Description
Delight in the classic comfort of homemade cinnamon rolls, featuring a soft, buttery dough filled with a sweet cinnamon-sugar blend, baked to golden perfection and topped with a smooth vanilla glaze or optional cream cheese frosting. Perfect for breakfast or dessert, these cinnamon rolls are easy to prepare and yield a dozen warm, irresistible treats.
Ingredients
Scale
Yeast
- ½ cup warm water, 110°F
- 1 (¼-ounce) package active dry yeast or instant yeast
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
Dough
- ⅓ cup melted butter or coconut oil, plus more for brushing
- ½ cup milk, at room temperature
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2¾ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
Filling
- ½ cup dark brown sugar
- 1½ tablespoons cinnamon
Glaze
- 1½ cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 3 to 4 tablespoons milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Other Frosting Options (instead of the glaze)
- 1 recipe Cream Cheese Frosting
Instructions
- Prepare Yeast: In a small bowl, combine the warm water, yeast, and sugar. Stir gently and let it sit for 5 minutes until the mixture becomes foamy, indicating the yeast is active.
- Make the Dough: In a medium bowl, mix melted butter, room temperature milk, sugar, and sea salt. Stir in the foamy yeast mixture. In a large bowl, place the flour, then add the wet ingredients. Stir until combined; the mixture will be sticky. Use your hands to roughly knead, then transfer to a floured surface. Knead for 3 to 4 minutes until smooth, adding flour as needed. Form the dough into a ball.
- First Rise: Butter a large bowl and place the dough inside. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm spot to rise until doubled in size, approximately 1 hour.
- Prepare Filling: In a small bowl, combine dark brown sugar with cinnamon, mixing thoroughly.
- Shape Rolls: Punch down the risen dough. Roll it out on a floured surface into a 20×14-inch rectangle. Brush with 2 tablespoons melted butter, then evenly sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture, leaving a ½ inch border around the edges.
- Form the Log & Slice: Starting at one of the 14-inch ends, roll the dough tightly into a log. Using a sharp knife, cut the log into 12 equal rolls. Place them cut-side up in a greased 8×11 or 9×13-inch baking dish. Cover and let rise again for 1 hour.
- Preheat Oven: Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) in preparation for baking.
- Make the Glaze: In a medium bowl, whisk together sifted powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons milk, and vanilla extract until smooth. Adjust consistency with more milk if needed. Alternatively, prepare cream cheese frosting as a substitute.
- Bake Rolls: Remove the cover and bake the rolls for 25 to 30 minutes until they turn lightly golden on top.
- Cool and Glaze: Let the rolls cool for 10 minutes after baking. Then drizzle with the prepared glaze or spread the cream cheese frosting before serving.
Notes
- Ensure the water for activating yeast is warm, not hot, to avoid killing the yeast.
- Use room temperature milk to properly combine ingredients and aid yeast activity.
- If dough sticks too much during kneading, add flour sparingly to maintain softness.
- Cover dough during rising to prevent drying out.
- The cinnamon sugar filling can be adjusted to taste by varying the sugar or cinnamon amounts.
- Allow rolls to cool slightly before glazing to prevent melting the glaze.
- Cream cheese frosting adds a richer, tangy flavor compared to the vanilla glaze.
- Leftover rolls can be reheated in a microwave or oven for freshness.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cinnamon roll
- Calories: 320
- Sugar: 18g
- Sodium: 210mg
- Fat: 12g
- Saturated Fat: 7g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 44g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 5g
- Cholesterol: 30mg
