Making cinnamon rolls is easier than it seems, and the short wait time for the dough to develop is always well worth it. It’s (logically) rich in cinnamon and becomes even more perfect with the cream cheese icing on top.
I have the picture on my phone of the first one I made, in 2016. I remember being absolutely enchanted and disbelieving that I had made this so delicious and soft cinnamon roll myself. The result was: we ate it all immediately (the recipe had yielded about 18 rolls) and I made it again the next day.
For the recipe here on the blog, I reduced it to yield approximately 12 rolls because I think that’s a more “normal” quantity for other households 😅.
What you’ll need to make the cinnamon rolls
- Whole milk
- Dry yeast
- Granulated sugar
- Egg
- Butter
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Brown sugar
- Cinnamon
- Powdered sugar
- Cream cheese
- Vanilla extract
How to make it
Let’s start by activating the yeast in warm milk. The milk should never be super hot. To know if it’s at the ideal temperature, touch it with your finger. It should be slightly warmer than your body. Leave this mixture aside for about 5 minutes.
Next, add sugar, eggs, room temperature butter and a pinch of salt. Mix well.
Now it’s time to add the flour. The quantity in the recipe is a base, but ideally you should feel the dough coming off your hand, so you may need to add a little more to get the right consistency.
With a little flour on the counter, turn the dough and knead about 20 times. After that, put the dough in a bowl, cover it, and let it double in size. This will take approximately 1 hour.
While you wait for the dough to double in size, let’s make the cinnamon filling. It’s very easy. Just mix brown sugar with butter and cinnamon in a bowl. It will form a sandy paste. And yes, it has a LOT of cinnamon, that’s why it’s a cinnamon roll 😬.
After the resting time, put more flour on your counter and roll out the dough into a rectangle of approximately 30x40cm. It’s not very precise. The dough should be about 5mm thick.
Now just spread the entire filling, forming a thin layer over the entire dough. After that, start rolling it up, in the direction of the shorter side.
The tip for slicing the cinnamon rolls into perfect slices, without smashing the dough and hiding the filling, is to use a piece of string. You pass the string under the dough and cross the sides, forming a “noose” (I couldn’t find a better word to explain this, but it’s in the instagram video for you to see). This movement, done quickly, will make beautiful slices.
Let it rise
After that, just position the slices in a baking dish (I like to put parchment paper underneath to make it easier to remove everything at once from the dish). Leave plenty of space between the slices as they will still expand. If it’s too tight, they may end up growing upwards and not looking as nice (but still tasty).
Let’s leave another 1 hour for them to rise, and then bake in a preheated oven at 200°C for approximately 45 minutes, or until they are golden brown on top.
While they bake, we can make the icing. Just mix the powdered sugar with the cream cheese, butter at room temperature and a little vanilla extract. I promise this icing is delicious and light. It’s totally worth it.
Put the icing on when the rolls are at room temperature (I put it on when they’re still warm because I like it that way, but I shouldn’t 😬).
And that’s it. I hope you make it and don’t feel intimidated by the steps or the waiting time. Just trust the step-by-step instructions.
If you make it, tag me on Instagram @casacaroba. I’ll love to see (and get jealous)!!
