Make the dough:

• Sprinkle the yeast on the warm water in a small bowl with a pinch of the sugar. Set aside for about 5 minutes until the yeast is foamy.
• Warm the milk in a small pan on the stove until you see bubbles around the edges. Cut up the butter and add it to the pan to melt.
• Crack your eggs and use a fork to whip them into the butter and milk mixture, then add in the sugar, salt, and vanilla, then stir to combine. Check the temperature with your finger (the milk/egg mixture should be just warm to the touch.).
• Put the flour into a large bowl or your stand mixer bowl. Make a well in the center with your hands, then pour in the milk mixture then the yeast mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon to make a rough dough.
• After that, with a dough hook on your stand mixer, beat the dough for about 5 minutes on low speed (2 on a Kitchen Aid) until you get an elastic sticky dough that pulls away in strands from the sides of the bowl.
• Cover the dough with plastic wrap and set in the fridge to rise overnight or 4 hours minimum.

Make the rolls:

• Melt the butter for assembly and set aside to cool.
• Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl.
• Sprinkle some flour on a work surface, then scrape out the cold dough on top of the flour. Sprinkle flour over the top of the dough.
• Quickly roll the dough into a rectangle about 12″X16″.
• Brush a glass 9″x13″ pan with a little of the melted butter.
• Pour the melted butter over the dough, being careful to not let it flow off the sides.
• Scatter the cinnamon sugar over the dough.
• Use a spatula to mix the butter and sugar together into a thin layer covering all of the dough.
• Roll up the dough over itself along the long edge into a tight log.
• Eyeball or use a measuring tape to mark the dough for cutting the rolls into 16 pieces.
• Run a length of dental floss under the dough. Cross the ends over each other with opposite hands and pull on the floss to cut a roll.
• Set the cut roll in the prepared pan.
• Continue cutting the rest of the rolls.
• Cover the rolls with a clean tea towel and let them rise at room temperature for 1 hour.
• Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350F (180 C).
• Bake the rolls for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and set.
• Set the pan on a wire rack to cool while you make the icing.

Make the icing:

• Beat all the ingredients together into a smooth thick icing.
• Fill a disposable pastry bag or plastic bag with the icing.
• Cut the tip of the bag off, then pipe lines at an angle across each cinnamon roll.

Rolls are best eaten the same day that they’re made, but you can freeze them without the icing in an airtight bag for up to 1 month. To reheat, warm them in a pan in a 300F degree oven for 15 minutes. From there you can ice them.