Swedish Cinnamon Rolls

* Crumble 2 1/2 packages of fresh yeast (totalling about 50 gram) into a big bowl. You can also use 3 envelopes of dry yeast. Do not use rapid rise, as you want to rise the dough twice.

* Melt a little bit more than one stick (113 gram) of butter, I used about 130-140 gram Add 5 dl (a little over a pint) of milk. Heat to body temperature/finger warm. You should not be feeling anything (neither hot nor cold) when you put the finger in it.

* Use some of the liquid to dissolve the yeast, the add the rest of the liquid, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1 dl (just over 1/3 cup) sugar.

* Add 14-15 dl (6 to 6.3 cups) of flour. I first added 10 dl, stirred well, then added 4 dl more, stired, and slowly added 1 more dl .

* Put the dough on a table and kneed until smooth but not sticky. Add flour until you get the right consistency.

* Shape into a big ball, put back into bowl, cover with a linen towel and let rise for 20-30 minutes. If you live in a warm place (like Texas), you can put the covered bowl outside (in shade) and it will rise even better/faster. Make sure the temperature does not exceed 100 degrees F (38 C), though.

* Put the dough on the table, cut into two equal pieces, and shape into two rectangular flat pieces, about 20cm x 45cm (8×20 inches) using a roller.

* Spread a thin layer of softened butter over each piece, sprinkle granulated sugar and cinnamon over it, and roll them from the long side. Leave a 1/2 inch strip on one long side without butter, and start rolling from the opposite side. This will make the end of the rolls stay closed. As you can see in my picture above, I did not do that on this particular batch, which caused the ends to separate.

* Cut the rolls into about 1 inch think slices, place each slice laying down on a cookie sheet and cover with a thin linen towel again. You should have about 32-40 rolls, depending on size. Rise for 30 more minutes. Note: I use AirBake non-stick cookie sheets, they work great at preventing the bottom of the rolls to get burned. Highly recommended! I got mine at WalMart.

* Heat up the oven to 225 C/450 F.

* Brush each roll with egg, and sprinkle over pearl sugar. It can be purchased at IKEA, they have a ection with Swedish food items in most/all international locations.

* Bake for 6-9 minutes or until golden brown.

Note: 1 dl = 3.4 oz = just over 1/3 cup, 15 dl = 1.5 litre = 6.3 cups