Super Soft Cinnamon Rolls with Fluffy Cream Cheese Icing
Cinnamon Rolls, literally one of my favourite things to bake and eat. I am excited to finally share my latest recipe with you! These super soft Cinnamon Rolls with fluffy cream cheese icing have been a labour of love and they are super soft, super gooey, and super addictive. The buttery cinnamon sugar compliments the citrusy zing of the creamy yet fluffy icing. Basically, they're a sweet soulful slow dance in your mouth. And you can watch a little video of me making my Cinnamon Rolls with lots of love here.
Why are you going to LOVE making these?
There are literally thousands of Cinnamon Roll recipes on the internet, but I am going to tell you why mine really, truly are the most delicious and why you are going to LOVE making them. Here's why:
You'll pour thick cream all over the cinnamon buns midway through the bake to make them deliciously gooey.
When making the icing, you'll include delicious browned butter and finely zested lemon. This makes the cream cheese icing super lavish but with a surprisingly soft and subtle citrus kick.
You'll slather the lemony cream cheese icing all over the Cinnamon Rolls when they are still warm.
These three tips will take your Cinnamon Rolls from zero to HERO! Trust me. Ok, lets get baking.
Why do I love Cinnamon Rolls?
The best Cinnamon Rolls I've had was in Copenhagen at Torvehallerne, which is a huge food market located in central Copenhagen with over 60 stalls and serves up fresh, gourmet food all day long. We were only in Copenhagen for four days over our honeymoon, and we had a cinnamon roll every day. I've been making my own Cinnamon Rolls since our trip to Copenhagen, and have been working hard to perfect them!
Ps. If you have Copenhagen in your travel plans once everything gets back to normal, make sure you check out my Copenhagen Travel Guide here.
What equipments will you need?
Stand mixer with bowl, dough hook and whisk hook.
If you don't have a stand mixer, that's totally ok! You cab knead the dough with your hands, and use an electric beater.
Wooden spoon
Silicone spatula
Microplane
Measuring spoons and cups
Baking dish
Baking paper
Rolling pin
Sharp knife (not serrated)
Large mixing bowl
Have I convinced you to make my super soft Cinnamon Rolls with fluffy cream cheese icing this week? I hope so! Let's get cooking. And if you love my recipe (fingers crossed), I would love you to leave a 5 star rating below. Huge thank you's in advance! And did you know? You can also stay in touch with me by following along on Instagram and Pinterest.
Super Soft Cinnamon Rolls with Fluffy Cream Cheese Icing
SERVES 12
Love cinnamon rolls? Saaaaaaame. Well, my super soft Cinnamon Rolls with fluffy cream cheese icing have been a labour of love and they are super soft, super gooey, and super addictive. The buttery cinnamon sugar compliments the citrusy zing of the creamy yet fluffy icing like a sweet soulful slow dance in your mouth.
Ingredients
Cinnamon Rolls
3/4 cup milk, warmed
1 sachet of instant yeast (7g)
4 to 4 1/2 cups of all purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
2 tbsp maple syrup
3 large eggs, room temperature (it's important they're at room temperature to give your cinnamon rolls a beautiful rise)
1/2 cup salted butter, melted
Pinch of sea salt
Olive oil spray
1/2 cup thick pouring cream
Filling
3/4 cup brown sugar
4 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup salted butter, melted
Icing
7 tbsp salted butter, softened
400g cream cheese
3 tbsp vanilla essence
2 cups icing sugar
1/2 lemon zested, (preferably using microplane)
Directions
The first thing you need to do is make the dough. In the bowl of the stand mixer, add the warm milk and instant yeast. Set aside for 5 minutes until the yeast starts to activate and the mixture begins to bubble.
When the yeast is activated, combine the flour, maple syrup, eggs, butter, sea salt and beat using a dough hook until the flour is completely incorporated. You may need to push the mixture down the sides of the bowl, and if the dough feels sticky, you may need to add 1/4 to 1/2 cup more flour. The dough is supposed to be sticky, which keeps the cinnamon rolls soft. If you don't have a stand mixer, combine the ingredients in the bowl using your hands and knead for 5 minutes.
Lightly spray another mixing bowl with olive oil. Take the dough out of the stand mixer bowl, shape into a ball using your hands (don't drop the dough onto a bench to do this) and place it in the mixing bowl with olive oil. Cover the dough ball with olive oil spray and make sure the surface is completely (and lightly) covered with olive oil. Cover the bowl the plastic wrap and let it prove in a warm area in your home. If it's a cold day, the laundry with the dryer on is a good option. Leave the dough prove for at least 30 mins, or until it doubles in size.
When the dough is ready, lightly dust a clean work bench with flour and turn out the dough. Punch it in the middle to get rid of extra air and using your rolling pin, shape it into a large rectangle approximately 50cm L x 40 cm W. Don't worry too much about this, but aim to shape the dough to around this size.
In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, ground cinnamon and melted butter. Brush the buttery cinnamon sugar all over the surface of the dough evenly and pat down lightly so it sinks into the butter. It's ok if this gets messy and if the cinnamon sugar is a little uneven.
Now you need to roll! Start with the long edge closest to you, carefully roll the dough into a log from right to left and repeat, keeping the roll fairly tight as you go. Really focus on keeping the roll tight and this is how you create the "scroll" effect. When you reach the edge, roll the length of dough back and forth and this will lightly seal the edge.
Using a sharp knife, cut into equal sized rolls. We use a measuring tape to make sure the rolls are fairly even in size. Ideally, you can make 8 big ones or up to 15 medium sized rolls. Place the rolls into the prepared baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise 20-30 minutes. Be careful not to prove more than this as this will make your rolls really airy inside, and we don't want that.
While you are waiting for your rolls to prove, preheat your oven to 180C and get started on your icing. In a small saucepan, melt the butter on medium heat. Cook for about 5 to 7 minutes until the butter is lightly browned and smells toasted. Don't let it colour past light brown as this means you are burning the butter, and you don't want that to happen. Immediately remove the butter from the heat once it's lightly browned. Set aside to let it cool.
In your stand mixer (or with an electric beater), beat together cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla extract. When the toasted butter has cooled (but not set), add this to your icing mixture with your lemon zest. Feel free to add more lemon zest to season to your taste. The lemon zest should add a slight hum in the background and compliment the toasted butter.
When your rolls are proved (they should almost double in size) bake the rolls for 15 mins. Quickly take them out of the oven and pour the thickened pouring cream all over them, getting the cream into every nook and cranny, and place them immediately back in the oven. Adding the cream halfway through the bake makes the Cinnamon Rolls extra gooey. Bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes until they are lightly golden on top.
When they're ready, take them out of the oven and after a few minutes, spread the icing all over the warm Cinnamon Rolls. Serve warm and as always, enjoy!
Recipe Note
Why are you going to LOVE making these?
There are literally thousands of Cinnamon Roll recipes on the internet, but I am going to tell you why mine are really, truly the most delicious. Here's why:
You'll pour thick cream all over the cinnamon buns midway through the bake to make them deliciously gooey.
When making the icing, you'll include delicious browned butter and finely zested lemon. This makes the cream cheese icing super lavish but with a surprisingly soft and subtle citrus kick.
You'll slather the lemony cream cheese icing all over the Cinnamon Rolls when they are still warm.
These three tips will take your Cinnamon Rolls from zero to HERO! Trust me. Ok, lets get baking.
