Vanilla Latte Cinnamon Rolls

Note: The sweet dough must be allowed to rise, and then chill overnight in the refrigerator; therefore dough should be made a day in advance of the cinnamon rolls.

For the dough:
1. Before applying heat—pour the milk, half-and-half, canola oil, and sugar into a Dutch oven, whisking to combine.
2. Slice a vanilla bean open lengthwise. Scrape the interior “caviar” from the vanilla bean and place it in an airtight container for later use in the icing. Take the now empty vanilla bean hull and float it in the milk mixture.
3. Heat the milk mixture over medium heat until it begins to simmer and bubble around the edges, whisking occasionally. (Do not allow the mixture to come to a rapid boil.)
4. Turn off the heat, remove the vanilla bean hull, and allow to cool to lukewarm (warm, but not hot to the touch).
5. Once mixture has cooled to lukewarm, sift the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda over top. Sprinkle the yeast over everything and stir with a wooden spoon until blended. Dough will be very sticky.
6. Cover the Dutch oven with a clean towel and allow mixture to rise until it doubles in bulk, about 2 hours. After the initial rise, place a lid on the pot, and refrigerate overnight. The dough is quite sticky, and will be easier to work with after being refrigerated. Refrigeration also slows the yeast, still allowing the dough to rise. At this point, I usually take the butter for the filling, and the cream cheese for the icing out of the ‘fridge and set it on the counter so that it is ready to use in the morning. (You do what makes you comfortable.)
7. The next morning, take the dough out of the refrigerator, and allow it to stand at room temperature while you prepare the filling and icing.

For the filling:
8. In a small bowl, combine the softened butter, ground cinnamon, packed brown sugar, and salt with an electric mixer until thoroughly blended; set aside.

For the Icing:
9. In a medium bowl, combine the powdered sugar, softened cream cheese, half-and-half, melted butter, and brewed coffee until combined. Add the reserved caviar from the vanilla bean, and continue mixing until the bean flecks are distributed throughout. At this point, the icing is soft, gooey, and pourable—perfect!
10. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set it aside.

To assemble the cinnamon rolls:
11. Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
12. Generously grease four 9-inch (glass or aluminum) pie plates with butter; set aside. (I normally use about a tablespoon of cold butter to grease all of the pie plates. I, however, do not recommend using dark and/or nonstick pans as they cook the outside of the rolls too quickly, darkening/crisping the outsides before the centers are done.)
13. Turn the dough out onto a clean, well floured work surface. Have a bench scraper handy.
14. Lightly flour the top of the dough, and roll it evenly into a 24” x 8” rectangle. Dough will be about ¼ inch thick. If at any time the dough sticks to the rolling pin, sprinkle the dough with a little more flour.
15. Use an offset spatula to spread the filling over the dough to within 1/2 inch of the edges.
16. Beginning with the long side farthest from you, tightly roll the dough over the filling towards yourself. Take your time to roll it tight—we don’t want any loosey-goosey cinnamon rolls! If at any point the dough is sticking to the work surface, gently run a thin bench scraper under it to loosen without tearing the dough.
17. Once the dough has been rolled, pinch the edges and seams together to seal the buttery goodness of the filling inside.
18. Use a sharp knife to cut the roll into 1-inch pieces. Place the pieces (cut side up) into the prepared pie plates, about an inch or so apart. I usually place 6 rolls in each pie plate—1 in the middle, and 5 around the perimeter.
19. Once all the rolls are cut and nestled in their pie plates, allow them to rest for about 10 minutes. Now is an excellent time to preheat the oven, if you haven’t already.
20. Bake the cinnamon rolls for 16-18 minutes, or until they are lightly golden brown around the edges, and the centers are set, but not browned.
21. Remove cinnamon rolls from the oven to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
22. After 10 minutes, pour the icing over the cinnamon rolls—you will have more than enough icing to cover 24 rolls. Pouring the icing while the rolls are still warm will allow it to seep into the creases of the rolls. This is a very good thing. Use an offset spatula to ensure that the icing is covering every exposed inch of the cinnamon rolls.
23. Allow rolls to cool for another 10 minutes, if you desire to serve them warm; or, you can allow rolls to cool completely before eating, depending on your preference.
24. Store leftover cinnamon rolls tightly wrapped at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Also worth noting: Once baked, iced, and cooled, these cinnamon rolls freeze beautifully! Just tightly double-wrap the pie plates with plastic wrap, and then wrap them again with aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 2 months. To serve, allow rolls to thaw on the counter overnight, remove the plastic wrap from the pie plate, replace the foil, and reheat at 325ºF for about 10 minutes to warm.