Cinnamon Rolls

These are great served alongside breakfast, or at any other time.
#breakfasts 

Ingredients⌗

Dough⌗

  • 1 cup warm milk (~115 F)
  • ~2 tsp instant dry yeast (1 packet)
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1/3 cup salted butter, well softened to just melted, but not over 115 F
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 4 1/2 cups bread flour, divided1

Filling⌗

  • 1/2 cup salted butter, almost melted
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp cinammon
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream

Frosting⌗

  • 6 oz cream cheese, well softened
  • 1/3 cup salted butter, well softened
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/2 tbsp maple and/or vanilla extract

Instructions⌗

Make dough⌗

  1. Pour the warm milk into the bowl of a stand mixer with beater or paddle attachment, and lighly mix the yeast in. Allow it to stand for 3-5 minutes, until it begins to froth.
  2. Add the eggs, butter, and sugar. Mix until combined.
  3. Add salt and 4 cups of the flour and mix until just barely combined. Allow to rest for 5 minutes to soak evenly.
  4. Scrape the beater/paddle attachment into the dough and remove it. Replace with dough hook2.
  5. Beat with dough hook on medium speed for 5-7 minutes, to knead into a smooth dough. Add some or all of the remaining flour only if the dough is too wet to come together; you will likely end up using around 4 1/4 cups total. The dough should end slightly elastic and just a tiny bit sticky.
  6. Spray a large bowl with cooking spray. Remove the dough from the mixer and add as a ball to the bowl. Cover with a damp towel or parchment paper.
  7. Let the bowl of dough rise in a warm place until roughly doubled. It should take around 30 minutes with sufficient warmth; do not let it overproof or the rolls will puff too much.

Fill and soak dough⌗

  1. While the dough proofs, combine butter, sugar, and cinammon with a rubber spatula until well mixed. Set aside.
  2. Generously flour a work surface. Turn the proofed dough out onto the surface and sprinkle the top with more flour.
  3. Flour a rolling pin and roll the dough out into a large rectangle, roughly 24"x15". Precision is not critical.
  4. Use a rubber spatula to evenly spread the filling across the top of the rectangle.
  5. Starting on the long side, roll the dough up tightly into a log.
  6. Cut the log of dough into 12 even slices. Pack them together into a greased 9x13 baking pan.
  7. Preheat oven to 375.
  8. While the oven preheats, cover the pan and allow the rolls to proof for another roughly 20 minutes. They should fit together quite snugly at this point.
  9. Warm the heavy cream until just about room temperature. Pour evenly over the top of the proofed rolls, allowing it to soak in and around. This will prevent the dough or filling from scorching, so make sure you get all surfaces.

Bake rolls⌗

  1. Add to oven and bake for roughly 25-40 minutes, until the tops are lightly golden brown and the centers are cooked through. Start checking around 20 minutes; if the tops are browning too quickly while the center needs more time, cover the pan loosely with foil for the rest of the bake.
  2. Remove and allow to cool in the pan.

Make icing⌗

  1. Add cream cheese and butter to a mixing bowl. Beat with paddle attachment well until combined.
  2. Add in vanilla/maple extract and powdered sugar. Mix carefully at first to avoid scattering sugar, then beat on medium-low until all combined, stopping to scrape sides if necessary.
  3. When rolls are mostly cooled, spread frosting evenly over the tops. Serve warm if possible.

Makes 12 large rolls.

  1. AP flour may substitute for some or all of the bread flour, but you will get a softer roll. ↩︎

  2. If you don’t have a dough hook (or a mixer) you can knead by hand instead, for roughly 5 to 7 minutes. ↩︎