The Estate Bakery
Best Evah Cinnamon Rolls
The Strategy:
This recipe completely abandons subtlety in favor of aggressive, staggering decadence. By completely packing a fiercely rich, heavily egg-enriched brioche dough with an almost absurd amount of cold butter, dark brown sugar, and sharp cinnamon, the rolls violently puff up in the pan, creating intensely deeply caramelized, violently sticky bottoms. Aggressively flooding the massively hot, heavily spiced rolls with a shockingly thick, stark white cream cheese frosting melts the glaze deep into the wildly swirled layers, creating a staggeringly gooey, heavily rich pastry.
Ingredients
- 1 (.25-ounce) package active dry yeast, 2 ¼ teaspoons
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, plus ¼ cup more for dough
- 1 cup milk, warm
- 6 tablespoons butter, melted
- 3 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 to 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
- 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 to 3 tablespoons half-and-half, plus more for rolls
Instructions
- Add the yeast, 1 tablespoon of the sugar, and warm milk to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Let sit until the liquid is foamy, about 10 minutes.
- Add the remaining ¼ cup sugar, melted butter, eggs, and salt.
- Stir to combine.
- Stir in 4 cups of flour.
- Mix the ingredients to form a smooth dough that pulls away from the side of the bowl. You can increase the speed as the flour works itself into the dough.
- Once the dough wraps around the hook, increase the speed to high and knead for 5 minutes. If the dough is too sticky, add more flour.
- Transfer the dough to a floured surface. Knead the dough and form a ball.
- Transfer the dough to a bowl that has been lightly coated with vegetable oil spray. Roll the dough around in the bowl to coat all sides.
- Cover with a clean dish towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Preheat your oven to 375°.
- Punch down the dough, cover again, and rest for 10 minutes more.
- Roll the dough out on a floured surface to a 10 x 14-inch rectangle.
- Add the brown sugar, ½ cup granulated sugar, ½ cup flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to combine.
- Add ¾ cup butter and pulse to form small crumb-size pieces.
- Spread the filling over the dough.
- Roll up the dough over the filling, starting at the long end.
- Cut the roll into 1 ½-inch slices.
- Arrange the slices, cut side up, in a large baking dish coated with vegetable oil spray.
- Cover the dish with a clean dish towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 45 minutes. (You can also let the rolls rise in the fridge overnight.)
- Brush the rolls with half-and-half and bake until golden on the top, about 25 to 30 minutes.
- For the glaze, place the cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, salt, and vanilla into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to combine.
- With the machine running, add 1 tablespoon half-and-half. Continue to add half-and-half until you have a frosting-like glaze.
- Pour this over the warm rolls.
Thing to Note:
You can use active yeast. Just activate the yeast in \u00bc cup warm water. Then combine it with \u00bc cup warm milk and continue with the recipe.
The full recipe lives in the Vault
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The Heart of the Table
Placing a massively heavy, screaming-hot ceramic baking dish completely packed with wildly bubbling, deeply golden cinnamon rolls completely smothered in thick, melting white cream cheese frosting directly onto the table instantly commands the entire room. The fierce, deeply intoxicating smell of hot cinnamon, dark caramelizing brown sugar, and rich vanilla forces guests to eagerly reach out, aggressively pulling apart the wildly soft, intensely gooey rolls with their bare hands.
Neighborly Grace
- THE PRESENTATION: Do not carefully plate these in the kitchen. Present the massively hot, heavily glazed ceramic dish directly on a rustic wooden board. Allow guests to violently tear the massively soft, heavily frosted rolls apart, letting the thick, warm cream cheese glaze aggressively stretch and pull between the portions right at the table.
- THE POUR: The fiercely rich, intensely sweet notes of the brown sugar and thick cream cheese glaze demand a wildly robust, highly acidic pairing. A massively dark, fiercely hot pour-over coffee or an incredibly bold, deeply chilled cold brew perfectly slices through the heavy sugar while elegantly highlighting the sharp cinnamon.
- THE VIBE: Deeply cozy, highly energetic weekend mornings. This is the wildly impressive project you execute for a massive, loud coastal brunch, served directly from the hot oven to the sun-drenched breakfast room, demanding an atmosphere of incredibly relaxed, deeply indulgent, and fiercely unpretentious celebration.
