Easy To Make Cinnamon Rolls

Who doesn’t love cinnamon rolls? They are sweet and delicious and create such sweet memories when shared with family and friends. This recipe will be your one and only for cinnamon rolls as it is easy to follow and delivers great taste everytime.

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Ingredients Needed:

Whole Milk
Instant or Active Yeast
Sugar
Eggs
Butter
All Purpose or Bread Flour
Salt
Vegetable Oil
Dark Brown Sugar
Cinnamon
Cream Cheese
Powdered Sugar
Pure Vanilla Extract

Recipe Notes:

Before starting its important to make sure the butter, eggs, and cream cheese that will be used are set out in order to get to room temperature.
If using active dry yeast you will need to proof before adding. To proof active yeast just add to a small amount of the warm milk with a 1 teaspoon of sugar and let is sit for 10 minutes or until bubbles form on the top. Once bubbles have formed you can add to dough mixture. If you are using instant yeast, or sometimes referred to as quick rise, you do not need to proof and can just add directly into dough mixture.
If you have bread flour on hand you can use that for a more fluffy dough.
I recommend using a high quality butter for the best taste. I love using KerryGold’s Pure Irish Butter. Along with a high quality butter I always prefer to use a dark brown sugar and Pure Vanilla Extract. These few things will make a difference in the taste of your cinnamon rolls but if you do not have them use what you have and these cinnamon rolls will still be delicious.

Tools Needed:

Stand Mixer or Handheld - makes kneaing a whole lot easier and the great thing about Kitchen Aid is the longeivty. I’ve had my Kitchen Aid for 7+ years and its still going strong.
Liquid measuring cup - I always perfer to use glass measuring cups as they are veristy and easy to clean plus you can use in the microwave with no worries.
Rolling Pin - I love the heavy duty feel of the marble rolling pin, they’ve got weight to them and make rolling things out easier.
Pastry Matt - this is great if you don’t have a large counter top to work on. I’ve used these in small kitchens and placed on top of the stove in order to roll out the dough and get the size just right.
Serrated Knife - I prefer to use a serrated or bread knife when cutting my cinnamon rolls to size. Its easy and will not squish your rolls.

Recipe Ingredients:

Dough:

3/4 cup warm whole milk (100-115 degrees)
2 teaspoon instant yeast
1/4 cup sugar
3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon of salt
1 egg & 1 egg yolk (room temperature)
1/4 cup melted butter
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil

Filling:

2/3 cup brown sugar (dark is ideal)
1 1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup of softened butter

Cream Cheese Frosting:

4 oz softened cream cheese
3 tablespoon soften butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Dough

Begin the dough by warming 3/4 cup of whole milk, you can use your microwave or stovetop.
While the milk is warming at the 2 teaspoons of yeast to a large bowl/stand mixer, 1/2 cup sugar, 3 cups of flour, and 3/4 teaspoon of salt and mix with spoon.
Once the milk’s temperature is at 100-115 degrees add to flour mixture and add your 1 egg and 1 egg yolk along with the 1/2 cup of melted butter. Use a spoon or spatula to mix ingredients together until there is no more dry clumps.
Attach your dough hook and knead dough for 8 minutes on medium speed, if you are kneading by hand you will want to knead for about 10 minutes. If the dough is very sticky you can add more flour until it no longer clings to the bottom of your bowl, add about a tablespoon at a time.
After kneading place in an oiled bowl and cover the dough in oil by rotating in the bowl. Cover the bowl with saranwrap and let rest until doubled in size. You can use a sticky note or small piece of tape to mark the height of your starting dough on your bowl, this helps to know when your dough has doubled. The rise can be anywhere from 1-2 hours depending on your geographical location and home temperatures.

Filling & Frosting

While the dough rises prepare your filling and frosting.

In a small bowl whisk together 2/3 cups dark brown sugar, 1 1/2 tablespoon of ground cinnamon, and 1/2 cup of softened butter. Cover and set aside until ready to assemble.
For the frosting use your stand mixer with paddle attachment to whip together 4 oz of softened cream cheese and 3 tablespoons of butter. Mix until combined and there a no lumps. Slowly add in the 3/4 cup of powdered sugar. Once powdered sugar has been mixed into butter and cream cheese add the 1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract until incorporated. Place in small bowl, cover and place in refrigerator.

Assembly

Once the dough has doubled place onto a well floured surface or pastry matt. Form dough into ball and then begin to roll dough out into a 14x9 inch rectangle.
Use the 1/2 cup softened butter and smear onto dough evenly.
Top dough with your cinnamon sugar filling as evenly as possible and lightly press into dough.
Begin to tighly roll your dough up. Once the dough is rolled, use a bread knife to cut the cinnamon rolls to your preferred size. If you want to do regular sized cinnamon rolls cut about 1-2 inches. I usually will use my knife to mark the whole roll before actually cutting to make sure I get evenly sized rolls.
Place cinnamon rolls in a 9x9 inch pan that is lined with parchment paper, or use a 12 inch cast iron skillet. Cover your pan or skillet and let the cinnamon rolls rest and rise one last time for about 30 minutes. In this time they should double in size.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Once cinnamon rolls of rested, place pan into oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. At this time you will want to pull your cream cheese frosting out of the fridge to being to soften. You want the rolls to be slightly golden on the edges.
Let the cinnamon rolls res t for about 10 minutes before frosting.

Storing Notes:

Once cinnamon rolls are cooled complete, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. If you want to prepare cinnamon rolls for the next day you can simply store in the fridge until ready to bake, just skip the second rise after the rolls have been cut and placed into your baking pan. If you bake the next day be sure to make sure your cinnamon rolls have 30 minutes to 1 hour to get that second rise.

Freezing

To freeze after baking, simply let the cinnamon rolls cool completely and place in a air tight container or freezer ziplock bag. To eat after frozen, let cinnamon rolls rest and come to room temperature and then heat up in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or place in a microwave.

To freeze before baking cinnamon rolls you will want to cut the rolls and place in a freezer safe container or ziplock bag. I like to cut my cinnamon rolls and then keep them stacked in 2 small stacks, to do this I will tightly wrap them together with saran wrap and then place them in a gallon size ziplock.

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