American-Style Cinnamon Rolls with Icing Recipe
Cinnamon rolls are soft yeast buns rolled into spirals with a cinnamon-butter filling and sweet icing. In the USA they’re often eaten for weekend breakfast or as a dessert with coffee, especially in the colder months. The flavor is reminiscent of a mix between a cinnamon sweet bun and challah, but they’re more moist and more heavily spiced.
Cinnamon rolls are the essence of American comfort food – soft, buttery yeast dough, intensely scented with cinnamon and covered with a thick layer of creamy icing. They’re more moist and fluffy than typical Polish sweet buns because they’re baked close together so the centers stay soft and slightly gooey. It’s the kind of bake that fills the whole house with aroma even before you take the pan out of the oven.
Chef's tips
Watch the temperature of the milk for the yeast – it should be pleasantly warm like a bath, not hot, otherwise the yeast will lose its strength and the dough won’t rise. Knead the dough until it’s elastic and smooth; if it’s slightly sticky, that’s good – it means the rolls will be soft after baking, so don’t add too much extra flour. When cutting the log, use a very sharp knife or unflavored dental floss – the slices will be even and you won’t squash the layers.
How to serve
They taste best still slightly warm, with a mug of milky coffee or cocoa on a lazy Sunday morning. They’re also perfect on a holiday table instead of traditional yeast cakes – you can then sprinkle them with extra orange zest or nuts. If any are left for the next day, warm them for a few minutes in the oven or 10–15 seconds in the microwave and they’ll be soft again, just like fresh.
Ingredients
- wheat flour - 450 g
- milk - 220 ml
- yeast - 7 g
- sugar - 70 g
- butter - 70 g
- egg - 1 piece
- salt - 0.5 teaspoons
- cinnamon - 2 tablespoons
- sugar brown - 80 g
- cream cheese - 100 g
- powdered sugar - 80 g
- vanilla - 1 teaspoon
Preparation
- Pour the warm (not hot) milk into a bowl, add 1 tablespoon of sugar and the yeast, stir and set aside for 5–10 minutes until a foam appears on the surface.
- In a large bowl, add the flour, remaining sugar and salt. Add the egg, melted butter (reserve 1 tablespoon for brushing the dough) and the yeast mixture.
- Knead the dough by hand or with a dough hook for 7–10 minutes, until it is smooth, elastic and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. If it is very sticky, add a little flour, but try not to overdo it.
- Shape the dough into a ball, place it in a lightly greased bowl, cover with a kitchen towel and leave in a warm place for about 45–60 minutes, until doubled in size.
- Meanwhile, prepare the filling: mix the brown sugar with the cinnamon in a small bowl.
- Transfer the risen dough to a lightly floured work surface and roll it out into a rectangle roughly 30×40 cm.
- Brush the surface of the dough with the reserved melted butter, then sprinkle evenly with the cinnamon-sugar mixture, leaving a 1 cm border free along one long side.
- Roll the dough up into a log starting from the long side opposite the free edge, trying to roll it fairly tightly. Pinch the seam at the end so the log doesn’t unroll.
- Cut the log into about 10 equal pieces with a sharp knife and arrange them in a greased baking dish (round or rectangular), leaving small gaps between the rolls.
- Cover the dish with a kitchen towel and leave to rise again for 20–30 minutes. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Bake the rolls for 20–25 minutes, until golden on top. If they brown too quickly, cover them loosely with aluminum foil.
- Prepare the icing: mix the cream cheese with the powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. If it is too thick, add 1–2 tablespoons of milk.
- Spread or drizzle the icing over the still-warm rolls so it melts into them slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Storage
Bułeczki najlepiej smakują świeże, ale możesz je przechowywać w szczelnym pojemniku. Przed podaniem odgrzej je kilka minut w 150°C, aby znowu były miękkie. Zamrażaj bez lukru lub z cienką warstwą, a po rozmrożeniu dodaj świeży lukier.
