Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Glaze

 

 

I saw a picture of some cute heart-shaped cinnamon rolls on the blog juststopscreaming.com via Pinterest and I thought how cute it would be to make some for Valentine's Day.  My kids love to help cook especially when it's something sweet, so I had my kids help me with these. We were feeling very festive so I pulled out some of my heart-shaped bowls to use during preparation. My boys had a great time helping but were not happy about the rising time needed between steps. It was a torturous exercise of patience for my two boys. Needless to say, 3 hours or so later... they were elated to finally get to eat their cinnamon rolls when I pulled them from the oven.

I'll admit, the heart-shaped dough after baking, looked more like happy faces than hearts but they're still a cute idea. In fact, I think I'll make these again for Halloween and make them Jack-o-lanterns by adding orange food-coloring to the icing and adding a little pumpkin pie spice to the filling! (Hmmm...what a cute and festive idea for Fall...definitely adding this to my Fall recipes list.)
Anyway, I searched for a good cinnamon roll recipe and found this one from Epicurious.com: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Cinnamon-Rolls-with-Cream-Cheese-Glaze-241631. Hope you have a great Valentine's Day! Enjoy!

Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Glaze
(recipe from Epicurious.com)
Makes 12

Dough:

• 1 cup whole milk
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 1/2 cups (or more) unbleached all purpose flour, divided
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 1/4 teaspoons rapid-rise yeast (from 2 envelopes yeast)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Nonstick vegetable oil spray

Filling:

• 3/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

Glaze:

• 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For dough:

1. Combine milk and butter in glass measuring cup. Microwave on high until butter melts and mixture is just warmed to 120°F to 130°F, 30 to 45 seconds.

Note: It's important to heat the milk mixture to the designated temperatures because if it's too cold the yeast won't activate and if it's too high it may kill the yeast. In both instances the dough will not rise enough or at all. Also after heating the milk mixture in a microwave, first stir your mixture to ensure an even temperature throughout and then use an instant-read thermometer to check your temp.

2. Pour into bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add 1 cup flour, sugar, egg, yeast, and salt. Beat on low speed 3 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides of bowl. Add 2 1/2 cups flour. Beat on low until flour is absorbed and dough is sticky, scraping down sides of bowl. If dough is very sticky, add more flour by tablespoonfuls until dough begins to form ball and pulls away from sides of bowl.

3. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if sticky, about 8 minutes. Form into ball.
 

4. Lightly oil large bowl with nonstick spray. Transfer dough to bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 2 hours.

I love taking pictures of yeast dough because I like to see the transformation of the dough before and after rising. It's just cool to see...
 

For filling:
1. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon in medium bowl.
 

 

 

2. Punch down dough. Transfer to floured work surface. Roll out to 15x11-inch rectangle. Spread butter over dough, leaving 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar evenly over butter.
 

 

 

My kiddos helped with sprinkling of the cinnamon sugar...Which explains why there was so much of it on these rolls. My youngest didn't want to stop  sprinkling and used the entire bowl, patting it down with his hands like he was building a sandcastle. He was so cute. (Here's some pics of my two boys helping, First one of my 7 yr old and the second picture is my 5 yr old.)

To make the heart-shaped rolls:
1. Start at one long side and roll dough about half way and then roll the other side half way meeting the other rolled side.

2. Pinch ends and trim off the end piece.

3. Cut dough crosswise with a sharp knife into 12 equal slices (each about 1" inch wide).

 

4. Spray a 9x12 glass baking dish with nonstick spray. Place rolls on baking dish, arranging cut side up (there will be almost no space between rolls).
 
5. Cover baking dish with plastic wrap, then a kitchen towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until almost doubled in volume, 40 to 45 minutes.

6. Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Bake rolls until tops are golden, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and invert immediately onto rack. Cool 10 minutes. Turn rolls right side up.

 

 

For glaze:
Combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat until smooth. Spread glaze on rolls. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Note: I substituted the cream cheese with 2 Tbsp of Greek yogurt since I didn't have any cream cheese and it was just delicious.