There is nothing better than waking up and digging into a warm homemade gooey cinnamon roll! I have been making these cinnamon rolls at Christmas for my family for over 20 years. It's an easy fool-proof recipe that you can make the day before, then just put in the oven in the morning to bake. The hardest part is waiting for the rolls to come out of the oven. They are delicious!

I have made many variations of this recipe over the years. My favorite addition is a gooey caramel topping that melts into the layers of cinnamon twirled dough. At this point you may be wondering why I only make these cinnamon rolls at Christmas. I was thinking the same thing. Lately I've been having cravings for them. Well the next event coming up is Father's Day. Yes, I can make an excellent excuse to make these cinnamon rolls for Father's Day. I added another twist to this recipe with the addition of bourbon. I soaked the golden raisins in bourbon and added bourbon to the glaze. Cinnamon rolls all dressed up for Dad's breakfast. Imagine fresh coffee, the bacon sizzling, and these cinnamon rolls baking in the oven on Father's Day. Mmmmmm!!

I will give you my original recipe that was published in Better Homes And Gardens by Joy Taylor, then I'll share with you some of the different twists I have added to this basic recipe. I'm sure you can think of many other additions to this recipe too!

Raisin-Pecan Cinnamon Rolls

The best part about this recipe is that the dough can be mixed and the rolls filled and shaped the night before. When you awake in the morning just bake.

4 1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour

1 pkg. active dry yeast

1 cup milk

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

3 eggs

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp ground cinnamon

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup light raisins

1/2 chopped pecans

1 recipe Powdered Sugar Glaze

In a large mixer bowl combine 2 1/4 cups of the flour and the yeast.

In a small saucepan heat the milk, the 1/3 cup butter, the 1/3 cup sugar, and the salt just till warm (120* to 130*) and the butter is almost melted, stirring constantly. Add to flour mixture. Add eggs. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl constantly. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Using a wooden spoon (or dough hook attachment) stir in as much of the remaining 2 1/4 to 2 3/4 cups flour as you can.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough that is smooth and elastic (3 to 5 minutes). Shape into a ball. Place in a greased bowl. Cover; let rise in a warm place till double (about 1 hour).

For filling, combine brown sugar, the 1/4 cup flour, and cinnamon. Cut in remaining butter till crumbly; set aside.

Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll the dough into 12-inch square.

Sprinkle filling over dough square, top with raisins and pecans. Roll up jell-style; pinch edges to seal. Slice roll into eight 1 1/2 inch pieces. Arrange, cut side up, in a greased 13x9x2 inch baking pan.

Cover dough loosely with clear plastic wrap. Refrigerate dough for 2 to 24 hours. Uncover and let stand a room temperature for 30 minutes.( Or, for immediate baking, don't chill dough. Instead, cover loosely; let dough rise in a warm place till nearly double, about 45 minutes).

BAKE 375* oven for 25 to 30 minutes. If necessary to prevent over browning, cover rolls with foil for last 5 to 10 minutes of baking. Remove rolls from oven. Cool 1 minute. Carefully invert cinnamon rolls on wire rack. Then invert onto serving platter. Drizzle with Powdered Sugar Glaze. Makes 8 rolls.

Powdered Sugar Glaze: In bowl stir together 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon of corn syrup, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and enough milk (1 to 2 tablespoons) to make drizzling consistency.

So that's the original recipe, and it's perfect and delicious. But I just had to add to it. You can see my changes below.

For the Caramel Topping, in a saucepan combine 1/2 cup butter, 2/3 cups brown sugar packed, 2 tablespoons light corn syrup. Bring to a boil and add 1 1/2 cups pecan halves or you can leave them out for no nuts. Then pour this mixture into your greased baking pan. Cool. Then add dough pieces on top. Bake as directed in recipe.

For the bourbon glaze I substituted bourbon for milk in the glaze recipe.

Another variation that I like is adding orange zest and a small number of chocolate chips to the filling. It is a delicious combination and one of my favorites at Christmas. I have also made some with no raisins and no nuts. It's easy to personalize this recipe to your own family's likes and dislikes.

Have fun with it!