I just went to Mexico last weekend for a class trip. We drove the whole way, so needless to say, we had to meet very early in the morning. So, I decided I had to make Nani’s cinnamon rolls so the class wouldn’t have empty stomachs for the ride across the border. I decided that her roll recipe would be the perfect blog post. What makes these rolls so special, you might be asking? Well, besides being the tastiest cinnamon rolls ever, the dough recipe can be used to make Nani’s Dinner Rolls and Nani’s Weiner Wraps.

Nani’s Roll Dough

This is the basic recipe for the dough that will be used to make the dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls or wiener wraps.

• 1/2 cup water, warm
• 3 tablespoons yeast
• 1 1/3 cups dry milk
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup butter, cut up
• 3 teaspoons salt
• 4 cups water, hot
• 1 large egg
• 10 cups flour, plus more for kneading

Dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup warm water, let set for 5 minutes until frothy. In a large bowl, place the sugar, the cut up butter, dry milk and salt. Pour 4 cups hot water over and stir until the butter melts and all ingredients are dissolved. Whisk in the egg and stir in the yeast mixture. Add flour gradually and turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead, adding flour until soft, but not sticky. This should take approximately 8-10 minutes. Put dough into a greased bowl and flip over so that all sides are greased. Cover with a towel and let rise until doubled in size, approximately 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Punch down.

Nani’s Rolls

These rolls are perfect for the holidays or any occasion. We’ve always used them for sandwiches with leftover ham or turkey at the holidays.

• 1 batch Nani’s Roll Dough
• Oil for hands
• Butter, melted

After punching dough down. Pull off a ball of dough with greased hand. Push the dough up through the index finger and thumb, squeezing and pinching off excess. Take the pinched off part and hold on and swirl around on a greased cookie sheet or on a Silpat, placing dough ball pinched off part down. Let rise until doubled and bake at 350 ° until lightly browned, about 20-25 minutes. The buns are done when they spring back when poked. Place rolls on a cooling rack and brush the top lightly with butter.

Nani’s Cinnamon Rolls

You cannot go wrong with these for breakfast. We can always count on Nani to deliver a package of rolls for Christmas morning, Easter and just about any other holiday. This makes about 28 cinnamon rolls.

• 1 batch Nani’s Roll Dough
• Butter, softened
• Light brown sugar
• Ground cinnamon
• Light corn syrup

After allowing dough to rise, punch down and divide in half. Roll on a floured surface into a 16-inch circle. Spread evenly with softened butter. Take light brown sugar and sprinkle over the butter. Sprinkle ground cinnamon over brown sugar. Starting at one edge, roll dough into a tube. Turn the tube over so that the seam is on the bottom. Using a sharp knife, slice the roll into 1½ inch slices. Repeat with the second portion of dough. Take three 9×13 inch pans and coat with a generous coat of butter. Sprinkle brown sugar on the bottom of the pan, just enough to cover the bottom of the pan. Drizzle light corn syrup over the brown sugar. Set the sliced rolls in the pans, placing them so that the seams face the middle. 12 rolls should fit into a pan. Let the rolls rise until just about doubled. Bake at 350° for about 25-30 minutes or until they spring back and are lightly browned. Have a cooling rack ready with aluminum foil cut longer than size of baking pan, placed on the rack. Put the rack on top and flip over. Pull pan off and quickly scrape the caramel onto rolls. Allow to cool. When cool, rolls can be covered with wax paper and stored for several days.

Nani’s Wiener Wraps

These were always a favorite growing up. Perfect with ketchup, mustard or a little relish.

• 1/2 batch Nani’s Roll Dough
• 2 packages hot dogs
• Shortening

After punching dough down. Pinch off a piece of dough a little smaller than a fist. Pat into a rectangle a little bigger than length and width of hot dogs. Place hot dog in the middle and bring sides up. Pinch seams all around hot dog. Grease a cookie sheet with Crisco or line with a Silpat. Rub a little Crisco onto the wrap and place on the cookie sheet with the seam down. Repeat until all hot dogs are covered. Any excess dough can be made into dinner rolls. Bake in the oven at 350° until lightly browned, about 20-25 minutes.