Well, I did it. Per my husband’s request to make cinnamon rolls just like his mom used to, I made cinnamon rolls. Homemade cinnamon rolls. From scratch. As in, I started with flour.
It turns out that my mother-in-law didn’t make them quite as “from scratch” as I assumed. After I had my hands deep in a bowl of dough, Mark mentioned that his mom bought frozen bread dough and used that to make her famous rolls.
After all my heavy sighs and under-my-breath complaints, I suppose I deserved that. And besides, now I can say that I know how to make cinnamon rolls from scratch.
The whole process was not nearly as difficult as I’d feared, but it did take quite a bit of time. And though the recipe I used (from Amy’s Finer Things) resulted in the most ah-maze-ing cinnamon rolls I’ve ever had (modest much?), it didn’t answer all my burning cinnamon roll questions.
See, Amy obviously knew more about things like yeast and kneading and rising and “punching dough” than I did. As elementary as it may be, I needed someone to hold my hand and explain every single step. So, I’m here to elaborate on Amy’s directions a bit, explaining exactly how I did this. I’m confident that if you combine Amy’s recipe and my remedial extra directions, you can make delicious cinnamon rolls, too.
Just don’t listen to your husband when he says, “Leave that other pan of rolls with my dad. We don’t need them at our house anyway.”
Because, really. After all your hard work, you deserve to eat that second pan of rolls. Not all at once, no! But, you know, over time. In your house. Straight out of the pan, if you want.
Don’t be nervous. If I can make these, so can you. Just follow the directions!
Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
1/2 cup very warm water
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp yeast
1/2 cup melted butter
2 eggs
2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups warm milk
5 cups flour
Ingredients for filling:
6 tbsp butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1-2 tbsp cinnamon
Ingredients for icing:
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp milk
powdered sugar
Directions:
- Combine water, 1 tablespoon sugar and yeast in a small bowl. Set aside for 5 minutes to activate. (When it’s activated, it will look fizzy and puffed up. It really does take just 5 minutes.)
- Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, melted butter, eggs and salt. Add activated yeast mixture.
- Stir in warm milk. (I nuked the milk in the microwave for less than a minute, so it was warm but not boiling.)
- Add 5 cups flour, 1-2 cups at a time. If you’ve been using a whisk or fork to mix the ingredients until now, you’ll need to switch to a wooden spoon or other large utensil. The dough will be heavy and thick.
- Knead dough on a well-floured surface, adding flour as necessary, until dough isn’t sticky. I’d suggest putting flour on your hands before starting. “Flour as necessary” may mean adding a full cup, because it takes a lot to get to a not-sticky point. Just add a few tablespoons at a time until the dough is no longer sticky.
- Place dough in a large, greased bowl and let it rise. This will take 90 minutes to 2 hours, and at the end of that time frame, your dough will nearly have doubled in size.
- Punch down risen dough. (As far as I can tell, this is pretty similar to kneading. Just smash it around a lot until it isn’t puffy anymore.) Separate into two pieces.
- Roll out one piece of dough in a large rectangle. (I noticed some other recipes give you the exact dimensions of the rectangles. I aimed for approximately 9×13, but that’s easier said than done. Personally, I don’t think cinnamon rolls need to be uniform, so I was fine with my lopsided rectangle of dough. Don’t roll it out too thin, though. About an inch thick is as thin as you should go.)
- Spread softened butter all over the dough. (I used about 3 tablespoons of butter for each rectangle.)
- Mix together about 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup white sugar and 1-2 tablespoons cinnamon. (Exact amounts are necessary here, and you can adjust to your tastes.) Sprinkle liberally over dough.
- Roll dough as tightly as possible and seal the seams (just squish it together like play dough!).
- Floss dough into about 12 (1-inch) rolls. (Amy has a great post on flossing dough here. Once you get the hang of it, it really is easy.)
- Place rolls in greased 9×13 pan and let rise until double. (This will probably take about an hour. You can also refrigerate the rolls at this point and bake them later, but it may take longer for them to rise once you take them out of the fridge.)
- (Repeat steps 8-13 for second piece of dough.)
- Bake at 350° for 20-22 minutes.
- While rolls are baking, mix together icing ingredients. You can adjust the amounts as needed or to your preference. I wanted a thicker icing, so I added more powdered sugar than some recipes called for.
- Spread icing while rolls are hot.
- Try to wait for the rolls to cool a bit before eating. I know they look and smell amazing, but you don’t want to burn your tongue!
Do you like homemade cinnamon rolls or other breads? Do you make homemade breads?
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We made PW’s cinnamon rolls this weekend…I’m surprised to admit they weren’t our favorite, so we have yet to satisfy our cinnamon roll need…may have to try this out! They look good!
Interesting! I’ve only heard people say they’re awesome, but since I don’t like coffee, I’ve never wanted to try them myself!
That’s so funny. I tried PW’s too awhile back and REALLY didn’t like them at all. But my sister made these ones above and said they were great. So now I will be trying them. Thanks!
It’s not Christmas or Easter without homemade cinnamon rolls. We start from scratch in our family. It’s not hard, but it is time consuming….Would love to make other homemade breads, but on a daily basis, that can be time consuming (no bread machine for us!) Already looking forward to breakfast on Christmas morning!
No bread machine here, either. I’ll blame my lack of homemade breads on that, too!
A woman who used to work for my husband loves to make cinnamon rolls and brings them to us on a regular basis. It’s always a happy day when she calls!
I tried a new recipe for rolls last week, and it was good, but I can’t seem to make them as fluffy as I like them.
I’m not sure if mine were fluffy because I’m awesome and did it exactly right (possible…) or if I just lucked out (probable!). :)
You. Crack. Me. Up. Oh, what I would give to be in your kitchen for some cinnamon roll baking!
My husband would have certainly appreciated that. As it was, I kept hollering at him, “More flour! I need more flour! Wait! Do I need more flour? I DON’T KNOW WHAT I’M DOING HERE!” :)
Similar to a recipie I found. However, i let mine rise overnight which works perfect for me. I do put a little maple extract in the icing. My hubby says they taste like carmel rolls with it!
Letting them rise overnight sounds smart. I might have to try that next time!
Nothing better than homemade cinnamon rolls. Yours look fantastic! Come visit us. We have a beautiful party dress from The Shabby Apple today for our giveaway. We would love for you to be the winner!
Oh my goodness….I have been wanting to make homemade cinnamon rolls. My daughter has been begging me to teach her, not an easy thing to do when I don’t know HOW to make them myself. My mother has a recipe but lately it just hasn’t been working out they way it should. I can’t wait to try these with my girls! Thank you so much for sharing!!
-april
Maybe this recipe will work for you. I think it will because if it worked for me… :)
Could you freeze the second half of the dough and just make half the batch at one time.? How long would it need to rise after being in the freezer? I can’t wait to make these!
I would assume you could…but I’ve never tried. I hope yours turn out great!
hi Mary,
thnx alot for the recipe, i made these today n they came out AMAZING :) my kids n hubby loved them, though it took a lot of time to knead the dough but the final result was super. this recipe is definitely a keeper.
So glad you liked them!!
hi, just reading your recipe and is it right that you use 2 tablespoons of yeast?
Yep, that’s right!
Hi,
If I want to prepare these tonight, and bake in the morning, after what step should I put in the oven? I may have missed it somewhere in the directions???
In step 13 – after putting the rolls in the pans but before they rise. :)
Thanks, I saw that after. I made these and they were wonderful!!!! I let them sit on the counter to rise before baking (for about 5 hours).. mainly because I fell asleep, but they turned out amazing. BEST CINNAMON ROLLS EVER. I was wondering if you have ever tried this recipe, but as caramel rolls before? Any ideas on what I’d need to change?! I have a good caramel recipe to use, but wondering if I spread the same stuff on the dough before rolling & cutting???
How many rolls can be made out of this recipe?
You know what, I haven’t counted! It makes a lot – maybe 3 dozen?? Sorry I don’t have a better answer for you!
Mine made 16, but I Am a first timer and I’m praying I didn’t screw them up!!
Soooo…how did they turn out? :)
How much powdered sugar did you use in the icing? It doesn’t give a measurement for that in the recipe. I have an opened bag, just wondering if I will need to get more or if what I have will be enough.
Natalie, I just now saw your comment! I hope you were able to make the cinnamon rolls and didn’t wait on me. But in case you haven’t tried them yet, I would start with a cup and then eyeball it – use as much as you need to reach the right consistency with the milk and butter. I know that’s not exact, but I end up using a different amount every time. I hope this helps?!!
The type of cinnamon is important, please tell me what brand and type of cinnamon you use in these.
Probably McCormick’s, but I use whatever is on sale, so I’m sure I’ve made this with Great Value cinnamon, too. :)
Thank you for your “dummy” instructions. I needed them. I’ve tried others with hilarious results… looking for more finger-licking from these. I can’t wait for morning to arrive to share them with my children!
Hi! Instead of using regular yeast can I use 2 packets of instant dry yeast so I don’t have to wait 90 min-2 hours for it to rise?
This is literally the only recipe I use yeast in, so I am definitely not a baking-with-yeast expert. But it seems like you could do this and it would work okay!
I make these every year and EVERYONE loves them! I even have friends ask me to sell them around the holidays:) I have started making all kinds of cinnamon rolls with this recipe such as, cream cheese cinnamon rolls, pecan cinnamon rolls, and a pumpkin cinnamon roll just to name a few! Definitely my favorite cinnamon roll recipe:)
Ooooh, a pumpkin version sounds amazing!
when you put the rolls on the greased pan, do you let the rise before you but them in the oven?. Also how long do you let them rise if you do. Can I also freeze them after I make the dough?. Plan on making them soon. I hope they turn out for me. They look wonderful!!
Daena, I have to admit that since I only make these once or twice a year, I had to go back and re-read my own post! Step 13 actually answers all your questions: Place rolls in greased 9×13 pan and let rise until double. (This will probably take about an hour. You can also refrigerate the rolls at this point and bake them later, but it may take longer for them to rise once you take them out of the fridge.) I hope that helps!
how much powdered sugar did you use to make enough icing to cover all the cinnamon rolls with a good amount of icing?
Vanilla extract for the icing ??
Yep! One teaspoon.