Have you ever visited a Cinnabon?  Well, I have!  And anyone who has ever visited an airport in the United States has likely been tempted by the smell of fresh cinnamon rolls coming out of the oven!

I’ve tried several different cinnamon roll recipes, and here is my version of this fantastic recipe.  Try it, and tell me if these aren’t just the most delicious cinnamon rolls you’ve ever had!

Ingredients

Cinnamon Roll Dough

• 1 cup warm milk
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1/3 cup room temperature unsalted butter (leave it out for half hour)
• 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 package yeast (approx 1/4 ounce)

Cinnamon Roll Filling

• 1 cup brown sugar (remember to pack the brown sugar for proper measurement)
• 2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup room temperature unsalted butter

Cinnamon Roll Dough spread

• 1/4 cup room temperature unsalted butter

Cinnamon Roll Icing

• 3 oz cream cheese (room temperature)
• 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons, half a stick) unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Notes

• Use a stand mixer for all mixing if at all possible.
• This is a yeast based bread product.  It isn’t a cake.  It is going to take four hours to make this, including rise times.  Just be aware that it does take some time.

Instructions

There are several groups of instructions here, each pertaining to a separate “sub product”.

Cinnamon roll dough

1. Heat large mixing bowl to around 110 degrees (likely about the temperature of the hot water from your faucet) so that it will not cool the milk in the next step significantly.  Make the bowl warm enough so that when the milk is poured in the mixing bowl, the milk is still in the proper temperature range.
2. Heat milk to between 105° F–115° F (41° C–46° C).  Proper temperature is required for yeast to work properly.
3. Pour the warm milk in the warm mixing bowl.
4. Dissolve yeast in warm milk.
5. Add sugar, butter, salt, eggs, and flour.
6. Using a stand mixer (if available), mix well until a bread ball forms.  Add a little flour if the ball is too watery, or a little extra milk if the flour does not mix.
7. Put the dough ball into a bowl sprayed with cooking spray.
8. Tightly cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
9. Place the dough ball bowl in a warm oven (around 110 degrees) and let it rise for 1-2 hours.  The dough ball should double in size.

Cinnamon roll filling

1. In a clean mixing bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter.  Mix very well.  It is difficult to over mix sugar and butter.

Rolling out the cinnamon rolls

1. Find a flat surface and measure out a rectangle about 16″ x 21″.
2. Spray the area with cooking spray or sprinkle with flour.
3. Roll out the dough ball.  The resulting rectangle should be around 1/4″ thick.
4. Spread the Cinnamon Roll dough spread (melted butter) over the entire surface of the dough.
5. Sprinkle the sugar/butter mixture over the cinnamon roll dough.  It is okay if the coverage is not 100%, do the best you feel comfortable with.

Rolling up the cinnamon rolls

1. Lightly grease a glass baking dish (probably will need at least a 11″ x 15″ dish).  Have a second dish ready for any additional rolls.
2. Roll up the flat dough starting with the longer side.  This will make a 21″ long dough roll.

Cut the long cinnamon roll into individual rolls around 1″ to 1 1/2″ thick.  This will produce around between 14 and 21 rolls.  I tend to make them 1″ thick.  Remember the “end cuts” aren’t going to be as perfect as the others, but they are just as tasty!

Cover the glass dish with aluminum foil and let rolls rise to roughly double size, about 45-60 minutes.

Baking the rolls

1. Preheat oven to 350° F (175° C)
2. Bake until golden brown, around 18-20 minutes.  Use the toothpick test to determine if center of rolls are cooked sufficiently.

Preparing the icing

1. While the rolls are baking, prepare the icing.
2. Mix the cream cheese, butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla extract, and salt in the stand mixer until it is thoroughly creamed, light, and fluffy.  Recommendation is 10 to 15 minutes

Spreading the icing

When the cinnamon rolls are ready and out of the oven, spread the icing over the rolls.  Do this while they are still very hot.  Do not remove them from the glass baking dish.  This helps to “melt in” the icing, into the rolls.

Eat!

1. Pour a very nice cup of cold milk.
2. With your left hand hold the cup of milk.
3. And with your right hand…. pick up a cinnamon roll, and take a nice big bite.
4. Rinse and repeat!
5. Yum!