We don’t know about you, but when we’re about to tuck into homemade cinnamon bread, Swedish cardamom buns, or cinnamon rolls, especially these irresistibly and ever so slightly unconventional ones made with honey butter and cream cheese frosting, we first slink off to change into baggy sweatpants whose waistband no longer has barely any elasticity whatsoever left. We consider it proper cinnamon rolls attire. We’re not certain whether that makes us realists and not romantics, and we don’t really care so long as we have these rolls. Kindly note that the unbaked rolls can be assembled and rolled and stashed in the fridge the night before, so all you have to do in the morning is pull the rolls from the fridge while the oven preheats and you sip coffee while you wake up.–Renee Schettler Rossi
Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
For the dough
- 10 ounces warm milk, [about 105°F (40°C)]
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 5 to 5 1/2 cups bread flour, plus more as needed and for the work surface
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 6 tablespoons (3 oz) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the baking sheet
- 3 large eggs
For the honey butter
- 1 cup honey
- 2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
For the cinnamon sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
For the icing
- 5 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 4 1/2 tablespoons (2 1/4 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 10 ounces confectioners sugar
- 2 ounces heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the dough
- In the bowl of a standing mixer, stir together by hand the warm milk, yeast, and sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes.
- Add the flour, salt, butter, and eggs. Using the dough hook, mix until the dough is completely developed, 8 to 10 minutes. (By “completely developed” we mean that the dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl with no extra flour left at the bottom. It’s possible that you may need to add a little more flour if the dough seems sticky. The dough, when completely developed, should be tacky but not sticky.)
- Remove the dough hook and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Set the bowl in a warm place and let stand until the dough has doubled in size.
Make the honey butter
- In a medium bowl, stir together the honey and the butter until completely combined.
Make the cinnamon sugar
- In a small bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon until completely combined.
Assemble the rolls
- Place the dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll it out into a rectangle, roughly 18 inches by 24 inches and 1/2 inch thick. Liberally brush the dough with half the honey butter. Sprinkle with as much of the cinnamon sugar as you please.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and rub the parchment with butter. If making small rolls, beginning with the 24-inch side of the dough, roll it tightly from one side to the other, gently pulling or pressing the dough as needed to make as even a roll as possible. If making giant rolls, beginning with the 18-inch side of the dough, roll it tightly from one side to the other, gently pulling or pressing the dough as needed to make as even a roll as possible.
- Divide the long roll into individual rolls using a serrated knife and slicing the dough roll into individual rolls. Small rolls should be about 1 1/4-inches thick and giant rolls about 2-inches thick. Working with 1 roll at a time, carefully take the tail end of the piece of dough and gently pull and wrap it around the rest of the spiral dough, tucking it underneath. Place the roll on the baking sheet and press down slightly. Repeat with the rest of the rolls, fitting them sort of snugly. (You can cover and refrigerate the rolls overnight if that lets you hit the snooze button the next morning.)
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (176°C). Cover the rolls with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and set it in a warm place. Let the rolls rise while the oven preheats.
- Bake the cinnamon rolls, rotating the pan once, until they’re a deep golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and lightly brush the tops of the rolls with the remaining honey butter.
Make the cream cheese icing
- Place the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a standing kitchen mixer, and mix on low speed until smooth. Add the confectioners sugar, cream, and vanilla and whip until smooth.
- When the rolls are completely cool, slather them with icing. Serve them as-is or, to rewarm, place them in the oven at 325°F (163°C) for 2 to 3 minutes.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
These may possibly be the best cinnamon rolls I have ever eaten. How could something with all that butter and honey not be good? These were not only delicious, but much easier to make than first glances would suggest.
The process went just as written. I did need to add 10 minutes to the baking time. The resulting cinnamon roll was crisp on the outside (but not hard), and light and fluffy on the inside (but not doughy). I can see how they’d be a great holiday treat. They were truly amazing.
I have made a lot of cinnamon rolls, and I have to say, these were some of the best.
The dough comes together quickly and easily in a stand mixer. My dough took about 1 1/2 hours to double in size. It was very easy to roll out, even without having to be chilled first. I spread on the honey butter and then the cinnamon sugar. If I had to do it again, I might chill the roll for 30 minutes before cutting it, as the butter and cinnamon mixture does ooze quite a bit. The rolls rise and puff quite a bit, so make sure you don’t crowd them in your baking dish.
This makes a lot of good-sized rolls. They are best warm.
I made these last week and they were great! Best cinnamon rolls ever! They were soft and tasted sooooo good. Since I’m on a diet (oops!) and only my son and husband were at home to eat the 20 rolls (that were not quite as “small” as the recipe would have us believe — can you imagine how big the 9 “giant” rolls would be?), a few rolls stayed in the refrigerator for about a week … yet they were still soft after reheating for a minute in the microwave! These rolls are really amazing. I didn’t even have to put the cream cheese frosting on top, but I bet that would have made them just out of this world. I usually make cinnamon rolls with caramel sauce at the bottom and think them good, but this simple recipe is just way better. Simpler to make, more delicious, and did I already say softer? Thanks again Leite’s for another delicious recipe. Thank you for testing all your recipes and thank you for being such a reliable site. Keep it up and God bless all of you!
You’re welcome, Esther. Although we can think of no lovelier compliment than what you just shared with us. Thank YOU. We look forward to hearing which other recipes draw your fancy.
To be clear, I can make these the night before through step 6, then let rise in the morning for a few minutes while the oven preheats?
Actually, Julie, you would let them rise before freezing, so you would make them through step 7 prior to freezing…and clearly not turn on the oven!
I am only interested in fresh rolls and not interested in freezing anything?
Forgive me, Julie, I misread your question. Or rather, I think my thoughts instinctively turned to the baking pan of cinnamon rolls that my mom always, always keeps in her deep-freeze! Yes, you could refrigerate them overnight, let them rest at room temperature for half an hour, then bake ’em off. Let us know what you think!
I made them and they were amazing. Now I may be interested in freezing a batch!! How do I wrap them to freeze? And how do I thaw them before baking?
Hurrah! What I suggest is ideally freezing an entire baking pan of them, Julie. Even though this takes your pan hostage, there’s less surface area of the rolls exposed to the elements. And again, ideally the rolls would be uniced. If it’s too late on either or both counts, then simply wrap them well in a double layer of resealable plastic bags–ideally the ones designed for the freezer–and squeeze every last ounce of air out of the bags. To thaw, simply leave at room temperature for several hours. If desired, once removed from the bags you can wrap the rolls in foil and warm in a low oven before icing–or, as the case may be, re-icing them. Easy peasy!
Were these refrigerated after step 6 or step 7? Thank you!
Great recipe! Will try it and let you know, thanks.
Our testers RAVED about it, Lisa. Here’s hoping you deem it rave-worthy, too…