• In medium bowl add milk, water and shortening. Heat in the microwave or on stove until warm (I usually go about 2 minutes, 30 seconds but each microwave is different and you don't want it hot enough to kill the yeast, just very warm).

  In the bowl of your Kitchen Aid mixer or large mixing bowl (if stirring by hand), combine yeast, sugar, 3 cups of flour and salt. Add warm liquid mix to this dry mixture and combine until smooth. Allow this to sit for 5 minutes (covered with a clean dish towel) to allow yeast to activate. You should see a few bubbles after 5 minutes.

  Add in remaining 4 cups of flour and mix well. You want the dough to be smooth and elastic as this will develop the gluten. I usually add a dough hook attachment for the last cup of four so it can do a bit of kneading/stretching for me.

  After all flour is added, allow the mixer to stretch the dough for 5-7 minutes and make sure that everything is incorporated smoothly.

  Pour dough into a large pre-greased bowl (I just spray it with non-stick spray or use shortening). Cover and allow to rise for 1 hour. Dough should double in size.

  Sprinkle counter top with flour and dump out risen dough. Sprinkle the top of the dough with flour and very lightly (without mashing the dough down and allowing it to keep its bubbly structure), gently roll into a rectangular shape approximately 16x20)

  Spread room temperature butter over your rectangle (make sure the butter is not melted!). Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon on top. Tightly roll the dough up (starting with the long side and rolling away from you) and form into a roughly 19" long roll. You can pat the roll and shape it slightly so its even from end to end.

  Use dental floss to slide under the roll and bring the strings up and around to make a slice. This works much better than a knife so you don't smash the dough. Cut the roll into 12 even slices (I always cut in half and then into fourths so I can cut each section into 3 rolls to help with even cutting).

  Spray sheet sprayed with cooking spray.

  Cover with a flour sack towel and allow to rise 30 minutes.

  Preheat your oven to 350 F and bake for 25-30 or until rolls are golden brown.

  Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Allow rolls to cool for 10-15 minutes before frosting.

Frosting

• Mix all ingredients together and frost cinnamon rolls when warm, not hot.