An easier way to make homemade cinnamon rolls

If you received a bread machine for Christmas this year (or any year), here is a recipe you can't beat for cinnamon rolls without all the traditional mixing and kneading you have to do to make the darn things. All you need is a bread machine with a dough setting. If you are like me, you might be a bit tired of sweets so I think waiting for a few weeks to make this might be best, but this is a good recipe to try and a great way to put that bread machine to good use. The bread machine takes the work out of a hard job that I hate -- kneading!

The recipe.

Cinnamon Rolls 
(for the bread machine -- Rolls will not bake in the bread machine yet the equipment does the hard work!)

Dough:
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup milk (or almond milk)
1/2 cup butter (or margarine) softened (20 to 30 seconds in the microwave)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I don't use bread flour because it contains more gluten)
1/2 cup sugar
5 teaspoons yeast (or 2 packages yeast, not the quick-rise kind)
Cinnamon/Sugar/Butter mixture, recipe follows
Glaze, recipe follows

Add ingredients to the bread machine in the order listed above. I like to add the yeast on top of the sugar because I feel putting them together at first makes the yeast act more quickly.

Set the machine on the dough cycle and turn it on. Be sure to check to see that the ladle inside the bread machine is turning. Let it run through it's cycle. My bread machine's dough cycle runs for 90 minutes.

Two photos above, make sure the ladle is in place; an action shot of the bread machine doing it's work.

When the dough rises to the top, turn it out onto a clean surface and cut the dough in half. With a rolling pin or with your hands, flatten the dough and pull it out until it forms a rectangle.

Spread the dough with the following
Sugar/cinnamon/butter mixture:
1 cup sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, softened

Use half of this mixture for each half of dough you prepare.

Roll the dough into a cylinder and cut into 15 equal slices. Place in a greased pan. (I use a large cake pan.)

Repeat with the second half of the dough until the pan is full. You will make 30 cinnamon rolls.

Allow to rise about 30 to 45 minutes until the rolls rise until all gaps are filled and are about an inch high. They will get a little bounce in the oven. Preheat the oven at 375 degrees and bake the cinnamon rolls for approximately 25 minutes or until they are nicely browned.

Make the following glaze and pour on the hot rolls.

Glaze:
1 box Confectioner's sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
Milk (or Almond milk)

My family likes tons of glaze. If you prefer less, only make half the recipe. Pour the Confectioner's sugar into a bowl with a pourable spout, if possible. Add vanilla flavoring then milk, a little at a time, and stir vigorously until mixture is thin enough to pour but is not runny. Pour or ladle the glaze onto the hot cinnamon rolls.

Allow to cool. Store in an airtight containers or in two large gallon, plastic bags lined with Wax or parchment paper.

This may seem like quite a bit of work but if you have ever kneaded dough for five minutes to make rolls, this will seem like a breeze! This works for all kinds of rolls, too.