Tasty Tuesday: The Best Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

It's officially Fall and in my house that means lots of baked goodies and comfort foods. Today seemed as good as any to make these homemade cinnamon rolls as dessert after our tomato basil soup with homemade croûtons. 

These Cinnamon rolls were so good that the entire pan is gone and it hasn't even been 24 hours. To be fair, I did package up 4 of them for my brother, but the rest was devoured by us. There goes the diet! They are so good that it's hard to stop at one. Although, it's probably a good idea to, as you will not be able to move afterwards. 

These are so simple to make, although a bit time consuming, but I assure you they are worth it!

What you'll need:

Dough

1 cup warm milk 
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup butter, melted 
4 1/2 cups flour 
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 pkg yeast (1/4 ounce) 

Filling

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened 

Icing

3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt 

Warm milk in microwave for about 40-60 seconds. Just so it's warm, but not boiling. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in milk. Add eggs, butter, salt, sugar, and stir. Slowly add flour, a little at a time, making sure all ingredients are combined. 

My dough was a bit sticky at this point so I added some flour to my hands to transfer it to a bowl which I had lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Cover and let sit for 1 hour or until dough has doubled in size. 

Once again, flour your hands and your surface. You'll want quite a bit of flour, I'm not kidding here. Punch dough down and knead it a bit to get it pliable and easier to roll out. Roll dough out into a rectangle and to about one inch thickness. I used my handy baking mat for this and you can find my review of it here.

Spread the room temperature butter all over the rolled out dough. I just used my hands. It's easier. Sprinkle dough with cinnamon and both sugars. I switched it up a bit and swapped out the cinnamon for pumpkin pie spice. It's Fall. Why wouldn't I? that's when I topped it with the brown sugar. I just sprinkled it on and packed it in with my hands to get an even coating.

Roll up the dough from the long side. You'll get more rolls this way. If you roll them up from the short side, you'll just have less rolls and they will be bigger. It's up to you, but I roll from the long side. 

 

For a third time, I covered my hands with flour while I rolled the dough. It didn't stick to my mat because this mat is awesome, but it did still stick to my hands a bit. 

Once rolled, slice into 12 rolls. I got 15 out of it. I guess it depends on how thick you slice them. Place rolls into a lightly greased 9 x 13 baking pan, cover, and once again let rise for 30 minutes. 

While they are rising, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 18-20 minutes. While the rolls are filling your home with delicious smells, mix all the icing ingredients together. I cheated and used store bought icing that I had left over from my son's birthday. 

Spread frosting on while still warm so it melts down into the rolls and gets all ooey gooey good. 

Eat them warm because that's the best way to eat them, of course! Cover any leftovers and reheat when desired. 

Enjoy!