Olive Oil Cinnamon Rolls

Thanksgiving isn't just a meal in my house.  It's a week long celebration with family, friends and lots of food.😅  Some of us live hundreds of miles apart so when we do actually manage to get together for the holidays, we try and spend at least several days together.  Sure we do the traditional turkey, mashed potato and pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving day but we also have lots of leisurely breakfasts, easy to fix lunches and casual dinners together during the days leading up to and following Thanksgiving.

This year, I've got some fun theme meals planned for Thanksgiving week.  A homemade pasta night, a nacho average taco party, a pumpkin palooza breakfast,  a waffle brunch bar, a burger bash, a birthday dinner for my daughter and a Thanksgiving cookie decorating party.🍝🌮🥞🧇🍔🍪  I'm still trying to figure out how to squeeze in a chili cook off too.😂  

I do recognize that my Thanksgiving week menu probably sounds overly ambitious to most of you but I love big family meals.  I also come from a family of cooks and our meals usually become a group effort so I don't bear the burden of doing all the cooking my myself.  Cooking for family and friends is my love language so a house full of Thanksgiving guests to cook for is my dream.😅  

These Olive Oil Cinnamon Rolls made their first appearance in my kitchen a couple of years ago at Thanksgiving.  Unlike most cinnamon rolls these are made without butter and I know what you're thinking - How can butterless cinnamon rolls be any good?😂  The truth is I had low expectations for these olive oil based cinnamon rolls too but to my surprise - they were really delicious.😋  And as an added bonus, these rolls can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator overnight.  All that's left to do is in the morning is to pull them out and bake them up hot and fresh for all my guests.  

Olive Oil Cinnamon Rolls
Dough
3/4 cup milk (lactose free is you prefer)
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
2 eggs
3 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling
3 Tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
14 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon salt

Icing
4 Tablespoons milk
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

Stir together warm milk, yeast and sugar.  Let stand 10 minutes.  

Add olive oil, salt, flour and eggs.  Knead 10 minutes with a dough hook.

Transfer dough to a greased bowl.  

Cover and let rise 2 hours. 

Roll dough to an 18x10" rectangle. 

Mix together filling ingredients. 

Spread filling over dough.  

Roll dough, staring with long side. 

Slice into 9 pieces.  Place in greased jumbo muffin cups.  Cover and refrigerate overnight or freeze for up to 3 months. ​

Allow rolls to come to room temperature and  get slightly puffy.  ​

Bake rolls 25-30 minutes at 350.  ​

Stir together icing ingredients. 

Drizzle over rolls. 

Ciao!

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