You know how everybody thinks their mom’s cinnamon rolls are the best in the world? Don’t tell your mom, but THESE cinnamon rolls are really the best in the world! Over the years I have tried many different cinnamon roll recipes. But once I made this recipe, I quit trying any others. You can’t improve on perfection!
The dough is a versatile sweet roll dough that can be used for a variety of sweet rolls. I have used this dough recipe for frosted orange rolls, caramel rolls with nuts, lemon rolls. etc. Oh my mouth is watering right now just thinking about them. I can usually “bribe” my husband to finish some “honey-do” chores if I promise to make these for him!
The Dough:
1 pkg. yeast
3/4 c. warm water
1/3 c. sugar
1 t. salt
1/3 c. oil
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 c. evaporated milk
4 – 4 1/2 c. flour
Dissolve yeast in the warm water. Add the remaining ingredients in the order listed (the dough will be soft.) Turn out onto floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes.) If using an electric mixer with a dough hook, add just enough flour to clean the sides of the mixing bowl and knead the dough on medium speed for about 6 minutes. Place the dough in greased bowl, cover and allow to rise in a warm place until dough has doubled in bulk. Punch down and shape into cinnamon rolls by rolling the dough into a rectangle that is 15 inches long by 18″ wide.
Spread the rectangle of dough generously with softened butter. Sprinkle with a good amount of brown sugar and cinnamon. (You can go heavy on the cinnamon if you like them really cinnamon-y.) Roll tightly from the 15″ edge and pinch the seam to seal all of the butter, sugar and cinnamon inside.
Using a sharp serrated knife, slice the rolls into 15 – 1″ rolls. Place them on a greased baking sheet (3 across and 5 down.) They will be touching when they are all risen and baked.
Cover the rolls with a clean kitchen towel and allow to rise until double in size (about 45 minutes to an hour.) Bake in 375° oven for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and drizzle with icing or use store bought vanilla frosting that has been warmed in the microwave (this helps it to drizzle more easily!) I make a simple icing using powdered sugar, vanilla extract and a tiny bit of milk. Stir it until it’s smooth.
They are best eaten while warm. I doubt you’ll have any leftovers, but if you do, just keep them in an airtight container.
Just wondering what kind of yeast you use? Also do you have measurements for your icing? I have tried sooo many recipes for these. I cannot get a frosting that I like on top to save my life or a recipe for the rolls that actually tastes like a cinnamon roll. Thanks for the help.
Stephanie
Hi Stephanie! I use Fleishman’s active dry yeast. As far as the icing, I don’t have an exact recipe. But I start with about a tablespoon of softened butter and add a bit of powdered sugar and mix it until it makes a soft paste. Then I add about 1 teaspoon of vanilla and a small drizzle of milk (probably a tablespoon or 2…then mix in more powdered sugar and add more milk to get it to the consistency that will drizzle easily. Hope this helps!
try a basic cream cheese frosting…..makes the best topping for cinnamon rolls
1 8oz package cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
1 box powdered sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
mix together till creamy and spread generously on warm rolls
That sounds delicious!
Oh, it is,
HI THANKS FOR YOUR RECEPIE. BUT LIKE IM IN ANOTHER COUNTRY I NEED TO KNOW HOW MUCH IN GRAMS IS YOUR PACKAGE OF YEAST . MANY THANKS.
One packet is 8 grams (or 2 1/4 teaspoons)
Do you have to make the cinnamon rolls as big as the say?
And how many doe this recipe make
You could easily make them smaller if you’d like to. By making them smaller, you would probably need to adjust the baking time slightly. They probably wouldn’t need to bake as long. Good luck and enjoy. They are soooo yummy!
Hi. What can I use in place of Yeast, eggs, and evaporated milk?
Also, what is the quantity of butter?
Do you put dry cinnamon powder? And how much?
One last Q – I have a microwave, so will that be, like, 7-8 minutes?
I’m sorry Sona, I can’t think of any substitutions for these in this recipe…But if you do any experimenting, be sure to let us know how they work out!
I cannot imagine them being good if made in a microwave.I usually use a tablespoon of cinnamon. If you use a cream cheese icing, they’ll taste much like Cinnabon’s but not so sweet.
Hi, I don’t have time to make it in the morning and I would like to do it the night before. Can you put it in the refrigerator to let it rise before baking it in the morning? Thanks!
Yes you can make it ahead of time and keep it refrigerated. Be aware that when the dough is chilled, it will take longer to rise (It will need to come to room temperature before it will begin to rise.) You can heat your oven for just about 1-2 minutes, then turn it OFF. Place the covered cinnamon rolls into the slightly warm oven to hurry them along!
How much butter do you put in the dough? Thank you!
There is no butter in the dough. The butter is actually spread onto the dough after it is rolled out. It’s not an exact measurement, but I would say it’s about 4 – 6 tablespoons of softened butter. I just spread it onto the rectangle of dough and sprinkle liberally with cinnamon sugar. (See the photo.) But you can add more or less depending on your taste. My ratio of sugar to cinnamon is about 1 T. of cinnamon for every 1/2 c. sugar. I hope these work out well for you!
Thanks for your fast reply, I’ m making it now and thanks for mentioning sugar and cinnamon ratios too, that was something I forgot to ask.
Hi!
Can I make this recipe omitting the evaporated milk? It sounds so YUMMY and I want to make them TODAY but I don’t have evaporated milk. Will it still come out tasty??
I have made it using milk + nonfat dry milk in place of the evaporated milk. I have not made this recipe with regular milk, but I have made other dough recipes using scalded and cooled milk. It would be worth a try..Let me know how they turn out!
Hi! I made the cinnamon rolls without evaporated milk and they came out good. I live in Brazil and evaporated milk doesn’t seem to exist here… I didn’t add milk.
BUT…. everyone who ate one only have good things to say! They literally were so soft and moist. Thanks for the recipe!
Also… a plus in living such a HOT climate is that they rose pretty quickly. Hehehe
How long does it take the dough to double in size before I roll up into the actual roll?
Good question Courtney! If the dough is kept in a warm place, it usually takes about 45 – 60 minutes to double. Then punch it down and roll it out. I hope you enjoy them!
Thanks for the quick response! I am so excited as I am making them tomorrow morning for breakfast!
Jealous. I like my Moms Cinnamon Rolls better than Cinnabon. Maybe I need to make them tomorrow too. Sunday-Yumday
can this recipe be converted to gluten free?
Hi Amanda! I don’t know a lot about converting bread recipes to gluten free. I have never actually tried it. I imagine there might be some good advice online. We love to hear back from our readers when they have tried something new and have success. Please let us know!
I feel stupid for even asking this, but i’m not a very experienced baker. What kind of oil? Vegetable oil? These seems pretty simple to make and would make a great Christmas morning breakfast.
Yes, just vegetable or canola oil works great!
I made these last week. They were AMAZING!! My family loved them. Thanks for the recipe!! I plan on making these Christmas morning!
HOW LONG DID YOU LEAVE THE DOUGH TO RISE THE FIRST TIME? MINE IS NOT RISING VERY QUICKLY.
It takes about an hour in a warm place. (I have found that if I leave my rolls on my granite countertop to rise, they do not rise very fast! The stone keeps them cold and slows down the process!) If your dough is not rising, it could be that your yeast was old or the water temperature was either not warm enough to activate the yeast properly or that the water was too hot to and “killed” the yeast. You can test your yeast in warm water with a bit of sugar. After a few minutes is should be bubbly. If it’s not, the yeast is probably no good any longer.
I left mine on top of a warm oven for a long time and they barely rose, so i did the warm oven trick I do with bread, turn on broil for 30 seconds then turn off and put the dough in…it rose very nicely over 45-60 mins
How many rolls will this recipe make and can I make it the day before I need to bake them?
It will make 15 large rolls. You can certainly make the dough the day before you need it. Store it covered in the refrigerator, but keep in mind that the dough will need to come up to room temperature before it will begin to rise, so allow plenty of time. Enjoy them!
I just wanted to make sure I use the correct flour, are you using all purpose or self rising flour?
Just all-purpose flour! Enjoy them!
Would it be possible to do this recipe, under the dough cycle in a bread machine?
Yes it is, as long as it kneads the dough thoroughly.
Can the rolls be frozen and then baked? Cause it would be so nice to be able to make a few batches and just pop them in the oven at a later date.
I have not actually done that before. I do know that freezing un-risen yeast dough can be a little tricky. You may want to make a batch and save a couple of the rolls and put them into the freezer to experiment. The yeast may not rise properly after being frozen. I have heard (but have not confirmed this) that store bought frozen doughs are made with double the amount of yeast to make up for the change in it’s ability to rise after freezing. I’m all about experimenting, so I would encourage you give it a try! Please get back to me with the results!
I learned so much just from reading the comments ! Thanks everyone 🙂 I will try this recipe for Valentines Day ….
Thank you for your comment about granite, it does make so much sense.
One of your response said to put it in a warm oven and shut it off, but what temp did you set the oven at
before you shut it off?
Thank you,
Louise
I usually just turn it on to 350° and then turn it off after 2 minutes. Then put the (covered) bowl into the oven. It will double faster than just letting it rise in your kitchen.
When I make cinnamon rolls I put the pan on a heating pad set on medium or high. It speeds up the rising process and works better than the oven method for me.
Hello! I was wondering if you could let the rolls rise, then put them in the ‘fridge for the next morning. Thanks,
I have not ever done it this way, however, I do know of some bread or roll recipes that you can roll out and then put them in the fridge to let them rise overnight…It will take several hours if the temperature is cold as opposed to an hour or so at room temperature.
Hello.. I was wondering if you can make them the day before, refrigerate them and then take them out of the refrigerator that night and let them rise while I sleep.
I suppose you could. Be aware that the rising time will vary based on the temperature in your kitchen. If your kitchen is rather warm, the rolls may rise too high during the night and deflate.
This is a good recipe! I, too, have a cold house. The oven trick didn’t work for me, so I put the bowl of dough in a pan of water that was about 110 degrees. It rose wonderfully. The other issue I had was that I didn’t put enough cinnamon and sugar on before rolling. I should have measured so I knew how much to increase it by. When you said generous, you certainly meant it! LOL. I compensated by making a thin sugar glaze first and let that soak down into the roll and then another thicker glaze on top. Otherwise, all was wonderful!
Hiya was wondering if I can substitute veg oil or canola with Olive oil or Avocado oil?
I would probably use a light tasting olive oil as a substitute.
Ohhh deaaaarrrr,
Mine turned out okay, but I put in the oven for only 20 minutes and walked away thinking i left plenty of extra time, but they were still too dark even though i didnt cook for the full time. Idk perhaps they need to cook for 15 or at 350 instead of 375
I have had that happen to me too when baking pizza. I followed the recipe exactly, and it burned. I purchased an oven thermometer and found out that my oven was cooking 25-50 degrees hotter than it said. It varied. I then had to use that device to gage my temperature until we bought a house and had a new oven. (I left the thermometer there for the next people.) Could that be a possibility?
Self rising or plain flour?
Just regular flour! You’re gonna love them!