Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

One of the women on my team had a birthday last week that I didn't know about.  Since we didn't get to do anything day of, I'm making homemade cinnamon rolls to bring in for breakfast to belatedly honor the occassion.  The dough recipe is the same one my mom has been making for years and it's delicious.  How I fill them is more or less the same as my mom as well, it's just that neither of us are very precise so our measurements probably don't match up.

The dough:

1 package active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
1/2 lukewarm milk (scalded then cooled)
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter or butter flavored shortening
1 tsp salt
1 egg
3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water in large bowl.  Stir in milk, sugar, shortening or butter, salt, egg and 2 cups of the flour.  Beat until smooth.  Mix in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle.

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.  Place in greased bowl; turn greased side up.  Cover and let rise in warm place until at least double its original size, about 1.5 hours.  (Dough is ready if an indentation remains when touched.)

Punch dough down.  Cut in half.  On lightly floured surface, roll out first half into 15" x 9" rectangle (this is a guideline, mine usually looks like a weird oval and they always taste just as good).

The Filling:

Approx. 3/8 cup white sugar
Approx 1/8 cup cinnamon (bottom line, you're looking for about a 3:1 sugar to cinnamon ration here)
1/2 stick melted butter (just zap it in the microwave)
Based on preference either:  2/3 cup chopped pecans or walnuts or 1 cup raisins (if you decide to work with raisins, rehydrate them first by boiling some water in a tea kettle and pouring that water over the raisins, just enough to cover them, and allowing them to steep for about 10 minutes).

Once the dough is rolled out, liberally brush your butter over the dough.  Sprinkle a thin layer of cinnamon/sugar mixture over the dough surface.  Sprinkle with raisins or nuts.  Roll, beginning on a 15" side, until you have a long tube.  Cut into 1 1/2 inch slices.  Place slightly apart in greased 9x9x2 pan.  Let rise until the rolls have doubled in size, about 40 minutes.  Bake at 375 degrees until golden, about 25 to 30 minutes.

While cinnamon rolls are baking, make the glaze.  Combine 1 cup confectioner's sugar with 2 Tablespoons on milk and 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla.  Glaze the cinnamon rolls as soon as they come out of the oven, while still warm.