Gooey and Soft Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients

• 500 g all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 1/4 tsp instant dry yeast
• 120 g sugar
• 240 ml lukewarm milk
• 60 g unsalted melted butter (cooled to room temperature)
• 1 egg (at room temperature)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla esence
• 220 g brown sugar
• 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 60 g melted unsalted butter (cooled to room temperature)
• 110 g cream cheese (at room temperature)
• 3 tbsp icing sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 30 g whipping cream

Instructions

1. 1

   --- For the dough ---

2. 2

   Mix the lukewarm milk, eggs, vanilla essence and melted butter.

3. 3

   Mix all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and make a hole in the centre and add all the wet ingredients in the center.

4. 4

   Mix everything until you have a uniform dough. It's really sticky so don't worry, that's just the way this dough is :) That makes them gooey at the end instead of bread-y and hard.

5. 5

   Let the dough rest for 1 hour covered in cling film or until it doubles its size. If it’s too cold, turn on your oven until it’s warm (not hot) inside and let it puff up there.

6. 6

   --- Assembly ---

7. 7

   Dust flour on a clean tabletop and roll the dough. Every couple of rolls make sure it’s not sticking and dust more flour underneath and on top. Roll it out to 2mm thick so that you get lots of rolls instead of just a couple thick ones. Try to keep it as rectangular as you can. At the very end make sure it's not stuck and dust more flour if necessary so you can roll it with ease.

8. 8

   Paint the melted butter on top evenly and reach every edge.

9. 9

   Mix the sugar and cinnamon and spread it out as evenly as possible. Sprinkle it and then spread out any mountains of sugar by gently brushing them with your hand.

10. 10

    Start rolling: first do it carefully so it’s nice and tight and once you have the first 2 complete rolls, you can just push it (still very tightly) so it rolls to the end.

11. 11

    Cut the rolls (I did mine 4cm) and put them on a baking tray lined with baking paper at the bottom (this will help later so the sugar doesn’t stick, you’ll thank me!) and arrange them nicely. Keep a decent amount of space between them so that they can rise during proofing and after in the oven without becoming square.

12. 12

    Let them sit for 30min*** (again, it helps if they’re in a warm environment) and then they go in the oven at 180°C/350°F for 20-30min or until they're golden on top.

13. 13

    --- For the cream cheese frosting ---

14. 14

    Whip together the cream cheese, vanilla and icing sugar.

15. 15

    Add the cream little by little, whipping it in.

16. 16

    Spread the frosting onto the rolls.