Conference Tradition

I'm not exactly sure when my mom started this tradition but every 6 months when General Conference would come around she would make a yummy treat. This started as cinnamon rolls and eventually evolved to Monkey Bread (both so delicious). I decided this would be a tradition that I would carry on. Who can stand not to when the rewards of this work are so delicious!

This is my mother-in-laws recipe and Jared won't have them any other way. I of course can't complain, she's only the best baker around! Competing with her excellent skills has not been easy, it's taken me about 4 general conferences to get it exactly right...and I'm still working on it (of course the addition of my kitchen aid has helped). Here's the wonderful recipe:

Annette's Amazing Cinnamon Rolls
Mix 1/2 c warm water and 2 T yeast and let it rise for about 10 minutes
Beat together 1 1/2 c lukewarm milk, 1/2 c sugar, 1/2 c shortening, 2 eggs, 2 t salt, and yeast.
Add flour 1 cup at a time until you've added 7 to 7 1/2 c total.
Knead the dough until it's smooth, soft, and elastic.
Cover the dough and let rise for about an hour, until it doubles in size.
Punch down the dough and divide it in half. Roll it out into two large rectangles.
Spread butter (not margarine...IMPORTANT!) on the dough going all the way to the edges. Cover in brown sugar ( I go all the way to the edges except for leaving about 1 1/2 inches on one long side of the rectangle so that it will stick when I roll it). Sprinkle with cinnamon.
Roll the dough and use floss to cut into 2-3 inch rolls.
Put rolls on a cookie sheet, cover and let rise for about 20-30 minutes.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes (until the tops are just barely starting to brown....this ensures gooeyness in the middle!)
Cover with frosting right out of the oven....YUMMMMM!