Buttery Cinnamon Rolls

 
This month the Daring Bakers kept our creativity rolling with cinnamon bun inspired treats. Shelley from C Mom Cook dared us to create our own dough and fill it with any filling we wanted to; craft tasty rolled treats, cinnamon not required.  I went with the classic buttery cinnamon roll that has lots of pockets for the delicious gooey butter-cream cheese icing to drip down into!

I had to dust off the bread maker to start with – the last time I used it was at least five years ago, mainly because I’ve learned to make dough with my Kitchen Aid mixer.  It’s a good thing the recipe tells the order to put the ingredients into the bread maker, because I sure didn’t remember!  It made a beautiful dough and I got more slices than the recipe called for:

After covering with a dish towel and rising for almost an hour, the rolls were enormous and were fairly mushed into my pan. Next time – two pans!

I remember now why I don’t make these very often – they’re so incredibly irresistible and my arteries harden just looking at them. With coffee in the morning? Nothing better. They’re definitely Texas-sized and have the big ole taste to go with it! Dense, soft and tender with that wonderful icing. These are going back in my once a year (maybe twice a year) file instead of once a decade file and would be wonderful for the holidays!

Just a tip – don’t try to warm the egg to room temperature by warming it between your stomach and shirt. No matter how carefully you hold it, it will bust and decorate your shirt in egg. That may have happened to me….

Buttery Cinnamon Rolls
***** Possibly the best cinnamon rolls I’ve ever had!! Fairly easy to make and definitely worth the time.

1/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 cup warm milk
1 egg, room temperature
1 tablespoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups bread flour
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast

1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)

1/2 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 tsp teaspoons milk

Place the following ingredients into the pan of your bread machine: water, melted butter, vanilla pudding, warm milk, egg, 1 tablespoon sugar, salt, bread flour and yeast. Set machine to Dough cycle and choose Start. When Dough cycle has finished, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into about a 17×10 inch rectangle. Spread rectangle of dough with softened butter. In a small bowl, stir together brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Sprinkle the brown sugar mixture over the dough. Beginning with the long edge, roll up dough as tightly as possible without the brown sugar/cinnamon mixture coming out the sides. Slice into 16 one inch slices and place in 9×13 buttered pan. Let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes. While rolls bake, stir together cream cheese, softened butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla and milk. Remove rolls from oven and top with frosting.

Tips and Stuff:
I’ve seen similar recipes that use the entire packet of pudding, but it seems to turn out perfect just using half.
I warmed the water and milk in the microwave until it was very warm (not hot) to the touch. Too warm will kill the yeast.
I didn’t use the pecans.
I roll mine a little looser – that way there are those wonderful crevices for the icing to soak into.  Frost while the buns are warm.
I refrigerate mine because of the butter-cream cheese icing.  If serving from the refrigerator, microwave them for 22 to 25 seconds (depending on the strength of your microwave).
Don’t add extra  butter on top of them after warmed up or you will die, I mean really die from the richness…..