for 12-15 at 400 degrees, or until just starting to get brown on top.

As a reference for how to tell when they are done - They should bake to look the way it feels to be wrapped up in an oversized blanket on a cold day after going sledding with your friends.

Finally it's time to frost them. You are welcome to use a more traditional cream cheese recipe, or to use this frosting recipe below (you might need an extra cup of powdered sugar depending on how sweet you like things). I'd like to say something in favor of the frosting, tooting my own horn to say, my wife has always preferred the cream cheese frosting on a cinnamon roll until she tried this. Is she biased because she loves me deeply? Yes. Is it still amazing? Yes again.

Ingredients:

Directions: