Red Hot Velvet Cinnamon Rolls with Cinnamon-Cream Cheese Frosting

Here's an early Valentine's Day for all you lovers out there... Red Hot Velvet Cinnamon Rolls with Cinnamon-Cream Cheese Frosting!! They are a play off of one of our favorite recipes, Red Hot Velvet Whoopie Pies with Cinnamon-Cream Cheese Frosting. That combination was so delicious before, so why  not use it again? Well, this time I applied it to everyone's favorite breakfast treat, cinnamon rolls. I made the dough with classic red velvet ingredients... buttermilk, white vinegar, red food coloring, and just a little bit of cocoa powder. I let the dough rest overnight, and then I rolled them out this morning and filled them with melted butter, sugar, and lots of cinnamon. I cut them into 12 large rolls, but you could easily make smaller ones if you would like, but what's the fun in that? The cinnamon rolls are slathered in a tangy cinnamon-cream cheese frosting, which just makes them that much better. Duh. These Red Velvet Cinnamon Rolls are little bit cake-ier than the classic recipes, but still delicious! I love the bright color, it just screams "love" doesn't it? I hope you will enjoy these will someone you love because I am right now, and they are wonderful!! Enjoy :)

Red Hot Velvet Cinnamon Rolls 

Up Close

A Thick Layer of Cinnamon-Cream Cheese Frosting

Red Hot Velvet Cinnamon Rolls with Cinnamon-Cream Cheese Frosting

Ready to Eat!!

For the Cinnamon Rolls:

2C Buttermilk (minus 2T)

2T White Distilled Vinegar

½C Vegetable Oil

½C Sugar

2-3oz Red Food Coloring (or to the color of your liking)

1 Package of Active Dry Yeast (0.25oz Packets)

3 ¾C AP Flour + ½C AP Flour

¼C Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

½t Baking Powder, Heaping

½t Baking Soda, Scant

1t Salt, Heaping

For the Filling:

1-2C Butter, Melted or Completely Softened**

1C Sugar

Generous Sprinkling of Cinnamon

For the Frosting:

8oz Cream Cheese, Room Temperature

2C Confectioners’ Sugar

Cinnamon (to your liking)

1 Stick of Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature

½t Vanilla

Festive Valentine’s Day Sprinkles & Crushed Red Hot Candies, For Decoration

Directions:

1. For the Rolls: Measure out the 2C buttermilk in a large measuring cup, and then remove 2T of the buttermilk and substitute by adding in the 2T of white vinegar. Mix the buttermilk, vinegar, vegetable oil, sugar, and red food coloring in a pot. Heat the mixture until just before the boiling point. Turn off the heat and leave to cool for 45 minutes to an hour. Meanwhile, sift together the 3 ¾C AP flour with the ¼C unsweetened cocoa powder, and set it aside. When the milk mixture is warm (but not hot), sprinkle in the package of yeast. Let it sit for a minute or two, and then add in the sifted flour-cocoa powder. Stir the mixture and cover, and then let it rise for at least an hour.
2. After rising for an hour, add in ½C AP Flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir the mixture together. Refrigerate the dough overnight to help it become firm and better for presentation.
3. The next day, sprinkle a rolling surface generously with flour. Take the dough and form a rough rectangle, and then roll the dough out to about ¼-½inch thick (depending on your preference), while making sure to maintain a rough rectangular shape from before. Once rolled out, proceed to the filling step.
4. For the Filling: Smear or spread on the amount of butter you prefer over your rectangular dough, either one to two cups. I used 1C of the very soft butter (but some people prefer melted, I find that melted butter is more messy and harder to work with). Now, sprinkle 1C of sugar over the butter, followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon (this is up to how much cinnamon you like, we like a lot).
5. Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Next, pinch the seam of the roll to seal it. Spray a 13x9-baking pan with Pam, and set it aside. Then, begin cutting the rolls into approximately 10-12 thick round rolls and place them into the prepared buttered pans. Let the rolls rise for an hour.
6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
7. Bake the cinnamon rolls for 15-20 minutes or until light golden brown.
8. To Make the Frosting: Mix together all of the ingredients and stir well until smooth. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls. 
9. Serve immediately and enjoy while they are still warm. 

**This is where you need to make a decision. I myself prefer to work with very, very soft butter because every time I have used melted butter, the buns turn out very messy and hard to roll, etc. But, I know that other cooks, like the Pioneer Woman and Paula Deen prefer melted. It is truly up to you. I also referred to a few recipes and many of them used up to TWO CUPS of butter for their rolls. I didn't want to use that amount (because it would get messy and I felt that it was not necessary), so I only used 1C of butter, but if you feel that you need a little more, then you can obviously do so. When it comes to cinnamon, we like a lot, but this once again comes to taste, so use your best judgement and whether or not you like a good bit of cinnamon (keep in mind that the frosting does have cinnamon as well). Another method that I have recently tried and liked is making a compound butter to spread between the rolls. I cream together the very soft butter, sugar, and cinnamon (and sometimes a little more cocoa powder for an extra chocolate-y taste) in a standing mixer until light, fluffy, and completely incorporated and gently spread/smear that compound butter on the dough. I preferred this because the sugar and cinnamon do not fall out like I have experienced in the past. So, I would urge you to give that a try because I really do think the rolls have a better presentation. I hope that this can clear up any misunderstandings regarding the recipe. Please comment below if there are any questions that need to be answered. XOXO, Juliana (9/23/12)**

source: cinnamon rolls.