Cinnamon Rolls
- 1 cup Warm Milk (not hot)
- ½ tablespoon Active Dry Yeast
- 4 tablespoons Granulated Sugar, divided
- 3 cups + 2 to4 tablespoons All Purpose Flour, divided
- 1 large Egg, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons Unsalted Butter, melted (1 tablespoon for batter, 1 tablespoon to grease pan)
- ½ teaspoon Salt
Filling
- 7 tablespoons Unsalted Butter, softened, divided (6 tablespoons for filling, 1 tablespoon to brush tops)
- ¼ cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 tablespoon Ground Cinnamon
Cream Cheese Icing
- 4 tablespoons Unsalted Butter, softened
- 4 ounces Cream Cheese, softened
- ½ tablespoons Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup Confectioners Sugar
- In the bowl of stand mixer, add 1 cup of warm milk and sprinkle with ½ tablespoon yeast; let sit uncovered for 7 minutes at room temperature
- Add ½ cup flour 2 tablespoons sugar; whisk until blended; cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 35-45 minutes (or in oven at 100 degrees for 25 minutes) will look puffy
- Whisk in 1 egg, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon melted butter and ½ teaspoon salt
- Using the dough hook on speed 2, add remaining 2 ½ cups flour (½ cup at a time) letting it blend with each addition
- Add more flour 1 tablespoon at a time until dough is no longer sticking to fingertips or the walls of the bowl as it mixes; then knead for 10 minutes
- Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 2 hours; dough should double in size
- Generously dust flour over a clean work surface and place dough in the center; sprinkle dough with flour (just enough to keep the rolling pin from sticking); roll into an even 17×10″ rectangle; dot the top of dough with 6 tablespoons of softened butter and spread it out gently with spatula
- Stir together ¼ cup sugar and 1 tablespoon cinnamon and sprinkle all of it evenly over buttered dough; roll the dough up starting with one of the longer sides, keeping a tight roll
- Once it’s rolled up, push ends in slightly to make them a little more uniform; slice into 12 equal sized cinnamon rolls
- Butter sides and bottom of 9×13″ baking pan with 1 tablespoon of butter and evenly space cinnamon rolls in pan, cut side down
- If making overnight cinnamon rolls, cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate; remove from refrigerator and keeping them covered, let cinnamon rolls rise at room temperature, 1 to 1 ½ hours or until puffy
- Brush tops with 1 tablespoon of melted butter and bake at 350F for 22-24 minutes, until tops are light golden brown; let cool in pan for 15 minutes then frost warm buns generously with cream cheese frosting
- Using electric mixer, cream together 4 tablespoons softened butter, 4 ounces soft cream cheese; beat on medium speed until creamy and smooth; beat ½ tablespoons vanilla extract then add 1 cup of powdered sugar and continue mixing until fluffy (3-4 minutes); scrape down the bowl as needed
Here is a great option for a mixer!