• Grease a 9- by 13-inch pan.

TO MAKE THE DOUGH:

• Combine warm milk, 2 tablespoons sugar and yeast in a bowl. Let it sit for 5–10 minutes (if using active dry yeast, it must foam). In a medium bowl, whisk remaining sugar, plus butter, eggs, orange zest and vanilla. Add in the yeast mixture. Stir in 3 cups of flour and salt. Continue adding flour by ¼ cups until the dough comes together. Knead the dough for 2–3 minutes, until smooth and slightly sticky (add tablespoons of flour if needed).
• Heat your oven to 300° for 1 minute, then turn it off. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let it rise in the warm oven for an hour (dough should double in size).

TO MAKE THE FILLING:

• Stir butter, brown sugar and cinnamon together. Sprinkle flour over your work surface. Dump dough onto the work surface. Using a rolling pin, roll dough into a rectangle about ¼ inch thick. The rectangle will be about 12 by 18 inches.
• Spread filling evenly over dough. Sprinkle walnuts on top of filling if desired. Carefully roll dough, starting at the long end closest to you, pushing forward, making sure it rolls evenly until it is a long tube. Use a sharp clean knife to cut it into 12 even pieces, each about an inch wide. Place rolls into the prepared pan, with swirl facing up. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350°. Bake for 15–20 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from oven.

TO MAKE THE FROSTING:

• While rolls are baking, beat cream cheese and butter in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer. Mix in powdered sugar, orange zest, vanilla and salt. After the cinnamon rolls stand for 5 minutes, spread room temperature frosting over the warm rolls. Enjoy!