Cranberry Cinnamon Rolls

We had a finance meeting this weekend, my husband and I.  Do normal people do that?  They must.  Well, must to my surprise (not at all) we were way over on groceries every month.  I usually purchase all the groceries because like every other food lover, the grocery store can make you feel organize, relaxed, and creative all in one trip.  So, oops, at times I let my creative juices flow (no pun intended) and I get a bit carried away, and then just like that we are over budget.  Time to scale back.  What does that mean?  Stop baking?  No way! Start making boxed mac and cheese?  I don't think so.  It means staring at your fridge until you see one or two ingredients that you don't want to go bad and so you make something out of it.  Enter cranberries.  Exit delicious Cranberry Cinnamon Rolls.

These are whole wheat, not tons of sugar, and seriously look at that red.  Perfect for the holidays.

They are pretty easy too.  The sauce is not hard, and you get to hear the cranberries "pop."  My mom says that this reminds her of her mom and when she was little she would wait to hear the cranberries pop. I digress. After you make the dough and let it rise, you spread the cranberry sauce on it like so, and then roll it up.

Let the rolls rise again, put 'em in the over and done! The oranges?  Oh yes, I added a bit of orange juice to the cream cheese frosting.  I have no pictures of that frosting though, because I will tell you that these were so good that a bit of honey and butter will do the trick.  But also, we had oranges lying around and since I'm all about staying on budget, Ill throw whatever I can into a recipe.

Do you have any other saving money tricks or random thrown together recipes?  Please share. As this is a new stage and I need all the help I can get.

Cranberry Cinnamon Rolls

4 to 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour {I used Whole Wheat}
1 package active dry yeast
1 cup milk
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup butter or margarine
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup packed brown sugar

Mix 2 cups of flour and yeast, set aside.  In a sauce pan, heat and stir milk, granulated sugar, 1/3 cup butter, and the salt until just warm and butter almost melts.  Add to flour mixture along with the 2 eggs.  Beat on low for 30 seconds and then on high for 3 minutes.  Scrape the sides of the bowl frequently.  Stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.

Place dough onto a lightly floured surface.  Knead in any remaining flour.  The dough should be moderately soft, and sort of elastic.  Shape dough into a ball, and place into a buttered bowl.  Turn dough over in bowl so the entire dough is touched with butter.  Cover and place in a warm place until dough is doubled in size. This will take about 1 hour, maybe 1.5 hours.

Once dough is double in size, punch the dough down and place on to a lightly floured surface.  Divide dough in half, cover and let rise for 10 minutes. Use this ten minutes to make your filling. (See below)

After ten minutes, roll each dough half into a 12x8 rectangle. {I just got it as close to a rectangle as possible. It took me some time}  Sprinkle filling over dough, leaving 1 inch along the sides of the dough.  Tightly roll up each rectangle long ways.  Once the dough is rolled up, pinch the ends, and cut into 12 equal pieces, or however big you want your rolls to be.  Place into greased  two 8x8x2 or 9x9x2 pans, cover, and let the dough rise another 30 minutes or until it is doubled in size.

Place in preheated 375 degree oven, and bake for 20-25 minutes.  Watch the tops for a golden brown color to test if they are cooked all the way.  Let cool for five minutes, put some butter and honey on top, and enjoy!

Cranberry Filling

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 cups cranberries
dash of cinnamon
dash of nutmeg

Heat and stir water and sugar into a medium saucepan until sugar dissolves.  Boil rapidly for 5 minutes.  Add cranberries and allow water to return to boiling, then reduce the heat.  Boil gently for about 3-4 minutes until cranberries "pop". {I love this part!} Stir occasionally.  Remove from heat. Done and done.