Homemade Cinnamon Buns with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Glaze

So, I have a confession to make... Prior to yesterday, cooking with live yeast really intimidated me/freaked me out. It just seemed really difficult or complex or... something, but it turns out it's not! I was determined to at least try, so I picked up some yeast last time I was at the store and opened my trusty-dusty copy of America's Test Kitchen's The New Best Recipe cookbook once I got home. In the "yeast breads" section, I found glazed cinnamon rolls. It being Sunday and me having Monday off, (thank you President's Day!) I decided this was my project. (This way, even if it didn't work out, I'd still have cream cheese glaze, cinnamon and sugar working for me... it couldn't be that bad!)

Based on a couple things, I tweaked the recipe a little. Not the dough part, so much, as the filling and glazing part. The first thing: the ATK recipe did not have butter brushed over the dough before the filling was added. I knew that had to change- when I worked at Mary Mac's I clearly remember the huge table-sized rolls of dough being brushed with butter before sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. The second thing: I was convinced by some fancy marketing (interesting packaging) in the cream cheese section to purchase some white chocolate cream cheese in addition to plain cream cheese. How does a little white chocolate in the glaze not sound good!?!?!

I'm glad I started this project early in the day yesterday- 4 hours of letting the dough rise alone was time consuming but not labor-intensive. 6 hours after I started, I had big, beautiful, cool enough to be frosted and eaten cinnamon rolls. YUM!

Cinnamon Rolls with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Glaze

Adapted from America's Test Kitchen New Best Recipe Cookbook 

Ingredients

Dough

• 1/2 cup milk
• 8 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees)
• 1 envelope (2 1/4 tsp.) instant yeast
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 large egg, plus 2 large yolks
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 4-41/4 cups unbleached AP flour, plus more for dusting the work surface

Icing

• 4 ounces plain cream cheese, softened but still cool
• 4 ounces Philadelphia White Chocolate Indulgence cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup 
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 cup confectioner's sugar, sifted to remove lumps
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch salt

Filling

• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions

• For the dough, heat milk and butter in a small saucepan or in the microwave until the butter melts. Remove from heat and set aside until the mixture is lukewarm, about 100 degrees.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, mix water, yeast, sugar, egg, and yolks at a low speed until well mixed. Add salt, warm milk mixture, and 2 cups of the flour. Mix on medium until well blended, about a minute. Switch to dough hook, add 2 more cups of flour. Knead at medium, adding 1 Tbsp more flour at a time if needed, until the dough is smooth and freely clears the sides of the bowl, about 10 minutes. Remove dough onto lightly floured counter. Shape into a ball and put in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic and leave in a warm, draft-free spot until doubled in size- 1.5-2 hours. 
• For the icing, while the dough is rising, combine all the icing ingredients in the bowl of the stand mixer. Blend at low until combined, then high for about 2 minutes until smooth and free of lumps. Move to small bowl, cover and refrigerate. 
• Roll it up! After the dough's doubled, press it down and turn out onto very lightly floured work surface. Roll it out until a 16"x12" rectangle is formed, with the long side facing you. In a small bowl, mix the dry filling ingredients. Brush the dough with the melted butter, then sprinkle evenly with the dry ingredients, leaving a half-inch border along the top edge. Carefully roll up dough, tightening with your fingers as you go. When you reach the end, seal the top seam with water and dust the whole roll with flour. Grease a 13"x9" baking dish. Cut into 12 equal pieces with dental floss. (Slide floss under, then tighten ring. First cut in the middle to form two equal pieces, then cut each of those in half, then cut each remaining piece into 3 pieces). Place the rolls in the dish. Cover with plastic wrap and place in warm, draft-free spot until doubled, 1.5-2 hours.

• Bake it! When the rolls are almost doubled, preheat to 350 with oven rack in middle position. Bake until the rolls are golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the rolls reads 185-188 degrees, about 25-30 minutes. Invert the rolls onto a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes. (Do this over parchment or a baking sheet- mine were dripping cinnamon-sugar yumminess all over the counter) Turn them over on a large plate and use a spatula to spread the icing all over them. Serve immediately.