Cinnamon Roll Bars

I love cinnamon rolls, so I've been collecting recipes for them or anything else that provides the same flavor to satisfy my cravings.  This is one of those recipes that I decided to try recently.  The first time I made them was for a tea I was hosting for the ladies in my Royal Ladies Tea Society.  They were so well liked by the attendees, my boys and my neighbors, that I made them again this past Saturday for my mom's birthday celebration.  Everyone who tries these bars loves them! My youngest son would eat the whole pan if I'd let him!

Not only do these bars taste great, but they are so easy to put together.  I found the recipe on Pinterest where the link led me to blissfulwhimsy.blogspot.com.  A big thank you to the author for sharing this recipe!  My guys all give these bars 9s on the Melnarik rating scale.

In a large bowl, I combine a yellow cake mix with some white and brown sugars and some cinnamon.

 To that mixture, I add the melted butter and eggs.  I melt the butter in a measuring cup in the microwave before combining the dry ingredients.  This way, the butter won't be so hot that the eggs will cook.  That's also why I make two wells in the dry ingredients, so the eggs won't mix with the butter until I mix them into the other dry ingredients first.

As you can see above, the dough is thick and somewhat sticky.

I pressed the dough into a greased 9x13-inch baking pan and then baked it in the oven at 350°F for 30 minutes.

When it came out of the oven, it had risen a bit and was golden brown around the edges.  I let the pan sit on a cooling rack until it was completely cooled.

Once cooled, I prepared the icing by combining the butter with powdered sugar using a hand mixer.  I added one cup of the powdered sugar at a time, adding the milk in between to get the proper consistency.  The original recipe called for a milk and powdered sugar icing, but I think a buttercream frosting on cinnamon rolls is the best, so I chose to make that instead.

I frosted the bars with this mixture and the bars were ready to cut and serve!

For my tea party I decided to cut the bars using a hexagon cookie cutter, to make them look a little more special.  They can be cut into any shape you like; it's the taste that makes these bars so special!  Enjoy!

Cinnamon Roll Bars

1 box yellow cake mix

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1/2 cup (1stick) melted butter

2 eggs

2 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup softened butter

1 tablespoon milk

Preheat oven to 350°F.  In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix, sugars and cinnamon.  Add butter and eggs; mix thoroughly.  Spread into a greased 9x13-inch baking dish.  Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool completely.  In a medium bowl, mix together powdered sugar, butter and milk to make icing.  Spread on cooled bars.  Cut and serve.