Best Ever Cinnamon Rolls

For the cinnamon rolls:

Measure warm water into a large bowl. Stir in 2 teaspoons sugar and active dry yeast. Let stand 10 minutes then stir well.

In the meantime, combine milk and half the margarine in a saucepan. Heat over low heat until liquid is warm and margarine melts. Take off heat. Stir in the remaining ½ cup sugar and salt.

Add milk and margarine mixture to dissolved yeast mixture. Add eggs and 1½ cups of flour. Mix well. Stir in the remaining 3 cups (about) flour to make a soft dough.

Turn out onto lightly floured board; knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl (about 1 tablespoon of oil), turning the dough to make sure the oil covers the whole thing. Cover; let rise in a warm place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down; turn out onto lightly floured board. Divide in half and shape into an 18 x 9 inch rectangle (approximately). Melt the remaining 1/4 cup of margarine and brush the rectangles with melted margarine.

Combine the remaining 1 ½ cups sugar, seedless raisins and ground cinnamon. Sprinkle half of the sugar mix over each piece of dough.

Roll each up to make 18-inch rolls. Seal edges firmly. Cut each roll into 12 pieces, about 1 ½ inches wide. Place, cut side up, in a greased 9-inch round cake pans or greased 8-inch square pans. Cover; let rise in a warm place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Bake in a moderate oven (350ºF) about 25 minutes, or until done (golden brown). Remove from pans and cool on wire racks.

For the cream cheese icing:

In a stand mixer, beat softened cream cheese until creamy. Beat in the margarine and the vanilla. Beat in the sifted icing sugar until smooth. Put the icing on the hot rolls and let it cool down a bit.

Recipe found in Fleischmann’s Creative World of Baking (mid 1970s).