Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes

I just realized that I've been making a lot of desserts that require yeast lately. Kinda surprised because I never used to use yeast! At least i'm putting that bag of it to good use, yeah?! 

So for today, I decided to make cinnamon rolls! I love cinnamon rolls, especially the ones from Cinnabon! The only downside = the enormous amount of sugar that goes into it. But what's a dessert without sugar right?

These are the cupcake version, I decided not to make the cream cheese frosting because I didn't really want sugar overload. It kind of makes me sad to say that, but it's true! For lent, I gave up sweets entirely. After those 40 days, I realized how much sugar I actually put into my body and how tolerant I've become to it. Everything I ate became too sweet after that, thus I tweaked up my lifestyle to incorporate less added sugar desserts and more sweets that were mostly based on natural sugar. But I do still love my sugary desserts! Just in moderation.

I advise you to use all the cinnamon sugar and the butter because it makes it taste a bit better. I didn't use all of it and it wasn't as cinnamon-y as I would like. I made 12 cupcakes (double-lined) and just put the rest in a cake pan. I freezed the ones in the cake pan after baking so I could eat them at a later time.

I ate 3 of these rolls. Now I feel so so guilty! They were just too delicious! :(

This recipe is from La Fuji Mama

Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes:
Makes 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:
2 1/4 tsp. or 1 packet (1/4 oz./7 g) dry active yeast
1/2 cup granulated sugar, divided
1 cup warm milk (approximately 110 degrees Fahrenheit)
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 tsp. salt
4 1/2 cups bread flour

1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened

Procedure:

1. Dissolve yeast and 1/4 cup of the granulated sugar in the warm milk in a large bowl and let stand for about 10 minutes until foamy.
2. Mix in the eggs, butter, salt, and other 1/4 cup of granulated sugar. Add flour and mix until well blended and the dough forms a ball. Put in a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about one hour).
3. After the dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners, and lightly spray over the top of them with cooking spray.
4. Roll dough into a 12×22 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 24 rolls
5. Place each roll in a cupcake liner. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
6. Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 10-12 minutes. Let rolls cool completely before frosting (or else the frosting will melt and slide off).

Frosting:
2 (8-oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 1/2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners’ sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.

Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes