Better than the Mall - Brown Butter Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting

Do you have a recipe that you never really want to go through the steps of, but are always glad you did when that first bite hits your tongue? Cinnamon rolls are that for me, but my family loves them so I make them every now and then. Growing up, we used to bring round foil pans of them to our neighbors at Christmas time, along with either butterscotch sauce, chocolate toffee, or Christmas cookies. You all know one of my love languages is feeding people - it was drilled into me early and often!

I found this recipe online a while ago and have made it my own over the years. The buttermilk powder and tangzhong roux give a really nice texture to the rolls and the filling is perfectly balanced with the nuttiness of the brown butter.

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Ingredients:

Tangzhong Roux:

1 c. water

⅓ c. bread flour

Dough:

1 packet instant yeast

¼ c. water (room temperature)

3 TB buttermilk powder

½ c. brown sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

¼ c. canola oil

1 tsp fine sea salt

1 TB vanilla

4 c. bread flour

Filling:

1 c. brown sugar

2 TB cinnamon

½ c. browned butter (see instructions below)

Pinch sea salt

Splash vanilla

½ c. heavy cream, for pouring over after the last rise [Trust me]

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 8oz block cream cheese - room temp [you can do regular or the ⅓ less fat one]

1 stick butter - room temp

2 c. powdered sugar [+/- to your taste]

Splash of vanilla

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A Note on Timing: You can make these the day/night before and bake off in the morning. Or, if you have more time in the morning, you’ll need about 3.5 hours to make them same day. I always do them the night before because no one would wait for me to make these in the morning!

Make the roux first in a medium sized pot. Combine the flour and water over medium heat. Whisk until you get a thick paste, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add to the bowl of your stand mixer.

Combine the yeast and room temperature water and set aside until frothy. Make sure the roux isn’t hot to touch and add the yeast mixture to the mixer bowl along with the rest of the dough ingredients. [I add the flour a cup at a time to save my countertops from being covered in flour.] Using the dough hook, knead in the mixer for about 7 minutes. You can add up to ½ cup more flour if needed. Dough will be soft and sticky. Turn out into an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set in the fridge overnight or on the counter for a 2 hour rise.

Make the brown butter next. Take 12 tablespoons of butter and melt in a saucepan over medium heat. Swirl it occasionally and do not leave the pan - watch it like a hawk! The butter will foam, sputter, and separate. When it starts to go quiet, you should see specks of brown and smell a nutty flavor. Pour it into a heat safe bowl and set aside. [It needs to resolidify a bit to go into the filling - if you do this the night before, it can do this on the counter. If you are doing same day, put it into the fridge for about an hour so it’s creamy, but not hard]

Make the filling: combine the browned butter with the brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla until you get a nice paste.

To make the rolls: Once your first rise is done (however you did it), prepare a 9 x13 inch aluminum cake pan with parchment paper [I forgot to do this - oops!]. Roll out the dough onto a floured surface into a 13 x 18 inch rectangle. Spread the filling onto the dough, leaving a 1 inch border around the edge. Roll the dough along the longer side into a tight log. Slice into 1 inch rolls and place them into the pan. Set in a warm place to rise until puffy, about an hour. [You aren’t looking for a huge rise, just getting them a bit puffy and touching where they weren’t before - see the bottom/right photo below]

Unpuffed

Puffy!

Preheat the oven to 350F. Just before the rolls go in the oven, pour the heavy cream evenly over the pan [make sure you get in between the rolls and all over]. Bake for 20-30 minutes until puffy and browned.

While the rolls are baking, make the frosting by combining the butter and cream cheese with the powdered sugar and vanilla extract in a mixer. Per my mom’s instructions: “beat the heck out of them” until soft and fluffy. Again, I add the sugar a little at a time to try to avoid mess…it doesn’t always work.

Serve hot with a dollop of frosting.

In case you wanted the history of tangzhong, here's a link!