Easter Brunch - Cinnamon Rolls

I love the smell of a yeast dough.  The smell is like being in a bakery.  I cannot even describe what it smells like, other than comfort.  If you are afraid to bake with yeast, try this recipe.  It is easy and when you use cinnamon and cream cheese frosting, it is hard to mess it up.

I used the yeast dough and sugar buns made by Martha Stewart on her show "Martha Bakes" and then added the cinnamon sugar and frosting to turn it into these rolls.  I also make them the day before.  To do this, I allowed the dough to do the first rise, made the rolls and then put it in the fridge.  I took them out about 4 hours before baking and they did the second rise in the morning.  One more change is using the dough hook instead of kneading by hand. If you like to knead, you can.

Makes 12 buns

Ingredients:

Yeast Dough:

2 packages active dry yeast (1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons)

1/4 cup warm water (100 to 110 degrees)

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 cup sugar

2 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon white vinegar

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/3 cup sour cream

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface

1 cup bread flour

1 teaspoon coarse salt

Filling:

1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 TBS cinnamon

Cream Cheese Frosting:
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

Here's how:

In a small bowl, mix together yeast and warm water; set aside.

The yeast is alive, you can tell by the bubbles.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar on medium speed, scraping down sides of bowl with a spatula as necessary.

 

Butter and sugar creamed together

Add egg yolks, one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl with a spatula as necessary.

Add vinegar and vanilla; mix to combine.

Vanilla and vinegar added

Slowly add sour cream, mixing until well combined.

Sour cream added

Add yeast mixture.

Yeast into the dough

In a large bowl, whisk together both flours and salt.

This is my favorite brand of bread flour.

Add to mixer and mix on low until well combined and dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl and just begins to form a ball.

Dry ingredients added to wet ingredients

Change the paddle to the dough hook. Knead dough in the mixer until smooth, about 5 minutes.

Dough beginning to pull away from the sides

Done and ready to rest

Lightly flour the bottom of a large glass bowl; place dough in bowl and cover with a clean damp kitchen towel. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap; let stand until doubled in size, about 3 to 4 hours, or refrigerate overnight.

Dough in greased bowl

Dough in a bowl with a towel and plastic wrap covering to rest

Turn yeast dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and roll into an 18-by-10-inch rectangle.

Dough rolled out to 10 x 18

Brush dough with 2 tablespoons unsalted butter and liberally sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar filling.

Cinnamon sugar filling sprinkled on top

Beginning with the long side facing you, tightly roll dough away from you into a log; pinch edge of dough to seal. Cut dough crosswise into 1 1/2-inch pieces.  This can be done by cutting the log in half, then half again and then each piece into three.

Place each cross-sectional piece into a greased casserole dish and lightly cover with plastic wrap. Place muffin tins in warm place until buns double in size, about 45 to 60 minutes.  If you want to bake later, place them in the fridge and allow them to rise the next day for 4 hours before baking.  This allows them time to some to room temperature and rise before baking.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the buns in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until lightly browned.

Remove and let cool 5 minutes.

Cover in cream cheese frosting (Directions below).

Warm and slathered in cream cheese frosting

Serve warm.

How to make cream cheese frosting:

Beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth.

Add vanilla and powdered sugar.  Mix until smooth and fully incorporated.