Recipe for Cinnamon Rolls
We are having a great time in Illinois, minus the bone chilling weather. Luckily, we have been inside a lot. My dad has been spoiling us with a fire in the fireplace and tasty treats from the hot oven. We love vacation!!
My dad already made us a batch of his famous cinnamon rolls. They were the perfect welcome home treat! This recipe is our families’ favorite. It was my grandmother’s recipe, but my dad has perfected it over the years. We refer to them as “Parry Rolls.” Everyone knows about these rolls, they are the most often requested too. My dad likes to share the recipe, but he would rather just bake up a big batch for anyone and everyone. His are the BEST!!
Make sure you don’t scrimp on any of the key ingredients. When you spread the “goods” on the dough, make sure you go crazy….with the butter, brown sugar, raisins, and cinnamon. My dad never holds back! I know there are some raisin haters out there, but my dad says if you don’t like them pick them out! He LOVES his raisins…and so do the rest of us.
My dad said I could share the recipe, so please enjoy our family favorite. He asked me to not include his picture, but I had to show the master at work!! 
Cinnamon Rolls (Parry Rolls)
Yield: 30 cinnamon rolls
My dad's famous cinnamon roll recipe. They are the BEST ever!
Ingredients:
2 packages yeast, dissolved in 1 cup lukewarm water
6 tablespoons shortening (Crisco)
1 cup granulated sugar
7 cups unbleached all purpose flour or more as needed (it will take more)
2 cups hot water
2 eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon salt
Softened butter
Brown sugar
Raisins
CinnamonFor the frosting:
Butter
Vanilla
Powdered sugar
MilkDirections:
1. Add yeast to cup of lukewarm water and sprinkle in a little sugar. Set aside for about five minutes.
2. Add shortening, sugar, and salt to hot water and cool to lukewarm. Stir in 2 cups of flour and mix until smooth. Add yeast and mix again until smooth. Add in beaten eggs.
3. Stir in remainder of flour, a little at a time until no more can be mixed in. Remove the mixer attachment and knead by hand, adding flour until dough does not stick to the bowl. Remove from bowl and knead until dough feels satiny and looks smooth.
4. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes. Lightly knead and roll out into rectangular shape. Spread with softened butter. Sprinkle on brown sugar, raisins, and cinnamon. (make sure you use LOTS of brown sugar...you can omit the raisins, but my family loves them, and sprinkle on loads of cinnamon. we never measure but be very generous.)
5. Roll into one long roll. To cut use a piece of string or floss.
6. Place on well greased pans and let rise until double in bulk. Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake until brown-only about 5-7 more minutes.
7. Make the frosting. I am not sure on the amount! My dad just guesses! Whisk until you get the right consistency and frost the rolls! Frost the cooled cinnamon rolls generously!
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Have you tried it using wheat flour? It seems like fresh ground flour would be AMAZING!
Two Peas replied: — April 16th, 2012 @ 5:48 pm
I haven’t, but I am sure they would turn out great!
Those look very delicious!! I want to make some, too, and I wanted to ask what you mean by “stir in remainder of flour”. Do you mean the remaining 5 cups or until the dough has a special consistency?
Two Peas replied: — April 18th, 2012 @ 10:09 pm
Yes, stir in the remaining 5 cups of flour. You knead the dough until it is smooth and satiny.
I am very excited to try these (been on the hunt for the best cinnamon roll recipe for a LONG time). What is the trick to getting a nice tight roll even with your dough packed with “The Goods?” That’s always the part with which I struggle most and have yet to find a method that works well for me.
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I’m going to try this recipe. Could you indicate the weight or volume of a package of yeast, please? The one I have is not in individual packets. Thanks, Sharon
Two Peas replied: — July 1st, 2012 @ 4:33 pm
I package of yeast is 2 1/4 teaspoons!
I made them
They were very easy to make, and turned out to be delicious!! This is a great recipe that I will be keeping. Thanks Maria you’re awesome
Thanks to share grandpa’s recipe, can’t wait to try it!!!!
Happy Thanksgiving! I am giving thanks this morning that I decided to try this recipe! I am an experienced baker but have not really worked with yeast so I was a little intimidated. I followed the recipe exactly and to my delight it came together beautifully! My family is oohhing and ahhhing in the kitchen, as I type this. They have already requested the cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning breakfast…I’ll never do the tube kind again. Oh, I did make one small addition, I added a drop of orange oil to the icing.
Two Peas replied: — December 9th, 2012 @ 5:54 pm
So glad you enjoyed the cinnamon rolls.
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I made these on a Saturday afternoon up thru forming them into rolls and placing them in a pan. I then refrigerated them until Sunday morning. I took them out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before I baked them. They turned out fantastic! The dough was beautiful and was easy to work with. I will definitely be making them again. I tried printing off the recipe but when I hit the print button, all that came up was “Parry’s Rolls”, no recipe.
Two Peas replied: — December 9th, 2012 @ 5:54 pm
I am so glad you enjoyed the cinnamon rolls. I just updated the recipe so it is printer friendly.
My daughter woke up this morning and reminded me I pinky promised her we would make cinnimon rolls this weekend. The only problem everytime I make them they turn out horrible! So I found this, and I am in the process of making them with the help of my 6 and 4 year old. We are so excited. If my bad luck carries through at least we made a few memories. Thank you.
Great recipe! Just curious, about how many rolls does this make?
How many does this usually make? Just wondering if I need to double it or not. Thanks!
Two Peas replied: — December 20th, 2012 @ 5:23 pm
It makes about 30 cinnamon rolls.
I am planning to make these for Christmas morning. I want to make sure I plan well enough to have these ready. I am not sure how long it takes for the rolls to double in size before baking. These look wonderful and can’t wait to try them.
Hello! I commented last year about these rolls and have made them numerous times, all to rave reviews!! I also usually use half whole wheat, half unbleached white flour.
I am wondering, have you ever replaced the shortening with coconut oil? We are no longer eating shortening and i didn tkniw if anyone had thouht son the coconut oil…we really want to keep these as a family Christmas tradition!
Thank you in advance!!
Wow! I have been making cinnamon rolls for 30 years and this is now my favorite recipe. Thank you for sharing!
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Sooooo, so nice your Dad shared his recipe…the pictures of him making them make it that much more awesome! I’ll be making them for our family soon.
My Dad luved making home made breads and pies. Oh, how I wish I had some photos of him in the kitchen..thankfully I do have many photos of him to enjoy. After seeing these pic.’s it made me think how precious pic.’s really are!
Merry Christmas to you and your lovely family!
Wow! I made these for Christmas breakfast and was amazed that they turned out even better than I had expected! I switched the shortening with 7 Tablespoons of butter, but other than that, I followed it to a T. I just had one question, can I refrigerate these for longer than one day?
If anyone has tried to store them either cooked or uncooked for longer than overnight, I would love to hear your results!
I made these on Christmas Eve and then put in the fridge for Christmas morning (2012). They were fabulous. Even my husband who doesn’t really like sweets enjoyed one – he said they weren’t so bready. Next time I will cut the batch in half though. (by the way, it was my first time trying homemade ones and I will not be looking for another recipe – this is it!)
Thank you!!
I made these and I literally couldn’t stay out of them! They were the best cinnamon rolls that I ever made. I had another recipe that I had made off and on over the years. I threw it in the trash! The only thing that I did differently, I substituted a cup of water for a cup of sourdough starter. To die for!!! Thanks for sharing.
I used this recipe to make a New Orleans king cake (one recipe makes two large king cakes). It came out great! What a great dough, ofcourse I used a different icing and topped it with purple, green, and gold sugar. Thanks for sharing!
Hi, there something stumbled into your World, not A blogger myself. I Would love try making these. But I dó not know what 6T shortening is, Can u explain it somehow to me ? Bg. Pia from Denmark
I just made theses, they came out awesome, my family loved them. Thank you for sharing your recipe
Oh my Lord! These are the best! My family loves them. I made them for Christmas morning. Thank you so much for sharing your recipie with us.
Deanna
At 8:30 last night my 17 yo daughter looks at me and says “oh yeah – I forgot to tell you that we’re supposed to bring some sort of treat in for art class tomorrow” (it’s exam week and last day of classes for the semester) After giving her the “are-you-kidding-me?” mom stare I suggested cheese and crackers as it was easy and I had both on hand. “but it’s 1st hour so I don’t know” she says. I happened to be on Pinterest (and in a good mood) so searched for cinnamon rolls and found this recipe. I made them up last night, let them rise over night in the fridge and baked them this morning. She just left for school with these awesome rolls and a huge smile on her face, the house smells amazing, I got a big hug and “thanks mom!” and I think she’ll be the star of the class today! Thanks for the recipe!
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Absolutely fabulous recipe! Thank you so much for sharing. I made this for our Christmas brunch this year and everyone said they were the best cinnamon rolls they’d ever had! Just to die for!! I’m already craving them again!
Two Peas replied: — January 27th, 2013 @ 10:11 am
So glad you liked the cinnamon rolls!
These rolls may not be healthy but they are by far the best cinamon rolls I have ever had.
I tried these and they were wonderful. I am making another batch for my daughter to take to her work. But your story brought back memories of my dad making the best ever fudge. He is no cook, burns everything he made, but his fudge he would handle with kid gloves, each and every time it would come out perfect. He always saved a little in the cast iron pan for his three little girls to scrap and sample…..yummmm! Better still are the memories of those happy times.
Many thanks to you and your father for sharing your Grandmother’s recipe. LOVE cinnamon rolls and have been on a mission to find the perfect recipe. Cannot wait to try it. Was just curious as to how much sugar and cinnamon you all are using for the filling…just a general idea.
Thank you again!!
what kind of yeast do I use?
Whrn you say 6tbls shortening, do you mean Crisco? Or butter?
Two Peas replied: — April 17th, 2013 @ 9:48 am
Crisco
I just saw now this great cinnamon rolls and will make them this weekend – sorry to ask but what is “6 T of shortening” ?
Eva
thank you
Two Peas replied: — April 17th, 2013 @ 9:48 am
6 tablespoons of shortening/Crisco
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These sound awesome and I will try this weekend, or maybe later today, I can’t wait. My only question is what size do you roll the dough out to??? This would help. Thanks,m
These look pure magical. I can’t even imagine how they taste. SWOONS.
As for the frosting should I start with a stick of butter or less?
Thank you for the recipe – I am making these today since it is cold and dreary. These will be JUST the thing.
I had to smile at your dad’s measurements because I cook the same way ( by sight, touch, and smell ).
I added some crushed nuts when I was adding the raisins. I have made this type of roll many times but never with raisins. We love raisins – I don’t know why I never thought to add any before.
I can’t wait until they are done.
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