Caramelized Apple Walnut Cinnamon Rolls with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

Instructions

Dough

1. Cut the butter into small chunks and place on a plate in the freezer.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the yeast and warm apple cider and let sit for 10 minutes.
3. Pour the vinegar into a 2 cup measuring cup and then fill the cup up to the "2 cup" line with milk and let sit for 10 minutes.
4. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the salt, baking soda, baking powder and flour.
5. Remove the butter from the freezer and using your fingers (or 2 forks) cut the butter into the flour until it resembles course sand, with a few pea sized bits of butter remaining.
6. Pour the milk and yeasted cider into the flour mixture and mix until combined. It will be a sticky mess.
7. Place some plastic wrap over the bowl and place the dough in the fridge overnight.

Filling:

1. In a large skillet, melt the butter.
2. Stir in the apples, brown sugar, ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon until all the apples are evenly covered.
3. When the brown sugar melts, stir in the apple cider.
4. Cook for 15-20 minutes, until the apples are tender and the brown sugar is thick and caramelizing.
5. Allow to cool before use (you can even refrigerate this part until you need it if you want to make it ahead).

Assembly

1. The next morning, remove the dough from the fridge and dump it out on a lightly floured surface.
2. Roll the dough out into a large rectangle.
3. Brush with 5 TBSP of melted (slightly cool) butter.
4. Spoon the filling on the dough and evenly spread it around.
5. Roll the dough up into a long log.
6. Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the log into 24 even pieces (I find it easiest to cut it first in halves - so first cut the into 2 pieces, then cut each half into half (so you have 4 pieces) and then you can cut each fourth into thirds - getting you 24 equal sized pieces).
7. Place each circle cut side up into the bottom of two greased 9x13 pans.
8. Cover the pans with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 1.5-2 hours.
9. Preheat your oven to 400F.
10. Remove the plastic wrap from the pans and place the pans in the oven, spacing them out so one pan is on the top left of your oven and the other pan is on the bottom right.
11. Bake 10 minutes, then switch the location of the pans (so they bake evenly).
12. Bake another 5-10 minutes, until golden brown (make sure they are evenly golden, if they are just barely golden the rolls will still be gooey in the middle).
13. Brush with the 2 TBSP of melted butter and then place the pans back in the oven for another minute.
14. Cool in the pans completely before frosting.

Frosting:

1. In a small sautee pan, melt the butter and carefully watch it until it browns. You want it to just start to turn brown and it starts to smell nutty and rich.
2. Turn the heat off and allow the butter to cool (you might even need to place the butter in a bowl so the hot pan doesn't burn it).
3. Allow the brown butter to cool.
4. In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese, coffee, powdered sugar and cooled browned butter until fluffy.
5. Spread evenly over the cooled rolls.