Cinnamon Roll Summer

Rosie and I always bake whenever she comes over. Or, actually, we always choose some really good-looking recipe, and I bake it while she watches movies. She's not the baking type. So far, we have made cinnamon buns every time (we like breakfast foods).

The last few times we'd made the, we had used an okay recipe from RecipeZaar. It was good, but not quite the doughy, warm, sugary love that we were looking for in a cinnamon bun. We were thinking more Cinnabon sort of thing (bad girls...).

I finally went through all my stockpiled Bon Appetit magazines with the pages turned down and cut out all those pages with recipe I actually wanted. I needed counter space... In my very first magazine, the March 2008 issue, I found a Cooking Life article about Cinnamon Buns. I'd turned down the corner, then forgotten all about it. I don't usually keep rapid rise yeast in my house, so making these would require a special trip to the grocers. I am far too lazy.

But, dissatisfied with our previous cinnamon bun recipe, I finally decided to give it a go. After eating dinner and watching the video of our Beauty and the Beast performances (they made me rewind and watch the kiss twice), Rosie and my mom started on The Other Boleyn Girl, and I started on these buns. All was good until the first rise. I had divided the recipe by three, so I had a miniscule scrap of dough, which didn't seem to rise at all at first.

When I finally though it had risen enough, if not completely doubled, I rolled it out, filled it, rolled it up, cut out six tiny buns (which got me an "are you kidding?" look from Rosie), and set them in the smallest baking dish I could find, which was still too big, and put them in the fridge. We decided to get up early and bake them in the morning. My dad talked to us into it by saying "Oh, it's okay, I'll just get a cinnamon bun at Starbucks..." *insert appropriate curses here*

At 6:00 AM, my alarm went off. I snoozed it twice, then finally pulled myself and my groggy-eyed companion into the freezing downstairs (we forgot to close the windows). The cinnamon buns didn't look like they'd risen at all. I knew the fridge would stunt their growth, but they hadn't changed at all. They were still tiny. Sighing and swearing, we popped them into a 375º oven anyway.

And lo and behold! After 10 minutes, they were puffing beautifully, and cinnamon sugar could be smelled everywhere. I mixed together the glaze (almost tripling the amount of butter, hehe) and then they were out in time to gloat in my dad's face. We ate them standing at the counter while Rosie hurriedly finished a six sentence paragraph about Nijo castle for her Japanese trip meeting.

And boy, were they good. This is the kind of cinnamon bun that I think about hours after they are eaten and gone. This is the kind of thing that will make a regular appearance in my household. Yumyumyum.

CINNAMON ROLLS WITH CREAM CHEESE GLAZE
From Bon Appetit

Makes 18

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

FILLING
3/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
2 T. 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 tsp. vanilla extract

Combine milk and butter in glass measuring cup. Microwave on high until butter melts and mixture is just warmed to 120ºF to 130ºF, 30 to 45 seconds. 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 my tablespoonfuls until dough begins to form ball and pulls away from sides of bowl. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if sticky, about 8 minutes. Form into ball.

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.

Mix brown sugar and cinnamon in medium bowl.

Punch down dough. Transfer o floured work surface. Roll out to 15x11-inch rectangle. Spread butter over dough, leaving 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar evenly over butter. Starting at 1 long side, roll dough into log, pinching gently to keep it rolled up. With seam side down, cut dough crosswise with a serrated knife into 18 equal slices (each about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch wide).

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

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375ºF. 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.

Combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla in medium bowl. Using electric mixer {or whisk}, beat until smooth. Spread glaze on rolls. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Silly Dad took one and a half