Heart Cinnamon Rolls

These adorable cinnamon rolls would make the perfect breakfast surprise your valentine this year. I wanted to surprise James with them on Valentine’s Day, but for the sake of the blog, I had to make them early! I saw the idea for the hearts on Pinterest a few months and have been thinking about making them ever since.

For the cinnamon roll recipe, I have been using the same one for a long time. They are easy to make and they always turn out. The best part is the fact that they are overnight cinnamon rolls, meaning that you don’t have to do any work on the morning of! You just bring them to room temperature and throw them in the oven for 30 minutes. You can even make the icing the day before if you want to keep it really stress free.

The only disappointing thing about these cinnamon rolls is they lose their heart look when you frost them. It’s ok, though, I think they still make a cute breakfast!

Cinnamon Rolls (makes 12 large rolls)
Ingredients:

for dough:
1 cup milk
1- .25 ounce packages of dry active yeast (not rapid rising)
1/4 cup warm water
1/6 cup sugar
1/6 cup vegetable oil
1/2 Tbs baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 egg (to get a 1/2 of an egg, beat egg in a ramekin and pour out half of it)
3 1/2 cups flour

for filling:
2 Tbs butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
4 tsp cinnamon

for icing:
4 oz cream cheese, softened
2 1/2 cup powdered sugar
4 Tbs milk

Heat milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, stirring frequently so it doesn’t burn. Remove from heat and let cool until it’s lukewarm.

Dissolve yeast into 1/4 cup of warm water and let stand for 10 minutes, or until creamy.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the dough hook, combine yeast mixture, warm milk, sugar, oil, baking powder, salt, egg and 2 cups of flour. Mix until the dough is smooth. Slowly add remaining flour and mix until well combined. Knead dough on low speed for 5 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Place dough in lightly oiled bowl, covered, and let sit for 1 hour in a dry, warm place.

Grease two 9-inch pans with butter and set aside.

Once the dough has doubled in size (about 1-2 hours), punch dough and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll out into a rectangle, about 13 inches in length. Using an off-set spatula, apply butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. To roll the dough, roll in each long side towards the middle. Cut the log into twelve 1-inch rolls. Pinch the bottom of each roll to make the bottom point of the heart. Place six rolls in each pan, spaced slightly apart. Cover and refrigerate overnight, for at least 12 hours.

The next day, take rolls out of the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 45 minutes to an hour. Preheat oven to 350F while rolls are resting. Also, make icing by mixing the icing ingredients in a bowl with an electric mixer.

Bake cinnamon rolls uncovered for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Ice while warm.