Light, Fluffy, and Delicious!
These cinnamon rolls are UH-mazing. Originally from King Arthur‘s Recipe of the Year (2021) and does this recipe still hold up in 2023. There is magic in having your house smell like butter and cinnamon. Serving fresh warm rolls from the oven with a cream cheese frosting makes a great breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Tangzhong Works (aka Asian slurry)
The yeast bread technique from the Taiwanese cookbook author Yvonne Chen does help the bread retain moisture. I found that after baking even a couple days it still holds moisture when reheated in the oven. Unsure of what the microwave would do.
This process is very simple. It consists of flour and liquid (water or milk) mix together and then put over medium heat to make a paste Stirring frequently. The ratio commonly is 1:5, 1 part flour to parts liquid.
Kitchen Tools
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Fluffy Cinnamon Roll
These aren't just any cinnamon rolls. These are light, fluffy, and smooth delicious roll. Taking that extra step to make the tangzhong is worth it.
- stand mixer
- Mixing Bowls
- kitchen scale
- Balloon Whisk
- baking sheet
- parchment paper
Tangzhong
- 113 grams whole milk
- 24 grams bread flour
Dough
- 151 grams whole milk (cold)
- 300 grams bread flour
- 6 grams kosher salt
- 25 grams granulated sugar
- 5 grams active dry yeast
- 57 grams unsalted butter (softened)
Filling
- 14 grams butter (melted)
- 107 grams light brown sugar
- 14 grams bread flour
- 10 grams cinnamon (ground)
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 21 grams unsalted butter (melted)
- 115 grams cream cheese (softened)
- 100 grams confectionery sugar
- 6 grams vanilla extract
Tangzhong
Combine milk and bread flour in a small saucepan and whisk until smooth with no lumps
Place the saucepan over medium heat and cook the mixture, stirring regularly until thickened (paste-like). 1-3 minutes
Remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl of a stand mixer.
Dough
Add the cold milk, flour, salt, sugar, yeast, and butter to the mixing bowl. Must add milk first so the tangzhong can help warm the milk.
On low speed with the dough hook, bring the dough together.
Knead the dough on medium-low speed until its smooth, elastic, and tacky. About 10-12minutes
Shape the dough into a ball, place it in a bowl, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a reusable cover.
Let the dough rise until puffy but not really doubled, about 60-90 minutes. Maybe longer or shorter based on the environment's temperature.
Filling
Put the melted butter into a medium bowl and add the brown sugar, bread flour, and cinnamon.
Rolls
Line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface and press/roll it into 10" x12" rectangle, about 1/2" thick.
Sprinkle the filling over the dough, covering all but 1/2" strip along one long side
Starting with the filling-covered long side, roll the dough into a log. Make sure it is pretty tight.
Either score the dough to give yourself guidelines that you will use to cut with floss or you can use a knife but it can lead to not as a clean cut as dental floss. NOTE: don't use flavored dental floss.
Place the rolls on to the prepared baking sheet, spacing them so there's at least2" between each one and away from the edges of the pan. NOTE: to help prevent the rolls from unraveling, tuck the ends of the spirals underneath the rolls so that they're held in place
Cover the rolls with lightly greased plastic wrap or a reusable cover and let them rise for 30-60 minutes. Rolls should be puffy and though shouldn't bounce back immediately when gently pressed
About 20 minutes before you're ready to bake, position a rack in the top third of the oven.
Preheat to 375 F / 191 C
Bake the rolls for about 14-18 minutes, until they're a light golden brown and a digital thermometer inserted into the center of one roll reads 190 Fahrenheit. NOTE: for extra-soft rolls, bake for a lesser amount of time.
While baking, melt some butter and keep it warm set aside.
Remove the rolls from the oven, place the pan on a rack and brush the hot rolls with melted butter
Frost and serve immediately or wait to frost them if being served later
