Giant Cinnamon Rolls - If you're looking for an easy, make ahead of time, fresh from the oven, sweet and sticky treat, nothing really beats these cream cheese frosted beauties!
One of our favorite traditions is making a decadent weekend brunch. We love to fill the whole house with the scrumptious smell of brown sugar and cinnamon. Who needs Cinnabon when you can make these buttery rolls from scratch and smear them with tangy cream cheese frosting? The ingredients for this cinnamon roll recipe are relatively simple, many of you may already have most of them in your pantry already. This adds to the convenience factor.
We adore making sweet treats that are equally at home as dessert, or on the breakfast/brunch table. Our scones recipe, and our raspberry crumb buckle are great examples of these.
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What You're Going to Need!
- Powdered sugar - also referred to as confectioners sugar, we'll be using this for our icing.
- Cinnamon - the star of the show. we like to use Saigon, it's very aromatic and powerful.
- Salt - never underestimate the power of a little salt in sweet dishes. we use kosher, as well as a pinch of sea salt in these rolls.
- Vanilla Extract - use bourbon type extract, like this one from Trader Joes.
- Milk - whole milk is best.
- Yeast - dry active granules.
- Eggs - we've found that cage free and vegetarian fed eggs are overall high quality.
- Cream cheese - this will provide the tanginess in the frosting, it's my favorite part!
- Baking soda - this will provide a little extra fluffiness to the dough.
- Brown sugar - the molasses in light brown sugar adds a richness to the filling.
- Butter - unsalted butter finds its way into the dough and the middle of these brunch treats.
See recipe card for quantities.
Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Stand mixer with dough hook and whip attachment
- 1 Rolling Pin
- 1 dough blade
- 1 Mixing Bowl
- 1 Cutting Board
- 1 Chef Knife
- 1 Small pairing knife
- 1 Measuring Spoon Set
- 1 Measuring cup set
- 1 9x13 casserole pan
- 1 sheet of parchment paper
- 1 Kitchen thermometer
- 1 liquid measuring cup
- 1 Offset spatula
- 1 Rubber Spatula
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 cup Whole milk heated to 110℉
- 2¼ tsp. Instant yeast 1 packet
- 2 large Eggs room temperature
- 4½ cups All purpose flour
- ½ cup Granulated sugar
- 7 tbsps. Butter softened, unsalted
- 2 tsps. Kosher salt
- ¼ tsp. Baking soda
- Pan spray release as needed
Filling
- 1 stick Butter softened, unsalted
- 1 cup Light brown sugar packed
- A pinch of flaky sea salt
- 2 tbsps. Ground cinnamon
Cream Cheese Icing
- 8 oz Cream cheese softened
- 1 cup Icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon Salt kosher
- ¼ cup Heavy cream
- 1 tsp. Vanilla extract
Instructions
Making the Dough
- Combine the heated milk with the yeast in the bowl of your mixer fitted with the dough hook, mix to combine and let sit for a few minutes until the yeast activates. (gets foamy)
- Add the eggs, sugar, and salt. Mix to combine.
- Add the flour and baking soda and mix on low speed until the dough is formed.
- Add the butter to the dough 1 tablespoon at a time, go slow and combine all the butter.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured board and work it into a smooth ball. Place the dough ball into a lightly oiled mixing bowl covered with plastic wrap, and let it sit at room temperature for 40-60 minutes or until it has risen to the top of the bowl.
Filling and Forming the Rolls
- Roll out the dough into a rough rectangle, using a small paring knife trim the edges.
- Carefully spread the butter (1stick, softened) over the top of the dough using an offset spatula.
- Evenly spread the brown sugar and cinnamon over the butter, and finish with a pinch of flaky sea salt.
- Roll the dough, creating a log, slice the rolls using a sharp knife, about 1½- 2 inches thick for nice big rolls.
- Place in a 9x13 inch casserole pan, lined with parchment paper and sprayed with pan release spray. Place in a preheated 375℉ oven for 28 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes then spread cream cheese icing on top of the rolls and enjoy!
Cream Cheese Icing
- Place softened cream cheese, icing sugar, salt, and vanilla extract in the bowl of your mixer fitted with the whip attachment.
- Mix to combine on low to medium speed, using a rubber spatula scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add the heavy cream, and increase the speed to high, creating a fluffy and smooth icing.
Notes
Nutrition
Directions
- Warm the milk to about 110 degrees before adding the yeast to it. As you see in this pic, we over-shot by a little, no problem, just wait a little for it to cool.
2. Once you have combined the milk and yeast, add the white granulated sugar to the bowl.
3. Add the eggs and mix, in a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment.
4. Begin adding the dry ingredients, a little at a time. Scrape down the sides of the bowl when necessary to bring everything together.
5. The dough will form together into a single mass.
6. Incorporate the chunks of softened butter while the mixer is running, a few at a time.
7. Place the finished dough ball out onto a lightly floured surface.
8. Gently and briefly knead and mold the dough into a smooth ball.
9. Place the ball into a well-oiled large mixing bowl and wrap with plastic to let the dough rise.
10. Once the dough has rested long enough, roll out on a floured surface with a rolling pin.
11. Trim the rolled-out dough to form a rectangle as shown.
12. Place chunks of softened butter evenly onto the dough.
13. Smear the butter to form an even and thin layer using an offset spatula.
14. Sprinkle brown sugar, cinnamon, and a pinch of flaky sea salt over the layer of butter.
15. Gently roll the dough into a log.
16. Cut the log into thick slices to form the pinwheel rolls.
17. Place parchment into an evenly oiled baking pan.
18. Once the paper is evenly placed, spray the other side with non-stick pan coating.
19. Place the pinwheel slices in the pan, leaving a little space between to allow for them to expand as they bake.
20. Pull them from the oven when they are fully cooked and brown. This is when the aroma will be filling the whole house!
Make Cream Cheese Icing
- Put the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, heavy cream, vanilla, and a little salt into the mixer fitted with the whip attachment. Whip together until combined.
2. Increase the speed of the mixer and whip until the icing is light and fluffy. Scrape the finished frosting out into a bowl.
3. Smear the frosting onto the finished rolls.
4. Nothing left to do now but enjoy!
Chef Tip
The flaky sea salt in the pinwheel filling should not be skipped. This little addition will make a huge difference in accentuating the rich flavors in this cinnamon, butter and brown sugar mixture
Variations
These big cinnamon roll treats lend themselves to quite a few tasty variations, here's a few:
- Nuts - add some chopped pecans or walnuts into the filling for a little crunch.
- Sweeter - we like ours like the recipe is, but feel free to add a little more powdered sugar to the icing, or brown sugar to the filling.
- Fruit - raisins, or dried cranberries adds some tart flavor pops in the brown sugar filling.
Storage & Helpful Hints
Store the finished cinnamon rolls at room temperature tightly covered with plastic wrap. They will stay fresh for a couple of days, after that they will start to turn stale. They usually will get eaten up a lot faster than that, though! Making this entire recipe first thing in the morning can be a bit much. This recipe is ideal for making in advance, so no need to worry! Just make the rolls and put the whole pan in the fridge the day before. You can make the frosting and leave it out covered in plastic so that it's ready when they are still warm from the oven. Just make sure to pull the pan out to warm up for at least an hour or two before putting them in. For us, that's perfect timing, since we will go ahead and make coffee and a nice breakfast while waiting!
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Yes, you can even make them ahead and freeze them for up to a month raw. Just pull them out of the freezer to defrost for at least an hour before you bake them.
aelandry says
one word.... mmmmmm mmmmmmm ....
Well
, some would say thats two words. perfect to make the night before for a great morning.
rushingwaters says
took some time. but we'll worth the wait!
Jason Miller says
It is a long recipe, but most of the time is spent on "passive" stuff. So glad you tried and enjoyed it!