The Best Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Wake up to a batch of delicious homemade cinnamon rolls. They are perfect for savoring along with a cup of coffee or hot cocoa.

Don’t let the idea of making cinnamon rolls from scratch scare you.  They really are not that difficult.  With a little patience and practice, you will get the hang of it and will be making homemade cinnamon rolls.

How To Make Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

This recipe for cinnamon rolls uses a milk bread starter which is somewhat similar to a sponge.   Using maple extract enhances their flavor and they are topped with a maple glaze.  Let’s get baking!

For this recipe, you need the following ingredients:

Milk Bread Starter

• ½ cup warm water
• ⅓ cup bread flour
• ½ cup warm milk

Dough

• 2 ⅔ cups bread flour
• ¼ c granulated sugar
• 1 packet active dry yeast
• 1 large egg
• ¾ cup warm milk (reserve ¼ cup for brushing tops of rolls)
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon maple extract

Filling

• 1/2 cup butter (softened)
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons maple extract

Maple Glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon maple extract

Milk Bread Starter

To begin, we start by making the Milk Bread Starter.  Pour one-half cup of warm water into a small saucepan. Add in ⅓ cup flour and whisk.

Next, add in ½ cup milk and whisk until smooth with no lumps. Heat over medium heat until smooth and thickened like a slurry.

Remove from heat and cover with plastic wrap to cool. Press wrap against the mixture to prevent scum from forming.

Roll Dough and Filling

Place ½ cup warm milk in a large mixing bowl. Add ½ tsp. of the sugar to the milk and stir. Sprinkle the yeast over the mixture and stir until dissolved. Allow mixture to sit for approx. 15 minutes to allow the yeast to activate. The mixture will be bubbly when it is ready.

Once the yeast mixture is ready, add the starter to it along with the remainder of the sugar, egg, flour, and salt. Mix by hand until combined.

Using a dough hook, knead the dough for about 5-minutes at low speed. Cut butter into four pieces and add to the dough, one at a time, mixing with the dough hook between each addition. Turn the speed to medium and knead for about five more minutes. The dough should come together and begin to form a ball.

Place dough ball in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled (about 1-1½ hours,

Divide dough into two equal parts and roll each half to an approx. 8×20 inch rectangle.

Stir softened butter and maple extract until combined. Spread over the surface of the rectangle.

Combine cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle half over each buttered rectangle. Using your rolling pin, lightly roll across the surface to press the mixture into the dough.

Starting at one long end, roll up into a log, gently pulling backward during the process to help the roll to stay tight. Pinch seam together to seal.

Cut into 2-inch slices and place in a greased baking pan.  Repeat the process with the second half of the dough.  Cover the pans and let rise until doubled in a warm place (about 1 hour).

Preheat oven to 350°.  Brush the tops of the risen rolls with the reserved ¼ cup of milk. Bake on the center rack of the oven for about 30-35 minutes, until golden brown. Cool in pan. until warm.

Ladle or pour maple icing over the tops of rolls while still warm.

Maple Icing

Combine powdered sugar, sour cream, and maple extract until smooth.

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Bread Machine Cinnamon Roll Dough

If you have a bread machine, you can make cinnamon rolls the easy way.  Here’s a quick look at how to make them.

Dough Ingredients

• 1 cup milk heated in the microwave on HIGH for 40 seconds
• ¼ cup melted butter
• 3¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 package Active Dry Yeast
• 1 large egg

Filling Ingredients

• 4 Tbsp butter softened
• Cinnamon sugar

Icing Ingredients

• 4 oz. cream cheese (1/2 block), softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

To make them, place the ingredients for the dough in the bread machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions. (For my machine, I place the ingredients in this order: milk, butter, flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. I add the egg after the paddle has spun around once.) Set dough cycle.

Remove the dough from the bread machine and divide the dough in half. Roll each half into a rectangle approximately 16 x 8 inches. Spread each half with 2 tablespoons melted butter and sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar.

Roll each half and cut into 12 pieces. (I cut it in half, then each half in half, and then those into thirds.)

Place in pans sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Spray tops of cinnamon rolls with non-stick cooking spray and place in a warm oven. (I usually let my oven get to mid 100’s and turn it off.)

Allow them to rise for 45 minutes.

Turn oven to 350 degrees and bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

For the icing, combine ingredients and whisk well. Spread or drizzle over cinnamon rolls.

Adapted from My Adventures in the Country’s Delicious Country Rolls.

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Other bread recipes you might like:

• All Steak’s Orange Rolls (Recipe Clone)
• Lambert’s Throwed Rolls Breadmachine Clone
• Orange Rolls with Orange Creme Icing