It was mid-January, and saw some flakes falling and it got beautiful white by the evening. My son was getting rather excited and was hoping that school would be shutdown. As I saw the snow thickening up later at night, I could predict his wish would come true, and then we got the call from the school district at 4 am, to confirm it. Snow Day, Yay!! I won’t lie I was glad myself, this meant I could go back to sleep and stay in my cozy bed longer.

 We woke up a little late, and it was a winter wonderland outside. All I wanted was something warm and fuzzy with my cup of coffee and my plaid blanket by the window. Nothing encapsulates coziness more than these sticky sweet homemade cinnamon rolls. The best thing about this recipe is that these are so quick to put together. I made these while Aditya was playing outside in the snow, and when he got back inside there were warm cinnamon rolls ready to make him snug. I think, Cinnamon Rolls should become official snow day breakfast/ sweet treat.

Total Time – 90 MINUTES

Active Time – 20 minutes

Yields -12 rolls

INGREDIENTS

Dough

• ¾ cup milk
• ¼ cup butter, softened
• 3 ¼ cup all-purpose flour (divided) plus more for rolling
• 2 ¼ tsp active dry yeast
• ¼ cup white sugar
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• ¼ cup water (room temperature)
• 1 egg (room temperature)

Filling

• 3/4 cup Brown sugar
• 2-3 tbsp cinnamon
• ½ cup butter, softened

 Cream Cheese Frosting

• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 2 tbsp butter softened
• 1 ½ cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp salt

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat milk in a small saucepan, until it bubbles. Add butter and stir until it is melted. Let cool until lukewarm.
2. Combine 2 ¼ cup flour, yeast, sugar and salt and mix well.
3. Add water, egg and milk mixture to the dry ingredients and beat well. I use my stand mixer with a dough hook at a very slow speed to do this. Slowly add the remaining flour ½ cup at a time mixing well after each addition. When the dough starts holding together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 5 minutes.
4. The dough will be sticky but that is okay. Shape the dough into a ball and place on a large greased bowl. Make sure the dough is lightly greased too. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let rest for 10 minutes in a warm place.
5. Meanwhile, in a small bowl mix together brown sugar, cinnamon and softened butter.
6. Roll out dough into a 12x9 inch rectangle. Spread dough with the butter and cinnamon sugar mixture.
7. Roll up the dough and pinch seam to seal. Cut into 10 equal size rolls and place cut side up in 10 greased muffin cups, if you wish to bake them individually or set them in a big baking dish (greased) not too far apart so they bake as pull apart buns.
8. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Repeat step 6 and 7 with the rest of the dough. Preheat the oven at 350 degrees F.
9. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until golden.
10. While the rolls are baking whip up the cream cheese and butter until smooth in your stand mixer. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla and salt and whisk till it is well combined and creamy.