This Cinnamon Rolls recipe is incredible. Every single time I make them my knees go weak. Although not native to the UK these soft and fluffy cinnamon treats smothered with cream cheese icing have been adopted by all of us completely and totally. Try not to fall in love with them I dare you.

Cinnamon is without doubt my favourite spice and along with these Danish Cinnamon Rolls , this is my very favourite way of eating it. No spice speaks to me more.
The smell of them baking in a home is enough to conjure Santa himself, sitting on your sofa, drinking Hot Chocolate with sprinkles, whilst Rudolph is asleep on the back door mat.
*There is a full printable recipe card at the bottom of this post*
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Ingredients

400 grams (15.9 oz) Plain Flour - This produces a softer crumb than strong bread flour so is preferable but not essential. I have often made them with bread flour.
60 grams ( 2.1 oz) Unsalted Butter - You can use salted (not for the cinnamon paste or for brushing the buns though ) and just omit the ¼ tsp of salt in the ingredients. Baking Spread will not do here.
70 grams Sugar (2.5 oz) - I use caster or granulated for the bun mix and light brown sugar for the cinnamon paste.
150 mls Milk - I use semi skimmed because that is what I have in my fridge but full fat milk is fine too.
quarter of a tsp Salt - I use fine salt here.
1 Egg - Large
14 grams (2 x 7 grams - 0.5 oz) Yeast - Instant dried yeast is my preference but fresh yeast is always fabulous to use and I think gives a better flavour, it's just not as easy to get hold of. But if using then double the weight of the dried yeast and add a bit more, so it will be about 17 grams of fresh yeast.
Cinnamon Paste
2 tbsp Ground Cinnamon - standard spice that's found in all supermarkets.
70 grams Sugar (2.5 oz) - Light Brown Sugar is best but any sugar will do.
110 grams (3.9oz) butter - soft
For The Icing
120 grams (1 cup) Icing Sugar
40 grams (1.4 oz) soft butter
110 grams (4oz) cream cheese (full fat)

Method
I do tend to make bread and yeasty bun thingys in my food mixer with a dough hook. It is easier and I'm all for that, aren't you?
You can make it though by hand with a wooden spoon and large mixing bowl, it will just be harder work and require a good amount of kneading until it becomes easier to handle.
Preparing the wet ingredients
- Firstly warm the milk up until it is just ready to bubble and then take it off the heat and add the sugar stirring until it has dissolved. I add the butter and let it melt in there. If it ends up boiling then leave it to cool for five minutes before adding the egg. You don't want the egg to scramble.
- Then add the beaten egg to the saucepan and set aside to cool a little. You can pour it carefully into a jug for ease of pouring later.

Mixing the dough
- Add the dry ingredients to the bowl, keeping the yeast and salt separate. Then add the liquid to the dry ingredients with the mixer running slowly at first and then on a medium speed. Alternatively mix with a wooden spoon.
- Let the dough hook do it's work for about 5-8 minutes on a medium speed until the dough is smooth. It it is still too wet then add a tbsp of flour or two and if it is too dry then add a tbsp or two of water and just keep mixing until it evens out. It will be tacky.
First prove
- Oil around the bowl, cover in clingfilm and leave somewhere warm to nearly double in size. This can sometimes take up to 2 hours. Usually if your place is warm it will be an hour.


Cinnamon Sugar
- Mix all the cinnamon filling together in a bowl or jug. Make sure the butter is soft. A soup spoon is perfect to combine it all. Plenty of smooshing as well as stirring if you get my drift.
- Set aside

- After the dough has doubled in size knock the air out of it with your fist and roll it out on a floured work surface to about 12" by 9 " rectangle.

- I don't worry too much about getting the perfect rectangle but that is just me. I am a casual/lazy ass cook.
- Spread the cinnamon sugar paste directly onto the dough with a knife or spatula. Flipping yum.
- I leave about ¾ inch gap all around the rectangle.

Rolling & cutting the dough
- Roll up tightly like a giant cigar lengthways.

- Cut evenly into 8 sections (1 and a half inches).
- I use cotton thread to cut them into sections, it work's sooo well. A very pleasurable experience. You simply lie the cotton underneath the roll and swap the ends of the cotton to the opposite hand and pull. Squeal!

- I do measure the rolls to get them roughly even.
- If cutting with a knife then use a sharp knife and try not to squash the dough as you cut.
Second Prove
- Cover with oiled clingfilm/plastic wrap and place them side by side in a tin about 9" x 12" or something with the similar area.


I love how the dough puffs/swells up and you can see all the layers developing
Baking
- Bake at 160 C fan/180 C/350 F/Gas Mark 4 for about 25/30 minutes until golden brown and your house feels like Xmas.
- If the tops start to catch then cover with loose silver foil.

- Allow to cool in the tin.
Icing
- Make the icing by simply mixing the icing sugar cream cheese and butter very well together.

- I use a whisk and sieve in the icing sugar.
- You can make the icing thicker by adding more icing sugar. It should spread like soft butter.

- You could add flavourings such as vanilla or caramel to the icing however I would rather chew my foot off.
- Slather it over those incredible cinnamon rolls baby.

Can I Make Them The Day Before?
Yes you can and I often do.
I often make cinnamon rolls the day before I want to bake them, making them up to the point where I'm putting them in the baking tin in slices ready for the second prove.

I cover them in clingfilm and put them in the fridge overnight ready to be pulled out an hour before I want to finally bake them.
Can I Freeze Them?
Yes you can. I make them as above until the start of the second prove whereupon I place them on a baking tray as above pic, in their individual swirls to freeze hard (flash freeze) for about an hour.
Then I put them in freezer bags (I double the bags up so as to prevent freezer burn) or put in a stout plastic container. They will freeze well for up to a month.
When you want them, take them out of the bags, place in your baking tray and leave covered lightly with greased/oiled clingfilm (plastic wrap) for 10 hours or so to thaw and then prove. Overnight is the way I usually do it. Get up and check them early though. Definitely don't have a lie in!
Tips
- Make sure your yeast is in date! Easy to overlook.
- Quick, Fast Action, Instant or Easy Blend Yeast is the type that I find the easiest to use. If you are using fresh yeast then use double the amount that is in the recipe.
- If your dough is too wet then add a couple of tbsps of flour and if too dry then add a couple of tbsp of water or milk. It needs to be tacky even when finished mixing. The wetter the dough the kinda lighter and fluffier the buns will be.
- To get ahead you can make these up to the second prove in the muffin tray, cover and leave in the fridge overnight (see above)
- When rolling the dough up lengthways take time to keep the cigar as tight as you can.
- Measure the cigar and divide into 8 so as to get even thickness.
- Use a sharp knife or cotton to cut the rolls without squashing the dough.
- You can absolutely use bread flour.

More Easy Enriched Dough Recipes

Cinnamon Rolls (UK recipe)
Ingredients
- 60 grams unsalted butter soft
- 150 mls milk
- 70 grams of sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- 40 grams plain flour
- 1 large egg beaten
- 2 x 7 grams yeast packets
Cinnamon Filling
- 110 grams unsalted butter soft
- 2 tbsps ground cinnamon
- 70 grams sugar
Icing
- 120 grams icing sugar
- 40 grams butter soft
- 110 grams cream cheese
Instructions
- Put 150 mls of milk in saucepan and warm gently till a light bubble ,remove immediately.
- Add 70 grams of sugar to pan and stir to dissolve, add the butter and allow to melt, let stand for 5 minutes to cool then add the egg and mix again.
- In mixing bowl (food mixer bowl) put 400 grams plain flour, 2 packets of dry instant yeast (14 grams) ¼ tsp salt. Put salt and yeast on opposite sides as salt can kill the yeast.
- Add the liquid slowly to the mixing bowl as you start to mix. The dough will be sticky. If using a food mixer just keep mixing for five - eight mins on a medium speed or take out and knead by hand for ten, until it becomes smoothish and soft. If it doesn't seem to want to come together then add a little flour.
- Oil the bowl, twiddle the dough lightly around in the oil and cover bowl with the clingfilm. Put somewhere warm and wait till it doubles in size. This may take two hours.
- Meanwhile mix the cinnamon filling ingredients together. That is 110 grams soft unsalted butter, 70 grams of sugar and 2 tbsp of ground cinnamon.
- When dough is big enough, empty out onto surface and knock out most of air with a few knocks.Then roll out into rectangle roughly 9" by 12"
- Spread the cinnamony, sugary butter, leaving ½ " border.
- Roll rectangle up long ways tightly into a giant cigar.
- Use a sharp serrated knife or cotton thread to cut up cigar roll in 1 ½" increments (8). If using a knife then saw through the roll rather than push down so as not to squash the slices. Clean your knife after each cut.
- Place rolls in baking tin and cover lightly with clingfilm and leave to rise again somewhere warm until nearly doubled in size and beautifully puffy.
- Bake in 180 Celsius oven for about 30 mins or until nicely brown. It is best to keep a close eye on the baking so they do not burn. Ovens can be temperamental things. Leave in tin to cool
- Once cooled a bit, mix icing and slather baby.
- OMG, OMG Apply To Face.
Notes
Nutrition
All nutritional information is approximate and intended only as a guide.
Do let me know how you got on in the comments below. I love a good old hairy chinwag.
Tamara Parmar
Think I can smell them ... Look so delicious, can imagine Christmas morning definately..
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Will make another batch so you can inhale them yourself!
HELEN
I bloody love cinnamon buns. I would make them every day if there wasn't a risk that I'd eat them all & start spreading over my jeans like over proved dough!
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I know-I ate 3 on the trot-just couldn't stop!Im the same with wine???
Lisa Alford
I'm not a fan of Cinnamon Jen but can quite honestly say you really have me re-thinking, could quite easily have been the six pack ?Another brilliant blog ?Xxx
Helen Ray
Jen you're blogs are very funny and have me quite literally peeing my pants! its an age thing, you'll get there! and your food looks amazing!....thing is I do have some well hidden talents, so well hidden I'm still trying to find them, but I have discovered, with much support from my darling children, that cooking/baking anything kitcheny really isn't one of them! so Im thinking, as we're such good friends, that maybe you could make 2 batches of everything you do, or failing that I could be your official taster, i would so do it for free! 😉 x
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Will see what I can do,you could do with filling out a bit!xx
jennypaulin
mmmmmm i can just imagine the aromas that this cinnamon love bake made in your kitchen! It looks and sounds divine!
Thank you for linking up to #BakeoftheWeek x
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Thankyou,I'm having a great time!xx
Jenny Paulin
oh yeah! These look amazing and so easy to make too - perfect with my morning cuppa ! Thank you for linking to the GBBO bake along x
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Absolute Pleasure!It allowed me to overhaul an old post and indulge in these amazing buns. I had forgotten how divine they are......I'm currently trying to ignore the last one!
Shell Louise
Cinnamon rolls are my very favourite thing to eat as well and I agree, they have to be warm and fresh from the oven 🙂
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I so agree however having said that I have just eaten one from yesterday and it was still delicious!Thank goodness there are no more left!
Anca
Your cinnamon buns look very tempting. Yum!
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I wish they weren’t!!!I couldn’t resist!??
Carole Guy
Will definitely be adding these to the danish pinwheels for breakfast for 14! Can they be frozen at any stage?
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Yes they can be frozen before baking. In fact I shall be doing that this week!They take a little time to come up to room temperature but are a great get ahead. Details are in the recipe.