Kitchen Jewels: Clone of a Cinnabon

I was introduced to these heavenly cinnamon rolls by my best friend in Colorado, Amy Lynn Cutright. The frosting is vital. I have made slight modifications from the recipe here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Clone-of-a-Cinnabon/Detail.aspx

Here is my first tutorial, dedicated with love, to Staci. ;)

1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F)

2 1/2 teaspoons yeast

2 eggs, room temperature

1/3 cup butter, melted

4 cups all purpose flour

1 t salt

1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar, packed

2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1/3 cup butter, softened

Frosting

1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions

In a large bowl, mix warm milk, yeast, eggs and melted butter. If you accidently heat your milk too hot (as I often do), stick some of the unmelted butter in the bowl to cool it down. Add salt, sugar and three cups of flour to the bowl. Knead by hand or in a mixer for 6-8 minutes, adding the final cup of flour until dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, but is still slightly sticky feeling. You should be able to pull the dough from the bowl without getting much or any stuck to your hands.

Lightly grease the bowl (I use Pam), shape the dough into a smooth ball and place it back in the bowl to rise. I spray the top of my dough with Pam as well and then cover the bowl with plastic wrap to keep it from drying out.

Let rise until doubled, about 60 minutes (longer if you used bread flour). My favorite test to see if it has risen enough is to poke it to my first knuckle with one finger. If the dough springs back and begins to fill itself slowly back in, leave it for a while. If the hole remains, the dough is ready to move on.

Punch down the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes if you have the time, if not, you can safely skip this rise.

In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.

Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture.

Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls.

My sister-in-law taught me how to tuck and goose cinnamon rolls so they look super cool.

Unroll slightly.

Use the end to push up the center of the roll.

Take a moment to feel gourmet.

Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover (or don't) and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

They won't look a whole lot different after thirty minutes, but they will be a little plumper.

Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

Enjoy!