Homemade Cinnabons! [Lauren]

Merry Christmas from the Belgian Mama Tommy's contingent!

Zack and I wanted to start a fun tradition on Christmas morning, so we unanimously (all 2 of us) decided to make homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast!  And of course if I'm baking anything, Zack always manages to convince me that adding alcohol would enhance the recipe.  So it should come as no surprise that there's also a shot of rum in this icing to add extra Christmas "spirit"... (haha, ok bad joke).

Process:

Dissolve the yeast in milk warmed to 110*F (no hotter or you'll actually kill the yeast).  The yeast mixture should get bubbly after a few minutes, but if it doesn't- don't worry, the recipe will still work.  Combine the yeasty milk in a bowl with 1/3 cup melted butter, eggs, sugar, and salt.  Once combined, add the flour and knead the dough for ~5 minutes.

Place dough back into the same bowl and let it sit in a warm spot for an hour, covered with a towel.  I like to use the oven on the lowest setting.  After an hour, the dough should have doubled in size.  Beat down the dough (which is quite fun actually) then roll it out into a square shape using a rolling pin.

Brush 1/4 cup melted butter on top and then sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon.  Roll the dough into a long tube and cut 12 even pieces to form the cinnamon rolls.  Arrange in a buttered baking dish (9" x 13").  I added an additional pad of butter to the top of each roll and then sprinkled with more cinnamon and brown sugar.  This melted down into the rolls and made them even more gooey and delicious.

Bake in a 400*F oven for 15 minutes, or until the tops are a nice golden brown.

While these rolls are in the oven, make your icing.  Using an electric mixer, combine cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract, and salt. Here's where you can add the optional shot of rum for an extra kick.

Spread the icing all over your buns (the cinnamon buns, not to be confused with any of your other buns).... and enjoy!!

I think it's safe to say these will become a family tradition for Zack and me :)

Ingredients:

1 cup warm milk (110* F / 45*C)

2 eggs, room temperature

1/3 cup butter, melted

4 1/2 cups flour (I recommend patisserie flour since it's fine texture yields very silky buns)

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup white sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons yeast

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1/3 cup butter, softened

1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

Suggested Track:  Zanna by Selah Sue & Tom Barman