Perfect soft and fluffy cinnamon rolls that stay soft for days.

Big squishy cinnamon rolls that are light and airy with a delicious tangy cream cheese frosting that melts perfectly over the top. These made from scratch cinnamon rolls are worth every glorious calorie.

Buttermilk Substitutes:

This recipe calls for sour cream which is a substitute for buttermilk.
If you’d like to use buttermilk in this recipe, feel free to swap it. I just find that it’s more common for me to have sour cream in the fridge than buttermilk.
For 1 cup buttermilk, try these simple substitutes:
-1 cup whole milk with 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
-1 cup whole milk with 1 tablespoon white vinegar
-1/2 cup sour cream with 1/2 cup water
-3/4 cup plain unsweetened yogurt with 1/4 water or milk

The supreme soft texture of these cinnamon rolls is made using the popular Asian milk bread method called: Tangzhong.

What is the Tangzhong Method?

Tangzhong is an Asian bread-making technique that makes the most soft, light-texture for tender breads and rolls. It involves cooking a small percent of the flour in the recipe with some of the liquid in the recipe, into a thick pudding-like paste. This paste is then added into the rest of the ingredients and kneaded into the dough.The paste traps water, which makes it possible to add much more liquid than what the flour can normally hold. The extra liquid keeps the bread moist without turning soggy. It also converts to steam during baking, which makes the bread fluffy and light while baking.

Ingredients for the Best Cinnamon Rolls:

Proof the Yeast:
1/3 cup warm water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon dry active yeast
For the Tangzhong (flour paste):
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons flour + 1 teaspoon
For the Dough:
Tangzhong mixture (see above)
10 tablespoons butter, melted (1 1/2 sticks)
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup water
4 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
For the Filling:
1/2 cup butter, very soft/ partially melted (1 stick)
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature
4oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk (+more if needed)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

The Importance of Proofing the Yeast:

For this recipe, we are using dry active yeast, and it’s important to proof the yeast before adding it into the other ingredients. Before you start, make sure that the yeast is fresh and not expired. We recommend keeping active dry yeast in the freezer, it stays fresh longer. In the case that your proofed yeast does not bubble up, grow or change, it’s better to start over at this step, rather than to start over with ALL of your ingredients. Use warm water not too hot. It should feel like the water of a baby’s bath. If the water is too hot it will kill the yeast.

If your cinnamon rolls don’t come out right and they are dense and dry:

There are a few causes for cinnamon rolls that are dense and dry:
1-you did not proof the yeast before making the dough
2-you over-baked the rolls: to avoid overbaking, use an instant read thermometer. The rolls should register at 190 degrees F.
3-too much flour was added -The best way to measure flour is to lightly spoon the flour into your measuring cup, then sweep off the excess using the back of a knife.

Cream Cheese Frosting for Cinnamon Rolls with a little lemon juice:

We have doubled the frosting for this recipe, because when it comes to cinnamon rolls, we think it’s better to have more frosting/icing than not enough. Any extra can be refrigerated or frozen for later.

How long can yeast dough be refrigerated?

Once you have made the dough, you can place it in the fridge to do a slow rise which is the preferred method of rising. You can make the rolls the next day or you have up to 48 hours. The uncooked dough will stay good in the fridge for a couple days. Store the dough in a lightly greased bowl covered with plastic wrap.

Can I make cinnamon rolls ahead of time?

Make ahead options: If you’d like to make cinnamon rolls a few days ahead you can either:
1. Prepare the dough, but don’t let it rise. Place it in a lightly greased bowl covered with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge to rise overnight (slow cold rise). On the next day, roll out, fill, shape, rise and bake the rolls.
2. Bake the rolls the night before, but do not frost them. Allow them to cool completely and then cover with plastic wrap. The next morning, remove the plastic wrap, tent the pan with foil, then reheat them in a 350F for about 5 minutes until very warm. Out of the oven spread with frosting.
3. You can also warm individual rolls in the microwave for 10 seconds.
Not recommended: Allowing the uncooked filled cinnamon rolls rest in the fridge overnight to bake in the morning is NOT recommended because the cinnamon filling will turn to liquid and leak out of the buns making the rolls soggy.

Cinnamon Rolls

Soft fluffy cinnamon rolls that stay soft for days.

Author Kami | NoBiggie.net

Ingredients

Proof the Yeast:

1/3 cup warm water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon dry active yeast

Tangzhong Mixture (flour paste):

1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons flour + 1 teaspoon

For the Dough:

10 tablespoons butter melted (1 1/2 sticks)
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup water
4 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon salt

For the Filling:

1/2 cup butter very soft/ partially melted (1 stick)
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
2 tablespoons corn starch
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

For the Frosting:

1/2 cup butter softened to room temperature
4 oz. cream cheese softened to room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk +more if needed
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Proof the Yeast:

Combine the 1/3 cup warm water, 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 tablespoon dry active yeast in a medium sized glass bowl. Gently mix together with a fork and cover the top of the bowl with plastic wrap to trap in the heat of the warm water. The mixture will bubble up and grow. Set mixture aside. If it does not bubble up or change, you need to start over with this step with new ingredients.

Make the Tangzhong Flour Paste (Asian bread making technique):

Combine the Tangzhong ingredients: the 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup milk and the flour in a medium saucepan, and whisk together until no lumps remain.
Place the saucepan over medium heat. Cook the mixture, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens to a smooth, pudding-like consistency; about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat.

Make the Dough:

To the saucepan with the Tangzhong (flour paste), whisk in the melted butter, sour cream and water.
Add in the 2 eggs and whisk until fully incorporated. The liquid ingredients will cool off the hot Tangzhong mixture.
In the bowl of a stand mixer set with the dough hook attachment, pour in the flour paste/sour cream/ egg mixture.
Add in the proofed yeast mixture and all the flour.
Mix on low speed until all the flour is moistened and a dough comes together, about 1 to 2 minutes.
Let the dough rest in the bowl of the mixer for 20 minutes. This will give the flour a chance to absorb the liquid, making it easier to knead.
After the 20 minutes, add the sugar and salt and mix on medium-low speed until a smooth, elastic and slightly sticky dough forms; about 10 minutes. The dough will be sticky when mixing begins, but resist the urge to add more flour; the dough will absorb the excess moisture and come together as the mixing continues. After the 10 minutes of kneading the dough in the mixer, the dough should feel slightly sticky and should easily come together in a ball when handled with lightly greased hands.
Lightly grease your hands and shape the dough into a ball, and move it to a lightly greased large glass bowl. Cover the top with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place, until almost doubled in volume, about 1 hour. OR, you can let it rise slowly in the fridge overnight. The overnight method is preferred for rising because a cold dough is so much easier to work with.

Make the Filling:

In a medium bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, cinnamon, cornstarch and salt until well combined. Set aside until ready to use.

Make the Rolls:

Gently deflate the risen dough with a lightly floured hand, then move the dough onto a pastry mat or a very lightly floured counter. Lightly flour a rolling pin and roll the dough out to form a 16X18-inch rectangle with the longer side closest you. Gently roll, pull and stretch the dough to get it to reach these measurements.
Evenly spread the partially melted butter all over the top of the dough, then sprinkle the cinnamon brown sugar filling mixture over the butter. With your hand spread the mixture evenly all over the top. Use your rolling pin to roll and press the filling into the dough.
Starting with the longer side near you, roll the dough tightly, moving away from your body. When the dough is rolled into a cylinder, gently pinch the edge to seal the edge of the dough to itself. Roll the cylinder seam side down.
With a knife, gently score lines into the top to mark where you will cut. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces.
With a longer strand of dental floss slide under the cylinder, and cross the ends of the floss over each other and pull. Slice each cylinder into 12 portions (about 2 inches each) and move each cinnamon roll onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
Cover the pan loosely with plastic wrap and allow the rolls to rise until the rolls are touching each another and doubled in size, about 40 to 50 minutes. During the last 15 minutes of rising, preheat the oven to 350°F.

Make the Frosting:

In a medium bowl with an electric hand mixer, beat together the butter and cream cheese until smooth, about 2 minutes.
Add in the powdered sugar. Continue beating, until the powdered sugar is fully incorporated and the mixture is light and fluffy; about 2 more minutes of mixing.
Add in the milk, lemon juice and vanilla. Continue to mix until well combined.

Bake the Rolls:

Remove the plastic wrap from over the risen rolls and bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Add a piece of aluminum foil halfway through baking to keep the tops from over-browning. The rolls will be done when the center of the dough registers around 190F on an instant read thermometer, or when a toothpick inserted in the center of the roll comes out clean.
Remove the rolls from the oven, and immediately spread the tops with the frosting. The heat of the rolls will partially melt the frosting into the rolls. Serve warm. Store completely cooled rolls in an airtight container for a couple of days at room temperature.

Recipe Notes

Variations of this recipe:

For Apple Cinnamon Rolls: add 1 1/2 cup apples, peeled chopped and slightly sautéed right after the partially melted butter is added to the top of the dough.

For Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls: add 1/2 15oz can of pumpkin puree to the cinnamon brown sugar filling mixture.

Making This Recipe? Tag us on Instagram: @NoBiggie using the hashtag #NoBiggieRecipes, so we can see what you are making in the kitchen!

Variations of this recipe:

-For Apple Cinnamon Rolls: add 1 1/2 cup apples, peeled chopped and slightly sautéed right after the partially melted butter is added to the top of the dough.
-For Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls: add 1/2 -15oz can of pumpkin puree to the cinnamon brown sugar filling mixture.