Cinnamon rolls

Cinnamon rolls have always been an all-time favourite of mine. As you walk through the first floor of City Centre in Doha, you are mesmerized by the smell of cinnamon rolls baking in Cinnzeo and before you know it, your legs are carrying you to the cinnamon rolls stall. As you reach your destination, you see the chef rolling out his dough and smothering god-knows-how-many-cups of butter onto it. You take one look and start thinking about the calories.You let out a silent sigh and carry on with your shopping, dejected.
This is the main reason why I decided to make my own cinnamon rolls. I wanted a "healthy" cinnamon roll. I'm not talking about a zero-calorie zero-cholesterol cinnamon roll, but at least something I can eat without feeling guilty about it.

After a lot of net-surfing I came up with this recipe and have been following it for about 1 year. The rolls taste better that the ones you get from bakeries specializing in cinnamon rolls(read Cinnzeo) and aren't half as fattening as theirs. One of the reason why I like this recipe is because it does not ask for butter to be smothered on the dough. But it also means that when you cut them into rolls, some of the cinnamon-sugar will spill out, but I don't mind it one bit. Every time I prepare these, they disappear even before I prepare the glaze. I have managed to prepare the glaze only once :)

Ingredients:

Dough:
1 cup milk
3 tbsp butter
3 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
2 1/2 tsp yeast
1 tsp salt

Cinnamon sugar:
6 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tbsp cinnamon powder

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp melted butter
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:
Microwave butter and milk for 30-45 seconds. Add 1 cup flour, sugar, egg, yeast and salt. If the milk is not hot, the yeast won't act and if it is too hot, the yeast will die. So see to it that the milk is lukewarm. Beat well. Add enough flour to get a soft dough. Make a ball and keep it covered for 2 hours(when I am in a hurry, I keep it for just 1 1/2 hours and it works fine).
When it rises, roll the dough into a 15x11" rectangle(neet not be perfect, just an estimation). Mix the sugar and cinnamon powder to prepare cinnamon sugar. Sprinkle evenly over the rolled dough. Roll the dough and cut into slices. Depending on the thickness, you will get 20-30 slices.As I had mentioned, some of the cinnamon sugar may come out when cutting into slices. This can be sprinkled on top of the rolls. Place the rolls in your baking dish, 1/2" apart, and let rise for 30-45 minutes. Bake in a preheated(375 F) oven for 20 minutes. If you are not using glaze, serve them hot.
To make the glaze, mix all the ingredients and pour over hot rolls. Let it cool before serving if you are using glaze.