Rainbow Sweet Rolls

Submitted by Food.com

"Rainbow cinnamon buns make a sticky, colorful treat for the whole family."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 25mins
• Ingredients: 16
• Yields: 11 rolls
• Serves: 11

ingredients

• Dough

• 1 cup milk
• 1 1⁄4 ounces sachet yeast (about 2/14 tsp)
• 2 large eggs
• 1⁄2 cup granulated sugar
• 1⁄3 cup melted butter
• 4 cups flour, plus more for dusting

• Filling

• 4 ounces cream cheese
• 1⁄3 cup melted butter
• 1⁄2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• gel food coloring (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple)

• Glaze

• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon milk
• rainbow candy sprinkles (nonpareils or round sprinkles prefered)

directions

1. Warm milk in microwave (should be warm like bath water). Dissolve yeast in milk and let rest 5 minutes or until frothy on top.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar and melted butter. Mix in yeast and milk mixture until combined.
3. Add flour to the bowl and stir until a ball of dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough briefly until it is smooth and even. Form the dough into a ball, place in greased bowl, cover loosely and let rise for one hour or until it doubles in volume.

4. While your dough rises, make your filling:

5. Stir together cream cheese, sugar, melted butter and cinnamon. Divide into 6 bowls and tint each one with a color of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple.
6. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Punch down the risen dough and transfer it to a lightly floured work surface. Using your hands, flatten, stretch and shape the dough into a rectangle. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough until it is approximately 16 inches by 24 inches and about 1/4-inch thick.
7. Spread each rainbow filling across dough in separate stripes, length-wise, getting as close to the edges as possible. Then, starting with the long, red side of the rectangle, roll the dough up into a log.
8. Use a sharp knife or serrated bread knife to carefully (and without downward pressure, you don’t want flat rolls!) slice the log into 12 equal portions. To help make each portion the same size, first cut the long in half, then quarters, then each quarter into three pieces.
9. Arrange the cinnamon rolls in a greased 9x9 inch casserole or pie plate.
10. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until puffy and golden. Let cool 10 minutes.

11. While cooling, make your glaze:

12. Mix the confectioners’ sugar, butter, and vanilla together. Adding half the milk to start, stir to make a thick glaze. Add a drop more of the milk at a time until you get a nice thick glaze.
13. Drizzle glaze immediately on cooled cinnamon rolls and top with an abundance of rainbow sprinkles. Glaze will harden as it cools.