Soft sugary cinnamon rolls are a crowd-pleaser, no one can resist them. They can brighten up any rainy cold day! Devour them covered in gooey icing or in their naked glory.
Cinnamon rolls are probably my favourite sweet treat of all, and that’s a big statement considering my sweet tooth.
They have a million names and variations, from the American cinnamon buns to the original Swedish kannelbullen, but they are all delicious. My recipe is a mix of different types. I usually don’t add icing on top as I am too greedy and eat them hot as hell, straight out from the oven.
I always felt intimidated by cinnamon rolls, it took me so long before attempting to make them at home. I kept telling myself I wasn’t good enough and that this was a too difficult bake for me.
Unfortunately, I do this quite often in life, self-doubting, second-guessing, frozen in fear. Does this ever happen to you?
One day I said whatever, worst case I fail and have lots of cinnamon sugar left to comfort me.
And you know what? Hands down, homemade cinnamon rolls will always beat any pre-made ones. They are much softer, and you are in complete control. You can experiment with toppings and cater them to your own personal preferences. Plus, nothing beats the feeling of having done something on your own, so proud!
The key thing you need to bake successful rolls, it’s time. Don’t rush them and enjoy a quiet half-day at home. I won’t lie and be honest, it is much easier to make them if you have a stand mixer. If you don’t, do still give it a go but add one more hour to your baking session.
I now make cinnamon rolls at least four times a year and I am very glad to share the step-by-step recipe with you. Follow each step carefully but never be afraid, it’s a more resistant dough than you may think.
A few words from past experience: Do not cut the cinnamon rolls too small as you’ll find yourself with biscuits rather than buns (I have been there before!). Proof them twice with patience so to get that extra fluffiness.
Last but not least, try not to change the ratios of the recipe, if that’s too many rolls for you, just freeze the ones you don’t want to eat immediately. They’ll keep well for long, unfreeze them overnight and wake up with the best breakfast.
As always, baking is very much a school of life. It’s always much more about the thoughts in our head than the real world outside.
You really have to keep trying, the famous fake it till you make it. One day you might even find yourself sharing tips and tricks on how to make cinnamon rolls – the very same ones you thought impossible to bake hehe.
Intimidating people making lots of negative noise are probably very scared themselves. Wasted energy. Let them go.
I am no one to preach, but I know for sure that getting started is incredibly difficult, and trying again feels exhausting. That first step is always such a hurdle. Once you have done it, just do one more step and then another.
One foot in front of the other. You can always praise yourself for having tried your best.
I hope my soppy non-sense is giving you a bit of strength if you are also always putting yourself in doubt. And if my spill is not working, just go straight to the recipe. You’ll soon have wonderful cinnamon rolls to give you the courage of a lion.
This recipe is for you and me. We got this.
My beloved cinnamon rolls
Course: Bread and pizza, Something SweetDifficulty: Difficult3
hours20
minutesSoft sugary cinnamon rolls are a crowd-pleaser, no one can resist them. They can brighten up any rainy cold day! Devour them covered in gooey icing or in their naked glory.
Ingredients
- The dough
250 ml warm milk (any type you like)
7 g dried yeast
1 tbsp honey
500 g white strong flour
1 egg at room temperature
1 tsp ground cinnamon (= 1.5 g)
50 g sugar
a pinch of fine sea salt
50 g butter at room temperature
- The filling
30 g melted butter
60 g muscovado sugar (or any other type of brown sugar)
15 g ground cinnamon
Method
- The dough
- Warm up the milk (microwave: 900 W for 60 sec, pot: simmer for 3 minutes – do not boil the milk).
- Add the yeast and one tablespoon of honey to the milk and stir in. Let it rest for 5 minutes until you have foam and bubbles.
- Transfer the flour, egg and sugar to a large bowl and mix it all in with a standing mixer or a wooden spoon.
- Add your yeasty mixture in and knead the dough for 8 minutes with a stand mixer at medium speed, 15 minutes if kneading by hand (take breaks in between – you can do this).
- As the dough starts to come together, add a pinch of salt.
- Slowly add the butter in, one spoon at the time. Only add the next spoon of butter once the previous one has been absorbed by the dough.
- Knead the dough for 5 minutes at high speed with a stand mixer, 15 minutes if kneading by hand.
- Rest the dough for one hour and half in the oven with the light on.
- The filling
- Melt the butter (microwave: 20 sec at 900 W, pan: 1 minute – stir all the time, you don’t want a brown butter).
- Mix the sugar with the cinnamon.
- The cinnamon rolls
- Transfer the dough to a floured surface.
- Roll the dough to a rectangle 50 x 40 cm with a rolling pin and flour.
- Brush the surface with the melted butter and evenly sprinkle the sugar on top. Leave a 1 cm strip with no filling at the top and brush it with water (that’s a secret I learnt from a Bread Ahead live session during lockdown! It’ll help you seal the dough later).
- Roll the dough from the bottom lengthwise to the top. Pinch the dough along the strip that was with no filling to seal the dough. Squish the dough delicately to make your buns as compact as possible.
- Cut the dough in half, and then again in half, and then in three parts so you have 12 equal buns (around 5 cm thick). Use a wet bread knife for better results.
- Carefully roll each bun in your hands to give it a rounded shape and transfer it to a baking tray. Make sure to leave enough space between the buns as they will rise a lot when they proof.
- Cover you tray with bee wax and let them rest for one hour and half – two hours.
- Bake them for 20-25 min at 180 C fan oven – Eat them warm, they are heaven.
Notes
- In case you want to add icing on top, this is my go to recipe: 250 g of icing sugar, 2 generous spoons of milk, 1 tsp of vanilla. Slowly add the milk in to make sure the sugar evenly dissolves.
- Freeze the rolls after you have baked them. Unfreeze them overnight and warm them up for 30 sec in the microwave in the morning.
- You can totally try this recipe without a stand mixer, it just takes more time but it’s doable. I have done it twice without a stand mixer, it’s a tough job but it is so rewarding.
