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Those Cinnamon Rolls
Please welcome Emily Breedlove, our new team member. When the topic of holiday baking came up, she mentioned that she has a lot of experience with one particular recipe. And when that recipe involves the words cinnamon and rolls, well, we’re all ears. This is going to be our go-to experiment in the coming days.
—Ann and Kay
Cinnamon rolls are one of life’s greatest pastries: warm and gooey (emphasis on the gooey) and pair delightfully with a hot cup of black coffee.
They have the great distinction of being a food that surpasses time restrictions. Have one in the morning! The afternoon! For dessert! No one can tell you it’s the wrong time of day. Well, they can, but they would be–objectively—wrong.
Coming from a family who holds strong food opinions, I knew I had what it took to perfect the cinnamon roll.
I wanted dough that is soft, but not too airy—maybe even a little dense. Extra filling with lots of spices that would turn into a beautiful goop at the bottom of the pan. And an icing that melts into the spirals of dough.
With a few tweaks over the years, I have perfected the recipe. I make these Eggnog Cinnamon Rolls every Christmas Eve, readying myself for a warm and cozy Christmas morning.
You’ll find the recipe at the bottom of the page, but I’ve got a few tips to make your cinnamon roll adventure a little happier.
The most important thing I learned is this: Pour heavy cream over the unbaked rolls to get that perfect goop. Don’t think about it too much! It just works!
This is a trick I use with all cinnamon rolls, even the canned kind you have to bang on the counter to open. I use eggnog in this holiday recipe in place of the cream.
Yeast bread is easy as long as your yeast is alive—that’s really the only trick. Let the yeast sit in the warm—not hot—milk with a little bit of sugar while you prep your ingredients. If it smells like bread and is bubbly by the end, your yeast is alive and well.
If you keep your house at a crisp 68° in the winter like we do, you may have a bit of trouble getting your dough rise in a timely manner. To combat this, I preheat the oven to the lowest temperature and then turn it off, leaving the oven door cracked while I put together the dough. When the dough is ready to rest, the oven will have cooled down to the perfect temperature, ideally around 80°.
The recipe will make more filling than you think you will need. I always feel like it will be too much, but I am always wrong. It’s just right. And I always salt! Just enough to bring out the flavors, but not enough to make it salty.
I use dental floss to section my rolls to avoid squishing them–slide under and cross over to cut. I use the minty kind and it’s just fine, but unflavored is probably a better option.
My last and favorite tip: Make up until the second rise, where the rolls are nestled in the pan, and refrigerate overnight to bake in the morning or put into the freezer until later. Take them out in time to come to room temperature and rise—about 1½ hours before you want to bake. I am freezing half for my book club in a few weeks, and I will thaw them in the fridge the day before.
Eggnog Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
For the dough
1 cup warm milk
2½ teaspoons instant dry yeast (1 package)
2 large eggs, at room temperature
⅓ cup salted butter, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
4½ cups all-purpose flour
For the filling
1 cup softened salted butter
1½ cups packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground cloves
½ tablespoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup eggnog, slightly warmed (for pouring over the risen rolls)
For the icing
4 oz cream cheese, softened
⅓ cup salted butter, softened
1½ cups powdered sugar
Dash of vanilla
Dash of salt
Eggnog to thin to desired consistency
Instructions
- Pour the warm milk and granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast overtop. Allow this to sit for 3-4 minutes to make sure your yeast is alive and activated.
- Add the eggs, butter, and sugar. Mix on medium until combined.
- Add in salt and 4 cups of flour (saving the other ½ cup to add only if needed) and mix using the beater blade just until the ingredients are barely combined. Let the mixture rest for 5 minutes to let the flour hydrate.
- Scrape the dough off the beater blade and remove it. Attach the dough hook.
- To knead, beat the dough on medium speed for 5-7 minutes, adding in up to ½ cup more flour only if needed to form a dough. (I usually only add ¼ cup more.) The dough should separate from the sides of the bowl, but will still stick to the bottom.
- Spray a large bowl with oil and scrape the dough into the greased bowl. Cover the bowl with a towel or plastic wrap.
- Set the bowl in a warm place and allow the dough to rise until doubled, about 30-45 min. Don’t rush this step, but don’t let it rise too long, or the dough will be too airy.
- While the dough is rising, prepare the filling. In a medium bowl, combine the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and salt, mixing until well combined. Set aside.
- Sprinkle your work surface generously with flour. Turn out the dough onto the surface and sprinkle the top of the dough with additional flour. If the dough feels too sticky, knead the rest of the flour into the dough for about 2-3 minutes.
- Flour a rolling pin and roll the dough to about a 24×15″ rectangle. It doesn’t have to be exact.
- Using a rubber spatula, smooth the filling over the whole dough rectangle. I take it all the way to the sides!
- Starting on the long side, roll the dough up tightly to create a log.
- With a knife, mark the middle of the log, and then the middle of the two halves, repeating until you have 12-16 rolls—depending on how big you want them. Use a sharp knife or dental floss to cut the rolls.
- Place them in a greased 9×13 baking pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes. (Refrigerate or freeze here if you don’t want to bake right away.)
- Preheat the oven to 375°.
- Warm the eggnog until the chill is taken off. You don’t want it hot, just warm to the touch. Pour over the risen rolls into the bottom of the pan.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the rolls are lightly golden brown and the center rolls are cooked through.
- While the rolls are cooling, prepare the icing.
- In a large bowl, combine the softened cream cheese and butter using a mixer. Beat until light and fluffy.
- Add in vanilla and powdered sugar. Beat until combined and then add eggnog until desired consistency. Spread the frosting over the cooled rolls.
- Pour yourself a black coffee and enjoy!
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Sounds delightful! Eggnog is a genius sub for the holidays. I put my rolls into the oven with the light on to rise. It keeps them warm in a consistent temp.
Yum! That’s all I’ve got.
Wow! Yum! Thank you for sharing .
OMGosh this recipe sounds AMAZING! I will attempt gluten & lactose free – will keep ya posted!
Yes please!
Thanks for the scrumptious recipe and amazing tips! It’s giving me warm and cozy vibes just thinking about making them. I like that you freeze half and save for book club … I’m definitely making these for a winter book club meeting. Happy Holidays!
We have cinnamon rolls every Christmas morning! Another old drafty house trick – if your oven has an incandescent bulb, just turn that on and put the rising dough under it and shut the door. Perfect temperature!
This sounds wonderful. I will be giving it a try. Just curious as to why the recipe says 9×13 pan and photo looks like 9×9.
A 9×13 pan fits the whole recipe! Pictured is a 9×9 with about half of the rolls—I froze part of the recipe to save for later!
It looks like half the recipe in the 9×9 pan.
I’m curious about that too!
Also, when pouring eggnog or cream, is it around the rolls (as in photo) or over, which would fill some of the nooks and crannies in the roll?
Thank you!
I pour it in between, but never very carefully so a bit gets on top of the rolls. It all settles at the bottom when baking! And a 9×13 will fit the full recipe—pictured is a 9×9 pan with about half of the rolls.
This just added one more item to the Christmas baking list! Just when I thought I was done…
I have one question. It sounds like a lovely recipe but what exactly is
“⅓ cup salted butter, softened”. That notation is found in both the dough and the frosting and I have to admit I have no idea just what quantity is needed.
Hi Kari! 1/3 cup is a little more than half a stick of butter. It’s marked on the paper of a regular stick of butter! Hope this helps.
I know that 1/3 cup of butter is a little more than a half stick of butter but since when does a square shape = 1/3. What am I missing?
This must be a sign – I’ve never made cinnamon rolls and just yesterday I was enticed by a recipe for orange/cranberry cinnamon rolls and thought maybe I should give cinnamon rolls a go next week. Now I’m certain I should!! Thanks for the excellent tips in this recipe – they make it feel much less daunting. Can’t wait to give it a whirl!
The rolls sound wonderful and will go into my “next big gathering” file. My knitting buddies are gonna love it. But, as a remote worker with short legs, please tell us more about your office chair, with a footrest!
I’ve never made cinnamon rolls from scratch but I used to make bread. This recipe is just what I need to get back into making breads. Bonus: we are doing a holiday cookbook at work, this recipe can go in it once I make these.
5 1/3 TBSP = 1/3 c softened butter
Oof. I’ll wait for the low cal version. But enjoy everyone!
I really want to save this recipe, but the tag button s not appearing
This is perfect! I was telling my hubs this morning that I need to try making cinnamon rolls in my new stove. I’m definitely on it!!! Thank you!
This looks amazing! I will be making these! I love the pro tips!!
Has anyone made without a stand mixer? Any tips?
I have not yet made THIS recipe but have been making something very similar, almost the exact ingredients, for about 20 years. I don’t think I have ever used my KitchenAid for them. It sort of gives me an atmospheric feel of simply doing it by hand, that it’s the holidays and to enjoy the process. I think cinnamon rolls have been made long before Mr. KitchenAid or Mr. Cuisinart ever thought about stand mixers! I do use a hand mixer to beat the icing or glaze, whichever I make. The only regret you’ll have about making these may be that you wish you’d started making them 10 years ago! Such great gifts!
I have never made them without a stand mixer, but you can use a hand mixer for all of the combining, and then knead instead of using the dough hook. It will take a little longer than the recipe states!
I am inspired! Welcome!
Yummm! I’m making these for Christmas morn! Thanks!
I let my bread dough raise in the oven with just the light on…..
Could I substitute heavy cream for the eggnog? Thanks for sharing this amazing recipe!
Yes! When I am making a non-holiday version I use heavy cream.
I tried to copy and paste the recipe into a Libre document but only the pictures came through. Is there anyway you can provide a printable version of the recipe?
I’m looking forward to trying these! I saved the page to Pinterest.