Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes

I had planned to make vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting for this post, but the flour sifter I just bought was broken.  Ugh!  So I searched through all my cupcake recipes to find one that sounded good and that I had all the ingredients for since I had already been to the store once to buy the ingredients for my vanilla cupcakes.  This recipe won out, mostly because I remember seeing a picture of it and it looked delicious.  And they are!  My husband thought these were the best cupcakes I've made so far!  They go great with a cup of coffee and are super handy because unlike a regular cinnamon roll, you can eat them without a fork!

Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes
Makes about 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:
Dough:
2 1/4 tsp or 1 package dry active yeast
1/2 cup granulated sugar, divided
1 cup warm milk (approx. 110 degrees Fahrenheit)
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon salt
4 1/2 cups bread flour
Filling:
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, softened

Dissolve the 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.
Mix in the eggs, butter, salt, and other 1/4 cup of granulated sugar.  Stir together.  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 1 hour).
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 the brown sugar and cinnamon.
Roll dough into a 12x22 inch rectangle.  Spread dough with 1/2 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with cinnamon/sugar mixture.  Roll up dough and cut into 24 rolls. 
Fill two cupcake pans with doubled up cupcake liners and lightly spray with cooking spray.  Place each roll in a cupcake liner.  Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 
Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 10-12 minutes.  Let rolls cool completely before frosting (frosting will melt off otherwise). 

Frosting:
1 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
3+ cups sifted confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon juice
pinch of salt

Cream together the butter and sugar.  Add in the powdered sugar (add more sugar for stiffer frosting if piping).  Add vanilla, lemon juice, and salt and mix well. 

Amy's Notes:
These are very good and will definitely make them again!  Definitely use two cupcake liners because they will leak through just one.  I didn't roll the dough out thin enough or long enough, so my rolls were very hard to fit into the cupcake liners, but I re-rolled many of my rolls to fit.  And beware, these are not a quick cupcake.  There is about 2 hours total of rising time involved.  But they are worth the wait and especially good right after they have been frosted!

Good enough to eat without frosting.

A much too big cupcake with not so perfect frosting!