Serennamon Rolls

Warm milk in the microwave for 30-45 seconds. It should be warm but not hot. Place the warm milk into the bowl of the stand mixer, then add 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon of yeast to the warm milk. Stir and let it sit in a warm environment for five minutes or until it becomes foamy.

Add the remaining ½ cup sugar, melted butter, eggs, vanilla, and almond extract to the mixture in the bowl of your standing mixer, fitted with the dough hook. Mix on low speed until combined.

Meanwhile, combine the flour, salt & cinnamon in a mixing bowl. With the motor running, slowly add the flour, salt and cinnamon mixture, increasing the speed to high once all of the flour mixture is added. Continue mixing until a large, smooth ball is formed - a few minutes. The dough should be smooth and only slightly tacky to the touch. If the dough seems too sticky and is not forming a ball, add more flour (1/4 cup) at a time until a smooth ball is formed. Continue to knead with the dough hook for 2 more minutes, or you can remove the dough from the bowl and knead by hand until smooth, about 5 minutes.

Grease a large bowl and place the dough inside. Cover the bowl with a warm, damp towel and put the bowl in a warm place to rise. I use my oven for 1 hour (just make sure the oven is not on!).

While the dough is rising, make the filling. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon until the mixture is well combined and an even consistency and set aside. Make sure your butter is at room temperature.

Uncover the resting dough. It should be roughly doubled in size. Preheat the oven to 350F before you roll out and shape the dough.

Sprinkle a large, clean work surface with flour. Gently press the gas out of the dough, remove it from the bowl to the floured work surface, and form it into a rectangle. Roll the dough out with a rolling pin into a ~24x18” rectangle, about ¼ inch thick.

Take 7 tablespoons, or up to a stick of softened butter, and spread it over the flattened rolled out dough. You can use a small offset spatula to do this, or just use your clean hands.

Sprinkle the dough all over with the cinnamon sugar mixture, up to the very edges.

Roll up the dough tightly from the longer edge of the rectangle, and cut into 12 equal sized rolls, ~2 inches wide each.

Line a 9x13 inch glass or ceramic baking dish with parchment paper and lightly grease. Then place rolls in 4 rows of three, evenly spaced. Cover the rolls with a dish towel and let them rise at room temperature for another 20-30 minutes.

Bake Sinnamon rolls in the preheated oven until golden brown, ~18-20 minutes. They will rise more in the oven. (NOTE: Check the center cinnamon rolls and make sure they are baked through. If your oven bakes cool or unevenly you may need to increase the baking time by a few minutes. If the top starts to brown before the center is baked, tent the baking pan with foil to prevent further browning). Remove from the oven and let cool.

While the Serennamon Rolls are baking, use an electric hand mixer or your stand mixer with the paddle attachment to beat together the whipped cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, almond extract and salt. Continue to beat on high speed for 3-5 minutes until the frosting is really smooth. Do NOT chill the frosting. Keep it at room temperature until the Serennamon Rolls are finished baking.

Once the Serennamon rolls have been removed from the oven, let them cool. When cooled, add a dollop of cream cheese frosting to each roll and serve.