Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

A cinnamon roll with the softest, melt-in-your-mouth dough with just the right amount of cinnamon. This is truly a Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll Copycat, delicious! 

Cinnamon Rolls. Sigh… It’s just one of those love at first sight kind of things. I’m a HUGE cinnamon roll fan. Who isn’t!? The super soft cinnamony (is that a word?) bread smothered in cream cheese frosting.

To.Die.For. Have I convinced you yet? You MUST make this. And if you share with you friends you don’t have to worry about having all those extras in the house.

This is a very easy recipe and I was so glad because I was teaching a friend for her first time how to make cinnamon rolls and easy is always better when teaching someone else! It takes a lot more time than my Easy Cinnamon Rolls but this is the real deal. I still love my easy cinnamon roll recipe but there is nothing like homemade super soft bread!

Just start by scalding the milk with the butter and sugar. You don’t want to boil it or it can give it a bad taste. Just almost boiling. Place the milk mixture in a large bowl and let it cool, about 20-30 minutes then add the yeast. If it’s too hot it can kill the yeast so make sure it’s just warm to the touch but not hot.

Once the yeast has activated by appearing bubbly, add the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix until its all well incorporated. The dough will be very sticky!

Place a tea towel over your bowl and let it sit in a warm place for about an hour until it rises.

This is the view we had while the dough was rising. My friend has a kitchen with this view! It’s gorgeous and they get to watch the sunsets every night! Just breathtaking!

Remove the dough and place onto a well floured surface. Add a cup of flour or more and knead into the dough until it forms a ball. Sometimes I have to add quite a bit more flour to be able to handle it without it being super sticky.

I let my friend do this part and she had a blast as you can see. She was laughing because this dough is so soft and fun to play with!

  

Split the dough into two parts. Flour your rolling pin and roll each part into a rectangle about 24×16. Spread the melted butter all over the dough making sure to get the edges well.

Next, cover generously with brown sugar and cinnamon. It should look pretty amazing!

Now start rolling! This is the fun part!

You can place a little water on the final lip of the dough to seal it to the log. Just dab a little on your finger and slide it along the edge to seal it.

Using a really sharp knife or dental floss, cut each cinnamon roll about 2 inches wide. Place onto a greased baking sheet.

Put them in a warm place to rise about 20-30 minutes.

Just look at those beauties oozing with juicy cinnamon amazingness!

Bake for 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees F. These cinnamon rolls are the best cinnamon roll recipe you will find! As I always say, easy as long as you plan time!

Mix all the frosting ingredients together with a hand mixer until smooth. Smother the cinnamon roll with frosting and enjoy warm!

Here are the chefs enjoying the homemade cinnamon rolls right out of the oven! They were perfect! You can easily cut this recipe in half or freeze half because it makes a lot of rolls.

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls – A Cinnabon Copycat 

Yield: 36  Prep Time: 2 hours  Cooking Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1 quart Whole Milk
1 cup Butter
1 cup Sugar
2 packages Active Dry Yeast, 0.25 Ounce Packets
8 cups All-purpose Flour + 1 Cup
1 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder
1 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda
1 Tablespoon (heaping) Salt
Melted Butter
2 cups Brown Sugar
Cinnamon

Frosting:

1 bag Powdered Sugar
2 teaspoons Vanilla
1/2 cup Milk
1/4 cup Melted Butter
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan, melt together the milk, butter, and sugar. Almost bring to a boil then remove from heat. Pour the hot mixture into a large metal bowl and allow to cool until warm.

2. Add the yeast and let it sit until the mixture becomes activated. It should look foamy and bubbly.

3. Next, add the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix until all the dry ingredients are well incorporated into the wet ingredients. The dough will be sticky.

4. Place a tea towel over the metal bowl and put it in a warm place to rise. Allow to rise about 1 hour or until doubled in size.

4. Pour the dough out onto a well floured surface. It will be pretty runny and sticky. Add 1 cup of flour and knead into the dough until it forms a ball. It should no longer be sticky at this time. Add more flour if it seems to be really sticky but not too much or the dough can become hard and more difficult to roll out.

5. Split the dough into two pieces. Roll each halves into a 24×18 rectangle. Melt some butter and spread all around the rectangle of dough making sure to get all the edges well. The amount of butter depends on how much you like. I used 1 stick for both but if you want to go all out, then you can use 1 stick for each rectangle.

6. Sprinkle generously with brown sugar and cinnamon until the dough is completely covered.

7. Roll each rectangle into a log starting with the longest side and working each side so it’s an evenly rolled log.

8. Using a piece of dental floss, gently saw side to side on the log, cutting each piece about 2 inches wide. You can also use a very sharp knife if that’s

9. Place each roll into a greased pan and place again in a warm place to rise. The rolls should rise a quarter to double the size. Give about 20-30 minutes to rise.

10. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees F and bake about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. You may need to place on broil at the end to brown the tops.

11. Top with frosting and enjoy while warm!

*Freezing and Thawing Instructions:
It’s best to freeze the rolls, unrisen, in the pan. Cover them tightly with plastic wrap then when you are ready to use them, allow them to thaw and rise. Give the rolls about 30 minutes to thaw and let them rise in a warm place about 15-20 minutes. Then continue the normal baking and icing! This is great for making ahead of time!

{adapted from My Litter}

Let me know how you like these homemade cinnamon rolls, they are one of our favorites!

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