I saw that Tracy at Shutterbean.com made these
Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls, and I HAD to make them as soon as I saw. Literally went to the grocery store right after reading her post, just so I could make these Cinnamon buns. Seriously.
And Seriously worth it!
The secret is the Cream Cheese... rolled into the dough, makes it light and layer-y and soooooo YUMMY. I'm even writing this recipe into my hand written recipe book as "Shutterbean's Cinnamon Buns" (Dear Tracy, you are awesome and your blog inspires me every time I read it.. Thanks)
So Mine are not as pretty as Tracy's but they totally tasted amazing! Beware when you are rolling the dough out once you've done the cream cheese step though... I made a HUGE mess... (lots of extra flour sprinklings saved the day though) I think I might have been a little too cream-cheese-happy though.
For the recipe, head over to tracy's blog (link at the top). Or just scroll down, I'm going to copy and paste it, but PLEASE go check her out, she is funny, and her photos are amazing. I have a blogger crush on her I think.
Cream cheese smoothed out on rolled out dough
Folded up and ready to roll again
They were messy, (but yummy... just clean your counter ASAP... trust me)
Covered in plastic wrap, ready to rise again. ( I should've made 9 instead of 8... they would've fit in my pan better)
MMMMMmmmmm
CREAM CHEESE CINNAMON ROLLS
For the Dough:
- 1 1/4-oz. package active dry yeast
- 1/2 tsp. plus 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup milk, at room temperature
- 2 tbsp. light brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 3/4 cups flour, sifted, plus more for kneading
- 3/4 tsp. fine salt
- 8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for the pan
For the Filling:
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. fine salt
- 1/8 tsp. ground cloves
- 2 tbsp. maple syrup
- 4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
- 8 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
For the Icing:
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1/4 cup buttermilk
Make the dough: In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a hook, combine yeast, 1/2 tsp. of the sugar, and 1/4 cup water heated to 115°. Stir to combine and let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes. Add remaining sugar, milk, light brown sugar, vanilla, egg, and egg yolk. Beat on low speed until thoroughly combined, 1 minute. Turn mixer off and add the flour and salt. Mix on medium speed until the dough just comes together. Turn mixer speed to high and knead dough for 4 minutes. Add the butter and continue kneading until dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, about 6 minutes. Remove bowl from the mixer, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside in a warm place. Let the dough rise for 1 1/2–2 hours, until it has doubled in size.
Meanwhile, make the filling: Combine the sugar, cinnamon, salt, and cloves in a large bowl; stir to combine. Stir in the maple syrup. Set filling aside.
Punch the dough down and turn it out onto a heavily floured surface. Gently knead the dough until it's no longer sticky, adding more flour as necessary, about 1 minute. Using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough into a 10" x 10" square. In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese with a rubber spatula until it's smooth and spreadable. Spread the cream cheese evenly over the dough square; then fold square into thirds as you would fold a letter to fit it into an envelope. Take the open ends of the resulting rectangle and fold into thirds again, to make a smaller dough square. Invert the dough so that the seam is face down and, using the rolling pin, gently roll into a 10" x 20" rectangle.
Turn the dough so that the short sides are parallel to you. Brush the top of the dough with half of the melted butter. Drizzle the reserved filling over the dough, leaving a 1" border at the edge farthest away from you. Lightly press the filling into the dough. Using your hands, lift up the bottom edge of the dough and roll it forward into a tight cylinder. Place dough cylinder, seam side down, on a cutting board and, using a thin, sharp knife, trim off the ends; cut cylinder crosswise into 8 equal-size slices. Nestle the slices, cut sides up and evenly spaced from one another, into a buttered 9" x 13" light-coloured metal baking pan. Cover pan with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place to let rise for 2 hours. (Alternatively, the rolls may be refrigerated overnight.)
Heat oven to 375°. Uncover the rolls. (If refrigerated, let them sit at room temperature for 15 minutes.) Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the rolls comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
Make the icing: While the rolls are baking, whisk together the sugar and buttermilk in a small bowl until smooth.
Transfer the pan of cinnamon rolls to a cooling rack; brush with remaining melted butter. Let cool for 5 minutes. Dip the tines of a fork into the icing and drizzle all over the rolls. Serve immediately.
MY NOTES:
I added in raisins and cut up apple, Just to make them a little more different from the cinnamon buns I usually make
My dough was a little moist in the beginning, so I added about 1/4 cup of Coconut flour to help thicken everything up... worked perfectly. Maybe the difference in Altitude? This has happened to me before, and my mom always blames the Altitude here.
