Cinnamon rolls – with cream cheese frosting
These super soft rolls are filled with butter and cinnamon sugar and then topped with delicious cream cheese frosting. I might be biased but I believe that these are THE BEST cinnamon rolls ever!
What you will need to make this recipe
Butter – Salted butter is what I use for these. You can use unsalted or a dairy free butter but you will need to add a little bit of extra salt.
Flour – I use all purpose flour for these rolls to keep them soft and tender.
Yeast – You can use active yeast or quick yeast for this recipe.
Sugar– this recipe uses 3 types of sugar. White granulated sugar for the dough, brown sugar for the filling and icing sugar in the frosting.
Milk
Egg – 1 large egg
Cornflour – This gives your cinnamon rolls even more lightness making these rolls super soft.
Baking powder – A tiny boost to the rising of your cinnamon rolls. While the yeast will do most of the rising in these rolls the baking powder helps to support the lighter flours that you will use for this recipe.
Salt
Spices – Ground cinnamon with just a hint of nutmeg to boost the flavor.
Cream – Heavy whipping cream, use this to cover your cinnamon rolls before baking and also in your frosting.
Cream cheese – Used for your cream cheese frosting. You could leave this out and use a simple glaze instead if you like.
Vanilla extract
What is the difference between yeast based and scone style cinnamon rolls?
While both styles are absolutely delicious there are a few major differences between them.
In our house there is certainly a divide between which style of cinnamon rolls are the best. For the adults it’s the more light and airy yeast style. But the kids, especially my youngest, prefer the scone style scrolls.
Yeast based – This type of cinnamon roll requires a bit more of a time commitment. Yeast based cinnamon rolls are made using an enriched bread dough. The yeast in the bread dough works to create the soft fluffy rise of the scroll. These types of cinnamon rolls are super soft, absolutely delicious and pair really well with a cream cheese frosting.
Scone style – These are quick and easy. There is no rising or resting time required for these scrolls because all of the fluff and rise is achieved mostly by using baking powder. Because of this you could have this type of cinnamon roll on your plate and ready to eat in around about 1 hour. Scone style cinnamon rolls are a little more dense and tend to build a bit of a crust on the top surface. They are a bit heavier but also have a little more of a decadent feel. If you want to give this style a try then check out my cinnamon rolls recipe.
Overnight cinnamon rolls
Do you want your cinnamon rolls freshly baked in the morning?
Filling your house with that heavenly bread and cinnamon aroma….
But not sure how to when you know that yeast based cinnamon rolls are going to take time.
You can easily turn this recipe into an overnight recipe!
Prepare your your rolls up to the point that they are filled, sliced and nestled snugly into your baking tray. Cover the tray with cling film and place them in the fridge till morning. They will rise slowly overnight and be ready to bake in the morning. When you wake up, remove the cling film and brush over your cream. Place them in a cold oven set to 150 degrees. Bake for 40 minutes (or until they are golden and baked through). Add your frosting and serve.
Cinnamon rolls – with cream cheese frosting
Ingredients
Method
- In a small saucepan melt the butter
- Add in the milk, water and sugar and heat it until it is warm but not hot (approx 40 degrees). remove the mixture from the heat
- Add in the yeast and mix it through. Set aside for 5 minutes. The yeast should be bubbly by this point
- Transfer the yeast mixture to a large bowl and add in the egg, 1 cup of flour, cornflour and baking powder
- Mix your ingredients in your bowl thoroughly. The mixture should be thin and gloopy and fall from the spoon in sort of stringy clumps
- Mix in your remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time until well combined
- Turn your dough out onto a clean bench top. Knead a little to form a smooth ball of dough
- Lightly oil your bowl and the surface of the dough before returning the dough to the bowl. Use your fingertips to make deep dimples all over the surface of the dough and leave it to rise for at least an hour, or until doubled in size
- Once the dough is risen, place the dough onto a lightly floured bench top and roll it out it to form a large rectangle approx 30cm x45cm
- In a small bowl, combine together the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg
- Melt the butter and spread evenly over the entire surface of your rolled dough
- Sprinkle over the cinnamon sugar mixture and spread it out evenly
- Loosely roll the dough into a large log along the dough’s longest edge.
- Once the dough is rolled cut it into slices using a serrated knife. The slices should be about 2-3 cm thick
- Arrange the dough slices, with the cinnamon swirl facing upwards, in a large, lined baking pan. Make sure to leave a little bit of space between each roll as they will grow slightly
- Place in a warm spot to rise for at about an hour or until the scrolls have visibly grown
- Generously brush the tops of the rolls with cream. Drizzle any excess cream evenly over the top of the rolls.
- Place the rolls into a cold oven
- Preheat your oven to 150 ℃ fan. Bake for 30 minutes or until the cinnamon rolls are golden on top and the bread is cooked through
- Use an electric beater to whip together all of the frosting ingredients until smooth
- Spread the frosting evenly on top of the hot cinnamon rolls
Notes
Thank you so much for taking the time to read through my cinnamon rolls recipe. I hope you enjoy trying this out for yourself. Please feel free to add any questions or comments below. I am happy to help out wherever possible and I would love to hear how this recipe worked out for you.
