Cinnamon Rolls similar to Cinnabon

Copycat recipes are out there all over the internet for just about anything, sometimes they are good sometimes they aren't even close.  The one thing you can't always find or confirm are the brands they use to get that exact taste.  When I made this version of the Cinnabon copycat, I used a couple generic branded items, and I would say that if I used a couple alternative brands, my results would have been practically indistinguishable from Cinnabon, or at least taste so good as to be a wonderful alternative.  Even the generics I used resulted in delicious rolls.

Cinnamon Rolls (Cinnabon Copycat Recipe)

Let's start with the ingredients:

Dough:
1 Cup warm Milk
2 Eggs at room temp
1/3 cup melted butter
4 1/2 cup flour (I used bread flour)
1 tsp salt (as normal for me I use Kosher salt)
1/2 cup sugar
1 package active yeast

Filling:
1 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup melted butter
another 1/4 cup butter to spread on the dough

Cream cheese icing:
3 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup softened butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cup of powdered sugar

Let's begin to make these wonderfully rich treats.

Warm up the milk, you can microwave it for about 45-50 seconds, you want it warm but not hot.  I used my Kitchenaid bowl and dissolved the yeast in the milk, then added the eggs, butter, salt, sugar, and flour.  Using the dough hook, I started it slow until it was mixed then raised the speed a bit until it combined everything and pulled most of the dough off the bowl and gathered on the hook.

Once your dough is completed, take another bowl and either spread some oil or nonstick spray over the entire bowl.  Now roll the dough to cover the entire ball of dough in the oil or nonstick spray.  Next cover the bowl and let sit for in a warm area till it's about doubled in size.  Should take about an hour or two.

As you are approaching the end of your rising period, it's time to prep the cinnamon sugar mixture for the filling.  This one is easy, take the 1 cup of brown sugar, 2 1/2 tbsp of cinnamon and 1/4 cup of melted butter, mix them together making a nice little sugary mixture.

Once your dough has doubled in size, take it out onto a well floured surface.  Roll your dough out to a fairly uniform thickness, size and thickness I think are a personal preferences, I made my dough just under a  1/4" thick or so.

Next spread the 1/4 cup of melted butter over your dough, following the butter spread your cinnamon and brown sugar mixture over the dough, then roll up the and cut your rolls and place them into a well greased pan.  Give them some space between each roll, because now you are going to cover them up and let them raise a bit more.

While your rolls are rising again, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Once your oven is up to temp and you are satisfied with the rising of your rolls, I wouldn't go much more than 30-40 minutes on rising time, bake the rolls at 350 for about 20-25 minutes.  Now is also your chance to begin making the icing.

For the icing, I used my KitchenAid with the whisk attachment, creaming the butter, cream cheese, vanilla, and salt.  Next I added the powdered sugar and slowly brought the mixer up to speed as it incorporated the powdered sugar.  Just in case you are impatient like me, take your time with this and start out very slow, or you might have a cloud of sugar all over your counter and you.   Once the powdered sugar is incorporated into the mixture, you can run it at high speed for a bit to really whip up the icing.

Once your rolls are done, I let them cool just a bit, but still very warm so the icing melts all over and into the rolls.  Enjoy fresh out or wrap them up and save for later.  A batch of these made on Friday evening could give you breakfasts for the weekend, or shorter depending on the number of sweet teeth you are satisfying.

Now I had mentioned at the beginning that I used some generics in this recipe, and I do believe certain brands would have made the taste impact on these to make them so close to an actual Cinnabon roll that you might find yourself believing you picked up a pack on your way home.  So the 2 generics that I used that I will swap next time for some name brands are the cinnamon and the cream cheese.  Cinnamon should be no surprise, go for the Cinnabon brand if you want that authentic taste.  The cream cheese I would go for Philadelphia brand, the off brand I used was fine, but it still doesn't have that same taste that Philadelphia has.

Whether you consider this a copycat recipe or just another cinnamon roll recipe, these are some very fine cinnamon rolls, hope you enjoy them as much as my family has.

Good luck in the kitchen!