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Brown Butter Cinnamon Rolls with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

  • Author: Erin Clarkson
  • Prep Time: 1 hour
  • Cook Time: 45 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
  • Yield: 12 Rolls 1x
  • Category: Baking
  • Cuisine: American

Description

Brown Butter Cinnamon Rolls with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting. Fluffy Brioche is filled with a spiced brown sugar and brown butter cinnamon filing, then rolled up and formed into perfect rolls. The rolls are then baked to perfection, and slathered in a brown butter cream cheese frosting, loaded up with specks of vanilla bean and brown butter. These are the perfect take on a cinnamon roll - the extra effort is well worth it!


Ingredients

Scale

Brioche Dough 

  • 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
  • 250g whole milk, lukewarm
  • 4 Tbsp (50g) sugar
  • 565g all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 100g Lewis Road Creamery unsalted butter, at room temperature

Brown Butter

Filling

  • 250g Browned Lewis Road Creamery Unsalted Butter, spreadable texture, at room temperature (see
  • notes)
  • 375g dark brown sugar
  • 3 Tbsp Cinnamon
  • 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste

Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 100g Browned Lewis Road Creamery Unsalted Butter, spreadable texture (see notes)
  • 200g cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 250g powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste

Instructions

BRIOCHE DOUGH

  1. Place the lukewarm milk, 1 Tbsp of the sugar, and the yeast in a medium sized bowl, and stir to combine. Leave for 10-15 minutes, or until foamy.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, place the flour, salt, and remaining sugar, and mix briefly to combine.
  3. Add the milk mixture, egg and vanilla to the dry ingredients, and mix on low for 2-3 minutes. Increase the speed of the mixer to medium, and mix for a further 5 minutes. Add the Lewis Road Creamery butter a little at a time, waiting until it is incorporated until adding the next piece. Mix for a further 7-10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and soft.
  4. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm place until doubled in size, 45 minutes to an hour. Alternatively you can do the first rise overnight in the fridge.

BROWN BUTTER FOR FILLING AND FROSTING

  1. Place the butter in a medium saucepan, and place over medium heat. Cook until the butter has melted, and then continue to cook, swirling the pan often, until the butter foams and turns golden brown and nutty - this should take 3-4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, allow to cool slightly, then transfer the bowl to the freezer and chill the butter until solid. Remove from the freezer and bring to room temperature, stirring often, until soft and spreadable.

FILLING AND ASSEMBLY

  1. Line a quarter sheet pan or baking dish (9”x13” or 23cm x 33cm) with parchment paper. In a small bowl, combine the browned Lewis Road Creamery Butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, flour, salt, and vanilla bean paste. Mix to combine.
  2. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and roll into a rectangle that is 24” x 16” (60cm x 40cm), squaring off the edges often as you roll. Spread with the brown butter filling mixture, ensuring the filling is spread evenly over the surface.
  3. Starting with a long side, roll up into a tight spiral. Cut the log into two pieces and place them side by side on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Lightly cover the dough logs with plastic wrap, and transfer to the freezer for 20 minutes in order to firm up slightly (this helps give a neater cut). If you have chilled your dough overnight, you can skip this step if it feels like the rolls are going to hold together well.
  4. Once the dough logs have chilled, remove from the fridge. Using a sharp knife, slice each log into 6 equal pieces (I like to use a ruler), and arrange on the prepared baking sheet or baking dish, evenly spacing between.
  5. Lightly cover the pan with plastic wrap, and leave to rise for 45 minutes to an hour, or until puffy, and a small indentation is left when poked gently with your finger.
  6. While the rolls are rising, preheat the oven to 350°f / 180°c.
  7. Bake the rolls for 35 to 40 minutes, or until deeply golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to stand for 15 minutes or so before icing with the Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting.

BROWN BUTTER CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

  1. Place the chilled spreadable browned Lewis Road Creamery Butter and cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until well combined. Add in the powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla bean paste, and whip until light and fluffy.
  2. Spread onto the cinnamon rolls while they are still slightly warm.
  3. Store leftover cinnamon rolls in an airtight container at room temperature. Rewarm in the microwave before serving.

Notes

The quantity of the brown butter called for in the recipe is less than the quantity of butter called for making the brown butter. This is because the butter browning process cooks moisture off from the butter, so it therefore reduces in quantity. I have accounted for this in the recipe, so you will see 500g butter called for to make the butter, but only 350g worth of brown butter used in the filling and the frosting. This is not an error - I just accounted for moisture loss when calculating the initial quantity.

Update to the recipe October 2021: A few people have told me that they have an issue with the filling leaking out during baking, so I have popped a Tbsp of flour into the filling to help combat that.

Keywords: Cinnamon Buns, Cinnamon Rolls, Cream Cheese, Brown Butter Cinnamon Buns, Brown Butter, Cream Cheese Frosting