The Closest to Cinnabon Rolls Recipe

I have not had a Cinnabon in years! Honest. I would not lie to you. In fact, I don't think I had one sense undergraduate school. But how my heart sings when I smell the cinnamon goodness in the air when I go to the mall and how my body hates the fact that I won't indulge in my senses by partaking of one of those delicious treats. Sorry, too sweet for me. But in my long hard search of trying different recipes to make the closest Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll, I think I finally got it! You have to make them and comment below and tell me how you like them!

Ingredients- Dough

• 1 Cup of warm milk
• 2 eggs (i had mine at room temperature)
• 1/3 cup of butter
• 4 1/2 cups of flour
• 2/3 cups of sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoon of Rapid Rising Yeast

Ingredients- Filling

• 1 cup of packed brown sugar
• 2 1/2 tablespoon of cinnamon
• 1/4 cup of butter

Ingredients- Icing

• 4 oz of cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cup of powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup of butter (room temperature)
• 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla 
• 1/8 teaspoon of lemon extract
• 1/8 teaspoon of salt

Directions


Preheat your oven to 400 degrees

• Take your milk and place it in a bowl and warm it up to about 100 degrees. Remember how I said that baking is a science? Well when baking with yeast it can be extra tricky because your yeast needs to time to dissolve and "proof". So use your thermometer to make sure that you milk is at 100 degrees. If it is a few degrees over, that is okay, but if it is too far from the required temperature, I recommend letting it cool before you add the yeast.
• Add the yeast to the warmed milk. Now, if you can the envelope style like I did (see above picture) still measure to make sure that the measurements are exact. Whisk well to make sure there are no clumps in the bowl. Set aside. 
• Combine flour, sugar, eggs, salt, and butter. It is going to look very crumby. Don't get freaked out and think this is the dough. You still have to add the milk. 

Before Milk

• Once you have mix all the ingredients well, add your milk and knead in your floured surface. Do not over knead! Just good enough where it is all well incorporated. 
• Once you have kneaded all ingredients together, place back in bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and place in warm place for one hour to double in size. 

After milk

• Once the hour has passed and the dough has double in size, take it out of the bowl and place it on your floured surface. 
• Take your rolling pin, sprinkle the pin with a little flour to avoid the dough from sticking to the pin, and roll out into a rectangle. You don't want to roll the dough out to thin. 
• After you have rolled out your dough. Allow it to sit for about 10 minutes on your counter. 
• While this is resting, take your brown sugar and cinnamon and combine it in a bowl.
• Once those two ingredients are mixed well, take the 1/4 cup of butter and spread evenly on the open part of your dough.
• Now, take your brown sugar and cinnamon mixture and sprinkle evenly on the buttered part of your dough. 
• Carefully roll the dough into a log and seal it with a little bit of water at the very end of your roll. This will allow the end to stick during the baking process. 

• Cut the cinnamon rolls with a very sharp knife about 1/2 inch think and place on the pan you will be baking them in. You can cut them bigger if you desire, but you want to keep an eye on them when baking. 
• Once you have placed them in the pan, place them near a warm place and let them sit for another 30 minutes to let the rise once again.
• After your 30 minutes have passed, bake them for about 12-15 minutes. They should be bubbling! 

• Take them out of your oven and allow to cool for about 10 to 15 minutes.
• When icing your rolls, you can wait until they are completely cool or you can pour the icing while they are still warm (it will melt some). But I will leave that part up to you.



Eat and enjoy!