Cinnamon Rolls | Neighbor Gifts with Hallmark
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SendHallmark#CollectiveBias
Traditions are very important to my family, especially those surrounding the holidays. One of my most favorite traditions is something that we have done as long as I can remember. I come from a very musical family, and every Christmas Eve, we have gone caroling with my grandparents to their friends and neighbors to deliver homemade deliciousness. My grandma would spend hours preparing and baking sweet rolls in round disposable cake pans, and then we would deliver them while caroling. My grandma was known for her incredible cooking and baking skills, and that is something that my mom has carried on as well. My mom is the best cook that I know, and she has agreed to share her famous cinnamon rolls recipe with us. It is the perfect gift to make and give to your friends and neighbors, or to just make and bring with you to your next holiday party, or the best idea of all, make them to eat Christmas morning!
My mom wanted to share the love of cooking with my girls, and had them help her make the cinnamon rolls. There is nothing I love more than when I see my mom sharing something that she loves so much with my children.
You will not find a softer, tastier cinnamon roll recipe out there. Seriously. This one is tried and true. My mom told me that she has been making these since she was 12 years old and she has definitely worked the kinks out. I will post the full recipe at the very end. The best part about giving these cinnamon rolls as a gift is that you can simply bake in the disposable cake pan, wrap a pretty bow around the pan and deliver with a card. The presentation is beautiful!
When I give gifts, I like to make it personalized with a card to let the recipient know how much they are loved. As I was looking for the right cards to give with my cinnamon rolls, I obviously went to the Hallmark card section while I was shopping at Walmart, and looked for the perfect holiday greeting cards. I found three winners that I thought I would mention in case you are wanting to use them for your gifts too. My most favorite for when I am giving out neighbor gifts is the pack of 6 cards that are all the same. It was the most affordable option for sure, and they had a really great selection! The vintage ornaments on the card (in the picture at the top of this post) were calling my name. Another of my favorite cards that I loved was the simple and modern “Merry” card. I love the look of it!
The last card that I chose is. So. Dang. Cool! I love that it is a gift and a card all in one. Basically, it is a card that also comes with a “Joy” banner decoration. I have a sister that lives out of state, and I was thinking this would be the perfect type of card to send to her to brighten her day as well as her little apartment. They had several different options of gifts that came with the cards, and you should just go look at them. You can’t go wrong. While you are there getting your cards (cause I know you are going to want to go get some now) be sure to click here to save $1.00 off of a two Hallmark Greeting Card purchase at Walmart, minimum $1.00 purchase required. Take advantage of the savings and #SendHallmark this holiday season!
Another tradition I think of when I think of Hallmark is ornaments. Ever since I turned 18, my papa and grandma have given me one of the Hallmark ornaments for Christmas. Those ornaments are my most treasured ornaments for sure. They aren’t on my tree this year because I am afraid of a certain 1 year old destroying them, and I have really missed being able to see them all displayed on my tree. They represent so much love to me. Every time I see the Hallmark ornaments display at Walmart, I smile and try to guess which one my grandma would have picked.
I could talk forever about the traditions that I love, but I guess I should get on to the recipe now. 🙂 Be sure to try it out because it will become your new favorite recipe. Also, be sure to set the mood in your kitchen by flipping on some Christmas music. Here’s a link to my favorite Pandora Hallmark Christmas station right now.
Ingredients
- 2 ⅔ plus ¾ cups warm water
- 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 3 tablespoons shortening
- 1 cup sour cream
- 9-10 cups all purpose flour
- Filling
- 12 tablespoons melted butter
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 6 teaspoons cinnamon
- Frosting
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 6 tablespoons softened butter
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
- 3-5 tablespoons whipping cream
- Cream all ingredients together until smooth and creamy.
Instructions
- Combine warm water and yeast and place in standing mixer bowl
- Add sugar, salt, shortening, and sour cream in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the dough hook. With the mixer on low speed, add first 2 cups of flour. Mix thoroughly.
- Add the rest of the flour 1 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. You don’t need to use all of the flour called for. You may need more or less depending on many factors such as weather.
- Keep adding flour.
- When dough clears the side of the bowl but still sticks to the bottom, turn out on floured surface.
- Knead dough well adding flour as needed. Knead until dough loses it’s stickiness and is soft.
- Put dough into greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, allow to rise in warm place for an hour.
- Punch down dough. Divide into two equal parts.
- Combine brown sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl.
- Roll first half into a long rectangle, measuring about 19in x 12 in.
- Brush on melted butter, sprinkle the brown sugar mixture over the dough leaving a ¾ inch border at the finish end of the rectangle.
- Roll the dough into a tight cylinder and pinch the seam closed.
- Using a serrated knife, slice into 1 ½ inch slices.
- Arrange the rolls cut side down in a greased, metal baking pan. Cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until rolls have doubled in size and are touching against each other.
- Bake in a 375 degree, preheated oven until golden and puffy, 20-25 minutes.
- Let cool for 5 minutes and frost.
