Cinnamon Rolls

Method

1. Make the dough by combining flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. Add warm milk, melted butter, and egg. Stir until a shaggy dough forms, then knead on a floured surface for 8 minutes until smooth and elastic. The dough should spring back when poked. Place in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 hour until doubled.

2. Roll the dough into a 16x12-inch rectangle on a floured surface. Spread the softened butter evenly over the entire surface, then sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture over the butter. Press gently so the filling adheres.

3. Roll tightly from the long side into a log. Use dental floss to cut into 12 equal pieces. Place cut-side up in a buttered 9x13 baking dish, spacing evenly.

4. Let rise for 30 minutes until the rolls are puffy and touching each other. This second rise is critical — it's what makes the rolls soft and airy instead of dense.

5. Bake at 375°F for 22–25 minutes until golden brown on top. The rolls should be puffed and the filling should be bubbling at the edges.

6. Make the frosting while the rolls bake: beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth. Spread over the warm rolls immediately — the heat melts the frosting into every crevice.

Equipment

• Large mixing bowl Recommended: Vollrath 13-Quart Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl
• Rolling pin Recommended: J.K. Adams Maple Rolling Pin
• 9x13 baking dish
• Dental floss (for cutting)

Chef Notes

• The most important thing: The second rise in the pan is what makes them fluffy. After cutting and placing the rolls in the pan, let them rise for 30 minutes until puffy and touching. Skipping this rise gives you dense, bready rolls instead of soft, pillowy ones.
• Use dental floss to cut the rolled log cleanly. A knife compresses the soft dough and squishes the filling out. Slide floss under the log, cross the ends over the top, and pull — clean cuts every time.
• Frost while warm. The cream cheese frosting melts slightly into the crevices of the warm rolls, creating pockets of tangy sweetness throughout.
• The milk for the dough should be warm (110°F) — hot enough to activate the yeast but not hot enough to kill it. If it's too hot to hold your finger in comfortably, it's too hot.
• These can be assembled the night before and refrigerated. Pull them out 30 minutes before baking to come to room temperature.

Common Substitutions

Ingredient	Substitution	Notes
Butter	Ghee or olive oil	Ghee for similar richness. Olive oil for dairy-free.
Cream cheese	Mascarpone or Neufchâtel	Mascarpone is richer. Neufchâtel is lower fat.
Whole milk	Oat milk or almond milk	Oat milk is creamiest. Almond is thinner — add 1 tsp oil.
Bread	Gluten-free bread or lettuce wraps	GF bread varies by brand. Lettuce wraps for low-carb.
All-purpose flour	Gluten-free 1:1 flour blend	Bob's Red Mill or King Arthur GF blends work best.
Sugar	Coconut sugar or maple syrup	Coconut sugar is 1:1. Maple: reduce liquid slightly.

What You're Practicing

Cinnamon rolls teach you yeasted dough fundamentals — mixing, kneading, rising, shaping. The same dough-handling skills apply to dinner rolls, pizza dough, and sandwich bread. Understanding how yeast works (feeding on sugar, producing CO2 that creates rise) is the foundation of all bread baking. Visit Pastry Foundations for more on yeasted doughs.

The two-rise method (bulk rise + proof in pan) teaches you about fermentation timing. The first rise develops flavor and structure; the second rise gives the shaped rolls their final volume. Visit Techniques for more on fermentation.