Ça Va inspired Cinnamon Rolls

A recent trip to one of our favorite restaurants in Kansas City, Ça Va, reawakened my love for cinnamon rolls. The roll they had was soft and light with a frosting unlike one I have ever tasted. It was creamy and not too sweet, and I couldn’t stop eating it (and I am usually not a frosting person). I went home and searched for different recipes of frosting, knowing there was probably little to no confectioners sugar involved, but came up empty handed and wondering what could this frosting be? So I decided to reach out to the restaurant and ask. It was a cream cheese frosting sweetened with maple syrup! Yum!! After trying several different variations based on maple cream cheese frostings, this one is my favorite and the closest to that addicting frosting I had at Ça Va.

The cinnamon bun recipe I used is from King Arthur Flour, for soft cinnamon rolls. I can’t say these buns are exactly like Ça Va’s, because to be honest I was so distracted by the frosting that I have a faint memory of the roll itself, but they’re delicious and I love King Arthur Flour recipes.

I adapted the cinnamon roll recipe by adding some chopped walnuts and pistachios which give it more of a holiday flavor and good crunch; but feel free to sub your favorite nut or leave them out.

These rolls can be made and shaped the night before and allowed to have their final rise in the fridge. I highly recommend this method if you want to have them right when you wake up. Just bake them straight from the fridge! If you’re looking for a fun Sunday morning activity, definitely go ahead and make them all at once. It will take about 2 1/2 hours or about 3 if you have kids lol.

Recipe Source: King Arthur Flour

Adapted by: Tierney Larson

Ingredients:

Tangzhong:

5 tbl (71g) water

5 tbl (71g) Whole milk

3 tbl+1 tsp (28g) Unbleached Bread Flour

Dough:

(all of the tangzhong above)

4 cups + 2 tbl (498g) Unbleached Bread Flour

3 tbl (21g) Bakers special dry milk OR 1/3 (21g) nonfat dry milk

1 3/4 tsp Kosher Salt

1 tbl Instant Yeast

3/4 cup (170g) Lukewarm whole milk

2 large eggs

3/8 cup (6 tbl, 85g) Unsalted Butter, melted

Filling:

3/4 cup (142g) Light brown sugar

4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 cup toasted walnuts chopped

1/4 cup toasted pistachios chopped

Frosting:

4oz cream cheese, room temperature

2 tbl unsalted butter, room temperature

1 tbl powdered sugar, sifted

1/2 tbl vanilla extract

1/2-1 tbl maple syrup (to your desired sweetness)

So whatcha do is:

Make a Tangzhong:

In a medium saucepan combine milk, water and flour and whisk until smooth with no lumps remaining. Place the pan over medium heat and whisk constantly until thickened. (It will happen in about a minute or so, so watch for it!) Take the pan off the heat and let cool slightly while you mix the rest of the ingredients.

Make the dough:

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, dry milk and yeast until combined. Make a well in the middle and add the milk, butter, eggs and tangzhong. Using a spatula, gradually mix the flour into the wet ingredients and continue to stir until no more flour spots remain. Let the dough rest covered for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, knead the dough by hand or in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, on low speed. If kneading by hand, it will take about 10 minutes to achieve a smooth elastic dough. By stand mixer it will take about 8 minutes. You’re looking for the dough to stretch without ripping and for the surface to feel smooth.

Form the dough into a ball and place in a lightly greased bowl (cooking spray or unsalted butter) and cover for 60-90 minutes until puffed up.

Toast the walnuts and pistachios in a dry pan over medium heat on the stovetop (or in a 350F oven for 8-10min) until lightly golden and fragrant. Let cool then chop finely and set aside.

Whisk together the sugar and cinnamon for the filling in a small bowl and set aside.

Grease a 9x13 inch pan.

Lightly punch down the dough and divide into 2 halves. Put one half to the side, and shape the other half into a rough rectangle. Roll the dough into a 18x8 inch rectangle. Sprinkle with half the sugar mixture and half of the nuts. It will seem like a lot of filling but it will be good trust me!

Roll up the dough starting at the long edge of the rectangle, forming a log seam, side down. Mark the dough every 1 1/2 inches using a bench scraper or knife, then cut the rolls out. You should get about (12) 1 1/2 inch thick rolls. Place the rolls in rows of 4 width wise, filling side up in the greased pan. Clean off your surface and repeat with the other half of the dough.

After all the rolls are in the pan, spray a piece of cling wrap with non-stick cooking spray and cover the pan. Let them rise for 45-60min until they are crowding each other and puffed up. Preheat your oven to 350F and place a rack on the bottom third of your oven.

Make the icing:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, or with a handheld mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until fully combined. Add the vanilla, and then stream the maple syrup in while mixing. Add the confectioners sugar and beat on low speed until fully combined. Taste and adjust sweetness to your liking. If you want to add more maple syrup and the icing gets a little too loose, just add a touch more powdered sugar until it reaches the consistency you want.

Rolls con’t…

Bake the rolls for 22-25 minutes until they feel set and the internal temperature is about 188 degrees. They won’t be very brown, but will have some browning here and there. You don’t want to over cook them.

Serve warm and ice right before serving, or let them cool and then top with icing.