The Best Cinnamon Rolls With Thick Ooey Gooey Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

A few months ago, I made a batch of cinnamon rolls for Mike's work. It was a lot of work! I started off using my hand mixer, but the dough was way too much for it. I ended up doing all the kneading by hand. They were good, but it was way too difficult.

After that, I told Mike that if he wanted more cinnamon rolls he was going to have to get me a Kitchenaid mixer. He told me to go get one. So I did. Since then, I've made several batches of cinnamon rolls for different occasions.

Want to see how I make them? I figured you'd want to know. The recipe is below along with some handy tips from me!

Yield: 12 large rolls or 24 medium sized rollsAuthor: Jennifer SmithPin it

The Best Cinnamon Rolls with Thick Ooey Gooey Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

These cinnamon rolls are so thick and fluffy with delicious cinnamon flavor. And the maple cream cheese frosting just takes these rolls over the top. Don't wait for a special occasion - make these today!

ingredients:

Rolls

• • 2 cups milk 
• • 1/2 cup butter
• • 1/2 cup sugar
• • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• • 1 package Active Dry yeast
• • 2 large eggs
• • 6 `1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Filling

• • 1/2 cup butter, softened
• • 1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
• • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Frosting

• • 8 ounces cream cheese
• • 1/4 cup butter
• • 1 teaspoon vanilla
• • 2 teaspoons maple extract
• • Pinch of salt
• • 1 pound powdered sugar
• • 1/4 cup milk or more for consistency

instructions

1. In a medium sauce pan, add milk, butter, salt and  sugar. Heat until just below the boiling point. When it starts steaming and bubbling around the edges, remove from heat and let cool until approximately 120 degrees F.
2. Transfer milk mixture to the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment and add yeast. Let sit for about 5 minutes until the yeast starts to foam.
3. Add eggs and mix until combined. Add flour a little at a time until the dough pulls away from the side of the pan. The dough should be soft and only slightly sticky.  Add more flour if needed. Knead for 3 minutes.
4. Transfer dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled in size.
5. Divide the dough in half. Use a rolling pin to roll each half of dough into an 18-inch by 12-inch rectangle. Try to make it as square as possible on the sides. 
6. Spread one stick of softened butter over each rectangle. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Pat it lightly with the palm of your hands.
7. Starting with the long end, roll the dough into a tight log. Pinch the ends together and turn the log over so that the seam is facing down. 
8. Cut each log in half, then cut each portion in half again, forming four equal sections. Cut each of the four sections in thirds. You will end up with 12 cinnamon rolls from each log. 
9. Place cinnamon rolls into round four cake pan, two 9X13" pan, or one 11X17" pan or similar that have been sprayed with cooking spray. Cover with plastic wrap then a clean kitchen towel and let rise until double.
10. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake cinnamon rolls 18-22 minutes until slightly brown on top.
11. For the frosting, beat together the cream cheese and butter until well combined. Add vanilla, maple flavoring, and salt. Mix well. Add in powdered sugar a little at a time. Add milk until desired consistency. Frosting should be thick but pourable. 

notes

If I don't have a lot of time, I like to heat my oven to 200 degrees then turn off the heat and put my bowl of dough inside to help it rise faster. 
You can punch the dough down if it has risen to the top of the bowl, but you're not ready to roll it out yet. Just let it rise again and then go on to the next step.
If I'm planning to take the cinnamon rolls somewhere, I usually bake them in disposable round cake plans. You can find these at most grocery stores or you can buy them in bulk on Amazon. I usually fit 6-7 rolls to a pan.
If you have some rolls that start to come unrolled when you're slicing and putting them in the pan, it's okay to just tuck the loose end under your cinnamon roll. It will still come out perfect.
I like to make this dough in the evening and wait to bake the cinnamon rolls until the morning. I do steps 1-9 the evening before and then cover the pans with foil and put them in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning, I take out the pans and let them warm up on the counter for maybe 30 minutes before I bake them (remove foil before baking.)  You can stack the round cake pans in the refrigerator, too. I think it helps ensure the cinnamon rolls will be even in height.
I also make the frosting the night before and just put it into a gallon sized zip top baggie. I put the bag of frosting in the refrigerator overnight and then just snip off the corner and pipe the frosting onto the cinnamon rolls after they bake.
These cinnamon rolls freeze well. After they have been frosted, let them cool and then put each cinnamon roll into a separate quart sized freezer bag. Or you can put several together in one bag. When you get ready to use them, just pull them out of the bag frozen and heat them in the microwave.
If you like bigger cinnamon rolls, you can skip the step where you half the dough and just make one 18-inch X 12-inch rectangle out of the dough. This would make 6 large cinnamon rolls. 
I've tried to double this recipe a couple times, but the dough is too much for my mixer to handle and it gets all stuck in the motor. If you want more dough, just mix up a second batch.

http://www.gracelikerainblog.com/2017/05/the-best-cinnamon-rolls-with-thick-ooey.html

I love making the big, thick fluffy rolls. They are so delicious, but it's way too much for most people to eat.

They look great and would be wonderful if you want to impress somebody. You can make them for bake sales or people with big appetites.

Or you can just eat them all up. Or freeze them. Or just eat them.