Classic Cinnamon Rolls

by megan on December 19, 201214

I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to post a recipe for classic cinnamon rolls! Actually, this is the first time I’ve ever made cinnamon rolls, and I couldn’t believe how good they were. This recipe is definitely a keeper! The rolls are soft and fluffy and full of delicious cinnamon sugar, and the icing on top is sweet and gooey. Needless to say, we absolutely loved these.

I originally was planning to try out some fancy make-ahead plan where you par-bake the rolls, freeze them, and finish them later in the oven. Unfortunately I managed to completely mess it up and we were left with undercooked and deflated rolls. Since I was planning to make them for our family Christmas celebration with Mike’s family, I was motivated to try again, this time with a different make-ahead method. I’m so glad I did, because the second time they were perfect! If you want to make these in advance, bake them all the way through and freeze them before you add the icing. Then when you’re ready to serve them, just heat them in the oven, add the icing, and they’ll be as good as new!

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp yeast
1/2 cup melted butter
2 eggs
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups warm milk
5 1/2 cups flour, plus more to reach a soft dough

Filling:
softened butter
brown sugar
granulated sugar
cinnamon

Icing:
2 Tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp milk
cinnamon, to taste
powdered sugar

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, combine water, yeast and 1 Tbsp sugar. Let sit for 5 minutes, or until yeast is puffy. In a separate bowl, mix together the remaining 1/2 c. sugar, melted butter, eggs, and salt. Add to the yeast mixture, then stir in the warm milk. Add 5 cups flour, 1-2 cups at a time.

Knead dough on a well-floured surface, adding flour as necessary, until dough is soft and no longer sticky. (I added quite a bit of extra flour to get it to that point). Transfer dough to a lightly greased bowl and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Punch down risen dough and separate into two pieces. Roll out the first piece in a large rectangle. Spread with softened butter and sprinkle liberally with brown sugar, white sugar, and cinnamon. Roll the dough up into a large log and cut into 1-inch rolls. Repeat with remaining dough.

Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 pan, lightly cover, and let rise until doubled in size, 30-45 minutes.

Bake at 350° for 20-22 minutes., or until lightly browned. Spread the icing on while the rolls are still warm.

For the icing, melt the butter in a medium sized bowl. Add the vanilla, milk and cinnamon. Stir in enough powdered sugar to make icing the consistency of honey. (*I didn't actually measure any of these ingredients, you can use more or less than the amounts listed here)

*To Make Ahead: Bake the rolls as directed, but don't add the icing. Let cool completely, cover tightly and freeze. The night before you want to serve them, thaw them in the fridge. In the morning, let them come to room temperature while you're pre-heating the oven. Warm them in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes, or until they are warmed through. I covered mine with aluminum foil to keep them from getting too brown on top. Ice them while they're still warm.

from Amy's Finer Things

posted in Breakfast

14 comments

Blog is the New Black — December 19, 2012 @ 7:24 am Reply

Delicious- I adore cinnamon rolls!

Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar — December 19, 2012 @ 9:28 am Reply

I’ll take a cinnamon roll of any kind!

Erin @ Dinners, Dishes and Desserts — December 19, 2012 @ 12:56 pm Reply

We are making cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning – I am going to have to try this method for making ahead!

Cassie | Bake Your Day — December 19, 2012 @ 3:32 pm Reply
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I love the sound of these! Classic cinnamon rolls hold a special place in my heart!

carrian — December 20, 2012 @ 12:31 am Reply

Yes! I was just saying that I’m ready to see classic recipes again!

Elise @ elisebakes — December 21, 2012 @ 5:28 pm Reply

These look delicious!! And I love that they can be made ahead of time!

Sandra — December 26, 2012 @ 9:14 am Reply

Hi Megan,
Made these for my 3 boys during the holiday and they loved them. I love that it made 2 9×13 pans. Heating up the 2nd now! Thanks for the recipe!!

megan — December 31, 2012 @ 10:54 am Reply

Glad you liked them! 🙂

Brenda — December 26, 2012 @ 10:33 am Reply

These are awesome! Got up at 5:30 a.m. Christmas morning in order to serves these for breakfast. They were certainly worth waking up early to prepare. Will make agsin soon for a big family gathering. Thank you for sharing this revcipe.

megan — December 31, 2012 @ 10:54 am Reply

I’m so glad you liked them! 🙂

ambrosia — December 27, 2012 @ 9:35 pm Reply

I have not made cinnamon rolls from scratch in SO long…this will be made soon! My mouth is watering just looking at them!

Averie @ Averie Cooks — January 12, 2013 @ 11:10 pm Reply

They look awesome and I went and checked out the recipe you got it from and wow, I’m a believer. 150 comments and almost everyone is glowing and gushing about them! I want that one, perfect, amazing cinnamon roll recipe. This one looks like it could be that one!

Nutmeg — April 12, 2013 @ 2:11 am Reply

I made these last week and they are absolutely delicious! Thank you so much for the recipe. I wanted to let you know though, that you have 1/2 c. sugar written up twice in the recipe for the rolls and I don’t think that’s what you intended 🙂

megan — April 14, 2013 @ 10:43 am Reply

I’m so glad you liked them! And thanks for catching that sugar mistake, I took out the second mention. 🙂

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