Merry Christmas Eve! I’m so excited to share the cinnamon roll recipe. It’s been a top request in DMS 🙂 I was planning on taking pictures and posting a step by step but I haven’t even had a chance to make them yet for Christmas and promised I would post the recipe before Christmas, so I’m just adding screenshot from videos I’ve taken and later when I make I will come add better pictures 🙂
We love cinnamon rolls and I’ve gone through tons of recipes trying to find our favorite and I promise this one won’t disappoint. One of my favorite parts is the cream because even if you mess up and make the dough a little too dry (like I did the first time I made) it brings moisture back in and makes them super soft! I got a big part of the cinnamon roll part from this Cinnabon recipe on Tastes of Lizzy T but tweaked a few things like the frosting. The frosting is Cody’s recipe he has made since we first got married. So below is our version of the recipe for our family favorite cinnamon rolls! I hope you guys love them!
The below recipe is for 12 rolls. I will either double or do 1.5 because we eat them for a week. I personally think they are WAY better if you bake them, frost them, stick them in the freezer, and then warm them up in the microwave. I don’t even eat one when they come fresh out of the oven because I think in the freezer the frosting melts in or something. I don’t know… they just taste better. Also it makes it really great if you want to make for a birthday or Christmas breakfast you don’t have to wake up way early to do it, you can make them the day before.
INGREDIENTS (serves 12):
Dough:
1 cup warm milk
2 1/2 teaspoons instant dry yeast
2 large eggs (room temp)
1/3 cup salted butter (I set mine out in the morning so it’s room temp and soft, if you forget just barely melt it, if you melt it all the way it won’t turn out the same)
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (divided) **This is where my recipe differs from there. Since I’m at a higher elevation it was too much flour so I tweaked it a few times and found the sweet spot: 3 and 3/4 cup to 4cups. You want the dough to be a little sticky and elasticy.
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Filling:
1/2 cup salter butter (almost melted)
1 cup packed brown sugar
2.5 tablespoons cinnamon
1/4 cup of sugar (the original recipe has no sugar I add a tiny bit)
1/2 cup heavy cream (*for pouring over the risen rolls ) the cream is what makes the rolls super soft, I never use the full amount of cream I always just do less. If you want them really gooey then do full amount but we usually do a little more than half of what it calls for.
Cody’s Frosting Recipe:
I asked Cody for his recipe and these are his exact words haha:
1 stick of butter – thawed not microwaved – blend butter with mixer first (about 30 seconds until it’s completely fluffy)
Add 1 tablespoon of good vanilla not the crappy one
Add 1/3 cup milk
Pour powdered sugar to the consistency you want. I never measure it. We like it thicker because we freeze rolls. (I asked Cody to guess how much and he said he guesses around 2 cups of powdered sugar).
INSTRUCTIONS:
(these are pretty much their step by steps, with a couple things we added, but she has some great tips that helped me)
- Pour the warm milk in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast overtop.
- Add the eggs, butter, salt and sugar.
- Add in 3.5 cups of flour (save the rest and only add if your dough needs it- remember you want it to be kind of sticky still 🙂 Mix using the beater blade just until the ingredients are barely combined. Allow the mixture to rest for 5 minutes so the flour has time to soak up the liquids.
- Scape the dough off the beater blade and remove it. Attach the dough hook.
- Beat the dough on medium speed, adding in up to 1/2 cup more flour if needed to form a dough. Knead for 5-7 minutes or until the dough is elastic and smooth. The dough should be tacky and will still be sticking to the sides of the bowl. Don’t add too much flour!
- Spray a large bowl with cooking spray.
- Use a rubber spatula to remove the rough from the mixer bowl and place it in the greased large bowl.
- Cover the bowl with a towel or wax paper.
- Set the bowl in a warm place and allow the dough to right until double. I like to turn on the oven to the lowest setting for 1-2 minutes. Then turn off the oven and place the dough to rise in there. It normally takes about 30 minutes for the dough to rise. Do not allow the dough to rise too much or your cinnamon rolls will be airy.
- While the dough is rising, prepare the cinnamon filling. In a medium bowl, combine the soft butter, brown sugar, sugar and cinnamon, mixing until well combined. Set aside.
- Sprinkle your counter with flour. Turn out the dough onto the pastry mat and sprinkle the top of the dough with additional flour.
- Flour a rolling pin and roll the dough to about a 24×15″ rectangle don’t overly stress about size of the rectangle it doesn’t have to be exact but you want it close.
- Use a rubber spatula to smooth the cinnamon filling over the whole dough rectangle.
- Starting on the long end, roll the dough up tightly jelly roll style.
- Cut into 12 slices and place in a greased 9 x 13 baking pan.
- Cover the pan and allow the rolls to rise for 20 minutes or until nearly double.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Warm the heavy cream until the chill is off. Don’t make it hot… you just don’t want it cold. It should be warm to the touch.
- Once the rolls have risen, pour the heavy cream over the top of the rolls, allowing it to soak down in and around the rolls.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 20-22 minutes, until the rolls are lightly golden brown and the center rolls are cooked through. Note… the time will vary based on how big the rolls are, what type of pan, how close the rolls are packed, etc. They could take up to 25-27 minutes. Check the rolls at 20 minutes. If they are getting too browned, cover loosely with foil for the remaining baking time.
- While the rolls are cooling, prepare the frosting.
OUR FAMILY ADDITIONS:
22. Once Cody makes the frosting, and rolls have cooled completely, we frost all the rolls, put a piece of tin foil over them and stick them in the freezer. This makes it really easy to prepare in advance before your event or meal. You don’t have to rush day of!
23. Once they have been in freezer for a couple hours, warm them up in the microwave for 30-45 seconds depending on your microwave and they are DELICIOUS!!! Because we know we are going to be warming them up and the frosting melts a little we make the frosting pretty thick.
I hope you guys love them! Send me pics if you make them! And I hope you have a special day with family or friends. Merry Christmas Eve!
XX,
Christine
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