Cinnamon Rolls | Fall

It’s on days like this where I could curl up with a book and a mug of strawberry milk(my favorite). The sky’s a perfect blue, the sun’s shining radiantly and beautiful golden and scarlet leaves are scattering across my lawn. I love perfect fall days, and I love fall in general. In my head it’s the cinnamon, apple, pumpkin, peach, brown sugar, and brown butter season. All of the lovely warm, homey flavors that warm you inside and out. And the colors of the food’s too, warm cinnamon-y browns, apple scarlets, and pumpkin oranges. They’re all just warm and comforting.

I really haven’t baked anything that fall themed this season, mostly because I haven’t had any time, with the new workload of homework, and with the times that I did have free, I was just busy. So finally when i finally did find a non busy time, I wanted to bake something simple, easy to make and fall themed, and so I made these cinnamon rolls.

These are amazingly delicious and soft, with the sweet, warm swirls of brown sugar, brown butter and cinnamon. You honestly don’t even need the icing. These were devoured within minutes right after I took them out of the oven, with the cinnamon butter filling bubbling on the sides of t

he perfectly hypnotically swirled rolls…

Cinnabon™ Knock-off Cinnamon Rolls

Makes approx. 20 or less

Adapted from Tartelette

Starting out with the dough…

• 2 1/4 a tsp. yeast
• 1 cup warm milk(make sure it’s from 105 ° F- 110°F. If it’s any less the yeast won’t activate you will end up with dense, hard rolls, or if you make it too high, the yeast will die, and you will still end up with dense hard rolls)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup brown unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 eggs
• 4 cups all-purpose flour(and some more afterwards)

Filling

• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup unsalted brown butter at room temperature

1. In a large bowl add in the yeast and the milk, and stir around a little until all the yeast is fully dissolved.
2. Add the sugar, the brown butter(still liquid-y but slightly cooled, you should be able to touch it for a bit, if it’s too hot it may cook the eggs a little), salt and eggs. Mix well. It’ll be very liquid-y still.
3. Sift in the flour cup by cup(it doesn’t make a difference if you dump in the whole thing or not, but it’s just easier).
4. You now have a giant lump of  pale sticky dough. Get some flour, shape it into a neat dough ball and leave it in a warm(not hot or it’ll cook) place to rise. Check back in a half an hour or until the dough has risen and doubled in size(it’s look really big compared to what you last saw, and if it isn’t let it stay there for a little more. It has to rise or else you will end up with dense cinnamon rolls) a tip I learned from 17andbaking: microwave a cup of water in the oven for 3 minutes and then leave the dough in there. It’s a perfect place because its warm and moist.
5. Meanwhile the dough rises mix together all the ingredients for the filling and leave it in the bowl. it should look very brown and feel grainy due to the brown sugar.
6. After the dough has risen take it out again and flour the place your working on, and roll it out evenly to a 21×16 rectangle( if you don’t get it even you will have “interestingly” formed swirls, that won’t be all that pretty, and sometimes if you roll it out unevenly enough you’ll have too much dough in one place and it won’t taste right. also, if you over knead it it will become elastic-y and very hard to roll out!
7. Spread the cinnamon sugar butter filling all over the dough, and roll it up starting from the longer 21 inch side and now you have this giant dough log thing.
8. Cut it up the giant log thing into 2 and half centimeter pieces and put into a greased pan, evenly spaced out, a little more than in the picture shown below.
9. Let the rolls rise again.
10. Bake at 400 degrees until light golden brown on top(approx 10 mins).

Icing

For the icing:

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1/4 cup (2 oz.) cream cheese at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon whole milk
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream the butter and cream cheese vigorously. Then add the powdered sugar, and milk and vanilla extract.

Pour over cinnamon rolls and enjoy!

(They’re best served warm)

~Dee D.