My oldest asks for these cinnamon rolls regularly, they are his favorite. Melted butter and buttermilk keep them nice and soft and the brown sugar filling is rich and satisfying. I usually make some sort of cream cheese topping like a glaze or frosting. At my restaurant we did a buttery cream cheese frosting (recipe included) that we slathered on while the rolls were still hot so it melted over them and they were to die for!
Be prepared for an overload of pictures! I wanted to give the step by step visual of making these cinnamon rolls. Use the “jump to recipe” button to bypass all the pics.
cinnamon roll ingredients
1 cup water
2 tsp instant yeast
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup melted butter
4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp salt
making the dough
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, put in the water , yeast and sugar. Let this sit while you gather your other ingredients. Check to see if yeast if foamy, if it is, go ahead and add the butter and butter milk and stir. Next add the flour and salt, mix starting on low speed and going up to medium once dough starts to form. Mix for about 5 minutes. Dough should start to pull away from edges but still be sticking to the bottom of the bowl a little. If the dough is too wet add a little flour at a time and mix more. Put the dough on a well floured surface, be sure to flour both sides of dough and your rolling pin.
Roll dough into a rectangle about 12 inches by 18 inches. Make the filling…
brown sugar filling
1/4 cup melted butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
Mix the brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl and set aside. Brush the melted butter onto the rolled out dough, then sprinkle and spread the brown sugar filling over the dough.
rolling the cinnamon rolls
Starting at a short end of the dough, fold about an inch over and press down. Then using that part start rolling the dough up. Be sure to flour your hands if needed. Roll until you have a log of dough.
cut, proof and bake the cinnamon rolls
Cut the log into 8 pieces and lay in the prepared baking dish with the roll side facing up. Cover with a clean, damp dish towel and let sit till rolls are doubled in size (1-2 hours depending on how warm the room is) Once proofed, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Uncover roll and place in oven and bake starting at 12 minutes. Check and rotate and bake another 10 minutes or until rolls are light golden on top. Remove from oven and frost or glaze with your favorite topping and enjoy!
You can freeze the baked cinnamon rolls and pull desired amount out to thaw about 20-30 minutes before re-warming in the oven. Just never refrigerate breads! It makes them stale faster. Keep them at room temp or freeze. The cinnamon rolls will last on the counter (if not eaten immediately) for about 4 days.
buttermilk cinnamon rolls
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 cup water
- 2 tsp instant yeast
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp salt
Brown Sugar Filling
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp nutmeg
Instructions
- Oil or butter a 9×13 inch baking dish. Or line completely with baking parchment for an easy way to remove from the pan and easier clean up.
Making the Dough
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, put in the water , yeast and sugar. Let this sit while you gather your other ingredients.
- Check to see if yeast if foamy, if it is add the butter and butter milk and stir
- Next add the flour and salt, mix starting on low speed and going up to medium once dough starts to form
- Mix for about 5 minutes. Dough should start to pull away from edges but still be sticking to the bottom of the bowl a little. If the dough is too wet add a little flour at a time and mix more.
- Put the dough on a well floured surface, be sure to flour both sides of dough and your rolling pin.
- Roll dough into a rectangle about 12 inches by 18 inches. Make the filling…
Brown Sugar Filling
- Mix the brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl and set aside.
- Brush the melted butter onto the rolled out dough, then sprinkle and spread the brown sugar filling over the dough.
Rolling the Rolls
- Starting at a short end of the dough, fold about an inch over and press down. Then using that part start rolling the dough up. Be sure to flour your hands if needed. Roll until you have a log of dough.
Cut, Proof and Bake
- Cut the log into 8 pieces and lay in the prepared baking dish with the roll side facing up
- Cover with a clean, damp dish towel and let sit till rolls are doubled in size (1-2 hours depending on how warm the room is)
- Once proofed, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Uncover roll and place in oven and bake starting at 12 minutes. Check and rotate and bake another 10 minutes or until rolls are light golden on top.
- Remove from oven and frost or glaze with your favorite topping and enjoy!
Notes
cinnamon roll frosting
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter (2 sticks) at room temp
- 1 cup cream cheese (8oz) at room temp
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Be sure your butter and cream cheese are room temp or the frosting can get clumps in it!
- In a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, mix the cream cheese and butter together until nice and fluffy. About 5 minutes.
- Add the powdered sugar and mix starting on low until incorporated. You may need to pulse it so it does not fly all over.
- Once incorporated, bring speed up to high and mix for a couple minutes to get the frosting fluffy, Overmixing will make it separate so be careful there.
- Now you can spread over the cinnamon rolls when they are hot out of the oven and the frosting will melt all around them.
- Keep frosting at room temp while using. Refrigerate when not in use. Bring back to room temp before using again.
