Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Throughout this whole quarantine thing I have decided to bust out some more yeast and try my hand at a lot more yeast based recipes. Recently I made these homemade cinnamon rolls and oh my wow. My cousin sent me a funny baking in quarantine bingo card on Instagram and in my mind I said: challenge accepted.

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I’m not stranger to a homemade cinnamon roll. Admittedly, I haven’t made cinnamon rolls from scratch since home ec class in 7th grade. I fondly remember making them in class and recreating them again at my friend Britney’s house. We were so proud of our scratch made baking skills.

I can confidently say these cinnamon rolls I rolled out this week far surpass the home ec recipe. I was inspired by this recipe and knew I had to feature them this week. I love her story about cinnamon rolls and how they are the family’s request for all special occasions and holidays. Not to get too far ahead of myself but I definitely see this in my Christmas Day forecast. I’m also going to tinker with the recipe to make pumpkin spice cinnamon rolls in the fall so stay tuned for that!

Cinnamon rolls are a special treat in my house. My mom would always get my favorite tube variety of cinnamon rolls to have on hand when she knew I was coming home or needed a pick me up. She always uses her special round stoneware and saves the gooey middle one just for me. With a glass of ice cold milk? I’ve been transported to another time.

I’ll always love that tube variety because let’s be honest, they’re easy and delicious. For special occasions though, or endless hours to kill in quarantine, these cinnamon rolls really hit the spot. The filling and icing is so good I even adapted it for the most decadent cinnamon roll babka. If you’re feeling more adventurous with your yeast be sure to check that out too!

Ingredients

For the Dough

• 4 cups all purpose flour (+ more for dusting)
• 6 tbsp butter, melted
• 1 cup milk, heated to 105F-110F
• 1 tbsp active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup sugar + 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla

For the Filling

• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3 tbsp cinnamon
• 6 tbsp butter, softened

For the Icing

• 8oz block cream cheese, softened
• 4 tbsp butter, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups confectioners sugar

Instructions

1. For the Dough: Prepare the yeast by measuring and warming your milk in the microwave for about a minute or until 105F-110F. Add milk to your mixing bowl, dissolve 1 tbsp sugar in and sprinkle 1 tbsp yeast on top, stir. Allow to sit for approximately 5 minutes or until the mixture is foamy.
2. Whisk together flour, cinnamon, and salt in a separate mixing bowl.
3. Add the remaining sugar, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla to the bowl of your stand mixer with the dough hook attached. Beat gently until combined.
4. Gradually combine dry ingredients to wet ingredients in the mixing bowl. Knead with the dough hook until a large, smooth, somewhat sticky ball is formed. (If your dough is too sticky, add a tbsp of flour at a time until smooth)
5. Turn your dough out on to a lightly floured surface and knead until cohesive about 3 to 5 minutes.
6. Grease a large bowl and place your dough ball inside. Cover with plastic wrap, place in a warm location, and allow to rise for about an hour, or doubled in size.
7. For the Filling: While the dough is rising, prepare the filling. Using very soft butter, whisk together the butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar until a soft sandy texture forms. (Soft butter is better to use than melted butter because it is less likely to ooze out of your dough when you roll it)
8. For the Icing: Using very soft cream cheese and butter, beat the cream cheese, butter, confectioner sugar, and vanilla until smooth (I love my hand mixer for easy frostings such as this). Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
9. Assembly: After the dough has risen, turn it out on to a lightly floured surface. Gently press the gas from the dough and form it into a rectangle.
10. Roll the dough into a 12×24 inch rectangle that is approximately 1/4 inch thick.
11. Spread Cinnamon Sugar filling across the rolled out dough. This is tricky because of the texture but if you use your fingers to spread and break it apart it will spread with a little patience.
12. Roll the dough medium-tight long-ways. Using a sharp knife, slice the dough into 12 rolls approximately 2 inches thick.
13. Space the rolls evenly on a parchment lined 9×13 inch baking dish (I recommend these because they have a good lip but don’t dirty any heavy stoneware) and refrigerate over night. (You can also simply allow them to rise for half hour or until doubled and bake).
14. Next Morning: Preheat oven to 350F. Remove the icing and the cinnamon rolls from the fridge 30-60 minutes prior to baking. Your rolls should puff up as they come to room temperature. The icing will also soften and make it easier to spread.
15. Bake homemade cinnamon rolls for 18-22 minutes until golden brown and until the centers are fully cooked.
16. Spread icing on the rolls immediately after removing from the oven. Remove, and enjoy!

Recommendations

• Use softened butter and cream cheese for the filling and icing
• Refrigerate prepared rolls over night (Remove 30-60 minutes prior to baking) I like to do this because I can just wake up in the morning and have fresh baked cinnamon rolls without the work and the waiting!