Moist, melt-in-your-mouth, gooey cinnamon rolls with a delicious sticky cream cheese frosting to die for. The perfect dessert for family movie night or a school snack for kids.
Moist, soft, fluffy cinnamon rolls with a delicious cream cheese frosting to die for. This cinnamon rolls recipe is one of the best and made in a traditional, classic way; using just a handful of ingredients.
These melt in your mouth cinnamon rolls are perfect for as a late night snack or for movie night with the family. Children will love them with a cold cup of milk and adults will enjoy them warm with a hot cup of tea.
Just give the recipe a shot because these homemade cinnamon rolls cant be any more delicious and easy to make. I recently shared some with my 62 yr old neighbor and within 2 minutes she called me yelling “These are so friggin good”.
And this is coming from someone who family was famous for baking all types of cakes pies and other desserts in Reading, Pa back in the day! They might as well open a pastry shop because they baked cakes pies and cookies on the regular.
Baking one of the 3 was a frequent request by neighbors and although most of her elders are now gone, she still have the recipes. So yea, she know all about baking and pastry which is why when she said these were so friggin good, I knew they were a winner.
Anyway, below are all the ingredients and cooking utensils you’ll need for this recipe.
Equipment You’ll Need For Cinnamon Rolls:
- Large Mixing Bowls: You’re going to need a large mixing bowl to make the dough in and later to make the frosting in.
- Hand Mixers: A hand mixer is optional. You’ll use this to combine the dry and wet ingredients to form a ball of dough and to mix the frosting. You can use your hands to make the dough and a spoon to make the frosting if you choose to or don’t have a hand mixer on hand.
- Spatula: I like using a spatula to push down the flour that sticks to the side of the bowl when making the dough. I use it to push the frosting on the sides of the bowl into the center of the mixing bowl too.
- Whisk: Use a whisk to beat in the egg, butter, milk, and sugar.
- Rolling Pin: You need a rolling pin to flatten and stretch out the dough.
- Knife: Make sure to have a very sharp knife on hand to cut out the cinnamon rolls.
- Baking Dish: You’ll be baking the cinnamon rolls in a baking dish and here are a variety of sizes when you click on this link.
- Measuring Cups: Measuring cups are to accurately measure the flour, sugar, butter, and milk.
- Measuring Spoons: Measuring spoons are to accurately measure the sugar, spices, yeast, and more.
- Basting Brush: Use a basting brush if necessary to dust off any excess flour that maybe under the dough as you fold it.
Key Ingredients For Dough
Ok so first things first, the dough! The dough is what makes the cinnamon rolls. Here are all the ingredients needed to make the dough and which is what we’ll focus on first.
- All Purpose Flour: To create the dough.
- Salt: Salt is a flavor enhancer. Whenever you see salt in a sweet dessert it’s usually used to add flavor by enhancing the flavor of any ingredients.
- Unsalted Butter: Unsalted butter is used to add flavor to the cinnamon rolls and to help the cinnamon rolls brown on top. The butter makes a huge difference.
- Vegetable Oil: Vegetable oil is used to coat the bowl the dough will set in while it rises. It helps to prevent the dough from sticking to the bowl and help the cinnamon rolls brown in the oven.
- Whole Milk: The milk adds moisture, and activates the gluten process in the flour because it has water in it. Milk also adds richness and the liquid content hydrates the flour creating a softer dough.
- Egg: Eggs add flavor, provide color, add moisture, making for a tender cinnamon roll, and strengthen the gluten, contributing to the rise and shape of the cinnamon rolls.
- White Sugar: The sugar is what sweetens the dough.
- Yeast: Yeast is the leavening agent we’ll use for this recipe. It’s what’s needed to make the cinnamon rolls rise, and they can’t do so without it.
Everything you need to know about the Yeast
Ok so when it comes to cinnamon rolls, yeast is traditionally use to make them rise, not baking powder and soda which is typically used for cakes. But there are different type of yeast and you use them differently depending on which kind you use.
But first, you maybe asking what is yeast? Yeast is a man made living single celled organism that when combined with sugar and warmth converts sugars and starch into alcohol and carbon dioxide, which releases gasses that cause baked goods to rise and expand.
- Dry Active Yeast: This type of yeast needs to be activated by warmth to work! You can use warm water or milk.
- Instant aka Rapid Rise Yeast: This type of yeast can be added directly to dry ingredients without having to be activated with warm water or milk.
- Liquid temperature: Warm water is needed to wake up and activate the dry active yeast. Use warm water between 105 and 115F to activate it. Hot water 130F and above will kill the yeast, and it won’t produce the carbon dioxide needed to make your baked goods rise. Cool water won’t activate it, and it will just stay dormant and not have any effect at all.
- Sugar: Sugar gives the yeast a boost of energy which helps to SPEED UP the fermentation process making it more active allowing your baked good to rise even QUICKER. You stir this into the warm water or milk before adding the yeast.
- Warm environment: A warm environment is yeast best friend. It thrives and is more effective in a warm environment which is just as important as warm liquid. After creating the dough, let it rest in a bowl in a warm environment so it rises quicker.
Key things about proofing:
You maybe asking what is “proofing”. It just means things to look for as “proof” the yeast is alive and active. There are 3 stages of proof and things you should look for to ensure the yeast is alive and active before baking.
- Checking for Yeast Viability: You’ll know if the yeast is alive and “active” if it becomes foamy 15 to 20 minutes after adding it to the sugar and warm water or milk.
- Bulk Proof: This is after mixing the yeast into dry ingredients and forming a dough. If the dough rises, which can take anywhere from 1 to 3 hours, you know it’s active and working.
- Final Proof: This is the 2nd rise after you shape the dough, in this case, into cinnamon rolls and give it time to rise again.
The filling:
- Butter: The butter makes everything taste better so we use it to provide flavor. In addition to that, it’s used as a gluing agent so the brown sugar and cinnamon sticks.
- Brown Sugar: Brown sugar is what sweetened the cinnamon rolls but brown sugar adds depth of flavor due to its molasses flavor.
- Cinnamon: I use ground cinnamon! You can’t make cinnamon rolls without cinnamon.
How do you roll the dough to make larger-sized cinnamon rolls vs smaller cinnamon rolls?
After applying the filling to the dough, you have the option to roll the dough in 2 directions, resulting in different-sized cinnamon rolls. If you want them wide for example…
You will roll them vertically which will result in more rolling since the distance from top to bottom or longer than side from side which is the way I roll my cinnamon rolls, horizontally.
So yea, for thicker cinnamon rolls, roll the dough from bottom to top or top to bottom and for smaller cinnamon rolls roll the dough from left to right; side to side.
Frosting Options for Cinnamon Rolls:
You can customize your frosting and make it to your liking. You can make it thick or loose and runny to give the cinnamon rolls a glaze effect. You can make it sweet, super sweet, or add different flavors to it.
- Thick frosting or thin glaze: If you want a runny glaze to fully saturate and get up over and into the crevices of the cinnamon rolls… use a nice amount of milk to thin the frosting out. Use as much milk as needed to reach your desired consistency. For a thicker frosting, you’d obviously do the contrary and use less milk or none at all. Start by adding tea spoons at a time until you reach your goal.
- Spice it up: Wanna spice things up? Add some caramel syrup, pecas or walnuts to the frosting if you wanna try something new. You can add whatever your tastebuds desire to your frosting.
- Cream cheese frosting: For cream cheese frosting, you will combine cream cheese with the powdered sugar and a little milk. Again, how much cream cheese you use is up to you. If you want a rich cream cheese flavor add more if you want a subtle taste of cream cheese use little.
- Basic frosting: If you dont like cream cheese frosting you can omit the cream cheese and make a basic butter cream frosting. To do so just combine powdered sugar with a little butter and milk to create a butter cream frosting.
How To Make Cinnamon Rolls From Scratch
- Prepare the yeast by combining warm water with sugar and yeast.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients, then blend or fold in the yeast.
- Give the dough time to rise in a oil coated bowl.
- Once it rises, flatten it with a rolling pin over a flour coated surface.
- Make the filling and add it to the dough.
- Fold and slice into cinnamon rolls and place in a buttered baking dish.
- Cover and give it time to rise.
- Create the frosting.
- Once the cinnamon rolls have expanded, coat them with melted butter and bake until done.
- Add the frosting to the hot cinnamon rolls after you remove them from the oven.
Pro Tips:
- Use a sharp knife: Use a sharp knife to cut out the cinnamon rolls. A sharp knife makes it easy to cut out the cinnamon rolls.
- Let dough rise at room temperature: After creating the dough and covering it with plastic wrap, leave it at room temperature sitting on a table or kitchen counter. This will allow it to rise quicker than letting it rest in a cold refrigerator.
- Coat surface well with flour before rolling: Coat the surface with enough flour so the dough doesn’t stick when you flatten it with the rolling pin. Make sure to dust the rolling pin with a little flour as well.
- Dust off excessive Flour: As you’re rolling the dough, dust off any of the flour you sprinkled onto the surface that maybe sticking to the roll with a brush.
- Dont add too much butter to the top? Too much butter over the cinnamon rolls will result in very dark brown cinnamon rolls and if you like them on the lighter side with a more traditional light golden color, less butter is best.
Serving Suggestions:
- Cold Milk: In my opinion, nothing goes better with warm cinnamon rolls than a ice cold cup of milk… omg! It should be a sin to eat something this good. Cold milk is the standard side drink for cinnamon rolls., the perfect quencher.
- Hot tea: Hot tea is old school. Older folks and young people love this combo. You cant go wrong with a cinnamon roll and team. I dont warm my cinnamon rolls up, though when I have it with hot tea.
- Vanilla Ice Cream: What goes better with a sweet pastry than ice cream? I dont have to elaborate much this combo goes without saying.
How to store Cinnamon Rolls
- Do you store cinnamon rolls in the refrigerator? No! Storing the cinnamon rolls in the refrigerator will dry them out due to the cold air. Keep them at room temperature so they stay nice and moist, wrapped in aluminum foil or a container, preferably glass.
- How to freeze before baking: So you can freeze the cinnamon rolls until you’re ready to bake them. Place them in a Ziploc bag and make sure it’s tightly sealed to prevent freezer burn. If properly sealed, they can remain fresh for months.
- How to freeze after baking: You can definitely freeze the cinnamon rolls after baking them. Allow them to cool off first. Then store them in a Ziploc bag and make sure they’re sealed tightly to prevent freezer burn
Frequently Asked Questions
- Why isn’t my dough rising? Yeast needs a warm environment to rise. Make sure you follow the proofing steps to ensure your yeast is active. If it is, maybe letting it sit in a cool environment stunted it’s rise or the yeast is just outdated,
- Why did my cinnamon rolls come out hard? One of the most common reasons for this are overworking the dough. Another common reason is a lack of fat and moisture (which includes the butter, milk, and egg mixture). When you use a lot of flour and not enough fat and moisture, dry Cinnamon rolls can be the outcome. It can also be because they were in the oven for too long.
- What should I do if the sides of my cinnamon rolls are crunchy and hard? With a knife, create space between the side of the cinnamon rolls and the baking dish, and pour some of the frosting on the sides so the sides soften.
That’s it for now folks. Please do me a big favor and give me a 5 star rating if you like this recipe and make sure you subscribe to get notifications via email every time I post a new delicious easy to make recipe.
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Enjoy, later!
Pbj~
The Best Cinnamon Rolls Recipe Made From Scratch (Super Moist and Easy)
- Prep Time: 4 Hrs
- Cook Time: 30 Mins
- Total Time: 4 Hrs 30 Mins
- Yield: 5
- Category: Dessert
- Method: American
- Cuisine: American
Description
Moist, melt-in-your-mouth, gooey cinnamon rolls with a delicious sticky cream cheese frosting to die for. The perfect dessert for family movie night or a school snack for kids.
Ingredients
Dough
- 2–1/2 Cups All Purpose FlourÂ
- 1/3 Cup Unsalted Butter, melted
- 1/4 Cup Whole Milk
- 1 Large Egg
- 1/4 Cup White Sugar
- 1 Tsp Salt
Yeast
- 2–1/2 Tsps Dry Active Yeast
- 1/2 Cup Warm water
- 1 Tsp White Sugar
Filling
- 1/4 Cup Butter
- 1/3 Cup Brown SugarÂ
- 2 Tbs Cinnamon
Frosting
- 1 Cup Confectioner’s sugar
- 4oz Cream Cheese
- 2 Tbs Whole Milk
- 1 Tsp Vanilla
Other - 2 Tsps Vegetable Oil for Mixing Bowl
- 2 Tbs All Purpose Flour for surface
- 2 Tsps Butter for baking dish
- 2 Tbs Melted Butter to top Cinnamon Rolls
Instructions
- Place warm water or milk in a small bowl, stir in the sugar, then sprinkle in the yeast, and set aside for 15-20 minutes.
- Create the dough: Meanwhile, add flour and salt to a bowl and stir well.
- Melt 1/3 cup of butter and add it to a large mixing bowl.
- Add in the milk, sugar, and melted butter, then whisk well.
- Add in half of the flour and blend well.
- Add in the yeast and the remaining flour, and blend again until a big ball of dough forms.
- Oil the bowl: Remove the dough and wipe the bowl down with oil.
- Place the dough back into the bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and set aside until rises.
- Add 2 tbs of flour to a flat surface like a kitchen counter or island and to the rolling pin.
- Add the dough and flatten it out into a rectangular shape with a rolling pain.
- Make the filling: Place a small skillet over medium heat, add the butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon and stir until it melts.
- Poor the filling all over the dough, leaving a 1/2 inch of space on the side.
- Sprinkle some water over the dough’s very end, fold it tightly, then slice it into however many cinnamon rolls you want.
- Rub your baking dish with butter, add the cinnamon rolls, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside until it rises and spreads; about an hour.
- Create the frosting: Add the powdered sugar, cream cheese, milk and vanilla to a medium-sized bowl, whisk or blend well, then store in refrigerator.
- Once the cinnamon rolls rise and spread, remove the plastic wrap and poor 2 Tbs of melted butter over them.
- Preheat oven at 350 degrees.
- Place them in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, then pour the frosting over them once they’re done.Â
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