These homemade cinnamon rolls taste like they came from a bakery! They’re soft and fluffy and topped with a thick layer of cream cheese frosting. A make-ahead dough interrupts work.
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My mother lives in a small mining town nestled in the mountains of rural Nevada, and in that town is a gem of a deli-cafe run by a Mennonite family. This family makes the biggest, fluffiest cinnamon rolls with gooey cream cheese frosting I’ve ever seen.
Video: How to make homemade cinnamon rolls
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Homemade cinnamon rolls
Bakery style pillowy cinnamon rolls
In my vision for these perfect cinnamon rolls, I wanted a dough that would bake up into pillow-like spirals, with each roll crushing against its neighbor and leaving a feather-light slice of bread when pulled apart.
This batter is rich, but actually not that sweet. This makes it the perfect canvas for the buttery brown sugar and cinnamon filling.
Spread the cream cheese frosting over the buns while they are still warm. This is how part of the frosting melts into the cinnamon spirals.
A slow climb for the best cinnamon rolls
The dough I ended up creating is best made over two days.
- Day 1: I mix the batter the night before baking and let it rise slowly in the fridge overnight.
- Day 2: The next morning I roll, fill and bake the buns.
Not only does this break the job, but I think the flavor of a slowly risen dough tastes better. Cold dough is also much easier to work with when rolling out and shaping the rolls.
You can get a lot more spirals in your cinnamon rolls with cold batter!
Butter makes cinnamon rolls better!
If you’ve never tried adding butter to your cinnamon roll dough before, just wait until you try this recipe. Very similar to brioche dough, it makes buns that are rich, fluffy, and incredibly tender.
This recipe works best when the butter is for the dough very Soft. Take the butter out of the fridge a few hours before preparing the dough to allow it to soften, or even the night before.
If you forgot or don’t have time to soften the butter, cut it into tablespoons and knead each piece between your fingers before adding to the dough.
- CONTINUE READING! 4 tips for making the best cinnamon rolls ever
Store and freeze cinnamon rolls
I think these rolls taste best the day they’re made, when they’re still slightly warm and the frosting is nice and thick and sweet. The longer they keep, the drier they get, but you can still enjoy them.
- To warm up: I like to quickly reheat them in the microwave for about 20 seconds until the glaze starts to melt.
- How to Freeze Unbaked Buns: Make them through the rolling and slicing step and place them in the pan, but don’t do the second climb. Cover and freeze them. If you want to bake them, thaw them in the fridge overnight. Let the rolls rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours or until doubled in size. Bake as instructed in the recipe.
- Freeze Baked Buns: It is best to freeze unfrosted cinnamon rolls as the frosting becomes sticky when defrosting. (But if you don’t mind, freeze your leftover frosted cinnamon rolls!) Freeze the rolls individually and then microwave them in 30-second intervals until warmed through.
More Ooey Gooey Sweet Things to Love!
- Cinnamon sticky buns
- Sweet buns with raspberry jam
- Caramel apple baobab
- Swedish coffee bread
Best homemade cinnamon rolls
ingredients
For the dough:
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1 Cup whole milk
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2 teaspoon dry yeast
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1/4 Cup sugar
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2 big eggs
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4 cups all purpose flour
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1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
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6 tablespoon room temperature unsalted butter, very soft
For the filling:
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1/2 Cup room temperature unsalted butter
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3/4 Cup Brown sugar
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1 tablespoon Cinammon
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1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (or a little less salt)
For the glaze:
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4 ounces Cream cheese, softened at room temperature
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4 tablespoon unsalted buttersoftened at room temperature
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1 to 4 tablespoon milk, whole or 2%
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2 cups powdered sugar
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1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
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prize kosher salt
special equipment
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blender
method
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make dough:
Warm the milk in the microwave for 15 to 30 seconds until slightly warm to the touch Not vape In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the warm milk, yeast and sugar. Let the mixture stand until it becomes foamy, about five minutes.
Place the eggs, flour and salt in the bowl and mix on medium speed until a sticky dough forms. Beat in the butter, 2 tablespoons at a time, and wait for the butter to incorporate before adding the next batch. The butter needs to be very soft for this to work; If the butter isn’t included, knead each piece with your fingers until soft before adding to the dough.
Once all the butter is incorporated, knead (or knead by hand) the dough on medium speed for 10 minutes.
How to measure ingredients for baking successCONTINUE READING:
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Get up overnight:
Form the dough into a ball, place in a large, lightly oiled bowl and cover with cling film. Let the dough rise in the fridge overnight, at least 8 hours. It will slowly double.
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Cut and shape buns:
Take the dough out of the fridge in the morning. The dough will be quite stiff and firm, but should roll easily. Lightly dust your work surface and rolling pin with flour and roll out the dough into a rectangle about 30 x 40 cm.
Butter the dough, leaving a 1-inch border on one of the shorter edges. Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. Sprinkle the mixture over the butter in an even layer.
Starting from the short edge (the one with butter to the brim), roll the dough up into a tight spiral. Pinch the spiral (the unbuttered edge should stick to the rolling pin). Cut off the ends if they are shaggy.
Halve the roll crossways to make 2 pieces. Cut each piece in half again to get 4, and each piece again to get 8 rolls total. Place the buns in a greased 9×13-inch baking dish.
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Cover the buns with cling film and let them rise in a warm place for 30 to 90 minutes:
The rising time depends on the temperature in your kitchen. When done, the buns should be puffy and soft. They should be touching with very little space between each roller.
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When the buns look half risen, preheat the oven to 350°F.
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Bake buns:
Bake the buns for 20 to 25 minutes until golden and puffy on top. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes before freezing.
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Prepare glaze:
While the rolls are baking, using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Add half the powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon milk. Beat 1 minute. Add the remaining sugar and vanilla and beat for 1 more minute. Add additional milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until glaze is as spreadable as you’d like.
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Serve warm:
Glaze the cinnamon rolls generously while they are still a little warm. Serve immediately.
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 750 | calories |
| 34g | Fat |
| 102g | carbohydrates |
| 11g | protein |
