Giant, Fluffy Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
Ooey gooey homemade cinnamon rolls with options! Make them ahead of time, make them right now, make them gluten free or whole wheat, add fun ingredients, choose one icing or both! But whatever you choose to do, just make them! You're about to fall in love!
Equipment
- Cast Iron Skillet
- Standing Mixer with whisk and hook attachments
Ingredients
Cinnamon Roll Dough:
- 1 packet Active Dry Yeast (2.25 tsp)
- 1/4 c Warm Water
- 3 LG Eggs **at room temperature
- 2 tbsp Honey
- 1.5 c Warm Whole Milk
- 1/4 c Granulated Sugar
- 1 tsp Kosher Salt
- 5.5 c All Purpose Flour
- 1/2 c Unsalted Butter **softened (1 stick)
Cinnamon Roll Filling:
- 1/2 c Unsalted Butter **melted (1 stick)
- 1 c Granulated Sugar
- 1 c Light Brown Sugar
- Ground Cinnamon **to cover or to taste
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp Whole Milk
Cinnamon Roll Cream Cheese Icing:
- 8 oz Cream Cheese
- 4 tbsp Powdered Sugar
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 4 tbsp Whole Milk
Classic Cinnamon Roll Icing:
- 3 c Powdered Sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 3.5 tbsp Whole Milk
Instructions
Cinnamon Roll Dough:
- In a large mixing bowl of a stand mixer with dough hook attachment, dissolve yeast in warm water.
- Add eggs, honey, milk and sugar. Mix well.
- Slowly add salt and flour until dough forms. Make sure to scrape sides and bottom regularly with a rubber spatula.
- Add butter a tablespoon at a time and mix until dough looks smooth. About 6 minutes.
- Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 5-6 minutes.
- Place dough ball in a bowl sprayed with non-stick cooking spray and cover with plastic wrap (spray inside of plastic wrap as well to prevent sticking).
- Cover with a dish towel and let rise for 1 hour. Dough should double in size.
- Turn the dough back out onto a floured surface. Knead for 6 more minutes and return to greased bowl with plastic wrap and dish towel. Let rise for 1 hour again.
- **At this point, you may place bowl in fridge to make the next morning or continue onto the next step to make now.**
- Roll out dough on a floured surface into a large 1/4 inch thick rectangle.
- Pour one stick of melted butter on the dough. Spread evenly with a pastry brush.
- Sprinkle evenly with both sugars and cinnamon.
- Roll dough starting at the longest side into a tight roll.
- Cut into 2 inch thick slices (about 12 rolls) and arrange in a greased cast iron skillet.
- Cover loosely with plastic wrap and dish towel.
- Let rise for 30 minutes while you preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Whisk one egg and 1 tbsp whole milk to make an egg wash.
- Once rolls have risen, brush top with egg wash.
- Place cast iron on the middle rack of the oven and cook for 30 minutes.
Cinnamon Roll Cream Cheese Icing:
- While rolls are baking mix together all cream cheese icing ingredients in the stand mixer with whisk attachment.
- When rolls are done, let them rest 5-10 minutes before icing.
Classic Cinnamon Roll Icing:
- Mix all ingredients in classic cinnamon roll icing adding more or less milk to reach desired thickness.
- Let rolls rest 5-10 minutes before pouring icing over the top.
- **May choose to use one or BOTH icings**
Notes
**Make gluten-free by using a gluten free flour.
**Try substituting whole wheat flour.
**If making ahead of time, put dough in fridge after the second rise. The next morning simply continue to follow the instructions.
**Try adding ingredients to this recipe. Mix in nuts, dried fruits, zest from an orange, or other spices (like nutmeg/pumpkin pie spice). You can add these things during the filling steps (larger ingredient adds such as nuts/dried fruits work best when pushed lightly into the dough to stabilize)