Surprisingly I have never made cinnamon rolls… Until now. I made these and I have to say, they are wonderful. I actually froze half and plan on thawing/rising at room temp next time I need a quick breakfast or potluck contribution. [update: rolls thawed, baked, they are perfect!] These have the perfect flavor of sweet dough with the yeasty taste of homemade bread. They are prepared using a stand mixer making them all the easier to churn out in the morning.
Dough
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
4 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 cup warm water (110 degrees)
2 eggs, room temperature
6 cups all purpose flour, sifted
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
Filling
1/2 cup butter melted
1 cup sugar and 3 tsp ground cinnamon mixed together
Glaze
4 tbsp butter, melted
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2-4 tbsp hot milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
Make the dough
Heat milk, 1/2 cup sugar and salt in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir until sugar melts and the mixture bubbles gently. Remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool.
Dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in very warm water (110°F) in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix with the paddle attachment until well blended. Let stand 10 minutes.
Beat eggs into yeast mixture. Add in the cooled milk mixture, switch to the dough. Mix in the flour one cup at a time until dough is elastic. Add the melted butter and mix, then add in more flour until dough is elastic and pulls away from the sides of the mixer. The dough should stick to your hands slightly. Knead with the dough hook for 5 minutes.
Place dough in a buttered bowl and turn it over to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
Punch down the dough and turnout onto a lightly floured surface. Knead a few times and cut into two pieces. Roll out each piece into 12×9-inch rectangles.
Add the filling
Brush the rolled dough pieces with the melted butter. Sprinkle each with half the cinnamon sugar mixture and roll up lengthwise (see images above). Cut each roll into 12 pieces. [note: after this step I placed half the rolls on a baking sheet and froze them, I then transferred these to a ziploc bag.]
Place slices not quite touching in a well buttered pan. If you are making all the dough at once, they should fit into a 13×9 inch cake pan. I used a 9 inch round pan and made half the dough. Cover and let rise about 45 minutes or until doubled. [to bake frozen rolls, remove from freezer and allow them to thaw and rise for approximately two hours.]
Preheat oven to 400°. Bake rolls for 18-25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through, or until golden.
Whisk together glaze ingredients, adding additional milk as needed. Glaze rolls in the pan while they are hot.
Adapted from Sprinkle Bakes.