Toasted Oat & Honey Cinnamon Rolls

Spoil your friends and family this weekend with these toasted oat and honey sweet rolls swirled with cream cheese, brown sugar, and cinnamon.

Toasting the oats before adding them to the sweet roll dough imparts a subtle nutty flavour to these cinnamon rolls.  Complimented with a hint of orange and honey, filled with a rich cinnamon cream cheese swirl, and frosted with a vanilla scented cream cheese icing, these are some of best cinnamon buns you'll ever eat.

Toasted Oat & Honey Cinnamon Rolls

To make the sweet rolls, you'll need:

• 1 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for kneading

Filling

• 1/4 cup cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1-2 tablespoons cinnamon (depending on how spicy you like it)
• 1/6 teaspoon ground cloves

Frosting

• 1/4 cup cream cheese, softened
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 cup icing sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Start by toasting the oats.  Preheat the oven to 350F.  Spread the oats in a thin layer on a cookie sheet, and bake for about 10-12 minutes until lightly browned and fragrant.  Stir them around a couple of times during the cooking process to ensure even browning.  Let the oats cool before proceeding.  Set aside a few toasted oats to garnish the finished cinnamon rolls.

Pour the warm water into the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add the sugar, honey, and yeast to the bowl.  Stir to combine, and let the mixture rest for 5 minutes or so to proof.  The mixture should start to foam a bit, if it doesn't you'll have to start over again with fresh yeast.

Add the milk, butter, eggs, and orange zest to the bowl of your mixer and beat on low speed until combined.  Next, add the flour and toasted oats and beat at medium-low speed for a few minutes, until a soft dough forms.  Increase the speed to medium-high and continue to beat for about 8-10 minutes.  The dough will become more smooth and elastic, but it will remain somewhat sticky.

Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface and knead it for a minute or two, incorporating more flour as needed.  It should be soft, but not overly sticky.  Transfer the dough to a well oiled bowl, and cover loosely with plastic wrap.  Set the bowl in a warm spot, and let it rise for about 2 hours, until it's doubled in size.

Meanwhile, wash the bowl of your stand mixer and replace the dough hook with the whisk. Prepare the filling by simply whipping together the cream cheese, brown sugar, butter, and spices until smooth.

Butter the bottom and sides of a 3 quart baking pan (or a 9" by 13" baking pan). 

Roll the dough into a rectangular shape, measuring approximately 10 by 20inches, on a well floured work surface.  Be sure and flour your rolling pin too.

Using a rubber spatula, spread a thin layer of the filling over the entire surface of the dough .  Roll the dough lengthwise, to form a log approximately 20 inches long.

Trim each end to even out the edges, then cut the roll into slices about 1 1/2 inch thick.  Arrange the slices in a single layer in a buttered baking dish.  Loosely cover the baking dish with plastic wrap, and leave the cinnamon buns in a warm spot for about an hour to rise.

Preheat the oven to 375F.  Bake the rolls for 25-30 minutes, or until they are golden brown.

Let cool for 5-10 minutes.  Meanwhile prepare the frosting.  In a small bowl, stir together the softened cream cheese, butter, icing sugar, and vanilla until everything is combined and the frosting is smooth.  Spread the frosting over the warm cinnamon buns with a butter knife or offset spatula.  Sprinkle with the reserved toasted oats and serve these sweet rolls while they are still warm.

If you'd like to be entered for a chance to win a 2.5 quart Vermillion Baker from CW by Corningware (valued at $21.99) just leave a comment below.  The winner will be randomly selected on October 20th, 2015 by Rafflecopter.  This giveaway is only open to residents of Canada.

Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by World Kitchen, I was given this lovely four piece set of CW Corningware baking dishes to try out and I've been compensated monetarily for my recipe.  As always, all opinions are my own.