Cinnamon Rolls

A couple of days ago, I was in the mood to make cinnamon rolls after reading this post. Cinnamon rolls aren’t on my list of favorite foods — I can’t even remember the last time I ate one — but Hubby likes them a lot, so I figured I would give them a try.

For the dough and filling, I followed Elise’s adaptation of the recipe from Oprah magazine. However, I omitted her pecan topping entirely and substituted the frosting from the Clone of a Cinnabon recipe. The verdict? We loved them! The texture is light and the frosting has just the right amount of sweetness. Below are the various parts of the recipe, adjusted to create a half batch of 10 small rolls. But next time, I will likely make the full batch!

For the Dough:
1/8 cup warm water (105° to 115°)
1 1/8 teaspoons active dry yeast (half of a 1/4 oz package)
1/6 cup sugar
3/8 cup milk
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, plus more for greasing
2 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 to 2 1/8 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees, and then turn it off.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine warm water, yeast and 1/2 teaspoon sugar. Stir to dissolve and let sit until foamy, about 5-10 minutes.
3. Add milk, butter, remaining sugar, egg yolks, salt, and 1 1/2 cups flour. Mix on low speed until blended. Switch to a dough hook and slowly incorporate the remaining 1/2 cup of flour (on low speed). Increase speed to medium, kneading dough until smooth and slightly sticky (adding a little more flour if too wet), 3 to 5 minutes.
4. Shape the dough into a ball and place in a large, buttered bowl. Turn dough over in bowl to coat with the butter from the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the oven (which is warm but not on). Let rise until doubled in volume, about 1 hour (or longer if needed — I waited about 1 hour 30 minutes).
5. After the dough has risen, remove from oven and punch down. Turn out onto a lightly floured cutting board and let sit 20 minutes.

For the Filling:
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 Tbsp ground cinnamon
2 Tbsp unsalted butter

1. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Melt butter; keep separate.
2. Roll dough out into a rectangle (approximately 14″ x 10″). Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Starting with the long side, roll dough into a cylinder. Place seam side down on a flat surface and cut crosswise. (Dental floss was very helpful in making the cuts. I made 10 rolls, but they are definitely on the small side.)
3. Place dough slices, flat side down, in greased baking dish. Crowd them so they touch. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

For the Frosting:
3 Tbsp cream cheese, softened
2 Tbsp butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
very small pinch of salt

1. Remove the rolls from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature while preheating the oven to 375°. Bake buns until golden, 20 to 25 minutes.
2. While rolls are baking, beat together frosting ingredients.
3. Spread frosting onto rolls while they are warm. Enjoy!