The Baker Chick's Cinnamon Rolls

As you may know, it's more or less freezing outside. Earlier this week instead of going to the gym I made cinnamon rolls. When it's super cold out you really should just throw on your favorite soft pants, crank the oven & bake something sweet.

After perusing the internet & recipes by Paula Deene & The Pioneer Woman I came upon a new (to me) blog, The Baker Chick.  I immediately loved this blog & decided that her 90-minute browned butter cinnamon roll with cream cheese frosting recipe was the one for me.

My one word of advice would be to read the recipe all the way through & to plan for a pan that the recipe calls for. I did not follow this advice & found myself with cinnamon rolls popping out of my pans! Fortunately, the outcome was still delicious, in fact dangerously so. After Chris & I taste-tested the fresh rolls out of the oven we knew we couldn't keep them in our house. I packed up two to-go containers of rolls to share with our teams of coworkers in the morning. There was no way we could have been trusted at home with them alone. They wouldn't stand a chance, we would have eaten them all!  Luckily our coworkers took care of the leftovers :)

Read more for tons of photos & The Baker Chick's full recipe. Be sure to check out her other recipes like these blueberry cinnamon rolls on the-baker-chick.com, too.


Ingredients:
dough:

• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup butter
• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 (.25 ounce) package instant yeast
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 egg

filling:

• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup butter

frosting:

• 2 tablespoons softened butter
• 4 oz cream cheese
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or paste
• 2-3 cups of powdered sugar (depending on how sweet you like it.)

Make it:

1. Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Mix in butter; stir until melted. Let cool until lukewarm.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 1/4 cup flour, yeast, sugar and salt; whisk together.  
3. Add water, egg and the milk mixture; beat well with an electric mixer. 
4. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, using a wooden spoon to stir well after each addition. (Dough will be too thick and sticky to use the mixers at this point. - read: this is the part I didn't read & had to pick dough out of my mixer - wasn't terrible but it was sticky!)  
5. When the dough has just pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 5 minutes. (dough will spring back when lightly pressed.)
6. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let rest for 10 minutes. 
7. Meanwhile, brown your butter by heating it in a small sauce pot over low heat. You'll see foam form first followed by brown bits. After about 2 minutes of the brown bits forming, remove from heat.
8. While butter cools slightly, mix together brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
9. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough into a 12×9 inch rectangle. (use your 9×13 baking dish as a guide.)  
10. Using a pastry brush- slather the dough with most of the brown butter. (It will feel like a lot, but use most of it.) Sprinkle dough with cinnamon sugar mixture and press in lightly so it doesn’t fall out when you roll it. Roll up dough and pinch seam to seal. 
11. Cut into 12 equal size rolls (or if you want smaller rolls cut them slightly thinner - I made about 20 smaller rolls) and place in a 9×13 baking dish. 
12. Drizzle with remaining brown butter.  
13. Cover and let the rolls rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes. 
14. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
15. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until browned. 
16. Let cool for about 10 minutes and then spread them with frosting. (directions below) Serve warm.

Make the Frosting:

1. Whip together the softened butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Add the vanilla and the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time. Beat until creamy and spreadable.

Recipe by the-baker-chick.com