Monster Cinnamon Rolls

I am a huge Diane Mott Davidson fan, as her book are fantastic as are her recipes from the books. I can't remember which book this is from though. This is my husbands favorite cinnamon roll recipe. It can also be made using Splenda products with good results. I will note the changes made when using Splenda at the end of the recipe. Prep time does not include the two 1 hour rises needed. The frosting is good but not neccessary to make these rolls a treat. It just depends upon how rich you want them. A side note, I made these for Xmas this year and only put in one envelope of yeast and even though they didn't rise as much as usual they still came out great...LOL.

• Ready In: 1 hr 30 mins
• Serves: 12
• Yields: 1 dozen

Ingredients

• Dough

• 3⁄4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks)
• 1  cup milk
• 3⁄4 cup sugar, plus 1 teaspoon
• 1 1⁄4 teaspoons salt
• 3 1⁄4 ounces active dry yeast (7 1/2 teaspoons)
• 1⁄2 cup warm water
• 5  large eggs
• 8 1⁄2 cups  all purpose flour (may need up to 9 1/2 cups depending upon the weather)

• Filling

• 5  cups light brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 1⁄4 cups unsalted butter (2 1/2 sticks)
• 3  tablespoons ground cinnamon

• Frosting

• 1⁄2 lb cream cheese, softened
• 1⁄4 cup  whipping cream, approximately
• 1  teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3  cups confectioners' sugar, sifted (made use up to 4 cups)

Directions

1. For the dough- heat the butter with the milk, 3/4 cups of the sugar and the salt in either a small saucepan or in the microwave, until the butter is melted. Set aside to cool. In a large mixing bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and add the remaining teaspoon of sugar, stir and set aside for 10 minutes, until the mixture is bubbly. Add the lukewarm milk mixture and the eggs, beating until well combined. Add the flour a cup at a time, stirring and using enough flour to form a stiff dough. Turn out onto a floured board and knead until smooth and satiny, approximately 10 minutes. (Or place in the bowl on a heavy duty electric mixer and knead with a dough hook until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl, approximately 5 minutes). Place the dough in a very large buttered bowl, turn to butter the top and allow to rise, covered loosely with a kitchen towel, in a warm place until doubled in bulk, approximately 1 hour. Punch the dough down and roll out to a large rectangle, 24" x 36". Butter two 9" x 13" baking dishes.
2. For the filling- beat together the brown sugar, butter and cinnamon until well combined. Spread evenly over the surface of the dough. Roll up lengthwise and cut at 2" intervals to make 12 rolls. Place 6 rolls in each buttered dish. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel and allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about an hour.
3. Preheat the oven to 350. Bake the rolls for about 20-30 minutes or until puffed and browned. Cool to room temperature on racks.
4. For the frosting- beat the cream cheese, cream and vanilla until well combined. Add the confectioners sugar and beat until smooth and soft, not stiff. Frost the rolls and serve immediately.
5. To make using Splenda - For the dough, still use 1 teaspoon of real sugar in the yeast as it feeds it. Use 3/4 cup Splenda in place of the sugar that you add to the butter/milk mixture after melting the butter. Do not use the little packages of Splenda, use the pourable kind. For the filling - Use only 3/4 cup of butter and add 2 1/2 cups of the Brown Sugar Blend Splenda. You will not have quite as much filling as with regular sugar but trust me it is plenty. A little of this goes a long, long way. I don't put any frosting on the rolls when making them with Splenda products as they are rich enough as is.