The Cream Cheese Frosting Trick That Will Seriously Elevate Your Next Batch Of Cinnamon Rolls

The heady aroma of a batch of old-fashioned cinnamon rolls that have just been pulled out of the oven never fails to make the heart sing. It's truly a test of patience to abstain from emancipating the best looking one in the bunch and eating it right there on the counter in its gooiest condition. The thing is, waiting until your buns have cooled so you can properly ice them with a generous helping of cream cheese frosting is the way to go if you can just about stand it. Better yet, there's one cream cheese frosting trick that will seriously upgrade your cinnamon rolls even further — whipping in some browned butter. 

Nutty, fragrant, and rich in flavor, browned butter is the secret sauce that can make your rolls really rock. Also known as beurre noisette, this golden ingredient has an almost toffee-like scent that will imbue your frosting with a caramel character and an inviting color that perfectly complements the warming quality of the cinnamon in your rolls. If you've ever made brown butter cookies before, then you'll already be familiar with how to prepare browned butter.

If not, don't be discouraged. It's a simple process, and all you need is butter and a saucepan. Start by melting your butter on low heat until foamy and bubbly. You should see some darker milk solids appear, which will sink to the bottom. Keep stirring or swirling the pan around so they don't burn. Then, once all the butter has turned golden brown, turn off the heat and allow it to cool.

Brown butter can easily end up tasting bitter if you accidentally leave it on the stove for too long, much like when you're making a caramel. So, keep a close eye on it and even remove it early if you're unsure as it will continue to darken in the residual heat (if you do get caught out, the easy fix to try before tossing burnt brown sugar is simply to strain it to remove any overcooked milk solids that have become acrid). Bear in mind that you can't use brown sugar in its melted state to make cream cheese frosting as it will be hot and produce icing that's too loose in consistency. Instead, allow the butter to cool until it has reached a softly set texture so that it can be seamlessly whipped into your softened cream cheese before incorporating your powdered sugar and vanilla extract as normal. 

The end result will be a delectably rich frosting with a complex, nutty character and gorgeously biscuity color that's ready to be dolloped over a tray of cooled cinnamon buns. Once you've mastered it, you can even brown your butter for a truly elevated cake frosting too. Just be forewarned that if you're preparing your browned butter in advance, always ensure that you remove it from the fridge first so that it can soften before mixing it with your cream cheese. Butter that's chilled solid won't whip up well and will create a grainy frosting rather than a smooth and wonderfully velvety icing.