cream cheese laced cinnamon rolls

cinnamon rolls everyday. at work.

You think I would get tired of making them. Yet these are the one item I make that I never get tired of. The way the dough starts out this little blob them puffs up into a soft giant mound. The tangy smell of the cream cheese, so much cinnamon and butter in the filling. I always enjoy making them. 

They are wonderful to eat to. Soft and light with a little hint of orange zest in the filling to add a nice surprise. They took batches and batches of testing to come up with the final recipe.

A glaze or frosting? Nuts in the filling? Is the orange too much? How to make the dough softer. Does the cream cheese in the dough make a difference? These are too small. Now these are too big. Make another batch.
It went on forever.

But finally we finished the testing and came up with our version of the perfect cinnamon roll. Well I personally would have packed the filling with pecans but that got overruled. 
This final result is truly delight, even though you should add some nuts if you feel like tempting your fate with yeast.

Then our next thing to make at work was rice krispy treats. We ended up with plain, chocolate pretzel and strawberry white chocolate rose water. 
So many marshmallows boiled down to get the perfect recipe. 
Will share more about those ones later.
Off the the vet to hopefully sort out my crazy cat.
Wish me luck.

cream cheese laced cinnamon rolls.
makes 8 rolls.

Dough.
171g milk, at 115 degrees
2 tbsp dry active yeast
600g AP flour
55g sugar
1 tbsp salt
4 eggs
84g butter, softened

114g cream cheese softened 

Filling.
300g brown sugar
114g butter, melted
2 tbsp cinnamon
zest of one orange

Icing.
57g butter, softened
125g cream cheese, softened
125g powdered sugar

Add the yeast to the warmed milk and whisk to incorporate. Let sit for about 10 minutes until frothy.
In the bowl of the stand mixer combine flour, sugar, salt, eggs and yeast mix. Using the dough hook, mix on low until it just starts to combine. While mixing, add in the butter piece by piece. Continue to knead for about 5 minutes until dough is supple and smooth. If it pools at the bottom of the bowl, that is fine, do not add more flour.
Place in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until double, 1 1/2-2 hours.
Only a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a 10x10 inch square. Spread the cream cheese over the dough.
Fold into thirds, starting with top in then the bottom. Then fold the two remain short sides in so you thus have a square. 
Flip over and gently roll out into a 16x20 rectangle. (16 is the width and 20 is the length)
Combine all the filling ingredients together in a bowl and spread over dough in an even layer. 
Gently but tightly roll into a log, starting from the bottom is easiest.
Cut into 8 two inch pieces. Either place in individual molds or in a greased 9x13 inch pan.
Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours or in the fridge overnight.
Oven 325.
If baking from an overnight fridge rise, let come to room temperature for about 1/2 hour.
Bake for 20-30 minutes until tops are golden and center is baked through. (time will vary according to oven)
Whisk all icing ingredients together until smooth.
Drizzle over warm rolls and serve immediately.