I am just going to go ahead and say it. Some things make you feel like a Hero. Like you've won at life. Like your family and friends should just get up and give you a standing ovation. Homemade Soft Cinnamon Rolls are right up there. I will be honest and say that I used to be so intimidated by them although I took everyone's recipe who offered me one I never made them. That changed at some point last year and I cycled through some recipes, and this combination is my favorite.
The Cinnamon is nice and strong, but not to the point where it gets that anti septic taste, the cardamom is optional but it adds that lovely roundness to the filling in the same way it does in my Apple Snack Cake. The Cream Cheese Frosting is the PERFECT amount for covering the rolls and having some left for that little extra on each roll. Nothing worse than an under frosted roll am I right?
Okay so let's break it down here and explain how to make these rolls.
Cinnamon Roll Dough: a little Yeast 101
Yeast is a living thing. Weird, but true. It's usually made by fermenting something sweet and once you bring it back to life (more on that in a second) it basically 'grows' your dough. Kinda like magic. Even if you don't think the process is magical the smell definitely is.
For yeast to do it's job well it needs three things to ferment it back to life
- Warm liquid (milk)
- Sugar (accelerates the process)
- A warm environment
The process is simple. Pour your warm liquids in a bowl, mix in the sugar, sprinkle your yeast over top. Give it 5-10 minutes depend on the yeast you are using and it'll transform into a foamy substance and then you're ready to move on.
Why You Should ALWAYS Proof Your Yeast First
Now if you are using Active Dry or Instant Yeast you can typically skip this and mix everything together, but I DO NOT recommend that. Here's why: 'stale' yeast will not work, if your milk is boiling hot it'll kill your yeast. You won't know if either of those two things is going to be an issue unless you ferment it first.
What's Next? A little more Proofing talk
After you've kneaded your dough, by hand or in your stand mixer, you put it in a warm place to rise. I like to preheat my oven for 5 minutes, turn it off then put my bowl in there for the dough to rise. Instant Yeast will double in an hour, traditional can take 2-3 depending on a variety of factors. Then you roll it out, smother it in that cinnamon-y sweet butter, roll it up and slice it for another round of proofing. You will end up with the fluffiest beauties and a short bake later your kitchen will smell positively heavenly.
Steps for Making Soft Cinnamon Rolls:-
1.) Proof your Yeast
2.) Mix and Knead Dough
3.) Rise One
4.) Make Filling
5.) Roll out your dough and make your rolls
6.) Rise Two
7.) Make Cream Cheese Frosting
8.) Bake Rolls
9.) Smother and Devour
Winning at Life Soft Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 cup very warm milk (hot to touch but not boiling)
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 ¼ tsp instant/active dry/ traditional yeast
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup melted butter
- ½ tsp salt
- 3.5 cups all purpose flour
- grating of nutmeg (optional)
Cinnamon Filling
- 5 tbsp melted butter
- ¾ cup brown sugar (packed, dark brown works best)
- 2.5 tbsp cinnamon (if you're a cinnamon fan then you can go up to 3)
- 2 tsp cardamom powder (optional)
- ¼ tsp salt
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 1.5 tbsp butter
- 1 cup icing sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp milk
Instructions
Making the Dough
- Mix your warm milk and sugar in a large bowl, scatter over the yeast and let it stand for 5-10 minutes or until very foamy (it'll smell like you're baking bread)
- Add in your egg (whisked) and melted butter
- Stir in your remaining dough ingredients to make a craggy dough
- Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead it for 5-8 minutes until smooth and form into a ball. You can also do this with a dough hook in a stand mixer.
- Place the ball in a lightly greased bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel.
- Put it somewhere warm to rise - I like to preheat my oven for a few minutes (just to 250F) and then turn it off and put it in there
- For instant or active dry yeast your dough will double in an hour and if you press it gently it will bounce back. Traditional yeast can easily take two.
Cinnamon Filling
- Combine all the filling ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
Shaping the rolls
- Roll it out in to roughly an 14*18 inch rectangle - the shape doesn't have to be perfect but if yours is very uneven then simply trim the edges
- Spread the cinnamon filling over top - it will be a thin layer
- Roll the dough into a tight spiral starting from the 18 inch side and then cut into 12 even pieces
- Place them in a lightly greased 13*9 pan and leave covered in a warm place to double - mine usually takes half an hour
- Bake at 350F for 20-22 minutes or until golden
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Mix 4 oz cream cheese and 1.5 tbsp room temperatue with an electric mixer till smooth
- On low speed add in 1 cup icing sugar, ½ tsp vanilla, and 2 tbsp milk until well combined.
- Let the rolls cool for a few minutes then slather with cream cheese frosting, you should get a generous layer on top
Herra says
Amazing recipe!! Makes your whole house smell AMAZING
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
Thank you SO SO much Herra!!! Seeing your rolls made my day!
Maria Waleed says
Made cinnamon rolls Sarah and oh my God they are heavenly. I used to be a big fan of cinnabon but in Sweden what I get is a dry roll with a slight hint of cinnamon.
I cant thank you enough Sarah for this recipe! It’s a must try.
Arini says
Do you have the measurement in grams? Thnks!
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
I am so sorry, but I don't!
Mihu says
Can you re-heat these when ready to serve?
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
absolutely! you can heat each for 45 seconds in the microwave or just put them in the oven if you are reheating the whole tray
Anam Z Husein says
When I say I love this recipe that is definitely an understatement! I keep coming back to these rolls and they are always a crowd pleaser! Most recently I asked Sarah about make ahead tips. On her recommendation I shaped and proofed the rolls the day before and then put them in the fridge over night. On the day of I pulled them out of the fridge an hour before baking. They were prefect! Thank you for this Sarah!
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
You are the KINDEST- thank you!!!
TAYYABA nazeer says
making them for hundreth time, they're always supper dooper hit!
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
That’s the BEST thing to hear!! Thank you!
Sana in Bahrain says
Just made these! Amazing❤️❤️❤️ I’ve never done something like this before so I had zero confidence in these coming out good. It was such a pleasant surprise. I thought it might be fun to do this with my kid…we all know how that went..half way through one of them said..I don’t really want to make them anymore, I just want to eat them 😌. Thank you for this delicious recipe.
Sarah Mir says
Sana I was thrilled to see this!!! thank you for trying it and for your review!
Princess says
Y’all this recipe did not make me feel like I was winning at life 🙁
I think my yeast was too old but they did not grow at all and all the butter in the filling spilled out into the pan taking the cinnamon and sugar with it.
Sarah Mir says
That’s a clear sign that your yeast wasn’t good! I have tips in the post on using yeast but also I’m curious to know did it behave as it should in step 1 and 7? Step one is usually a good indicator but 7 is when it’s abundantly clear!