With a cross between a roll and a croissant these Homemade Cinnamon Rolls are flaky, soft, tasty and an all around hit!
When it comes to breakfast foods, I absolutely cannot get enough of these Homemade Cinnamon Rolls.
Breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day as they say. And I do not care if I get savory or sweet, either will do especially if it involves bread.
These Homemade Cinnamon Rolls are a little different, but it makes them so unbelievably amazing.
When I was out of state visiting a friend, her mom made these and I HAD to have the recipe and we’ve been making them ever since. They are a cross between a croissant and a cinnamon roll.
The croissant part comes in with folding the dough with butter multiple times and refrigerating. It takes a while, but is absolutely worth it.
If you are to try any Cinnamon Rolls in your life, you have to make a batch of these Homemade Cinnamon Rolls.
Some of my other favorite breakfast recipes we have on our site include: Old Fashioned Donuts, Pancake Muffins and Chocolate Chip Scones.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- The flaky layers really make these rolls what they are.
- The cream cheese icing completes these with just the right sweetness.
- These are perfect for breakfast, brunch, holidays and more.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST):
Whole milk
Active dry yeast
Unsalted butter
All-purpose flour
Granulated sugar
Fine sea salt
Egg
Vanilla extract
Light brown sugar
Ground cinnamon
Cream cheese
Powdered sugar
HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE CINNAMON ROLLS, STEP BY STEP:
THE DOUGH:
- In a small microwave-safe bowl add the milk. Microwave in 15-second intervals until it reaches 110°F (you can check this with a kitchen thermometer). Whisk in the yeast and let it sit for 5 minutes until it blooms.
- Place 1 ½ Tablespoons of the butter into a small bowl and melt in the microwave, set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the hook attachment, add the flour, sugar, and salt, and stir together until combined.
- Add the milk/yeast mixture and turn on your stand mixer to begin mixing it in.
- Next, add the egg and vanilla, and slowly mix it in. Then add the melted butter and Mix until it starts to form a dough.
- With your hands, knead the dough in the bowl until it becomes smooth.
- Lightly flour a sheet pan and place the dough onto the sheet pan and pat it out into a rough rectangle shape. Lightly flour the surface of the dough and then cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
FOLDING THE DOUGH:
- On a clean work surface lightly sprinkle some flour. Roll out the dough into a rough 10×17-inch rectangle having the 10-inch side facing you.
- Spread the remaining softened butter over the bottom ⅔ of the dough, leaving a half-inch border around the sides.
- Fold the top ⅓ of the dough over the butter. Take the bottom ⅓ of the dough and fold it over the top and pinch the seams together to seal.
- Turn the dough so the short end is facing you and roll it out again to a 10×17-inch rectangle. Do the trifold again then place the dough back on the floured sheet tray covering with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, take the dough out and do the trifold again (refrigerate for anther 30 minutes). Repeat the trifold three more times, placing it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes in between each folding.
- After the last fold, place the dough in the refrigerator, covered well for at least 5 hours to overnight if you can (this is best).
ASSEMBLY AND BAKING:
- When you are ready to assemble the rolls, spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray, set aside.
- Roll out the dough into a 20×12-inch rectangle, spread the softened butter for the filling over the dough, leaving a ½-inch border around the edges.
- In a small bowl mix together the sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
- Sprinkle this evenly over the butter, making sure to use it all.
- Starting at the bottom, tightly roll the dough into a log.
- Cut into 12 even pieces with a serrated knife.
- Place the rolls, evenly spaced, cut side up into the prepared baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and allow the rolls to double in size at room temperature, for about 90 minutes.
- While the rolls are rising, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Place the rolls into the oven and bake until golden brown on top, 25-30 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow the rolls to cool in the pan.
- While the rolls are cooling, make the icing. In a large bowl with an electric hand mixer, beat the cream cheese with the butter until smooth. Add the powdered sugar a little at a time until fully combined. Stir in the vanilla and beat again for one minute.
- Frost your rolls and enjoy!
DO I REALLY NEED TO REFRIGERATE THE DOUGH SO MANY TIMES?
This will require multiple refrigeration turns as we are essentially mimicking the folding of croissant dough.
This is essential to the texture of the dough and how it turns out.
I know it seems like a lot, but it is a labor of love and honestly is not too hard to do.
CAN I MAKE A DIFFERENT ICING OR FROSTING?
Of course, if you are not a fan of cream cheese icing, you can make a powdered sugar icing or even an eggnog icing as well.
These are great for Christmas morning, so I really love the eggnog.
Another thing we like to do just to add a little hint of more cinnamon is to add a little of it to the cream cheese icing!
CAN I MIX THE BUTTER AND BROWN SUGAR FILLING TOGETHER?
I know that a lot of Homemade Cinnamon Roll recipes have the butter mixed together with the brown sugar mixture, but in this recipe we do not do that.
I cannot say if it will work as we have never tried it. We always butter, then sprinkle on the filling.
If you do happen to try it and it does work out, I would absolutely love to hear it.
ARE THESE SERVED WARM OR AT ROOM TEMPERATURE?
That is really up to you, we frost these when they are still slightly warm so the icing is able to drip down the sides.
You can completely cool these and then serve them as well. It all depends on how you like to serve your Cinnamon Rolls.
HOW TO STORE:
These can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container where they will keep for up to 3 days. You can choose to warm them up in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds if you’d like.
They can also be frozen, I suggest freezing without the icing on them.
To freeze, place in an airtight container or keep them in the pan (make sure it is freezer safe) and wrap with plastic wrap and then foil. These will keep for up to 3 months.
To defrost, remove to the refrigerator or countertop until thawed. You can heat back up in the oven at 350 degrees F until warmed through if desired.
Then make your icing and frost and serve!
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- Make sure that you do not skip any of the folding steps, this really creates a nice texture.
- Switch up your icing, see some of my suggestions above.
- Make sure that you are using active dry yeast.
- We have not tested this with bread flour so we only suggest using all-purpose flour.
- Make sure you use all the filling ingredients, it makes it so flavorful.
- These can be frozen, see above on how to do that.
- These are great for holidays, brunch or breakfast any time of year.
Want that perfect flaky, dense, soft and flavorful breakfast? You cannot miss out on making these Homemade Cinnamon Rolls.
If you like this recipe you might also like:
If you’ve tried these HOMEMADE CINNAMON ROLLS or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and what shenanigans I’m getting into!
Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Dough:
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 ¼ 1 package teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened, divided
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the filling:
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar packed
- 2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
For the icing:
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a small microwave-safe bowl add the milk. Microwave in 15-second intervals until it reaches 110°F (you can check this with a kitchen thermometer). Whisk in the yeast and let it sit for 5 minutes until it blooms.
- Place 1 ½ Tablespoons of the butter into a small bowl and melt in the microwave, set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the hook attachment, add the flour, sugar, and salt, and stir together until combined.
- Add the milk/yeast mixture and turn on your stand mixer to begin mixing it in.
- Next, add the egg and vanilla, and slowly mix it in. Then add the melted butter and Mix until it starts to form a dough.
- With your hands, knead the dough in the bowl until it becomes smooth.
- Lightly flour a sheet pan and place the dough onto the sheet pan and pat it out into a rough rectangle shape. Lightly flour the surface of the dough and then cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
- On a clean work surface lightly sprinkle some flour. Roll out the dough into a rough 10×17-inch rectangle having the 10-inch side facing you.
- Spread the remaining softened butter over the bottom ⅔ of the dough, leaving a half-inch border around the sides.
- Fold the top ⅓ of the dough over the butter. Take the bottom ⅓ of the dough and fold it over the top and pinch the seams together to seal.
- Turn the dough so the short end is facing you and roll it out again to a 10×17-inch rectangle. Do the trifold again then place the dough back on the floured sheet tray covering with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, take the dough out and do the trifold again (refrigerat another 30 minutes). Repeat the trifold three more times, placing it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes in between each folding.
- After the last fold, place the dough in the refrigerator, covered well for at least 5 hours to overnight if you can (this is best).
- When you are ready to assemble the rolls, spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray, set aside.
- Roll out the dough into a 20×12-inch rectangle, spread the softened butter for the filling over the dough, leaving a ½-inch border around the edges.
- In a small bowl mix together the sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
- Sprinkle this evenly over the butter, making sure to use it all.
- Starting at the bottom, tightly roll the dough into a log.
- Cut into 12 even pieces with a serrated knife.
- Place the rolls, evenly spaced, cut side up into the prepared baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and allow the rolls to double in size at room temperature, for about 90 minutes.
- While the rolls are rising, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Place the rolls into the oven and bake until golden brown on top, 25-30 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow the rolls to cool in the pan.
- While the rolls are cooling, make the icing. In a large bowl with an electric hand mixer, beat the cream cheese with the butter until smooth. Add the powdered sugar a little at a time until fully combined. Stir in the vanilla and beat again for one minute.
- Frost your rolls and enjoy!
Notes
- Make sure that you do not skip any of the folding steps, this really creates a nice texture.
- Switch up your icing, see some of my suggestions above.
- Make sure that you are using active dry yeast.
- We have not tested this with bread flour so we only suggest using all-purpose flour.
- Make sure you use all the filling ingredients, it makes it so flavorful.
- These can be frozen, see above on how to do that.
- These are great for holidays, brunch or breakfast any time of year.
Nutrition
Tornadough Alli is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value is important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and values can vary depending on which brands were used.
Leave a Reply