Raisin Nut Buns Recipe

This is my all time favorite sweet roll. They are basically just cinnamon buns with raisins and nuts in them. Don't eat too many if you can resist it.

The Dough:

1 cup warm water
1 package active dry yeast
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup oil or 1/2 stick melted butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
4- 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Filling:

1/2 stick softened butter
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup dark or light brown sugar
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Frosting:

4 oz softened cream cheese
4 tbsp softened butter
2 tbsp milk
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla or lemon juice (optional)

For the dough mix the water, milk, oil, yeast, eggs, sugar, salt, and vanilla together. Add the flour and knead for 5 min to form a soft but not sticky dough. Let the dough rise until fully doubled in bulk (about 1/ 1/2 to 2 hrs). Punch the dough down and place on the work surface (there should be no need for extra flour, but if it feels sticky by all means use some (but not to much)). Shape the dough into a rectangle no thicker than 1/2 inches. The dimensions are not important to me, just know that the wider it is the more swirls the finished rolls will have.

For the filling begin spreading the butter on the rectangle leaving a one inch border butterless along one of the long sides. Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together and spread this over the butter. Then eveny spread the raisins and nuts over that. Pres firmly with a rolling pin. Now roll the rectangle up starting on the side opposite the butterless border. When you get to the border press it tightly to seal. Cut the roll into 1 in thick rounds and place in a well greased baking pan. You will probably need 2 (a large one and a small one). Let them rise one hour, then bake for 25 min at 350 degrees. Remove from the pan while hot or the will stick. The easiest way to geth them out is too quickly turn the pan upside down and let them fall out.

For the frosting beat all the ingredients together until smooth and drizzle over the buns. If it wont drizzle add more milk or if you prefer a spreadable frosting add less milk.

Serve warm and enjoy. They reheat well 20 sec in the microwave.