Homemade Cinnamon buns

These are SOOOO good, and they make your house smell like a Cinnabon while they are baking. (Cinnabon is, I'm quite certain, a registered trademark. I am not claiming these are the Cinnabon recipe. But two different people told me they were better)

In the bread machine, run these ingredients on the dough setting (the second time I made these, I actually set the dough cycle to run right before going to bed, and didn't die because there was milk in the recipe. On the other hand, we keep our house in the mid 50's overnight during the winter nights, so take that into consideration if you try it in the African heat):

1 cup warm milk
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup butter, melted
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 packed (2 1/2 tsp) yeast

When finished, punch dough down and transfer to board:

Very lightly flour, and roll/stretch out, then brush w/ 1/4 cup butter, melted (or spread if you thought ahead enough to have some very spreadable):

Combine 1 cup brown sugar with 1 Tablespoon cinnamon. (GOOD cinnamon. Not been in your cabinet since Reagan was president cinnamon) If the smell isn't incredible when you open the container, don't bother making this recipe)

Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture on all but the far edge (make sure to cover all the way to the edge of the other three sides):

Roll it up. To do this, start by turning the closest edge over once, then run your hands down to finish that "crease", stretching the dough to the sides a bit as you go, and keep rolling. Sprinkle a bit of water on the very edge to help the dough seal to dough to close the roll.

Cut into 12 pieces. I do this by cutting in half, then the half in half, then each quarter into three:

Place in a 13 x 9 pan, which you already greased. Turn the oven to 400 degrees. Cover the buns with a cloth just dampened with warm water, and allow them to rise, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in another part of the kitchen, put 1/2 brick of cream cheese (4 oz) with half a stick of butter into the merry go round with 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar and some vanilla (I actually used vanilla paste):

Give'm a whirl!

Bake the buns for about 20 minutes - until they are light brown on top:

Immediately after removing from the oven, spread with the frosting, so it gets ooey gooey melty on top:

By the way - did you know sticky buns, a regional favorite in Philadelphia are made almost the same way, but omitting the cream cheese frosting? You would just put a brown sugar (1 cup)/butter (half stick)/pecan (1 cup, chopped) or raisins mixture on the BOTTOM of the pan before allowing the buns to rise. They come out of the oven, you immediately flip them out of the pan so the gooey mixture on the bottom becomes the topping. If I was making sticky buns I would have used two 9" cake pans instead of one 13x9, for easier flipping.