Hindsight is sometimes a gooey middle

Holidays are special in my house, I like to make a special breakfast – usually something with cinnamon in it. Well… I tried. I tried so hard! I made this Cinnamon Roll Pull Apart Bread thinking it would be no big deal making it the day before then baking it the next morning for Easter. New Flash… don’t. Just bake it the day of. Hindsight… the center was too cold still, it didn’t really bake as much as it should have. Let’s be honest, my kids loved the gooey middle so they weren’t bothered by it at all. I was so frustrated with myself. If I were to have another go around, I would but brown sugar in the filling of the mini cinnamon rolls, and maybe use a bundt pan…. Give these rolls some room to rise and be their own thing. I’d also be super interested in letting it rise in the overnight. I’m a huge fan of that method… they get huge and puffy and amazing. Clearly this recipe has some work to be done – but if you want the challenge I’ve given you some options. I’ll give you the recipe as written in case you’d like to see if I just messed it up – it’s entirely possible… that happens.

Pull Apart Cinnamon Roll Bread

Dough
2-1/2 to 3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 packet Yeast
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup water
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 egg

Filling
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, very soft

1/4 cup butter, melted

Cream Cheese Frosting
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 and 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2–3 tablespoons milk

Instructions
Coat a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray. Line the bottom and up the ends with parchment paper (for easy removal). Coat again with nonstick spray. Set aside.
Combine 1 cup of flour, sugar, dry yeast and salt in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Turn mixer to low and stir the ingredients until combined, about 30 seconds.
Place the water and butter in a microwave-safe bowl and heat on high in 25 second increments until very warm (120° to 130°F. Butter won’t melt completely). Add this to the flour mixture in the mixing bowl and then add the egg.
Turn mixer to medium speed for mix for 2 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add in 1 1/2 cups flour and mix for 2 minutes additional minutes at high speed. Stir in just enough remaining flour so that the dough will form into a ball. If the dough is sticky, add in more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time until it forms a ball.

Replace the paddle attachment on your mixer with the hook attachment and turn to medium speed, allowing the mixer to knead the dough for 6 minutes until smooth and elastic and dough springs back when lightly pressed with 2 fingers. Cover with a clean towel and allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes. Alternately, you can knead the dough by hand on a lightly floured surface for 6-8 minutes.
For the filling, combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Measure 1/2 cup of sugar/cinnamon mixture and set aside.
When the dough is rested, roll it into a 7 x 24-inch long, rectangle using a rolling pin. Spread 1/4 cup of room temperature butter on top of the dough.
Sprinkle evenly with 1/2 cup of the reserved cinnamon sugar mixture. Beginning at long end of the rectangle, roll up tightly, pinch the seams to seal. Using a sharp knife, cut into 24 equal slices.
Dip each cinnamon roll into the melted butter and then coat in the remaining cinnamon sugar mixture. Place each roll into the prepared pan.
Cover the pan with a clean towel and let the dough rise in warm place until doubled in size, about 45 to 60 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350ºF and bake bread for 35-40 minutes, or until the edges are golden and the center is cooked. If you notice the top getting too brown, lightly tent the pan with foil.
Cool the bread for 20 minutes in the pan and then transfer to serving tray.

Cream Cheese Frosting
Place the cream cheese and butter into the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Mix together for 1-2 minutes until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
With the mixer on low, add in the powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk. Mix for 2 minutes until smooth, scraping the bowl as needed.
Drizzle the frosting on top of the bread and serve immediately.