Best Ever Cinnamon Rolls

Best Ever Cinnamon Rolls

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Packed with cinnamon and topped with a cream cheese frosting, this big fluffy mouth-watering treat will have everyone in the house asking when they will be done. Whether you are making these for brunch, Christmas morning, or just for yourself, these cinnamon rolls will not disappoint. If you love ooey-gooey better-than-Cinnabon homemade rolls (yes, I went there; it’s true.) Give these a try.  You will never buy one from those mall stores again. 

A dough rolling mat with a ruler built into the border makes it easy to gauge when you have the dough rolled out to the correct size 

I use a silicone pizza wheel to cut my rolls into pieces.  This allows me to cut the rolls without cutting through my mat underneath.  

Make these alongside with a Super Easy Breakfast Casserole or some Crème Brûlée French Toast.  Yum!

Best Ever Cinnamon Rolls

These are often a birthday breakfast request and a Christmas morning tradition. Who needs to go to the mall for cinnamon rolls, when you can easily make them yourself for a fraction of the cost. Get ready to wow your family with this one.

Ingredients

Dough

  • 1 cup lukewarm milk (227g)
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • cup unsalted butter cut into pieces (75g)
  • cups all-purpose flour (540g)
  • teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup sugar (100g)
  • teaspoons instant yeast (8g) one packet

Filling

  • cup unsalted butter softened (75g)
  • 1 cup brown sugar packed (213g)
  • 3 tablespoons cinnamon (22g)

Frosting

  • 1 package cream cheese softened (226g)
  • ¼ cup unsalted butter softened (57g)
  • cups confectioners' sugar sifted (340g)
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Making the dough in a bread machine

  • Put the feet into the pan of the bread machine. Place all the dough ingredients into the pan in the order recommended in the user manual (It is usually liquids on the bottom, dry stuff on top, yeast in an indent in the dry stuff). Put the bread machine into a dough-only program and press start. About 10 minutes after the kneading begins, you will want to check the dough to see if it needs to be adjusted. You want the dough to be smooth. If it is too sticky or too dry, adjust with additional flour or water. Allow the bread machine to finish its kneading and rising cycle.

Making the dough by hand

  • Combine all of the dough ingredients in a large mixing bowl, stirring until everything is mixed together. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled work surface and knead by hand for 5 to 8 minutes until the dough is smooth. After a few minutes, If the dough is too sticky or too dry, adjust with additional flour or water. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turning to grease all sides of the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap (or if you have any hotel shower caps in a package in a drawer those work great) and let it rise for about an hour until the dough is nearly double in size.

Making the dough with a mixer

  • Combine all of the dough ingredients in a large mixing bowl (or the bowl to your stand mixer), stirring until everything is mixed together. Using the dough hook to your mixer, knead for 4 to 7 minutes at medium speed. After a few minutes, If the dough is too sticky or too dry, adjust with additional flour or water. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turning to grease all sides of the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap (or if you have any hotel shower caps in a package in a drawer those work great) and let it rise for about an hour until the dough is nearly double in size.

Assembly and baking

  • Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface. A dough mat helps measure and contain the mess. Roll the dough into a 16 x 21-inch rectangle.
  • Spread the ⅓ cup butter evenly over the dough rectangle. It is like putting a thick layer of butter on a giant piece of toast. Use an offset spatula or even your fingers to get that butter evenly spread out.
  • In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle the sugar-cinnamon mixture evenly over the butter on the dough.
  • Start with the short end of the rectangle, roll the dough up into a log and cut it into 12 slices. Tip for cutting the slices so they are even sized - Cut the log into two equal halves. Cut both of those halves in half so you now have quarters. Now cut each quarter into 3 equal pieces.
  • Carefully place the slices into a lightly greased 13 x 9-inch pan. I try to place the two end pieces of the original roll in the middle of the pan as those pieces tend to be a bit smaller. Cover the pan with plastic wrap (or that shower cap) and let rise until the rolls are almost doubled. It will take about 30 minutes. Reminder to turn on your oven to 400 °F once you cover that pan so it is hot and ready when the rolls are.
  • Remove the plastic wrap and bake the rolls uncovered at 400 °F for about 15 minutes or until they are golden brown. While the rolls are cooking you can mix together the frosting.

Frosting

  • Beat together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until well mixed. Slowly add the powdered sugar (I highly recommend running it through a sifter to remove lumps - makes for a much smoother frosting), until well mixed.
  • Once the buns are out of the oven let them sit for about 5 minutes then spread the frosting liberally over the top. Hide them from your family or you will be asked to make them every year. Or enjoy and do make these every year!

Notes

These can be made ahead of time and placed in the fridge overnight for the second rise. Follow the instructions through step 4 of assembly and baking.  In step 5, once the rolls are placed in the pan, cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight. 
The next morning, remove the pan from the fridge 45-60 minutes before baking to allow the rolls to come to room temperature. Continue with step 6. 


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