cinnamon buns

Last night I was sitting and looking at my laundry list of recipes I have bookmarked to try, and one thing kept jumping out at me. I was intending to find something to make for dinner one night this week but the word "Cinnabon" kept yelling for my attention.

Now I know we're supposed to be shying away from all things sweet and indulgent since a major holiday weekend just past, but I had tilapia and vegetables last night for dinner so I deemed these an acceptable snack.

So grab your mixing bowl and let's go! Start by dissolving your yeast in the warm milk. Add the sugar, butter, eggs, and salt and mix. Then dump your flour on top.




Knead the dough until its smooth and put it into a lightly greased bowl. Cover it with a clean tea towel and set somewhere warm until it doubles. (About an hour.)




When the dough is doubled, mix the ingredients for your filling. Brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter. Yum. The mixture will be a bit crumbly looking.




Roll out the dough on a floured surface and spread the filling all over, getting as close to the edges as you can. Roll up the dough lengthwise and begin cutting. Check out that swirl!




Cut into 12 equal rolls and place into a greased baking dish.




Let these sit covered one more time to rise (about 30 minutes). Then pop em in a preheated oven.

While these are baking, get your icing together. It doesn't look like a lot but I thought there was plenty. Then again I can only take sweetness in small amounts. You can double it though if they are not covered to your satisfaction.




They look good enough to eat just like this! Spread the icing on while they're still warm so it can start to melt all over.




Cut one out and devour with a glass of cold milk.




Now it's been years since I've had Cinnabon so I'm really not the right person to say whether they taste like that or not, but once you try one, I doubt you'll care. They are that good. I actually ate one and a half. And I'm that person who eats the cake and leaves behind the icing. I'm weird, I know. Sweet stuff and I just don't get along that well. It may sound like a curse but most of the time it's a blessing. ;)

So whip these up and enjoy, but make sure there are a lot of people around to share with because it's easy to keep putting these in your face.


Cinnamon Buns
adapted from allrecipes.com

dough..
1 cup of warm milk
1 packet active dry yeast
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
4 1/2 cups flour

filling..
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 tbsp cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened

icing..
3 oz (6 tbsp) cream cheese
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt


Dissolve yeast in warm milk in a mixing bowl. Add sugar, butter, eggs, and salt. Mix. Add flour. Knead dough until smooth and elastic. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover with a clean tea towel. Place somewhere warm and let rise until doubled (about an hour).
Mix butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl until mixture is combined and crumbly. Roll out dough on a floured surface and spread/sprinkle filling on top, getting as close to the edges as possible. Roll the dough up lengthwise and cut into 12 equal slices. Place each slice into a greased baking pan. Cover with a tea towel and let rise again for a half hour.
Preheat oven to 400F. Combine cream cheese, butter, confectioner's sugar, salt, and vanilla in a bowl. Mix until creamy and smooth. Bake cinnamon buns in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, until tops are golden brown.
While cinnamon buns are still warm, spread icing on top so it can melt. Cut one out and enjoy.


Delish.