| Prep Time | 60 minutes |
| Cook Time | 12-15 minutes |
| Passive Time | 90 minutes |
| Servings |
24-30 rolls
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Ingredients
Yeast mixture
- 1-1/2 cups warm water
- 1/2 cup evaporated milk
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 2 tsp salt
- 2-1/4 tsp yeast 1 package
Flour mixing ingredients
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 5-6 cups all purpose or baking flour
Rolling phase ingredients
- 1/2 cup melted butter
- 1-2 cups light brown sugar to taste
- 2-4 Tbsp ground cinnamon to taste
- 1/4-1/2 cup chopped nuts and/or raisins optional
Frosting
- 1/2 cup softened butter
- 4 cups powdered sugar 450g
- 1/2-2/3 cup evaporated milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Ingredients
Yeast mixture
Flour mixing ingredients
Rolling phase ingredients
Frosting
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Instructions
Activate the yeast!
- Let's get the yeast ready! First off, make sure you are using fresh yeast. If it is expired, throw it out and go buy some more. Trust me on this. I have used old yeast thinking, "oh, it's been in the freezer, so it's ok!" Wrong. It is not ok. Throw it out! With that being said: warm up the water to about 120°F. This temperature is a little bit too warm for yeast, but adding the other ingredients will cool it down. Add the evaporated milk, sugar, oil, and salt. Stir it up and check your temperature. It should be about 100-110°F when you add the yeast. If it is not warm enough, put the whole bowl in to the microwave for about 10-15 seconds at a time until you get to the right temperature. Add the yeast and stir it up gently.
- Let the mixture sit undisturbed for about 10 minutes. I have pictured the progression of the yeast activation. It should be nice and frothy after 10 minutes.
Add the eggs:
- I put this instruction all by its lonesome self for a reason. I have forgotten to add the eggs to my cinnamon rolls at least 2-3 times in the past! If you forget the eggs, it will pretty much wreck this recipe and you might as well start over. Don't forget to add the eggs before you start adding flour! Stir them in gently, but thoroughly incorporate them in to the yeast mixture.
Start adding flour:
- Any time you add flour, just keep in mind that proper flour additions will make or break your cinnamon roll success. If you add too much, the rolls will not be as light and fluffy as they could have been. If you add too little, you will have a sticky mess to contend with. Add 3 cups of flour to start, and mix it in. The flour does NOT need to be sifted, strained, etc. You will have a thick oatmeal texture at this point. Add another cup of flour and mix it in.
- From start to finish, you will add roughly 4-5 cups of flour. Keep stirring it in until it looks like the pictures. It should still be moist, sticky, and kind of a mess! It should stick to the bowl, but not in a crazy way. Zoom in on the picture and take a look. If you add too much, it will not be glossy anymore, and take a long time to rise - or not rise very much at all. Less flour at this point is better than more.
- Cover the bowl with a clean towel and place in a warm area for about 60 minutes. In the winter I find it helpful to warm up my oven to about 80-90°F, turn it OFF, and then place the bowl in there. Any place warm will work.
- The dough should have doubled in size at this point. Sprinkle a bit of flour over the dough so your hands will not stick too much, and rip it out of the bowl! Just do it! Place the dough in to your mixer bowl, or on to a lightly floured bread board if you are going to do the next part by hand. I pictured the empty bowl for a reason. This should give you an idea of the "stickiness" level your dough should be at this point.
Get ready to roll!
- Place the dough on to a lightly floured cutting board or rolling surface. Cut the dough in half to make the next part a bit easier and more manageable.
- Melt 1/2 cup of butter in a mug or bowl. Spread a thin layer of butter in your pans. Make sure to butter the bottom and sides of the pans. I use a pastry brush and it works great! You can use a non-stick cooking spray instead of butter if you like. Keep the melted butter close by for the next step. Set up a workstation with everything you will need. Your hands will be full of butter, sugar, and dough, and you will not want to be stopping to open cupboards or packages.
Roll out the dough:
- Roll out the dough in to some kind of rectangle form. As you can see from mine, it is not perfect. It doesn't matter! Just roll it out in any old fashion. If the dough is too stretchy, just let it sit for a few minutes to relax. I will just roll through the "stretchiness" and power through it if I am in a hurry.
- Dump some butter straight on to the dough. It is all an estimate at this point, but I would say about 2-3 Tbsp. to start, and add more if you need to. Spread the butter to the edges of the dough with your hand or a pastry brush. This should be a fairly thick coating of butter; enough that it soaks in to the brown sugar a bit. Note: I wash my hands in the sink frequently during this part. Every time I add an ingredient, I rinse off my hands and dry them in my "cinnamon roll towel." It keeps my OCD at bay by avoiding a really big mess.
- Add some brown sugar. This is all by preference and taste. I like a nice layer of brown sugar, about 1/8" thick. Spread it all the way to the edges. Add your cinnamon. I add quite a bit. These are cinnamon rolls, remember! I add about 2-3 Tbsp, at least. I usually go by how dark it looks, and the picture I took is about perfect, IMHO. Now is the time to add nuts and/or raisins, if you want them. I prefer my cinnamon rolls plain, but do what you like!
- Starting from the back, roll the dough in to a log. Keep a bit of tension on the roll while you roll it. Don't stretch out the dough too much, but give it a slight pull as you roll it. This will ensure a nice tight roll that will not fall apart when you cut it. Practice makes perfect!
- Cut up the log in to even sections as pictured. You can make these as thick or thin as you like. I have found that 1" to 1-1/2" pieces are the best. Place the pieces in to your lightly buttered pans as pictured. Don't worry if your butter has started to solidify a bit; it will not affect anything.
The cinnamon rolls shall rise again!
- I always think of Harry Potter here. I am such a nerd. Please tell me you get the joke! Cover the pans with a clean towel and let the cinnamon rolls rise in the pans for about 20 minutes. They should be a bit bigger than they were.
Bake & Frost:
- Place the pans in to a 400°F oven for about 12-15 minutes. Keep a close eye on them and take them out when they are golden brown. Some of my family and friends like them a bit undercooked, which is fine, but I prefer them nice and golden.
- Oooooh yeah! Set the pans aside to cool for about 15-20 minutes. If you put on the frosting when the rolls are super hot, it will end up bad. The frosting will cool, crack, and then flake off. You need to let the rolls cool a bit first. They need just enough warmth to melt the buttery frosting a little bit so it gets down in to all of the crevices!
Whip up the frosting & slather!
- I use my other smaller mixer for this part, but a whisk is really all that you need. Place some softened butter in to a bowl and whip it up. Add the powdered sugar and whip it up until the butter is not really visible anymore.
- Add the evaporated milk. You can add slowly or just dump it in. You may need to add less/more of the evaporated milk, depending on how thick the frosting is. Don't add too much and make the frosting runny! The frosting should make nice stiff peaks. Add the vanilla, and whip up the frosting until it is light and fluffy.
- Use a spatula to spread the frosting over the warm cinnamon rolls. I like a ton of frosting, as you can see. If you are going to eat a cinnamon roll, do it right!
Recipe Notes
The story behind this recipe:
These cinnamon rolls graced the home that I grew up in. My Mom is a master cinnamon roll baker, and taught me how to make these. I have never had a better overall tasting cinnamon roll! It took me several attempts to get them right. There are small tricks you pick up each time you make them, so give yourself some time and a few batches and you will get them down.
I took these to a job interview once. In preparation for the interview, they had asked me to prepare a 5 minute presentation about anything I wanted to present. I was up against roughly 12 other applicants, and I knew that I needed to stand out. I discussed the process of baking cinnamon rolls in its entirety, relating it to the job I was applying for. At the end of the presentation I gave all of the applicants and interview panel members a cinnamon roll. I must have brought 5 dozen. I'm not sure if the other applicants were happy with me; they pretty much knew who dominated the job interview.
It probably goes without saying, but I landed the job! To date it was the most enjoyable and satisfying job interview I've ever had.
