These take a few hours, so plan accordingly. If you’d like to prep ahead and split up the recipe over a couple days, you can take it as far as the start of the second prove (where they are cut and in the baking dish). Cover and refrigerate overnight (roughly 12 hours), and you should get a similar rise. Remove from the fridge, preheat oven, and bake as usual.
Cinnamon Rolls
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Prep Time:
30m
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Cook Time:
15m
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Total Time:
3h 30m
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 c Milk, scalded and cooled to 120-130°F
- 1 1/2 tsp. Instant dry yeast
- 1 Large egg, at room temperature
- 2 1/2 tbsp. Butter, melted
- 2 1/4 c All-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp. Salt
- 1/4 c Granulated sugar
Filling
- 1/4 c Butter, very softened but not melted
- 1/4 c Brown sugar, packed
- 1 tbsp. Cinnamon
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 3 oz Cream cheese, softened
- 2 1/2 tbsp. Butter, softened
- 1 c Powdered sugar
- 3/4 tsp. Vanilla or maple extract
Instructions
- Scald the milk by heating it in a sauce pan just to the point where it starts to boil. Let cool to 120-130°F (if it's too hot, it'll kill the yeast).
- Pour the warm milk in a medium bowl and sprinkle in the yeast.
- Add the egg, butter, salt and sugar.
- Add the flour and mix until the ingredients are just combined using your hand or a sturdy wooden spoon.
- Allow the mixture to rest for 5 minutes to even out and soak the liquids.
- Knead for 5-7 minutes on a very lightly flour-dusted surface until the dough is elastic and smooth. The dough will still be sticky: this is expected and don't add more flour.
- Spray a large bowl with cooking spray. For the dough into a ball and place it in the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and prove the dough in a warm place for about 1 hour or until doubled in size. Be careful to not allow the dough to rise too much or the rolls will be too airy.
- While the dough is proving, prepare the cinnamon filling: in a medium bowl, combine the soft butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Mix until well combined.
- Sprinkle a clean surface or silicon bake sheet with flour. Turn out the dough onto the area and sprinkle the top of the dough with flour.
- Lightly flour a rolling pin and flatten the dough to about a 12x15" rectangle, about 1/4" thick.
- Using a rubber spatula, spread the cinnamon filling over the dough generously, evenly, and thoroughly.
- Starting on the long end, roll the dough tightly into a cylinder.
- Cut into 1" slices (around 9-10 slices) and place in a greased 8x10 baking pan.
- Cover the pan and allow the rolls to rise for 20 minutes or until nearly double.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 15-17 minutes, until the rolls are lightly golden brown and the center rolls are cooked through. If the tops start to brown too early in the baking process, loosely cover with a sheet of foil. Remove and let cool.
- While the rolls are cooling, prepare the cream cheese frosting: in a large bowl, combine the softened cream cheese and butter using a hand mixer and blend well.
- Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.
- Spread the frosting over the cooled rolls.
