Soft Cinnamon Rolls

These were probably my best cinnamon roll recipe to date. I saw the recipe on Facebook by King Arthur Flour and was intrigued by the tangzhong and think that it did make the rolls very soft. Some things I did this time were:

• I also added extra flour to the dough because it was super sticky, but after reading the comments I realized most people said it was sticky but it ended up turning out fine. Not sure what I'll do next time. 
• Growing up, I always put softened butter as part of the filling. This recipe didn't call for that, but I still put some on, about a tablespoon per roll. 
• I need to keep better track of the size of my roll when I'm cutting them because I definitely did not have 24 rolls at the end of this. I did use some unflavored floss to cut the roll and that made it quite easy. 
• I froze one batch and refrigerated the other batch, skipping the second proof for both of them. The following morning, I boiled about 4 cups of water and poured that into a saute pan on the lower shelf of the oven, with the refrigerated rolls one the next shelf up. Quickly shutting the door and letting the steam and heat stay in for 15 to 20 minutes, the rolls rose up beautifully. 
• I usually judge when the rolls are done by their coloring, but this time I used a thermometer and was shocked how quickly the middle got to 188 degrees. They were not very brown on top either but I definitely think if I had left them in any longer, they would have been much more dry. It was around 19 minutes I believe. 
• For the icing, I used some cream cheese and half n half. I eyeballed the whole recipe for the icing. 

Soft Cinnamon Rolls

Makes: 24 rolls

Time: 2 hrs 35 minutes

Ingredients:

Tangzhong (starter)

     5 tablespoons (71g) water

     5 tablespoons (71g) whole milk

     3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon (28g) King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour

Dough

     all of the tangzhong (above)

     4 cups + 2 tablespoons (496g) King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour

     3 tablespoons (21g) Baker's Special Dry Milk or 1/4 cup (35g) nonfat dry milk

     1 3/4 teaspoons salt

     1 tablespoon instant yeast

     3/4 cup (170g) lukewarm whole milk

     2 large eggs

     6 tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, melted

Filling

     3/4 cup (142g) brown sugar, packed

    4 teaspoons cinnamon

Icing

     2 cups (227g) confectioners' sugar

     pinch of salt

     2 tablespoons (28g) butter, melted

     1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

     2 to 3 tablespoons (28g to 43g) whole milk or cream, enough to make a thick but spreadable frosting

Steps:

1. To make the tangzhong: Combine all of the starter ingredients in a small saucepan, and whisk until no lumps remain.
2. Place the saucepan over medium heat, and cook the mixture, whisking constantly, until thick and the whisk leaves lines on the bottom of the pan. This will probably take only a minute or so. Remove from the heat, and set it aside for several minutes.
3. To make the dough: Mix the tangzhong with the remaining dough ingredients until everything comes together. Let the dough rest, covered, for 20 minutes; this will give the flour a chance to absorb the liquid, making it easier to knead.
4. After 20 minutes, knead the dough — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — to make a smooth, elastic, somewhat sticky dough.
5. Shape the dough into a ball, and let it rest in a lightly greased covered bowl for 60 to 90 minutes, until puffy but not necessarily doubled in bulk.
6. To make the filling: Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon, mixing until the cinnamon is thoroughly distributed.
7. Gently deflate the risen dough, divide it in half, and shape each piece into a rough rectangle.
8. Working with one piece at a time, roll the dough into an 18" x 8" rectangle.
9. Sprinkle half the filling onto the rolled-out dough.
10. Starting with a long edge, roll the dough into a log. With the seam underneath, cut the log into 12 slices, 1 1/2" each.
11. Repeat with the second piece of dough and the remaining filling.
12. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan. Space the rolls in the pan.
13. Cover the pan and let the rolls rise for 45 to 60 minutes, until they're crowding one another and are quite puffy.
14. While the rolls are rising, preheat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the bottom third.
15. Uncover the rolls, and bake them for 22 to 25 minutes, until they feel set. They might be just barely browned; that's OK. It's better to under-bake these rolls than bake them too long. Their interior temperature at the center should be about 188°F.
16. While the rolls are baking, stir together the icing ingredients, adding enough of the milk to make a thick spreadable icing. The icing should be quite stiff, about the consistency of softened cream cheese.
17. Remove the rolls from the oven, and turn them out of the pan onto a rack. Spread them with the icing; it'll partially melt into the rolls.
18. Serve the rolls warm. Store completely cool rolls for a couple of days at room temperature, or freeze for up to 1 month.

Tips from our Bakers

• For just-baked freshness, reheat rolls by tenting with aluminum foil, and heating in a 350°F oven until toasty warm.
• This recipe is based on our recipe for Japanese Milk Bread Rolls; try them if you're looking for a wonderfully soft, tender dinner roll.
• Some readers have asked why there's no sugar in the dough for these rolls. First, we feel sugar in dough, being hygroscopic, tends to attract all the water molecules to itself, leaving the surrounding bread with a somewhat dry mouth feel. And second, between their filling and glaze, the rolls have the perfect amount of sugar to taste wonderfully sweet — without seeming too sweet.
• Want to prepare these rolls ahead of time, freeze or refrigerate them (unbaked), then bake fresh? To freeze, see our blog post, Freeze! Time-savers for the holidays. To prepare the night before, place the shaped buns in the pan, cover the pan, and refrigerate overnight. Next morning, let the buns warm at room temperature for about an hour, covered. Uncover and bake as directed.
• Neat way to slice a log of dough into buns? Use unflavored dental floss. Tie a loop around the log, then pull it tight directly over the spot where you want to slice. The floss will cut through the dough easily without squashing the log like a knife might. For step-by-step photos see our blog post, A simple trick for cinnamon rolls.

EAT