Cooking Cinnamon rolls

[wilma-bride]

Hi, we're having a party in a few weeks in preparation for our trip to Disney World and wanted to bake some cinnamon rolls for everyone.

Does anyone have a great recipe that they could share with me please

Being from the UK, we don't really have cinnamon rolls here so can't find a recipe on any UK sites. Found loads on US sites but some of the terms have me slightly confused, i.e. shortening - not sure if this is what we would call lard?

 

[MazdaUK]

Hi there! What I do is use a Chelsea Bun recipe, but instead of raisins etc add sugar and cinnamon Then follow US instructions for glaze (if required). I think confectioners sugar is icing sugar and powdered sugar is caster (shortening is any fat - butter of whatever)

 

[piratesmate]

Powdered sugar is the same as confectioner's sugar & is also called 4x or 10x sugar, meaning the number of times it is ground - aka into a powder. We generally use this for cake icing. I'm not sure exactly where caster sugar fits in, but know that it's finer than "regular" white or granulated sugar, while not being as fine as powdered/confectioner/10x sugar. Sometimes caster/castor sugar is sold as "superfine" here.

As for shortening, that's kind of a generic term for whatever fat you want to use in baking. A brand name for it would be Crisco. It's solid at room temperature & has a lower smoke point than butter or margarine. It's 100% fat as opposed to 80% fat like butter. Over the years my grandmother switched from lard to shortening & at times to margarine in her baking. There is a mild difference in the final product that most of us don't notice.

As for a recipe, it depends on whether you mean what I call cinnamon buns or sticky buns

or cinnamon rolls which tend to have a lighter dough (& more of it), are less sweet & generally have a white icing/glaze on them

- at least according to my definition. It seems to be a regional thing as to what they're called.

 

[MazdaUK]

Both look pretty yummy to me

 

[piratesmate]

Sorry - I never came back to post the recipe! I'm not a big fan of cinnamon rolls but cinnamon buns carry some great memories from childhood...even though we only got them once or twice a year. Yes, they're sweeter but if you're only having them the infrequently the fat & calories don't count, right? This is my grandmother's recipe and as you can see it was used for both doughnuts & buns. She also used to make it into loaves, like bread, that she would ice. But I never got the recipe for the icing from her & thinning down cake icing wouldn't taste right. But her "Dutch Loaf" was always lusted after all over town!

Doughnuts or Buns

2 pkg active dry yeast
¾ c warm water
3 c sugar
2 c mashed potatoes
2 eggs
½ tsp salt
¾ c shortening
1 qt warm milk
flour
butter
brown sugar
cinnamon

Dissolve yeast in warm water & add all ingredients except flour. Mix well. Then add enough flour to stiffen. Put dough in greased bowl & let raise overnight in warm place. Roll out in AM for buns or doughnuts.

Buns:
Cut off some dough & roll out to ¼” thickness. Spread dough with butter; sprinkle with lots of brown sugar & cinnamon. Roll like jelly roll. Grease pans well & put lots of brown sugar in them. Cut off slices of dough ~ 1½” thick & place in pans. Let raise in warm place before baking. Bake at 325 for about 30 min or until brown & cake tester comes out clean. Invert immediately.

Doughnuts:

Cut off some dough & roll to ½” thickness. Cut out with doughnut cutter & put on cloth to let raise in warm place until double. Fry in hot fat. To test fat: Place a couple doughnut holes in fat & if the fat bubbles, it is ready. Put doughnuts in fat with same side up as when on cloth. Fry until brown; turn over & fry until brown on second side. Drain.

= = = = =
As you can see that recipe is a lot of work. My grandmother used to have a couple of her daughters granddaughters come to help. My mother had 3 daughters who could help. I tried it alone once but I haven't really done that one in years! This one is much easier, but calls for packaged biscuit dough & I don't know if you have that over there.

Cranberry Almond Cinnamon Rolls
Source: Ocean Spray

DOUGH:
1 16-ounce package hot roll mix
1/2 teaspoon cardamom

FILLING:
1/4 cup margarine
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 6-ounces package Craisins® Sweetened Dried Cranberries
1/2 cup sliced almonds

GLAZE:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Grease 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan. Prepare dough according to package directions, adding cardamom to dry ingredients. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead dough for 5 minutes; let rest for 5 minutes. Roll dough into a 10 x 15-inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Spread 1/4 cup margarine evenly over dough. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl; sprinkle evenly over dough. Sprinkle sweetened dried cranberries and almonds evenly over dough. Starting at the 15-inch side, tightly roll dough, jelly roll style, pressing edges to seal. Cut into 15 slices; place cut-side down in pan. Loosely cover with plastic wrap; let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375°. Uncover rolls and bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Combine glaze ingredients in a small mixing bowl. Drizzle rolls with glaze. Makes 15 rolls.

 

[wilma-bride]

Thanks for the recipe

I'm going to have a go at making some and experiment until I get them right - the kind I'm thinking of, though, is similar to the Cinnabon kind, so more of a cake than a pastry, if that makes sense.

 

[Tarah14]

Here is a great clone recipe for Cinnabon type cinnaman rolls. It may be as close as you can get in your own kitchen. It is long and complex recipe but the results are so worth the trouble. Try to find the Korintje cinnamon if you can it is a Cassia type from Indonesia and the flavor is outstanding.

Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls Clone Recipe
Recipe By:
Ron and Shallen Gordon
Serving Size: 15 Rolls
Preparation Time: 3 to 4 Hours
Categories: Baking, Bread, Muffins, Rolls, Sticky-buns
We've worked very hard over the past several years to develop an accurate clone or copy-cat recipe that you can prepare at home for Cinnabon® Cinnamon Rolls. The recipe below is not their recipe, but one we've engineered through extensive research, careful tests and much experimentation. We've improved upon our earlier recipe and after many test batches, we're convinced that this revised copy-cat recipe will enable you to recreate that wonderful taste!
You may wish to visit their Web site, The Cinnabon Experience, and review their wonderful presentation, The Cinnabon Story. There's some interesting information at their site, but alas, no recipe since the actual recipe is proprietary. Although several other Web sites claim to have the real recipe, we hope that you'll find that the one presented here provides the most accurate taste and appearance. We've made every effort to closely reproduce their results and clone that great cinnamon roll flavor! Judging from the many letters we've received from readers around the world who have used our recipe and achieved great results, we've evidently succeeded!
This recipe has been sized so that the dough may be prepared using a large capacity (2 pound) bread machine.

Dough
Amount Measure Ingredient and Preparation Method
1/4 Cup Water (2 oz)
1 Cup Whole Milk (8 oz)
1/2 Cup Butter, unsalted sweet cream, melted (0.25 lb, i.e. 1 stick)
1 1/4 ea Egg, Large Grade AA, well beaten
1 tsp Vanilla Flavor (preferably alcohol free)
1/2 tsp Salt (0.0075 lb)
1/2 Cup Sugar, preferably Superfine Granulated (0.224 lb)
4 1/2 Cup Unbleached White Bread Flour (1 1/4 lb)
1 Tbsp Vital Wheat Gluten (0.021 lb)
1/4 oz SAF Perfect Rise® Gourmet Yeast (1 envelope, 7 g)
Remove a large egg from the refrigerator and permit it to reach room temperature. Gently melt the butter. Add the Water and Whole Milk. The resulting liquid mixture should be permitted to cool so that it is between 75°F (24°C) and 85°F (30°C) before proceeding further. Then add the remaining ingredients, in the order listed above, to the bread machine and prepare using the dough setting. (Follow your bread machine instructions for dough preparation.)
To help you achieve the very best results, see also our additional notes on ingredients and preparation.

Filling
Amount Measure Ingredient and Preparation Method
1 Cup Light Brown Sugar, firmly packed (0.4255 lb)
5 Tbsp Cinnamon, Korintje Grade AA (0.0745 lb)
1/2 Cup Margarine (0.25 lb, i.e. 1 stick)
Remove the margarine from the refrigerator once you've started the dough cycle and allow it to reach room temperature. In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar and cinnamon.
After the dough cycle has completed, roll and stretch the dough out on a lightly floured surface into a 15" by 24" (38 cm by 61 cm) rectangle.
Mark off 1" along the 24" edge of the dough, closest to you. You will not spread any Margarine or Sugar-Cinnamon mixture on this edge so that you can seal the roll. Spread the softened Margarine over the dough with a rubber spatula and then evenly distribute the Sugar and Cinnamon mixture. Be careful to leave your 1" edge clean. As a final step, use your rolling pin to lightly roll the Sugar and Cinnamon mixture.
Starting at the far edge of the dough, roll it up tightly. Begin at the far edge and roll up the dough toward the 1" clean edge. The clean 1" edge is used to seal the finished roll. Trim the left and right ends of the roll. The result will be a 24" roll. Trim off the left and right ends of the roll so that you have a flush end at each end of the roll. Then mark the roll every 1 1/2 inches (3.8 cm). Cut the roll into 1 1/2" long portions. This may be done with a knife, as they do at the store. However we've found it easier to use dental floss. (We use cinnamon flavored dental floss just for dramatic effect!) Cut the roll by placing the thread under the roll at your mark, crisscross over and pull it to cut. You should get 15 rolls.
Line your baking pans with parchment paper. Place 5 rolls into 8" square baking pans 1" apart. (One roll in each corner, and one in the center.) Cover with a lint free cloth and let rise in a warm, draft free place until almost double, approximately 1 hour. After rising, rolls should be touching each other and the sides of the pan. This is important for best results. This gives the resulting rolls the soft, moist outer edge that most people prefer.
After rising, bake in a convection oven at 310°F for 15 minutes. If you are using a conventional oven, bake at 335°F for 20 minutes. The resulting rolls should be only lightly browned. We bake only one 8 inch square pan of rolls at a time to obtain uniform results.

Cream Cheese Frosting
Amount Measure Ingredient and Preparation Method
4 oz Cream Cheese (0.25 lb)
1/2 Cup Margarine (0.25 lb, i.e. 1 stick)
1 3/4 Cup 10x Powdered Sugar (or Sugar Fondant) (1/2 lb)
1 tsp Vanilla Flavor (preferably Alcohol Free)
1/8 tsp Lemon Flavor (preferably Alcohol Free)
There are several steps involved in the preparation of the frosting. But it is not difficult, and you'll be surprised at the wonderful results you achieve. For the fluffiest frosting, use Vanilla and Lemon flavors that do not contain alcohol. A total of 50 minutes is required to prepare the frosting, from start to finish. We normally prepare the frosting while the rolls are rising.
Generally, we use 10x Powdered Sugar. However, Sugar Fondant yields a smoother frosting. Please refer to our notes.
Remove the cream cheese and margarine from the refrigerator and place it into the mixing bowl. Leave it for about half an hour so that it will not be too cold.
Use the Flat Beater (or Paddle) to blend the cream cheese and margarine for 6 minutes. Use a speed of 65 RPM, or the "slow mixing" speed on your machine. We use setting #2 on our KitchenAid Mixer.
Switch to the Stainless Steel Whip and whip the cream cheese and margarine mixture for 10 minutes. Use a speed of 150 RPM, or the "medium fast whipping" speed on your machine. We use setting #6 on our KitchenAid Mixer.
Add 1 cup of the powdered sugar and mix for 1 minute using the Stainless Steel Whip at 65 RPM. Add the remaining 3/4 cup of powdered sugar and mix for an additional minute.
Lastly, add the Vanilla Flavor and Lemon Flavor and whip for 1 minute using the Stainless Steel Whip at 150 RPM.
Here's an easy to follow table for the preparation of the frosting:
Add Cream Cheese and Margarine to mixing bowl and let stand for 30 minutes.
Mix using Paddle at 65 RPM for 6 minutes
Use Stainless Steel Whip at 150 RPM for 10 minutes
Add 1 Cup Powdered Sugar.
Use Stainless Steel Whip at 65 RPM for 1 minute
Add 3/4 Cup Powdered Sugar.
Use Stainless Steel Whip at 65 RPM for 1 minute
Add Vanilla and Lemon flavors.
Use Stainless Steel Whip at 150 RPM for 1 minute
Transfer the finished frosting to a convenient covered container and refrigerate it. Once the rolls are finished baking, frost them while they're still very warm and serve them immediately. Yum, yum!

 

[lovesmurfs]

Oh, I have a wonderful Clone of Cinnabon recipe -- I have never come home from any event with any left over. And it's soooooo easy! I usually triple the recipe (I bought a special 11 X 17 pan for it). For a single recipe, you could use an 8 X 8 pan. Sometimes during the year you can find the sweetened bread dough, but the regular one works just fine.

Clone of Cinnabon

1 1lb loaf of frozen bread dough
4 T butter, softened
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 T cinnamon

The morning of the day BEFORE you want to serve the rolls, put the bread dough in the refrigerator to thaw. That night, roll out into about 10 X 14 rectangle (or so...be flexible). Mix brown sugar and cinnamon together. Spread butter all over the dough, and sprinkle cinnamon/sugar mixture evenly over it. Roll up short end (ie. you'll end up with a 10" roll). Cut into 8 rolls, and place in pan (doesn't need to be greased).

Cover tightly with plastic wrap and put in refrigerator overnight. The next morning, let them rise until double (I'll put them in a briefly-warmed oven, or sometimes just on top of the oven as it's preheating), about 30-45 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake rolls for about 15 minutes until golden brown.

As rolls are baking, mix:

2 T softened cream cheese
2 T butter
3/4 c. confectioners' sugar
1/4 t. vanilla
1/8 t. salt

Spread over hot rolls. Yum!!!

 

[piratesmate]

I also have a recipe for Cinnabons & this one is for the bread machine. I got it from a friend, but from the format I have a feeling it originated with the Top Secret recipes site.

Cinnabon's for the Bread Machine
This recipe uses a bread machine.
Dough:

1 c milk
1 egg, beaten
4 Tbl melted butter
4 Tbl water
1/2 box instant vanilla pudding (3.4 oz. box)
4 c bread flour
1 Tbl sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2-1/2 tsp bread machine yeast


Filling:
1/2 c butter, softened
1 c brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 c chopped walnuts, opt
1/4 c raisins opt.

Place all ingredients in your machine in order recommended by your machine’s manufacturer. Place the pan in your machine. Select the dough cycle and press start. When cycle is finished, remove the dough, knead enough to punch down and roll to 17x10. Combine first three filling ingredients and mix well. Heat in microwave 10 sec. to make it spreadable. Spread over rolled out dough with rubber spatula. Get as close to the edges as possible. Sprinkle nuts or raisins over dough. Starting with widest end, roll the dough into tight log. Cut into 1/2-1” slices. Place in a lightly greased baking dish with sides. Put in warm draft free place and allow them to raise until double. (I turn my oven on warm and place them inside. When the temperature light goes off, turn off the oven. I let them rise 20-30 minutes this way. Take out to heat oven to baking temp.) Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. When the rolls are done top with frosting of your choice. Note: For a real treat replace raisins in the filling with chopped dried cherries, blueberries or strawberries.
Yield: A full 9x13 pan.


Here are two alternative icings that may be used.

Cinnabon Alternative Icing I

Notes: These were orginally listed with the Cinnabons Bread Machine Recipe. These are not the actual recipes, but some people enjoy the following.

4 oz cream cheese, room temp. ( with walnuts and raisins)
1/4 c butter softened
1 1/2 c powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp milk
3 Tbl real maple syrup

Mix all ingredients together well. Spread over the rolls that have cooled slightly.

Cinnabon Alternative Icing II

Notes:
This was orginally listed with the Cinnabons for the bread machine. This is not close to the actual recipe, but it is good.

1 tsp milk
1 1/2 c powdered sugar
4 Tbl butter softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 Tbl milk

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Spread over rolls that have cooled slightly.