Cinnamon Rolls (Fourth of july Recipes)

[bholus10]

Step 5:

Keep adding that flour, until you've added two cups:

[bholus10]

Step 6:

At this point, work in your melted margarine and your eggs. I usually do the eggs first, and while doing that, stick the margarine in the fridge. If it's blazing hot, it will **** your yeast, and you will be sad. Here's what the dough looks like after the margarine and eggs:

[bholus10]

Step 7:

Keep adding the rest of the flour. You may need slightly more or less than the exact 4 1/2 cups listed. It all depends on where your live and what the humidity is like. It's a bit dry in Boston right now, so I used slightly less. And don't forget, you'll also add a bit of flour as you're kneading and rolling out, so don't overdo it. Anyway, as you're adding lots more flour, a spoon gets less useful, so I switch to another implement:

Your dough should be cohesive, and not overly sticky. Basically, you'll get a bit stuck to your hand if you stick it in there, but you shouldn't come away with dough trailing from your hand like ooze.

[bholus10]

Step 8:

After all your flour is added, you need to knead it a bit. Not a lot, as you want this to be a softer roll when you're done, but a bit, just to get the gluten to develop. I knead it in the bowl, because my hand is already dirty. Just do it a couple of times until you get a nice ball, like this one here.

[bholus10]

Step 9:

Then take your other bowl, and oil it. You could be all fancy and oil it by hand, or be lazy and use some PAM on it. That's what I do. It's vegetable oil; it works just fine. Toss your dough ball in there, then flip it over. That gets the oil all over it, so that it stays nice and elastic as it rises. Toss a towel over the bowl (or a sheet of saran wrap) and place it somewhere warm. If your bowl is kind of shallow, you can spray the saran wrap with PAM too, so it doesn't stick as the dough rises.