Ingredients Dough

• 5 cups all-purpose flour

Note: The exact amount of flour used will depend on many factors, including your kitchen's temperature and humidity levels at the time of making the dough. You should not need more than 5 cups and in our case we only needed 4 1/2 cups of flour.

• 2 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 cup homogenized milk
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup granulated white sugar
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 3 large eggs, room temperature

Ingredients Filling

• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold, cut into chunks
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• condensed milk

Ingredients Glaze

• 1 cup icing sugar
• 2 tbsp condensed milk
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a stand mixer add 2 1/4 cups of flour and the yeast, mix to blend.
2. In a saucepan, heat the milk, butter, sugar and salt to a temperature of 120° F. (This is where my toy, the infrared thermometer, really comes in handy).
3. Set the mixer for low speed and slowly add the milk/butter/sugar mixture to the flour.
4. Add the eggs, one at a time, making sure that each egg is fully absorbed before adding the next egg.
5. When all 3 eggs have been added beat the mixture at high speed for 3 minutes.
6. Using the dough hook on your stand mixer add the remaining flour in 1/2 cup increments until the flour has become a soft dough that is very smooth elastic but not sticky. This may take as long as 5 minutes.
7. Remove the dough ball from the mixer bowl, shape into a ball, ensuring that the dough ball is smooth and not sticky. Place the dough ball into a lightly buttered bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set it in a warm place for 2 hours to rise (the dough ball should double in size).
8. After 2 hours poke the dough ball to release all the air and allow it to rest for an additional 10 minutes.
9. In a clean bowl make the filling by blending together the brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in the chunks of cold butter, using a pastry blender, until the mixture is crumbly.
10. Roll out the dough to create a 12" square.
11. Using a pastry brush, brush one end, 1/2", of the square with the condensed milk. This will help seal the edges of the dough when it is rolled up.
12. Evenly sprinkle the brown sugar/cinnamon mixture over the dough square followed by the raisins.
13. Starting at the end opposite the condensed milk roll the dough to form a log. The dough should be rolled so that it is snug but not so tightly that the filling starts to squeeze out the ends of the log.
14. Butter and flour the inside of a 13" x 9" x 2" glass baking dish.
15. Slice the log into eight equal sized rolls and place them inside the dish.
16. Cover the top of the baking dish with buttered plastic wrap and allow the baking dish to sit out at room temperature, for an hour, to allow the dough to rise for a second time.
17. Heat the oven to 375° F.
18. Remove the plastic wrap and brush the surfaces with some condensed milk. Bake for 20 minutes. The tops of the cinnamon buns should be a golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the buns will come out clean.
19. When the buns are baked remove from oven and brush the surface with some more condensed milk. Allow to cool for 10 minutes and remove them from the baking dish and place them on a large dish.
20. Mix the glaze ingredients in a small bowl and drizzle the glaze over the surface of the cinnamon buns.