culinary school in my kitchen

Now I know that cinnamon rolls are not really bread. They are glorified bread! Enriched with milk, sugar and eggs. I decided to include this particular recipe because these morning treats need to rise over night! The good news is they are still super easy. It just means that you don’t need to get up at the crack of dawn to start the baking extravaganza!
These cinnamon rolls were gooey but still defiantly bready. That had a dense crumb and soft crust, which was not even noticeable after the good dosing of frosting these bad boys received!!!
This recipe was totally new for me because I never use my stand mixer for bread, unless of course I am at work where using it is a total lifesaver. This was the first bread recipe that I think I have ever made in the comfort of my own kitchen and Kitchen Aid. Considering how tired I was after a long bread-making shift at work I am pleasantly surprised by the amazing results I got to enjoy!

Dough ingredients:
4 large egg yolks, room temperature
1 large whole egg, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar (2 oz)
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter (3 oz), melted
6 oz buttermilk, room temperature
4 cups all-purpose flour (20 oz), approximately
1 package instance dry yeast, approximately 2 1/4 teaspoons
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
Vegetable oil or cooking spray
Filling:
1 cup packed light brown sugar (8 oz)
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter (3/4 oz), melted
Frosting:
1/4 cup cream cheese (2 1/2 oz), softened
3 Tablespoons milk
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar (5 1/2 oz)
1 teaspoon vanilla

(recipe curtusy of Mr. Brown)

Start by melting your butter so it has time to cool down to room temperature.

Then combine the sugar, eggs, buttermilk and melted but cooled butter to your mixer and combine with the whisk attachment.

Mix well. Then add about 2 cups of flour, salt and the yeast. Mix with the whisk attement until it has become a most batter. Then switch to the dough hook.

Add all the remaining flour except for 3/4cup which can be added to the dough if it is needed. Mix the dough on low for about 5 minutes. You want to dough to have a silky texture but you do not want it to be sticky. If it is add mall amounts of flour until the dough reaches the desired constancy.

Mixing in more flour!

The dough mixing. Bread dough will tear as it mixes in the first stages before the gluten has developed. So remember this as you are making the dough and know that your bread is getting close to being done when it no longer tears but moves and stretches.

After about 5 minutes, when the bread has gotten to the correct consistency. Turn it out on to a lightly floured work surface and kneed for 30 seconds.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a most towel. Place the bowl some place warm until the dough doubles in size. (my dough did not double in size because it was about 50 degrees in my house but these still turned out great so don't worry too much if your dough is not rising!)

While the dough is rising start to make the filling. Melt 1 1/2 TBS butter and add to it the cinnamon, salt and brown sugar. Mix it well!

YUM!

Once the dough has doubled in size take it out of the bowl, place it on the work surface and roll out in to a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Take the other 1 1/2 TBS butter and melt it as well. Cover the dough in the melted butter and then cover it in the filling leaving about an inch at the top free and clear.

Roll it up into a nice tight log!

Cut the log into 15 even pieces.

Place them in an oiled baking dish and put the baking dish into an unheated oven overnight with a pan of hot water on the rack below. This will help them rise and give them the needed moisture.

In the Morning

Start by removing the cinnamon rolls from the oven and preheating it to 350. Once preheated put the cinnamon rolls in the oven for about 30 minutes.

In the mean time start to make the frosting. Which is my favorite part so i doubled the quantity but that was probably not necessary because there was so much frosting!
Start by creaming the cream cheese in the mixer, then add the milk and mix until well combined.
Then add a little powdered sugar and the vanilla.
Keep adding powdered sugar until you reach both the desired flavor and consistency. If you add to much sugar remember that you can always add more milk!

You want this frosting to be pretty runny. Just like in the picture.

When the cinnamon rolls are done they will not really be golden brown. But rather puffed up and oozing with bubbly goodness! you do want them to be firm to the touch. And if you do pull them out a little prematurely don't worry no one has ever complained about a gooey undercooked cinnamon roll. 30 minutes should do the trick though.