Hey y’all! Thought I would sweeten up your day with these BEST EVER cinnamon rolls. I have been making these for years. If I could eat them every day and still fit in my pants I totally would! Plus, my family is always so excited when I get into my cinnamon roll making mood. Yes, it’s totally a mood. I get in the cinnamon-sugar zone. So keep reading for the recipe along with some tips and tricks.
Full honesty, these cinnamon rolls have ruined the canned cinnamon rolls for me. I struggle with popping open a can of rolls with that teeny tiny tub of icing. You all know the icing is the best part of cinnamon rolls. I personally need them swimming in it. I turned into a cinnamon roll snob because of these bad boys. These homemade ones definitely deliver on the fluffy cream cheese icing goodness.
Dough ingredients:
- 1 packet Fleischmann’s active dry yeast
- 1 cup warm milk + ½ tbsp. white sugar
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- ½ cup melted butter
- 2 eggs
- 4 cups flour
- 1 tsp salt
I start out by putting the milk in a measuring cup with a ½ tbsp. of sugar. I then microwave it for 45 seconds to a minute to get it warm. Add the packet of yeast and give it a quick whisk. Let it sit for about 5 minutes. After about 5 minutes the top should be nice and frothy looking.
Then pour the yeasty-milk into a KitchenAid mixer with a dough hook attachment. Add all the other ingredients. Let the mixer do all the work for you in this part. Once everything looks combined and doughy, take the dough hook out and cover the bowl with a wet towel.
While the dough is mixing, I like to set my oven to 100F and then quickly turn it off after it hits 100F. You need to set your bowl with wet towel over it in a warm environment so the dough can double in size. This always does the trick for me!
After about an hour, the dough should have doubled in size (as seen above).
I then clean a smooth work surface such as my kitchen table and wipe it down really well. I make sure I have all my tools, namely a rolling pin and some floss.
Flour the surface very well so the dough doesn’t stick to the table. Otherwise, it makes rolling them up a real pain in the butt.
From here I start rolling it out into a nice rectangle. I like to use my rolling pin as a measuring tool to get the length across I want. Feel free to reshape the dough as needed to get that rectangle. Just keep in mind, the more you touch and rework the dough, the tougher it may become.
Once you have your pretty rectangle get ready to lather on the butter and cinnamon sugar! *Wine drinking optional*
Filling ingredients:
- ½ stick softened butter
- 3 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 cup brown sugar
I smooth the butter over the dough with my clean hands. Then I top it with the combined cinnamon sugar mixture and smooth that out with my hands as well. If you don’t like messy hands, you can always use a spoon to spread it out instead.
Once all the cinnamon-sugar mixture has been distributed, roll it up long ways.
Instead of a knife, I actually like to use dental floss to get a clean cut. I typically just eyeball my cuts to get 12 equal cinnamon rolls. Today though, I was being a little wild and drinking wine with my Mama while making these. I accidentally cut out a couple that were a little bit too big compared to the others haha. I just rolled with it! Remember they don’t have to look perfect but they will taste great!
I used part of the remaining stick of butter to grease up a 9×13 inch baking dish. I placed my cut up cinnamon rolls in the dish and then topped them with some more softened butter because why not. Pretty sure I may be distantly related to Paula Deen. Last I checked, my blood type of B+ (aka Butter+).
Then cover these beauties with some plastic wrap and pop them in the fridge overnight. Don’t forget to take them out of the refrigerator an hour before you plan on baking them. This way they can rise again.
Set the oven to 400F and bake for 20 minutes. You could also set the oven to 375F on convection and bake for 18 minutes.
While these bake, I then like to make the best part. The icing.
Icing Ingredients:
- ½ cup softened butter
- 1 ½ cup powdered sugar
- 2 oz cream cheese, room temp.
- 4 tbsp whipping cream
- 1 tsp vanilla
- dash of salt
All you need to do is place all these ingredients into a mixer and beat it till fluffy. BTW, this icing is sinful. It’s fluffy, sweet, and melts perfectly into all the nooks and crannies of that beautiful roll. You just can’t beat it!
Once the rolls come out of the oven, spread the icing all over while hot! Trust me, just do it. You’ll thank me later.
Share these with the people you love because every bite is like a warm hug. Or eat them all by yourself, no judgment here. Enjoy with a tall glass of milk!
The Best Cinnamon Rolls Ever
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 packet fleischmann's active dry yeast
- 1 cup milk warm + ½ tbsp sugar
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 4 cups flour
Filling
- ¼ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3 tbsp ground cinnamon
Icing
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1½ cup confectioner sugar
- 2 oz cream cheese softened
- 4 tbsp heavy whipping cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- dash of salt
Instructions
- In a measuring cup, microwave milk with 1/2 tbsp sugar for 45 seconds.
- Dissolve yeast in warm milk and sugar for 5 minutes. Should become very frothy.
- Add all the dough ingredients into the mixer. With a dough attachment, beat until all ingredients come together and form a sticky dough.
- Cover bowl of dough with a damp towel for an hour. Set in a warm area and let double in size.
- Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface. Roll out into a large rectangle about a ¼ to a ½ inch think.
- Spread the ¼ cup of softened butter onto the rectangle with either clean hands or a spoon.
- Sprinkle and massage cinnamon sugar mixture all over.
- Roll the dough up lengthwise.
- Using floss (or a knife), slice up the dough into 12 even slices. Place slices into a buttered 9x13 inch pan.
- Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
- One hour before baking, take the cinnamon rolls out of the refrigerator to allow them to rise again.
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Bake for 20 minutes. OR on convention setting, preheat to 375°F and bake for 18 minutes.
- While the cinnamon rolls bake, combine all icing ingredients into a mixture and beat until combined and fluffy.
- Once the rolls come out of the oven, spread the icing all over while the rolls are still hot. Enjoy the warm and gooey deliciousness!