Cinnamon Rolls

As if I needed an excuse to bake. 

The BFF organized a cooking feast at her place this weekend to include hands-on cooking with about eight of us from the Consulate. Everyone was tasked with participating, whether that would be bringing some ingredient, an entire dish, or a set of working hands to help. J hand-made the pesto and dough for gnocchi and he and P rolled the little balls of deliciousness out together. R made a great tomato onion soup (on the spot!) while the BFF made the innards of stuffed peppers. A contributed the peppers while N provided the pre-dinner cheese, straight from home in Washington state. My contribution? Well... I've been dying to make these cinnamon rolls that my office-mate's wife made for a summer BBQ. They went so fast at the BBQ that I didn't even get one; I did hear, however, just how good they were from everyone else. So here it is:

1.  Make 2.5lbs of dough in bread maker. Place ingredients in bread maker in the following order:

1. 2/3 c milk (warmed to 80~90F)
2. 3 eggs (room temperature)
3. 6 Tbsp unsalted butter
4. 1/2 c sugar
5. 1 tsp salt
6. 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
7. 4 c bread flour
8. 2/3 c cornstarch
9. 2 1/4 Tbsp yeast

2.  After kneading and rising (about 1 hour and 40 minutes depending on bread maker), punch to deflate. Divide the dough into 2 portions.

Dough, punched to deflate

3.  Let rest 10 minutes.
4.  Meanwhile, make cinnamon filling.

• 1/2 c brown sugar
• 1/4 c regular sugar
• 2 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon
• 4 Tbsp melted unsalted butter

5. Roll the dough out into two rectangles (about 1/2-inch thick).

6. Brush each sides of rectangle with melted butter.

Who doesn't love some melted butter, sugar, and cinnamon?

 7. Sprinkle cinnamon mixture (No.4) on dough.

Leave the top edge clean to allow for better sealing.

 8. Roll as a jelly roll, pinch along the end to seal.

Note: roll the dough from the side closest to you; it's way easier

I used a little bit of water to help seal the edges.

9. Cut with a knife into desired thickness.

I cut the rolls about 1 1/2 inch thck

 10. In a butter-sprayed baking pan, arrange the rolls close together, cover with plastic wrap, and let them rise (Yes! Again...) for 35-40 minutes. I put them on my dryer while it was on to help the process.

Cinnamon rolls before the final rise

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At this point I let them continue to rise for about 2 hours until we made and started dinner, when I put them in the oven after the salad was finished. Once I brought them over to the BFF's, I put them on top of the distiller (also warm) and they puffed up nice and thick. By the time we were done cooking dinner, they were ready to bake.
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11. Preheat oven to 350F.

12. Bake for 25-30 minutes (or less depending on how brown you like them).

13. Cool 20-25 minutes (we couldn't wait that long) and frost!
 
Cream cheese frosting:

• 4oz cream cheese
• 1/4 c unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 c powdered sugar
• 1 tsp milk
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice

The final product at the BFF dinner:

Can I get a YUM?!