My bakery-style cinnamon rolls are soft, fluffy, and pillowy with a rich buttery brown sugar and cinnamon filling swirled though every layer. Baked until golden brown and finished with a sweet glaze, they’re warm, gooey and the ultimate homemade cinnamon roll.
Being a baker, a cookbooks author, and a breakfast pastries enthusiastic, I have dedicated my life to sweet breads and pastries. Which is why I can say without a shadow of a doubt that the only way a cinnamon roll can be defined as one, is when it is soft, and fluffy like a pillow.
I mean that it should be so chubby and inviting, that the first thing you do before biting is squishing it.
Yes, cinnamon babka is tender and flavorful, but cinnamon rolls are the full package: flavorful, comforting, simple and un uncompromisingly fluffy. Such is this recipe.
The Fluffiness Secret
To put is simple: its the first step when we warm the milk with the sugar and butter.
This simple step, creates a mixture that once the flour is added, it is the perfect environment of creating a smooth elastic dough, that is rich in butter but comes together in a few minutes, elevating the risk of over mixing and tightening the dough into a dense texture.
Here are a few more tips I learned never to skip after baking this recipe for the past eight years:
- Use a kitchen scale, especially for the flour. Too much and the dough will turn out too dry and dense, and not enough, and you’ll end up with a gooey mess!
- Make sure the milk mixture is not too hot (best to be 90-100°F), before starting the mixing process. If the milk is too hot, it might kill the yeast, and the dough won’t rise.
Do not over mix the dough. Over mixing will result in a dense chewy dough. The dough is ready for the first rise, when there is no longer any visible dry flour, and the is smooth, and slightly sticky. I give it about one extra minute when the flour is hydrated. So a total of 3-4 minutes from finishing adding the flour.
Make It The Night Before
Homemade Cinnamon rolls are the best way to start the day, especially when they are fresh from the oven. For a freshly baked rolls: make the dough and assemble it the night before (start in the late afternoon). Then loosely cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night (8-10 hours).
Remove the pan from the refrigerator and set it over the kitchen counter while the oven is pre-heated. Brush with the cream and bake.
Bakery-Style Cinnamon Rolls (OMG, SO FLUFFY)
Ingredients
Cinnamon rolls dough
- 1 1/2 Cups (360g) Milk
- 6 TBS (85g) Unsalted butter
- 1/3 Cup (70g) Sugar
- 2 1/4 teaspoons Instant yeast
- 1 Large Egg at room temperature
- 1 Large Egg yolk at room temperature
- 5 1/4 Cups (630g) AP Flour
- 3/4 tsp Salt
- 1/2 Cup (120ml) Heavy cream (for brushing)
Cinnamon Filling
- 1.5 Cups (300g) Light brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Potato starch
- 2-3 tsp Ground cinnamon
- 3/4 Cup (170g) Unsalted butter, softened
Frosting
- 1 Cup Powdered sugar
- 1-3 TBS Water
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, heat the milk (360ml), butter (85g), and sugar (70g) until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved.
- Remove from the stove, pour it into your mixing bowl and set a side to cool to about 100°F.
- To the milk mixture add 2 cups of flour (240g), egg (1), egg yolk (1), yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons), and salt (3/4 teaspoons).
- With the dough hook attachment on and on low speed sprinkle the rest of the flour (390g). Knead until you have a smooth dough with no dry flour.
- Transfer the dough to a large bowl (or leave it in the mixing bowl), cover with plastic wrap and set at a warm spot in your kitchen until double in size, about 75-90 minutes.
- While the dough rests, make the filling: measure the light brown sugar (300g), butter (170g), potato starch (1 tablespoon) and cinnamon (2 teaspoons). Use a hand mixer to cream until you have a smooth mixture.
Assemble the rolls
- Line a 9×13-inch pan with parchment paper.
- Use your hands to deflate the dough, then place it on a clean surface lightly sprinkled with flour. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough to a 16×18-inch rectangle.
- Using an offset spatula, spread the filling over the surface of the dough.
- Tightly roll the dough into a log starting from the 18-inch end.
- Use a serrated knife to cut the dough into 12, 1.5-inch slices. Place each slice over the prepared pan swirl side up.
- Cover the rolls with a kitchen towel and set aside to rest for another 60-75 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F about 20 minutes before baking.
- Brush the rolls with the heavy cream and pour what is left between the gaps of the rolls.
- Bake the rolls over the oven's middle rack for 25-30 minutes. Until the rolls are medium golden and the inner temperature of the middle roll is 180°F.
- While the rolls are baking make the frosting by mixing the ingredients in a medium-sized bowl.
- Once out of the oven drizzle with the frosting and serve.
- The rolls are best the same day and should be stored at room temperature, covered for up to three days.To reheat: place the rolls over a pan lined with parchment paper and bake for 10-15 minutes in a 300°F pre-heated oven.
Hi, I’ve read quite a few of Jenny Colgan’s books. I enjoyed the Little Beach Street series and the ones about a cupcake shop I’ve never tried any of the recipes.
There’s a few more that I’ve read too. One is about a librarian who starts a book truck in the countryside and one is about a young woman in northern Scotland who eventually opens a cafe.
They’re sweet book candy.
I’ll try the cinnamon rolls.
Cheers, Ruth.
Thank you for the notes, Ruth; I’ll be sure to check these books.
Hi, the recipe calls for 5 cups but the instructions call for 2. Please clarify
you start with 2 cups then as you mix (step 3) you add the rest of the flour.
This recipe states you should add 5 cups of flour on and it shows 2 cups of water on the video and that threw me off because I have made cinnamon rolls many times. I added 2 cups of flour and it turned out to be very watery and ended up adding 5 cups. Anyways it was a mess. I understand mistakes happen but kindly make clear instructions.
The recipe calls to start with two cups of water then adding the rest as you mix. It is all in the recipe.
Can I freeze these before baking? My small family would only be able to eat a few.
Thank you!
It should be fine, but I recommend to freeze it baked.
Hi,
Are you able to make these ahead, refrigerate the dough and bake in the morning?
Yes, that should be fine.
Hi Dikla,
Is it ok to cut all of the quantities to half or it will not be successful?
Thanks
Anat
that should be fine!
It was a rainy Sunday here and a good time to try something new. I’ve had cinnamon buns in the airport on many occasions, but never made them at home. The recipe was a snap and the results much better than the commercial version. I did whip up something akin to the cream cheese/butter frosting the other uses and highly recommend it. Now I know why each cinnamon roll is over a thousand calories! The only modification I would make in the future is to roll ehe dough into a thinner rectangle (maybe two) so the filling is more laminated. The quality of cinnamon matters a lot in baked goods, so I might need to refresh my supply.
Can you say how well the individual rolls would freeze? It’s just my husband and me and it would be nice to thaw and bake these on demand.
Hi Marne,
Thanks for your comment, you can easily freeze the rolls individually. Once they have completely chilled, wrap each in using aplastic wrap then place them in a freeze zip bag. When ready, unwrap as many as you wish and let it reach room temperature. I recommend warming them in a 200F preheated oven for 10-20 minutes, and best to freeze them without the icing.
pls give me recipe & asst.cinnamon topping recipe
Hi, I used simple glaze: 1 cup powdered sugar mixed with 1 tablespoon water. You can top it with my cream cheese frosting:https://www.onesarcasticbaker.com/brown-butter-cream-cheese-frosting/
I’m using this recipe for a long time and I lOVE it!! It’s a winner every time! You’ve changed the amount of flour into 600 in stead of 630. I find it harder to work with the dough. For what reason did you use 30grams less?
Hi Ella,
Thank you for the feedback, I found that 600g make fore a lighter dough, but it seems that it may vary from one kitchen to the next. I will add anote.