A few weeks ago, I decided to make cinnamon rolls just because I had a sweet tooth. Well, in the past, I’ve used Paula Deen’s recipe because I like butter, but every time I make that recipe it comes out dry. I tried a different recipe and the same thing happened; it was extremely yummy, but it was dry.
When I think of cinnamon rolls, I like to think of Cinnabon cinnamon rolls. If you’ve never had them, Cinnabon cinnamon rolls are very gooey. More so than nearly every single cinnamon roll I’ve ever had. I did several searches on Google to find a copycat recipe and find out what their secret ingredient is. Well, I found one, and the secret ingredient is heavy whipping cream
I didn’t like the recipe I found (linked here for credit and completeness). It made great cinnamon rolls, but the filling was blah and the icing was wrong. Also, her steps use a dough hook in a stand mixer, but hand-kneading made a better roll. So below is a HEAVILY modified version of her recipe. I don’t feel that this is plagiarism, though, because hers would also be considered a plagiarized version of the official Cinnabon cinnamon roll. So, below the measurements are the same as the recipe I have linked, but I’ve modified the instructions to give a better, springier texture.
Also, the filling is different because her filling is fine, but the filling below is richer, more full, and decadent. The icing she used was not great, so my icing recipe will be released separately. Let me know if you make this recipe
Copycat CinnaBon Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm milk heated to about 115°
- ⅓ cup salted butter melted
- 1 packet active yeast
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup heavy cream
Filling
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup brown sugar
- 2 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 stick butter melted
- pinch salt
Instructions
- Heat milk and butter separately in the microwave for about 45 seconds each. Combine thoroughly in a mixing bowl. The mixture should be about 115°F (46°C). If it's hotter, allow it to cool before continuing.
- Add yeast, eggs, and sugar. Mix thoroughly and allow to sit for a couple of minutes for the yeast to wake up.
- Add flour one cup at a time and mix with a spatula until a dough begins to form. This should take about 4 cups of flour, but it can take a little bit more. Once the dough begins to form, mix with your hands in the bowl until fully combined. The dough should be tacky, but not sticky.
- Flour a countertop and knead the dough by hand for about 7 minutes. The dough will be slightly springy when it's ready. Rinse out the mixing bowl and spray with cooking spray. Return dough to the mixing bowl, cover, and allow to rise until twice its size. If your kitchen is cold, place the bowl in your oven with another bowl of boiling water. The steam from the boiling water will heat up the oven and allow the dough to proof.
- Once the dough has doubled, punch it down and knead for another 2 minutes. Then roll out the dough on a floured surface until it's about 15 inches by 12 inches.
- Mix the filling ingredients and spread over two-thirds of the dough. leave a couple of inches at the end as rolling the dough will push filling to the edge.
- Roll the dough into a spiral. Cut 12 cinnamon rolls evenly from the spiral.
- Place rolls in a greased baking pan and allow to rise until doubled again.
- Heat the heavy cream in the microwave for 30 seconds. Pour a little bit over each cinnamon roll. This is the secret ingredient that CinnaBon uses to make their rolls so moist and heavenly
- Bake in 375° oven for 22 to 26 minutes, or until golden and done.
Notes
