Whisk the warm milk, 2 Tablespoons of the brown sugar, and the yeast together in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook or paddle attachment. Cover and allow the mixture to sit for about 5 minutes, or until foamy on top. *If you do not own a stand mixer, you can do this in a large mixing bowl and, in the next step, mix the dough together with a large wooden spoon or rubber spatula. It will take a bit of arm muscle. A hand mixer works, but the sticky dough can repeatedly get stuck in the beaters. Mixing by hand is the better choice.

Add the remaining brown sugar, melted butter, eggs, salt, ginger, nutmeg, and 1 cup (about 130g) of the flour and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula. Add 3 cups (about 390g) flour, reduce mixer speed to low, and beat until a soft dough forms and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Dough will be very soft, but not overly sticky. If it seems too sticky and clings to the sides of the bowl instead of forming a rough mass around the dough hook, add more flour, 1 Tablespoon at a time, and continue to mix until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl but is still moist and tacky. If it feels dry and crumbly, add more milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Keep the dough in the mixer (and switch to the dough hook if using the paddle) and beat for an additional 6–8 minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 6–8 minutes. (If you’re new to bread-baking, my How to Knead Dough video tutorial can help here.) If the dough becomes too sticky during the kneading process, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of flour at a time on the dough or on the work surface/in the bowl to make a soft, slightly tacky dough. After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft. Poke it with your finger—if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. You can also do a “windowpane test” to see if your dough has been kneaded long enough: tear off a small (roughly golfball-size) piece of dough and gently stretch it out until it’s thin enough for light to pass through it. Hold it up to a window or light. Does light pass through the stretched dough without the dough tearing first? If so, your dough has been kneaded long enough and is ready to rise. If not, keep kneading until it passes the windowpane test.

Lightly grease a large bowl with oil or nonstick spray. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat all sides in the oil. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rise in a relatively warm environment for 2 hours or until double in size. (I always let it rise on the counter and it takes about 2 hours. For a tiny reduction in rise time, see my answer to Where Should Dough Rise? in my Baking with Yeast Guide.)

In a medium bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the softened butter and molasses on medium-high speed. In a small bowl, using a whisk or a fork, mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.

Grease the bottom and sides of a 9×13-inch glass baking pan or metal baking pan, or line with parchment paper. Punch down the dough to release the air.

Place dough on a lightly floured work surface and, using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll dough into a 10×16-inch rectangle. Make sure the dough is smooth and evenly thick. If the dough keeps shrinking as you roll it out, stop what you’re doing, cover it lightly, and let it rest for 10 minutes to relax the gluten. When you return to the dough, it should stretch out much easier.

Spread the butter-molasses mixture on top of the rolled-out dough. Sprinkle the sugar-spice mixture all over the dough. Tightly roll up the dough to form a 16-inch-long log. With a sharp knife or bench scraper, cut into 12 even rolls, between 1–1.5 inches wide each. Arrange in the prepared baking pan. If some filling spilled out of the rolls as you were shaping, sprinkle it on top of the rolls.

Cover the rolls tightly and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour. (Or use the overnight option below.)

Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Bake rolls for 25–28 minutes or until lightly browned on top. (Glass pans may require an additional 2–3 minutes.) After about 15 minutes, tent a piece of aluminum foil loosely over the top of the pan to prevent the tops from browning too quickly. If you want to be precise, the rolls are done when an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers 195–200°F (91–93°C).

Remove pan from the oven and place pan on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes as you make the icing.

In a medium bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese on high speed until smooth and creamy. Add the butter and beat until combined and smooth, then beat in the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon until combined. Using a knife or icing spatula, spread the icing over the warm rolls and serve immediately. Feel free to garnish with sugared cranberries & gingerbread cookies.

Cover leftover frosted or unfrosted rolls tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.