If you have the time and patience, these homemade cinnamon rolls are perfect for a lazy, weekend morning. I adapted these from a recipe I found that’s ready in 90 minutes. The bulk of the time is just for the dough to rise.
Our family loves…LOVES…cinnamon rolls, and for years, the extent of our cinnamon roll experience has been as follows: preheat oven, open tube of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls, bake. Oh, yeah, and then eat the whole batch.
But, when I actually looked at the ingredients on the Pillsbury package, I realized that these rolls are highly processed, packed full of preservatives, artificial flavors, and artificial colors. Yes, they are convenient, but there had to be a better way.
So, I gave found this recipe online, tweaked it a bit, and gave it a shot. This makes a nice big pan of rolls and although it’s not low-fat, it at least uses less ingredients that are clearly recognizable…no xanthan gum here.
We made these on Christmas morning, and to dress them up a bit, I added some leftover Christmas cookie frosting, but the rolls are sweet and delicious enough that no frosting is really needed.
These reheat great for quick weekday breakfasts. Next time, I’m planning to chop up some apples to sprinkle over the cinnamon-sugar layer before rolling up. Yummy!
Cinnamon Rolls From Scratch
Adapted from Ninety Minute Cinnamon Rolls
For the Dough
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp yeast
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water
1 egg
For the Filling
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, softened
Heat the milk on the stove over medium heat until it just starts to bubble. Remove from heat and mix in the 1/4 cup of butter until melted. Set aside.
Combine 2 cups flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Add the water and egg and mix well. Once the mix mixture has cooled to lukewarm, slowly add to the mixing bowl and mix well. Add the remaining flour and mix well. Remove dough from bowl and knead on a floured surface for a few minutes. Cover and allow to rise while you make the filling.
For the filling, mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter in a small bowl.
Using a rolling pin, roll dough into a large rectangle. Use a greased spatula the spread filling to cover entire dough. Roll up dough the long way. Cut into 15 rolls and place cut side up in a greased 13 x 9 cake pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until browned. Serve warm.
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