Red Velvet Cinnamon Rolls
Tags: Breakfast
Yield: 12
- 1 cup Milk warmed to 110°F
- 2 ¼ teaspoon Active dry yeast or 1 full packet
- 2 Large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon Red gel food dye I used americolor super red.
- 4 ¼ cup All-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup Unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- ¼ cup White granulated sugar
- 10 tablespoon Unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ cup Unsalted butter room temperature
- ¾ cup Brown sugar packed light or dark
- 1 tablespoon Ground cinnamon
- ⅓ cup Heavy cream
- 4 oz Cream cheese room temperature
- 4 tablespoon Unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup Powdered sugar sifted
- 2 teaspoon Pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoon Milk
- In a small bowl, heat the milk in the microwave until it reaches 110°F. It should be warm, but not too hot or too cold. Pour in the yeast and let it sit for 10 minutes.
- In a large bowl, mix the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, and salt. Add in the cubed butter into the dry ingredients. Use a pastry blender or your fingers, blend the butter into the dough until the butter is the size of a pea.
- This recipe uses a stand mixer with a dough hook, for mix by hand instructions, see the recipe notes. Add in the milk/yeast mixture, lightly beaten eggs, and red food dye. Mix on low speed until a dough starts to form.
- Then, switch to medium speed and knead the dough for 5 minutes. It should be a bright red dough.
- Preheat the oven to 200°F, spray a large mixing bowl with nonstick spray. Grab the dough and form it into a ball and place in the bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel.
- Let it rise for 1 hour until double in size.
- In a small bowl using a hand mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Beat until smooth. It will be a thick paste.
- Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface. Roll into a large rectangle until it is ¼ inch thick.
- Use an offset icing spatula to spread the cinnamon filling over the dough. Make sure to get the edges.
- Roll the dough starting at the short side. Roll into a tight log. Rolling from the short side lets you get more swirls.
- Use unflavored dental floss or a serrated knife to cut the log. First, cut off the uneven ends. Then, cut evenly into 12 rolls. If using a serrated knife, make sure to make very very gentle sawing motions to not squish the rolls.
- Spray a large pan (9X14 inch casserole pan is best, you can use a 9X13 inch baking pan) with baking nonstick spray. Place the rolls in the pan. Cover with a towel and rise for 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 375℉ Pour the heavy cream around the rolls in the pan. Bake for 25-27 minutes until the tops of the rolls are lightly golden. Or when the middle of the cinnamon rolls reach 160°F.
- Start this while the rolls are in the oven. In a small bowl using a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter on high speed until smooth.
- Add in the powdered sugar and mix on low until smooth. Then, add in the vanilla and milk. It should be a great consistency to use a spoon to spread it on.
- As soon as the rolls are out of the oven, top with the icing. This will allow the icing to melt into the cracks of the rolls.
- Flour- Make sure flour is spooned and leveled or use a kitchen scale. Compacted flour can dry out the rolls.
- High altitude baking- Add an extra 3 tablespoon of flour.
- Pull out dairy ingredients 2 hours before baking.
- Making by hand:
- Mix the wet ingredients into the dry by using a rubber spatula. Switch to using your hands to mix until a dough starts to form.
- Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Knead using your hands for 5-8 minutes.
- It is done when your spread the dough apart thinly using your fingers. Hold the dough to the light. If you can see light through it, then it is done.
