For years I have yearned to make homemade cinnamon rolls. Tender dough swirled in cinnamon, topped with a creamy, gooey, slightly tangy cream cheese icing makes them comfort food irresistible. Convincing myself they were cumbersome and complicated to make, I put them on the list of 'maybe someday when I am ready'. Over the past couple of months the universe seemed to be sending me reminders of the promise I had made. Photos of drool worthy cinnamon rolls were popping up in my Instagram feed and recipes for them were in at least three of the last cookbooks I had recently purchased. It was becoming more and more difficult to ignore the 'signs' more than subtly suggesting time had come for me to stop using 'maybe' as an excuse for not keeping a promise. When looking in the mirror, even my alter ego was telling me to stop playing the 'maybe' game. Either put the cinnamon rolls on the 'will definitely make' or 'will definitely not make' list. But don't let them stay in recipe limbo or turn into a cinnamon roll tease.
Someday finally came this week. And you know what I discovered? I was wrong about believing Cinnamon Rolls were cumbersome and complicated to make. Don't get me wrong, they aren't easy, but they aren't exactly rocket science difficult either. All it it took was making them to realize my thoughts and perceptions about them were flawed. Denying myself as well as my friends and family the pleasure of enjoying a sweet, warm out of the oven, sinfully delicious, homemade Cinnamon Roll seemed to be for naught. But I am not going to whine about all the years of going without cinnamon roll bliss. Delirium has a way of making you see things differently. Trust me when I say these cinnamon rolls will have your head spinning and heart racing. And that's just from taking in their intoxicating aroma while they are baking.
I can't even begin to tell you how many cinnamon roll recipes I have looked at over the years. Too many. Up until I recently discovered the sweet dough recipe shared by Sarah Kieffer in her cookbook "The Vanilla Bean Baking Book", did my dough-making fears lessen. I would be lying if I didn't say I have always been a little intimidated working with yeast based doughs. They are one of those things I feel are a little outside of my baking comfort zone. However, this dough made me feel differently. Not only does it come together relatively quickly, it can (and probably should) be refrigerated overnight. Which means you don't have to get up at one o'clock in the morning if you want to serve fresh, hot out of the oven Cinnamon Rolls for a late morning breakfast or brunch. But more on the essentially no-knead dough making process later.
I had a good feeling about these Cinnamon Rolls even before they went into the oven.
From the ingredients used to the assembly process, there are a number of variations to all of the cinnamon roll dough recipes out there. This one uses instant dry yeast (not rapid rise), honey (instead of sugar), eggs, whole milk, unsalted butter, all-purpose flour, and kosher salt.
The dough is literally made in less than fifteen minutes. Which includes the time you need to assemble all of your ingredients. Once made it rests for a total of two hours before being refrigerated overnight. Over the course of the two hours of rising time, the dough is gently pulled up and rolled over itself every thirty (30) minutes. And that's it! Note: The dough could be used right away (after the initial 2 hour rise) if necessary, however, it is much easier to work with after it has been refrigerated overnight.
Whenever I make a batter or a dough for the first time, I put it through the 'taste test'. I take a bite of the raw dough. If it doesn't taste good, I know the final product won't either. But if it tastes good, even great, I know it will be even better when baked. This dough passed the taste test with flying colors.
On a lightly floured surface it rolled out beautifully.
Another one of the variations in the Cinnamon Roll recipes I had found was the filling. Some called for melted butter, some for room temperature butter; the amount of cinnamon ranged from a couple of teaspoons to two full tablespoons; and some used additional spices (e.g., nutmeg, cardamom). I knew I wanted these Cinnamon Rolls to have a strong, bold cinnamon flavor. One tablespoon of cinnamon didn't seem like enough and two tablespoons almost seemed to be too much. But rather than compromise, I decided to take a leap of faith and use two full tablespoons of cinnamon along with a 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg. It would now be hard to settle for a cinnamon roll made with one tablespoon of cinnamon after tasting these.
Remember how I told you that you didn't to get up one in the morning to have them ready for a late morning breakfast or brunch? Well that's still true. But after removing the dough from the refrigerator, you are about 3 and a half hours away from serving them. But it's not a labor intensive 3 and a half hours.
After rolling out the dough, slathering on the cinnamon sugar filling, cutting into 12 even pieces, and placing on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, the rolls are lightly covered with plastic wrap for a second rise. This time it's only ninety minutes and you don't have to do anything.
After rolling out the dough, slathering on the cinnamon sugar filling, cutting into 12 even pieces, and placing on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, the rolls are lightly covered with plastic wrap for a second rise. This time it's only ninety minutes and you don't have to do anything.
In a preheated 350 degree (F) oven, the cinnamon rolls bake for 27-32 minutes or until the rolls are golden in color.
Once out of the oven, the cinnamon rolls rest for only five minutes before the icing is lathered on.
Like the recipes for the dough and the filling, there were also a number of variations for the icing. Some called for using only cream cheese, some called for using both butter and cream cheese. I decided to go with the 'more is better' and went with the butter/cream cheese option.
If there was one thing I would change about the icing it would be making more of it. Either increasing the recipe by half or maybe even doubling it.
One bite of these Cinnamon Rolls and I was in heaven. The dough was moist and sweet, the cinnamon flavor was just right, and the icing complimented the roll perfectly. You need to make them. The return on the investment of your time will be worth the risk of taking on your dough making, cinnamon roll making fears.
"If we wait until we are ready, we will be waiting for the rest of our lives." If I had waited until I was ready to make these Cinnamon Rolls, more than likely I would have never made them. Worse yet, I would have never experienced the thrill of making of them. Sure, the taste of them was beyond amazing, exceeding all of my expectations. But the process of making Cinnamon Rolls, well, words can't fully explain what that felt like.
Cinnamon Rolls (Blended and adapted Cinnamon Rolls recipes from the cookbooks "The Vanilla Bean Baking Book" and "Bravetart: Iconic American Desserts")
Makes 12
Ingredients
Dough
4 large eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup whole milk, warm (110-110 degrees F)
1/4 cup honey
4 cups (512 g) all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons instant dry yeast
2 teaspoons kosher salt
10 Tablespoons (142 g) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into 1 inch pieces
Cinnamon Filling
1/2 cup (8 Tablespoons, 113 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup (172 g) firmly packed light brown sugar
2 Tablespoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Icing
1/2 cup (8 Tablespoons, 113 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup (113 g) confectionary sugar, sifted
Directions
Dough
1. Grease a large bowl with butter.
2. In a large measuring cup. combine the honey, eggs, and milk. Stir just until blended. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the flour, yeast and salt. Stir on low speed to combine.
4. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture. Mix on low speed just to combine.
5. With the mixer on low, add the butter, one piece at a time.
6. When all the butter has been added, increase the speed to medium and beat the butter into the dough until all the little butter pieces have been incorporated (approximately one minute).
7. Transfer the dough to the prepared bowl. Note: The dough will be slightly sticky. You will need a spatula to scrape the dough into the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, place in a warm place and let rise for 30 minutes.
8. Place your fingers or a spatula underneath the dough and gently pull the dough up and fold it over itself. Turn the bowl, repeat and fold again. Continue 6-8 more times, until all the dough has been folded over itself. Re-cover the bowl with plastic and let rise for 30 minutes.
9. Repeat this series of folding 3 more times, for a rise time of 2 hours and a total of 4 foldings.
10. Tightly cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or up to 72 hours.
Cinnamon Filling
1. In a medium bowl, combine the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
2. Using a hand mixer, beat on medium speed until creamy. Set aside.
Icing
1. In the bowl of a standing mixer, combine the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla. Beat until smooth and well blended (approximately 2-3 minutes).
2. Add the confectionary sugar and kosher salt. Beat until smooth, fluffy, and creamy. Transfer to either a small bowl or pastry bag. Set aside. Note: Recommend making the icing while the cinnamon rolls are baking.
Assembly
1. Line a 9"x12" baking pan with parchment paper. Grease the sides of the pan with butter. Set aside.
2. Remove the dough from the bowl, shape into a ball, set on a lightly floured surface, lightly top with flour, cover with a light weight towel and let it come to room temperature. Approximately 60-90 minutes.
3. Roll the dough out to a 16"x12" rectangle. Spread the cinnamon filling evenly over the dough.
4. Starting at the long side, roll the dough into a tight cylinder. Pinch the seam gently to seal it and positing the dough seam side down.
5. Using scissors or a sharp knife, cut the dough into 12 equal pieces. Transfer the pieces to the prepared pan. Note: Cut off the uneven edges of the rolled dough before cutting them into 12 pieces.
6. Cover the pan loosely with plastic wrap, set in a warm place and let the dough rise until doubled (approximately 1 to 1 1/2 hours). Note: My rising time was 1 1/2 hours.
7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).
8. Remove the plastic wrap and bake the cinnamon rolls for 27-32 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through until the rolls are golden in color. Note: My baking time was 32 minutes.
9. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and let sit for no more than 5 minutes. Note: If you like your cinnamon rolls to have more of a crispy crunch to them, wait at least 15 minutes before spreading on the icing. However, would recommend spreading it on while still warm to create the softest, gooey-est cinnamon rolls.
10. Using an offset spatula or knife, spread the icing over each of the cinnamon rolls.
11. Serve immediately.
Notes: (1) If like your Cinnamon Rolls slathered with more frosting, double the icing recipe. You won't be sorry. (2) The dough and icing recipes were adapted from "The Vanilla Bean Baking Book" and the cinnamon filling recipe was adapted from "Bravetart: Iconic American Desserts". (3) I used a 128 g per cup ratio when measuring the all-purpose flour. The original recipe called for a 142 g per cup ratio. (4) Instant dry yeast comes in granular form. Do not substitute rapid rise yeast for it. (5) If by any chance you have any left, cover them tightly and reheat for about 10 seconds in the microwave. The icing will melt a bit, but they will be warm bites of pure gooey deliciousness.
Images from the Mystic Seaport Museum, Mystic, CT (November 2017)
