Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon Rolls.  Serious goodness.  Steve and I went through a phase of eating cinnamon rolls everywhere we could find them in search of the World's Best Cinnamon Rolls.  That was a good year.

You should know, the World's Best Cinnamon Rolls can all be found in northern Colorado.  If you're ever passing by just south of Fort Collins, CO, on I-25, stop in at Johnson's Corner. (Look, you can order cinnamon rolls online!)  It's a truck stop with an awesome restaurant attached, where you can get a hold of the World's Second Best Cinnamon Rolls, in my humble opinion. 

To experience the World's Best Cinnamon Rolls, head to The Silver Grill Cafe, in Old Town, Fort Collins.  I strongly considered entering a 5K race in Ft. Collins last fall, so I'd have a good reason to go eat a cinnamon roll at the Silver Grill Cafe.

As we were searching the world over for incredible cinnamon rolls, I tried a few homemade recipes, too.  Out of the gagillions of recipes that I tried and tested, the one posted below is my favorite.  The added bonus: they make your house smell heavenly!



A pan of "mini" cinnamon rolls

Clone of a Cinnabon
(Adapted from a recipe from Allrecipes.com)
Makes 12 large cinnamon rolls

Dough:
4 1/2 cups flour
2 1/4 tsp. instant or rapid rise yeast
1 cup milk
1/3 cup butter, sliced
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs

Filling:
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup (not packed) brown sugar
2 tbsp. cinnamon

Frosting:
3 oz. cream cheese (I always use 1/3 fat cream cheese)
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. salt

In a large bowl (or a stand mixer bowl, if you have one), whisk together yeast and flour.  In a small bowl, combine milk, butter, salt, and sugar.  Heat for about 1 minute on high, until butter is almost, but not completely melted.  (You're looking for about 120 degrees.)  Add the wet ingredients to the flour along with two eggs.  Stir to combine; knead until very smooth and stretchy.  (I use the dough hook on my stand mixer.)

Spray a large bowl with cooking spray.  Put the dough in the bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and allow it to rest for about 1 hour in a warm place. (I put it in the oven - turned off - with a pan of boiling water.)

Roll dough out to a 12x18 inch rectangle.  For filling, spread with softened butter.  Combine brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle that onto the dough.  Press down to help it stick.  Roll the dough up from a long side and pinch to seal.  Slice into 12 slices and place the slices, cut side down, in a greased 9x13 pan.  Cover again with greased plastic wrap.  Allow it to rest for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Bake the rolls for 30-35 minutes.  Immediately when you remove them from the oven, brush the tops of the rolls with about 2 tbsp. of melted butter. (This is optional, but so good.)  Allow to cool slightly.

Combine the frosting ingredients and beat well until smooth.  Spread the frosting over the warm rolls.

Tips: If desired, halve the recipe and bake 6 rolls in a round cake pan.  Or, you can make mini rolls (like in the picture above): Before you roll up the rectangle of dough and filling, cut the rectangle in half lengthwise, forming two 6x18 rectangles.  Roll each of those separately, seal, and cut each into 12 rolls each.  This will make 24 mini rolls.