Cinna-YUM Roll

Ok, Lame food title, I know...but it's true. I have been in search of the perfect cinnamon roll recipe for a couple of years now. I make them twice a year because they're such a pain in the %@&, but I love them, so I keep trying to make them. I always end up with disappointing results. The dough has no flavor, it's too tough, not fluffy enough, not dense enough, the filling is not gooey enough, too crispy, doesn't cling to the roll, the frosting tastes like raw powdered sugar, the recipe doesn't make enough, it's not spreadable, etc. etc. etc. Let me also add that I am not a baker. I love to cook (obviously), but I can't say I've ever really 100% successfully baked anything. So I am certain this is a large contributor to the fact that my cinnamon rolls have never quite worked. All the more reason to find a perfect recipe, you know?...fool proof! So, I think I did.

After working hard all day laboring over these rolls, I grunted as I removed them from the oven and they were overcooked. I wasn't surprised, of course, but annoyed. I frosted them up knowing we were about to dig into yet another crappy batch of cinnamon rolls. And then?! Whoa! These were good! Really, really good! Not to say they were perfect, but the problem was the baker, not the recipe. I really think this recipe is perfect. I have some plans to change a few of my techniques here and there next time I make these, but I have finally found a winner.

To give credit where credit's due, I found this recipe on the "all recipes" app on my IPAD. Awesome app, by the way, and it's free. I use it all the time. This recipe was called "Clone of a Cinnabon"...and it really was.

Dough

1 Cup Milk, warm

2 Eggs, room temperature (see all this temperature junk?? This is exactly why I hate baking. The moon has to perfectly align with the planet in order for a baked good to come out right...sorry, I digress)

1/3 Cup Margarine, melted (I used butter, but I'll try margarine next time since the recipe calls for it and maybe the special scientific process used in creating margarine is necessary for the said baked good to come out right)

4 1/2 Cups Bread Flour (I used all-purpose flour, but again, will certainly use the bread flour next time since it will probably make these even more delicious...unimaginable)

1 teaspoon Salt

1/2 Cup White Sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons Bread Machine Yeast

Filling

1 Cup Brown Sugar, packed
2 1/2 Tablespoons Ground Cinnamon
1/3 Cup Butter, Softened

Frosting

1 (6 oz.) Package Cream Cheese, softened
2/3 Cup Butter, softened
3 Cups Confectioners Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/4 teaspoon Salt

Ok, admittedly, when I made these, I doubled the frosting. The recipe shown here is the doubled recipe because I think it's necessary and when I make these again, I want them to have the right amount of frosting. I made one batch and it wasn't enough, so I made a second batch separately. It was probably more than necessary, but I can't say it hurt them:)

1. Place dough ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press start. (Note: I'm sure you could make these without a bread maker, but since I can't bake, I couldn't tell you how).

2. After the dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. (Note: I didn't have to flour a surface, the dough was dry enough that it didn't stick).

3. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.

4. Roll dough into a rectangle (it says 16x21, but I didn't measure and I just felt lucky enough to be able to get it into a shape that somewhat resembled a rectangle).

5. Spread dough with 1/3 Cup softened butter and sprinkle evenly with the sugar/cinnamon mixture.

6. Roll up dough and cut into rolls (it says 12, I got 15).

7. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9X13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes (ha ha, while typing this I realized I totally skipped this step!). Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees.

8. Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

9. While rolls are baking, beat together all the frosting ingredients.

10. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

Ta Da! (Hailee says that's short for Da Da Ta Da!) Happy Baking!