By Danielle Nieman
If you’re using a store-bought Bridgford Frozen ready dough loaf, make sure it’s defrosted and skip to Step 5. If you’re making homemade 5-minute artisan cinnamon roll dough, add the yeast, salt, warm water (approximately 100 degrees F), and honey to a large container. Mix with a spoon.
Next, measure the flour with a scale, or if you’re using a measuring cup, scoop the cup into the flour and then level it off. Add the flour to the large container all at once. Ensure the flour is thoroughly mixed and that there are no dry patches. If you see some dry patches of flour and it’s getting hard to stir, wet your hands generously and gently press the dough mixture together, but be sure not to knead it. You want the dough to be shapeless and wet.
Set a timer for two hours and allow the dough to sit at room temperature in the container, loosely covered. The dough will rise during this time in the container. After two hours, you could cut off a grapefruit-size piece of dough (about one pound) for baking but know the dough will be very sticky and hard to manage, so it’s best to put the container in the fridge for at least one hour before attempting this.
-You can mix the cinnamon filling and chop the pecan nuts ahead of time. Just add 3/4 cup of brown sugar and two tablespoons of ground cinnamon to a bowl and mix thoroughly. Chop 1/2 cup of pecans. Set aside. -Begin making the cream cheese frosting. Add the cream cheese and the butter to a bowl and mix them with a stand mixer or hand mixer. Next, add the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla to the same bowl and mix. Set this bowl aside.
After an hour of chilling the dough (or if you choose overnight), it’s now time to cut off a grapefruit-size amount of dough. If you’ve chosen to make this recipe with store-bought dough, unpackage the defrosted loaf. Sprinkle a surface lightly with flour and begin rolling and stretching out the dough to a rectangle shape, approximately 10 x 12 inches and about 1/8 inch thick.
Now that you have a rough rectangle, smear 1/3 cup of softened butter evenly over the dough. Next, sprinkle your cinnamon mixture evenly on top, and lastly, your chopped pecans.
Carefully roll the dough like a burrito (or log), starting with the longer 12-inch end. Cut 1.5-inch slices with a sharp knife. This will give you 10-12 cinnamon rolls. If you want eight large cinnamon rolls, cut 2-inch pieces.
Spray a baking pan or 9-inch cake pan with non-stick cooking spray, be sure to spray the sides as well. Cut a piece of parchment paper big enough to fit the bottom of the pan and place it down. The parchment paper helps avoid (hard-to-clean) baked cinnamon and sugar from the pan’s bottom afterward. Place the cinnamon rolls into the pan with the spiral side facing upward. Let them rise for 1 to 1.5 hours at room temperature (70-75 degrees). The cinnamon rolls will almost double in size.
Bake the cinnamon rolls for 15 minutes at 400 degrees F for homemade dough. Bake the store-bought dough rolls for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees F. Allow them to sit for 2 to 3 minutes in the pan after baking.
Slather each roll generously with cream cheese frosting and serve warm.