Wondering how to spice up your Sunday mornings? Well, just think of warm, fluffy, and delicious cinnamon rolls. Really trust me!
The recipe is quite descriptive and you might need to allow some time for the dough to rest, but once you have this first bite, I can guarantee you it’ll all be worth it.
Tip: jump at the bottom of the page if you want to make overnight cinnamon rolls.
INGREDIENTS
For the dough:
- ¾ cup or 177 ml warm milk (whole milk or 2% preferred) (43 celsius)
- 2 ¼ teaspoons quick rise or active yeast (1/4-ounce package yeast)
- ¼ cup or 50 grams granulated sugar
- 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- ¼ cup or 57 grams unsalted butter, melted
- 3 cups or 408 grams bread flour (you might need a bit more if the dough is too sticky), plus more for dusting
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
For the filling:
- 2/3 cup or 135 grams dark brown soft sugar (light brown sugar also works)
- 1 ½ tablespoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup or 57 grams unsalted butter, softened
For the cream cheese frosting:
- 4 oz or 112 grams cream cheese, softened
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup or 75 grams powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
INSTRUCTIONS
- Warm milk to around 43 degrees Celsius. You can do this by placing milk in a microwave safe bowl and microwaving it for 40-45 seconds. It should be like warm bath water. Transfer warm milk to the bowl of an electric mixer and sprinkle yeast on top, mix them and let it rest for a few minutes. Add in sugar, egg, egg yolk and melted butter. Mix until well combined. Next stir in flour (slowly, not all at once) and salt with a wooden spoon until a dough begins to form.
- Place dough hook on stand mixer and knead dough on medium speed for 8 minutes. Dough should form into a nice ball and be slightly sticky. If it’s too sticky (meaning it’s sticking to the bottom of the mixer, add in 2 tablespoons more bread flour.) If you don’t want to use an electric mixer, you can use your hands to knead the dough for 8-10 minutes on a well-floured surface.
- Transfer dough ball to a well-oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and a warm towel. Allow dough to rest for 1 hour to 1 ½ hours, or until double in size. This may more or less time depending the humidity and temperature in your home.
- After dough has doubled in size, transfer dough to a well-floured surface and roll out into a 14×9 inch (35.5 x 22.8 cm) rectangle. Spread softened butter over dough, leaving a ¼ inch margin at the far side of the dough.
- In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar and cinnamon. Use your hands to sprinkle mixture over the buttered dough, then rub the brown sugar mixture into the butter.
- Tightly roll dough up, starting from the 9-inch side and place seam side down making sure to seal the edges of the dough as best you can. You will probably need to cut off about an inch off the ends of the dough as the ends won’t be as full of cinnamon sugar as we’d want it to be.
- Cut into 1 inch sections with a serrated knife or floss. You should get 9 large pieces!
- Place cinnamon rolls in a greased 9×9 inch (22.8 x 22.8 cm) baking pan or round 9 inch cake pan. You can also line the pan with parchment paper as well, in case any of the filling ends up leaking out. Cover with plastic wrap and a warm towel and let rise again for 30-45 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius at the fan oven mode. Remove plastic wrap and towel and bake cinnamon rolls for 20-25 minutes or until just slightly golden brown on the edges. You want to underbake them a little so they stay soft in the middle, that’s why we want them just slightly golden brown. Allow them to cool for 5-10 minutes before frosting.
To make the frosting: In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Beat until smooth and fluffy. Spread over cinnamon rolls and serve immediately.
Enjoy!
To make overnight cinnamon rolls:
After placing rolls into the greased pan (after the first rise), simply cover, place overnight in the fridge and then bake them in the morning as directed. I like to bring my cinnamon rolls to room temperature first by leaving them on the counter for 30-45 minutes before baking (this is known as the second rise).
Source: Ambitious Kitchen
