Perfect Cinnamon Rolls

Total Time: 2 hrs 20 mins Preparation Time: 2 hrs Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

• 1 ounce active dry yeast
• 1 cup milk, warm
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar or 1/2 cup turbinado sugar
• 1/3 cup margarine, melted
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans (optional)
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/2 cup margarine, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 8 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 pinch salt

Recipe

• 1 heat milk to 105-110°f place 1/4 cup of warm milk, 1 tsp of the sugar, and yeast into a small bowl. stir well to combine. set in a warm place for 5min. (if yeast doesn't proof, start this step over. yeast should rise to roughly 3 times its previous depth. i like to use an instant-read thermometer for this step to make sure the milk isn't too hot or too cold.).
• 2 sift four cups of the flour into a large bowl. mix in the salt. in a separate bowl, mix the yeast, remaining milk, eggs, vanilla, and slowly pour in the melted margarine. combine wet ingredients into the flour. let rest 5min. turn out onto lightly floured surface. knead dough 8-10min, adding more flour as needed. as this is a brioche dough, the dough should still be slightly sticky but shouldn't stick to your hands or work surface. (flour is very sensitive to humidity: if it's a humid day, you'll need 5 or even 5 1/2 cups flour; on a dry day, you might get away with as little as 4.).
• 3 place dough into a clean, greased bowl, rolling around so that surface is slightly greased (i use extra virgin olive oil baking spray; you can also use melted butter or margarine, or any baking spray). cover top of bowl with a clean cloth and set in a warm (65-75 f), draft-free place for 1 hour.
• 4 meanwhile, assemble the filling. combine all ingredients and mix well.
• 5 assemble the frosting. again, combine all ingredients and mix well. (you can choose to use a mixer for this step.).
• 6 when dough has risen for 1 hour and doubled in size, punch down and knead gently. roll out on a lightly floured surface to a rectangle roughly 1/2" thick, 18" x 9". spread filling over the dough, leaving a bare 1" strip at the top. roll dough up into a log, being sure to tighten it well as you go along. end with the bare strip facing down. let sit 2min.
• 7 grease two baking dishes (i use 9"x9" square pyrex or 9" pyrex pie dishes).
• 8 cut rolls to 1/2" rounds. arrange in baking dishes. cover surfaces with clean dish towels, set in warm place to rise 45min.
• 9 preheat oven to 400°f.
• 10 bake 15-20min until golden brown all over. let cool in baking dishes. frost. delicious with cold milk or good coffee. :).