Begin these cinnamon rolls a day before you need them.
Cinnamon Rolls Improved
2 packages of active dry yeast
1/2 cup hot water
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup milk (warmed)
1/2 cup prepared mashed potatoes, chilled
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
In the bowl of your mixer, pour the hot water over the sugar and yeast. Let this mixture dissolve for about 5 minutes or so. In the meantime, combine the butter and milk in a pan on the stove. Heat until the butter is melted, but avoid overheating. To cool down this mixture, add the cold mashed potatoes.
Once the yeast mixture is ready, strain in the milk mixture to remove any potato lumps that may remain, stirring with a fork to combine well. Add the sugar gradually, still mixing with a fork. Then add the egg and salt. A fork seems to incorporate the egg more easily. Fit the bowl into your mixer with the dough hook attachment and add 2 cups of flour. Let the mixer go until a very wet dough is made and flour is incorporated. Now, add the remaining flour, 1/2 a cup at a time with the mixer running. Personally, I hold back 1/2 cup of flour to incorporate by hand.
Once the dough comes together, pour it out onto a floured surface and knead just until it forms a smooth ball. This should not take terribly long. I use the flour I held back to avoid having too stiff a dough. Let dough rest in an oiled bowl in the refrigerator overnight with wax paper covering it. The dough will proof overnight and will have doubled in size by morning.
Topping
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp cinnamon
Prep two 8 or 9 inch square or round pans by lightly buttering the bottoms and sides of the pans. Foil pans make for easy removal; you can simply cut the pan away from the rolls. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
Like my proofing process, my topping has changed substantially. Begin by rolling the dough out to a 12 x 24 rectangle, but avoid rolling it too thin. Cinnamon rolls should be unapologetically large with thick, cinnamon-and-sugar coated layers. Combine the sugars and cinnamon in a bowl. Spread the softened butter evenly over the dough. Sprinkle over the sugar mixture, pressing to adhere. Roll up the cinnamon roll tightly. Cut into cinnamon rolls about 1 1/2 inches thick. Rather than measurements, I shoot for about 10 - 12 cinnamon rolls.
Place them in the pans. Avoid overcrowding. These rolls need a chance to nearly double in size, but they do need the pan or other cinnamon rolls to grow with as well. 6 - 8 per pan seems to work fairly well. Let these rolls proof for at least an hour. The second rise may take a bit longer since the dough came from the refrigerator. Bake at 350 degrees for about 18 minutes, but check after 15 to be safe. You'll be looking for deep, brown tops and centers that are baked through.
Frosting
2oz cream cheese, softened
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup confectioner's sugar
These cinnamon rolls are not nearly as sweet as my past ones. The frosting is delicious, but you decide if it's necessary. Combine all ingredients together until a thick, smooth frosting is formed. Add more sugar or milk to make the frosting thicker or thinner as necessary. Top the warm rolls with the frosting.
I wanted to post these updates in part because my recipe and process has fundamentally changed; recording that change here will allow me to come back to it later. I’d love to experiment with these more, but I don’t get much of a chance. After all, even a successful experiment leaves me with about a dozen cinnamon rolls heh.
In the future, I see a great sourdough bread experiment -also Brown Sugar cookies (and a brown sugar snickerdoodle variant), french macaroons, and chocolate-orange tarts.
