Norwegian Cinnamon Rolls

The Northern Europeans & especially the scandinavians, are wonderful bakers and eating these for breakfast is something to be grateful for.

Dough:
4 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
scant 3 Tbsp. (3 1/4 oz packages) of rapid rise yeast or 3 Tbsp fresh yeast
scant 1/2 cup butter
1 2/3 cup milk
2 eggs

Filling:
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp soft, unsalted butter
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 egg, beaten, to glaze

Roasting pan approx. 13x10 lined with parchment or wax paper
Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Combine flour, sugar salt & yeast in large bowl. Melt butter & whisk it into milk & eggs, then stir into flour mixture. Mix to combine & then knead dough either by hand or using a dough hook of an electric mixer until its smooth & springy. Form into a ball, place in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, leave it to rise about 25 minutes.

Take 1/3 of dough and roll it or stretch it to fit your pan; this will form the bottom of each bun when it has cooked. Roll out the rest of the dough on a lightly floured surface, aiming to get a rectangle of roughly 20x10 inches. Mix the filling ingredients in a small bowl and spread the rectangle with the buttery cinnamon mixture. Try to get even coverage on the whole of the dough. Roll it up from the longest side until you have a giant sausage. Cut the roll into 3/4 inch slices, which should make about 20 rounds. Set the rounds in lines on top dough in the pan, swirly side up. Brush with egg and let rise again for about 15 minutes to get puffy. Put in oven and cook for 20-25 minutes. Buns will be golden brown. Remove from pan and leave to cool slightly on a rack - pick up whole sheet of parchment.

Makes 20