• Before you begin: Bring your eggs and butter to room temperature and warm the milk to 90º F. Line a 13" x 18" sheet pan with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350º F while the rolls are on their second rise.

For the dough

• Place the warm milk, yeast, and half of the flour into the bowl of your stand mixer with the dough hook attached and mix until combined.
• Add in the softened butter, sugar, salt, eggs, and the rest of the flour and mix until combined.
• Add the corn syrup (if using) and mix until fully combined.
• Increase the speed to medium. Continue mixing for 10 to 20 minutes, or until the dough begins to clean the sides of the bowl and forms a smooth ball. This is a very soft dough, so don't worry if it seems like a sticky mess at first, just keep mixing.
• Pull off a small piece of dough and gently stretch it between your fingers. It should stretch thin enough to be nearly translucent without tearing. If it tears or still feels sticky, keep mixing.
• Shape the dough into a smooth ball and place it into a greased bowl. Cover with a tea towel and let rise for 90 minutes in a warm place. To create a reliably warm proofing environment, preheat your oven to 170º F for 5 minutes, then turn it off. Place a bowl of warm water in the back of the oven, put the covered dough inside, and shut the door.

To shape the rolls

• Once your dough has proofed, roll it out on a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle, roughly 18 inches wide and 8 inches tall. If the dough keeps springing back, cover it and let it rest for 5 minutes. Resting relaxes the gluten and makes rolling much easier.
• Mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter (softened until almost melted) until smooth.
• Spread the cinnamon filling mixture onto the dough in an even layer. Leave about 1 inch without any filling on one side. This bare edge will help the log seal when you roll it.
• Roll up the dough length-wise into a snug spiral, then continue rolling until you reach the edge. Don't roll it too tight, or the centers will push up into cone shapes as they bake. Brush a little water along the bare edge so it seals the loose end of the dough.
• The easiest way to cut cinnamon rolls is with unflavored dental floss. Use a ruler to mark the log into 12 equal pieces, about 1.5" each. Slide the floss under the roll, cross the ends over each other, and pull through to cut.
• Place the cinnamon rolls into your pan lined with parchment paper, equally spaced apart. Cover loosely with a tea towel and place in a warm spot to rise until the rolls have doubled in size, about 90 minutes. For the overnight method, cover tightly and refrigerate instead of doing the second proof at room temperature.

To bake

• Before baking, pour your cream over the cinnamon rolls. This will make them extra soft and gooey after baking!
• Bake your rolls at 350º F for 25 to 30 minutes, until they reach an internal temperature of 195º to 200º F. Once the rolls are done baking, remove them from the oven and place them onto a cooling rack while you make the cinnamon roll frosting.

For the cream cheese frosting

• In a medium bowl, cream your room-temperature cream cheese until it is smooth and lump free. Add your softened butter and cream and mix until smooth, then add the powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla and mix until smooth and fully combined.
• Spoon the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a round tip, or snip a small opening at the corner of a zip-top bag. Pipe the frosting over the warm cinnamon rolls in a back-and-forth motion, covering each roll from edge to edge. The frosting will melt slightly into the warm layers for that gooey bakery finish.