Cinnamon Rolls

Soft and flaky rolls filled with cinnamon sugar and topped with a cream cheese glaze.

Course Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine American, Swedish

Keyword cinnamon roll

Prep Time 2

Cook Time 30

Total Time 2 30

Servings

Calories 414kcal

Author Emma Chapman

Ingredients

Dough

¼ cup butter
1 cup milk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast 1 packet
3 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs

Filling

½ cup butter softened
½ cup granulated white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon

Glaze

8 ounces cream cheese softened
⅔ cup powdered sugar
¼ cup milk

Instructions

First, make the dough. In a medium to large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the milk and vanilla extract and cook until warm. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar. Then sprinkle the yeast over the top of this mixture and give it a few minutes to activate and get foamy.
Now, in a large mixing bowl, add the flour and salt and stir together. Pour in the yeast mixture as well as the eggs and stir together until a dough ball forms.
On a floured surface, turn the dough out and knead for a couple minutes until it comes together and become almost elastic-like.
Lightly flour the bowl and place the dough ball inside. Cover with a clean dish towel and allow to rise in a warm spot for 1-2 hours, until doubled in size.
Toward the end of the rise time make the cinnamon sugar spread. While some like to spread the softened butter and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over this for the cinnamon roll filling, I will combine the softened butter, sugars, and cinnamon in a small mixing bowl and cream them together in a compound butter.
Roll the dough out into a large rectangle. Spread the cinnamon sugar butter all over the surface of the rectangle.
Roll this up and slice into cinnamon rolls. I start by slicing the roll in half, and then half or 1/3 those pieces. You could also use a measuring stick or ruler if you want to be more exact.
Place the cinnamon rolls in the buttered baking dish. Allow to rest for 20 minutes.
Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes. Allow to partially cool before adding the frosting glaze.
To make the cream cheese frosting, blend together the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar and milk. Spread the glaze over the cinnamon rolls and serve.

Notes

I often bake these in a 10.5 x 7.5-inch baking dish (that’s what is pictured here) but a 9 x 13 dish will also work well.

If your yeast doesn’t foam, it may be old, so check the expiration date on the package. I would recommend starting over with fresh yeast.

If your kitchen and house are not particularly warm this time of year and you are concerned your dough will not rise, turn your oven on for a couple minutes. Then turn it off and place the dough inside, shutting the door to keep it warm. Make sure the oven is not so hot it will begin to bake the dough.

The best way to avoid lumps in your cream cheese topping is to make sure your cream cheese is soft and whip it first before adding the other ingredients. And the second best way is to sift the powdered sugar into the glaze, rather than dumping from a measuring cup or spoon. But a few small lumps never killed anyone. 🙂

If you want to make these cinnamon rolls the night before you plan to bake them, then follow the recipe up to the point of resting them. Instead, cover in plastic wrap and store them in the refrigerator overnight. Set them out for at least 30 minutes before baking the next day.

Store any leftovers in an airtight container or with aluminum foil over the top of the dish in the fridge for at least 3 days. You can rewarm them in the microwave for 30-45 seconds.

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