Cinnamon Rolls

I found this recipe online and have made it twice, and they are positively mouthwatering.  This is a no-yeast recipe (Apparently there is a heated debate as to whether yeast should be required to make a good cinnamon roll? I found all sorts of commentary on this.) and is relatively easy to make, despite the long list of ingredients.  I'm sure they are terribly unhealthy, but TRUST ME, they're worth the occasional indulgence.  

Cinnamon Rolls

Rolls:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for the counter
2 Tablespoons white granulated sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (divided) 

Filling:

3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/4 cup white granulated sugar

3 teaspoons cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Frosting:

8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups confectioner's sugar
1 Tablespoon milk

Start off by preheating your oven to 425 and greasing a 9" round cake pan or pie plate, or a square baking dish.  Combine the filling ingredients until crumbly and moist-through, and set them aside.  

To make the dough, in two separate bowls whisk together the dry ingredients and the milk with 2Tbsp of the melted butter.  

Mix them together just until it's wet through, and then dump them onto a well floured surface and knead them about a minute. 

 Using your hands and a rolling pin, form a rectangle about 12" long and 9" wide.  Brush another 2Tbsp melted butter on top and then pour the filling onto the dough, spreading it evenly up to about 1/2" from the edges, and press it in with a spoon or the back of your measuring cup. 

Roll the dough into a log.  It is soft, and this will be a bit messy.  Even if they don't look great they sure taste crazy-good and the frosting will cover the lumps.  Cut the log into 8-9 (8 for round pans, 9 for square) sections, and lay them in the pan.  Brush on the remaining 2Tbsp of melted butter and bake them for about 20-25 minutes.  The recipe calls for dumping them onto a greased cooling rack and cooling them for 10 minutes before frosting them.  I frosted them right in the pan after allowing them 10 minutes to cool.  It kept the gold, I mean frosting, from wasting and they kept well covered with cling-wrap in the fridge.  My husband claims that they're even better when they're chilled.  It's a close call.  Either way, they're delicious, and I plan to keep this recipe ready for holidays and special occasions (when I don't mind gaining 4 pounds at breakfast).  

Notes: This amount of frosting actually covered BOTH of the batches that I made!  After liberally frosting the first batch (I admit, I like frosting and I drowned the rolls in it) I froze the other 1/2 and used it when I made the second batch 2 months later! It was still fantastic and covered them completely.  These pictures were of my second batch.  

I also found that you can put this all together at night and store them, covered, in the fridge until morning and then bake them and frost them.  I did this for Christmas morning and they baked while we opened gifts.