Ash Baber

Cinnamon Rolls

I posted a video on cinnamon rolls maybe a year ago. When I made this website I never added the recipe to it because I didn’t have any pictures of the cinnamon rolls I had made. 

How am I gonna have a recipe website and not have a cinnamon roll recipe on there….that’s not right. So here we are! 

So I prefer cinnamon rolls that are more moist and sticky, than just bready. If that makes sense. Think of a cinnamon roll combined with a sticky bun, thats how I would describe these.

Cinnamon roll before being baked

Do I need to add the Tangzhong?

The dough that I am using for these is a Japanese milk bread dough. I use this same dough for everything to be honest. 

Japanese milk bread typically uses a tangzhong, which is essentially a mixture of water and flour that is heated together until you get a thick paste. This paste is added in with all the other ingredients when making the dough. 

This helps give you a much softer, fluffier dough. Make sure not to leave this out, the dough will be dry and crusty without it. I know most cinnamon roll recipes don’t use it, but for this recipe you need it.

It’s an extra step but it’s very much worth it!

Video Tutorial

Making ahead:

If you wanted fresh cinnamon rolls for breakfast one day. The whole process is pretty long so there are 2 ways you can make this dough earlier. 

  • You can make the dough the day before, then for the first rise, instead of leaving it in a warm place for 1-2 hours. Just leave the dough in the fridge over night, then the next day carry on with the recipe.
  • The second option is; you could get up to the point where you cut the cinnamon rolls and add them into your baking dish. Instead of leaving them in a warm place for 40 minutes. You could cover and leave them in the fridge overnight, then the next morning take them out and bake straight away!

Why does the filling have corn flour in it?

You’ll see in the recipe that I’ve added corn flour into the cinnamon filling. By the way, if you’re from America, the UK corn flour is the same thing as your corn starch.

This corn flour is optional, I like adding it because it helps thicken the filling when it bakes. Giving you a thicker, more sticky filling but again you don’t need to add it. 

Ok now let’s get into the recipe!

Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients

  • For the tangzhong:

  • 40g plain flour

  • 200ml water

  • For the dough:

  • 660g plain flour

  • 60g granulated sugar

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 16g instant yeast

  • 2 eggs

  • 240ml warm milk

  • the tangzhong

  • 50g softened unsalted butter

  • For the filling:

  • 380g brown sugar

  • 3 tablespoons cinnamon powder

  • 2 tablespoons corn flour (optional)

  • 200g softened butter

  • For the icing:

  • 80g softened unsalted butter

  • 220g room temperature cream cheese

  • 200g icing sugar

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

  • Making the tangzhong:
  • Add the flour and water into a pot and mix these together.
  • Place this pot over medium/low heat and keep heating this mixture, whiles stirring, until the mixture becomes thick. This doesn't take long so don't walk away.
  • Leave this in the fridge to cool down for 5 minutes.
  • Making the dough:
  • Add all the ingredients for the dough into a bowl, except the butter. Make sure to remember to add in the tangzhong you just made.
  • Mix all this together until a dough forms, then add in the butter and knead for 8 minutes. This will be a sticky dough, this is ok.
  • The 1st rise:
  • Once the dough has been kneaded, take it out of the bowl, form it into a ball and add it into another large bowl that has been greased. I recommend also rubbing your hands with a little oil before touching it, again this is a sticky dough so greased hands will help.
  • Cover this bowl with cling film then leave the dough to rise until doubled in volume. You can do this by leaving it in a warm place for 1-2 hours, or you could also just leave it in the fridge overnight.
  • Making the filling:
  • Once the dough has risen, you can make the filling. Just mix all the ingredients together. You should get a soft, spreadable paste. If the mixture seems too thick to spread, just warm it in the microwave for a few seconds.
  • Rolling up the dough:
  • Get your risen dough and roll it out onto a very floured surface, into a large rectangle, you want it to be around 1-1.5 cm thick.
  • Spread the filling over this then tightly roll it up. If you want thicker, bakery style rolls, roll the dough up from the short end of the rectangle. If you prefer to have smaller ones, roll it up from the long end.
  • Cut the dough up, the best way to do this is by using some floss. I cut mine at 6 cm each, again I like mine to be thick, if you want to get more rolls out of this dough, then you can cut smaller ones.
  • The 2nd rise:
  • Add these into a baking dish, leaving about a 2-3 cm gap between them.
  • Leave these to rise in a warm place for about 40 minutes. After they have risen, they should look puffier and the dough should feel softer.
  • Baking them:
  • When there is around 15 minutes left of rising time, pre-heat your oven to 180c.
  • Once the rolls have risen, bake them for around 25-30 minutes or until they're nice and golden brown on top.
  • Making the icing:
  • Add the butter and cream cheese into a bowl and beat until smooth.
  • Add in the icing sugar and vanilla and whisk. The mixture will go runny at first, but just keep mixing and it should thicken up a little.
  • Leave this in the fridge until you're ready to use it.
  • Icing the rolls:
  • Once the cinnamon rolls have baked, let them cool down for about 5-10 minutes. Then spread as much icing as you want on top.
  • And then that is it, enjoy!

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