Homemade Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls

If there's one recipe involving yeast dough that is really worth your time it's cinnamon rolls! Oh my, I had no idea homemade cinnamon rolls tasted so much better than any purchased cinnamon rolls (at least any I have ever had). 

A while back I was searching the Saveur website and found a recipe for Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls. I showed it to my sister and we immediately decided we would have to make them some time. When Christmas rolled around, my sister decided to make the cinnamon rolls for Christmas Day breakfast. She prepared the dough and filling on Christmas Eve. When I arrived at her house that day I finished the recipe up to the point where you let the cinnamon rolls rise in the pan (we actually used a glass baking dish and it worked just fine). After letting the rolls rise for a while, we put them in the refrigerator overnight. When I woke up the next morning my sister had already baked the rolls and added the remaining melted butter. All I had to do was ice the rolls. I just used 1 cup of confectioners' sugar and water instead of buttermilk. Once the icing was on, we ate the rolls right away. Wow, there is nothing more delicious than a warm cream cheese cinnamon roll fresh out of the oven--mmhmm!

I recommend eating the cinnamon rolls as soon as possible since they become stale really fast. If you can't eat them (or serve them to other people) while they are still warm, I recommend reheating them. 

Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls

Makes 8 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 temp.

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 temp., plus more for the pan

For the filling:

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup finely chopped pecans

1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

1/4 cup raisins

1 tbsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. fine salt

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

2 tbsp. maple syrup

4 oz. cream cheese, at room temp. 

8 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

For the icing: 

2 cups confectioners' sugar

1/4 cup buttermilk

1. 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.

2. Meanwhile, make the filling: Combine the sugar, dark brown sugar, pecans, walnuts, raisins, cinnamon, salt, and cloves in a large bowl; stir to combine. Stir in the maple syrup. Set filling aside. 

3. 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; the fold square into thirds as you would fold a letter to fit 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.

4. 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-colored 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.)

5. Heat oven to 375°. Uncover the rolls. (If refrigerated, let them sit at room temp. for 15 minutes). Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the rolls comes out clean, about 30 minutes. 

6. Make the icing: While the rolls are baking, whisk together the sugar and buttermilk in a small bowl until smooth. 

7. 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 rolls. Serve immediately.