Tammy's Recipes

A soft and fluffy homemade cinnamon roll with cream cheese frosting on top

Dough Ingredients:

1 cup warm milk
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon dry yeast
1/4 cup gluten
4-5 cups all-purpose flour, divided*

Filling Ingredients:

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter (not too hot)
1/2 cup sugar
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 cup raisins, optional

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine and stir ingredients in order listed, adding about 3-4 cups of flour. Knead dough and add additional flour as necessary to make a soft but not sticky dough. Knead dough for 5-10 minutes, until smooth and elastic.

2. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning once to grease both sides, and cover with a clean towel. Set dough in a warm place to rise until double in size. If you have a bread machine, you can use the dough setting in place of steps 1 and 2 here.

3. Punch dough down and then cover and let dough rest for 10 minutes. If using raisins, boil them for a few minutes in some water, then drain. (This makes softer, plumper raisins.)

4. Mix sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a rectangle about 12 inches by 20 inches. Spread with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon mixture. Sprinkle raisins over, if using.

5. Roll dough into a log, starting at the longest side of the rectangle. Pinch edges and ends to seal. Slice into 12 slices. We use a clean strip of dental floss for this step. Just slip the floss under the dough and bring both ends up, crossing over the top and pulling tightly in opposite directions to cut the dough.

6. Place the rolls, cut side down, in a greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 20-30 minutes, until almost doubled in size.

7. Bake rolls in a pre-heated oven; if using a glass baking dish, bake at 350 degrees; if using a metal baking dish bake at 375 degrees. After 15 minutes of baking, lay a piece of foil loosely over the tops of the rolls, to prevent them from getting too browned on top. My rolls usually take at least 18-20 minutes; check the rolls (I check in the middle, between rolls) for doneness before removing from oven. :)

8. After taking dish from oven, cool rolls on a wire rack. If you wish to eat them warm, you can spread frosting on them while they're still in the dish. :)

9. To make the frosting, cream butter and cream cheese in a bowl. Mix in vanilla and then powdered sugar.

*Additional ingredients for a softer bread: Add a pinch of citric acid and about 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger. You can also mix about 1 teaspoon of soy lecithin in the warm milk. These dough enhancers will make softer rolls that don't get dry as quickly. :)

This is my mom's cinnamon roll recipe, with a few adjustments made by Joshua and me. :) Sweet and cinnamon-y, these rolls are soft and delicious!! The cream cheese frosting isn't too sweet, and goes great on these rolls. I usually make the dough in my bread machine. We use the optional dough-enhancing ingredients (see additional notes) which does make them even better, but they are still good without. My rating: 10/10