Okay, let's face it, I just wanted an excuse to make cinnamon rolls this week - and Jim Gaffigan ranting about them to a 2006 audience's delight was good enough for me. Follow along this week as we bake up a batch of the saccharine cinnamon sweet; careful, you just might learn a thing or two.

 

Ingredients

Cinnamon Rolls

  • 3 ¼ ounces granulated sugar

  • ½ tsp salt

  • 3 ounces butter, soft

  • 1 egg

  • Zest of 1 lemon

  • 16 ounces bread flour

  • 1 packet instant yeast

  • 8 ounces of buttermilk

  • ½ cup white sugar

  • 1 ½ Tbsp cinnamon

  • ¼ cup brown sugar

Frosting

  • 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

  • 8 ounces of cream cheese, room temperature

  • 4 ounces of butter, room temperature

  • Heavy cream (if needed to thin out frosting)

Method

Cinnamon Rolls

  1. In a stand mixer combine 3 ¼ ounces of granulated sugar, ½ tsp of salt, and 3 ounces of soft butter. Mix slowly at first, but increase to medium high speed. Mix for about 1 minute or until fluffy.

  2. Scrape down the sides of the bowl before adding 1 whole egg and the zest of one lemon. Mix on medium high for about 2 minutes.

  3. Next, add 16 ounces of bread flour along with 1 packet of instant yeast and 8 ounces of buttermilk. Use the paddle attachment and mix on medium low speed until just combined. Clean off paddle attachment and affix dough hook. Mix with the dough hook for about 10 minutes on medium speed.

  4. Place dough into an oiled bowl and make sure it’s big enough for the dough to double in size. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 2 hours.

  5. Oil your work surface and your rolling pin, and then turn out the dough.

  6. Knead for a minute to get all the air out and then roll out the dough to about 14 x 18 inches.

  7. In a bowl combine ½ a cup of white sugar, 1 ½ tbsp cinnamon, and ¼ cup of brown sugar. Mix to combine and then generously sprinkle that over your rolled out dough. Once your dough is covered, roll it up.

  8. Place seam side down and trim off about 1 inch from either end, then slice the rest into 12 equal slices.

  9. Oil and add parchment paper to a large baking dish, and then add your cinnamon rolls. Make sure they have about ½ an inch of space between them.

  10. Cover and proof them for 90 minutes.

  11. Remove plastic wrap and brush the tops of the rolls down with melted butter. Place in the oven at 375°F for about 20 minutes or until brown.

  12. Remove from oven, let cool for 5 minutes and top with frosting.

  13. Remove rolls as a whole from the baking dish, and place on a wire rack.

  14. Pull apart, serve, and enjoy!

Frosting

  1. In a mixer combine 2 cups of sifted powdered sugar, 8 ounces of room temperature cream cheese, and 4 ounces of room temperature butter. Mix to combine.

  2. If it’s too thick add some heavy cream or whole milk to the mixture to thin it out.