Big Fluffy Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

Want an easy yeast based big fluffy cinnamon rolls recipe that creates pillowy soft buns without the fuss of scalding milk? Here’s one! I don’t find much advantage to using milk in making a yeast-based cinnamon roll other than having the rolls brown more quickly than a water-based yeast dough. The cut butter cubes in this big fluffy cinnamon rolls recipe adds some flakiness to the buns. Enjoy with a hot cup of your favourite tea or coffee. It is also great with a cold glass of milk if you are baking after dinner for midnight snacks. (Hey, I’m not judging. We totally had these cinnamon rolls as midnight snacks before bed two nights ago!)

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

Or if you are baking these cinnamon rolls on a weekend, enjoy with a nice glass or two of Sula and Spice’s Mimosa. I’m definitely going to make myself a Mimosa after losing count of how many days in isolation. Please drink responsibly; just say no to drinking and driving.

We aren’t supposed to be making too many grocery trips during the Covid-19 pandemic, so I skipped making a cream cheese frosting. If you love a good cream cheese frosting, I can include a recipe for you to make. It is a delicious frosting best iced on warm fresh cinnamon rolls. To make this recipe, you will need dark brown demerara sugar, yeast, flour (all purpose, unbleached if available), ground cinnamon, unsalted butter, granulated sugar, room temperature eggs, and water. If your brown sugar has become hard, cut a small slice of apple to restore moisture in your brown sugar container before you start this recipe. Toss away the apple into your compost bin when the apple has completed its job.

For water, I ran the hottest possible drinkable tap water. You can, however, use milk instead of warm water if you prefer milk in your big fluffy cinnamon rolls recipe. If your milk is pasteurised, there is no real need to scald it. If you do choose to scald it, make sure to let it cool to lukewarm temperature before you add to your dough to prevent killing the yeast.

On yeast: I have used Red Star yeast, which is an active dry yeast. Instant yeast works fine too; I have baked with instant yeast before and find that I have a preference to using Red Star yeast. I keep my yeast in the fridge for it to last for a long time. It activates upon adding liquids. What if you cannot find yeast? You can plan ahead and make your own (flour and water) sourdough starter but this will change this big fluffy cinnamon rolls recipe completely. You might want to consult Traditional Cooking School on adapting the recipe with a sourdough starter. (I may venture into making a sourdough starter once my bulk order of unbleached flour arrives.)

I want to bake but I ran out of dark brown demerara sugar! Help! For each cup of white granulated sugar, add 2 TBSP of molasses. I have baked cinnamon rolls with just white granulated sugar before; it just lacked the taste of molasses.

Flour: Can’t find unbleached flour? Regular all purpose flour works just great! The key is letting your dough rise for a few hours in a very large bowl.

To make cream cheese frosting, here is a quick recipe:
1 8-oz packaged cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2.5 to 3 cups powdered sugar (2.5 cups if you wanted less sweet)
2 TBSP milk

Add all the cream cheese frosting ingredients together in a medium sized bowl. Use an electric mixer to beat on medium high speed for 3 minutes until you achieve a cream cheese frosting consistency.

Let me know in the comments below if you have tried this recipe or are planning to try it!

If you are in the mood for baking artisan bread, check out the no-knead artisan bread recipe.

Big Fluffy Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

Yum

Votes: 2 Rating: 3.5 You: Rate this recipe!

Print Recipe

Soft big and fluffy cinnamon buns!

• CourseBreakfast
• CuisineCanadian

Servings	Prep Time
12 buns	15 minutes

Cook Time	Passive Time
50 minutes	3 hours

Servings Prep Time 12 buns 15 minutes

Cook Time Passive Time 50 minutes 3 hours

Big Fluffy Cinnamon Rolls Recipe Yum Votes: 2 Rating: 3.5 You: Rate this recipe! Print Recipe Soft big and fluffy cinnamon buns! CourseBreakfast CuisineCanadian Servings Prep Time 12 buns 15 minutes Cook Time Passive Time 50 minutes 3 hours Servings Prep Time 12 buns 15 minutes Cook Time Passive Time 50 minutes 3 hours

Ingredients

• 6 1/2 cups all purpose flour unbleached
• 1 tbsp yeast
• 2/3 cup sugar granulated
• 2 eggs room temperature
• 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature, cut into cubes
• 2 cups Water warm
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
• 1 1/2 cups Demerara sugar
• 2 tbsp ground cinnamon

Servings: buns

Units:MetricUS Imperial

Recipe Notes

1. In a large bowl, combine flour, yeast, and granulated sugar.
2. Crack eggs into a small bowl and whisk.
3. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and drop in the 1 cup of cut butter cubes. Add eggs and 2 cups of water.
    

   

4. Attach a dough hook to a stand mixer or use your hands to mix the dough. Knead until dough is incorporated roughly. Check if the dough is wet and sticky. If it seems dry, add up to 4 tbsp of water. If needed, add water 1 tbsp at a time then knead until you get the right dough consistency. Continue to knead for 5 minutes until the dough becomes smooth.
   Big Fluffy Cinnamon Rolls Dough (link to a video of how the dough should look like after 5 minutes)
5. Oil a very large bowl with vegetable or canola oil. Transfer the dough into the bowl and cover with cling wrap.  Let it rise until double in size. This will take at least 2 to 3 hours. You can walk away and watch the dough rise from time to time.
    

   

6. To prepare filling, mix brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Melt the butter in a microwave for 30 to 45 seconds. If you don't have a microwave, melting it in a pot on the stove works too.
7. Roll the dough out to a 18" by 25" rectangle to 1/4 inch thickness. The width matters more than the length to ensure you can cut into 12 equal pieces.
    

   

8. Use a brush and spread the melted butter on the rectangle of cinnamon roll dough.
    

   

9. Sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture onto the dough. Roll up like a jelly roll.
    

   

    

   

10. Cut cross-wise into 1.5 inch pieces. Grease a large baking pan or dish. Place the cut rolls onto the baking dish with the cut side up. Brush the top of the cinnamon rolls with the remaining melted butter. (Note: 2 inch pieces are fine; it just means that you would have less buns. I made one piece into a 2" piece and it baked fine with the rest of the 1.5" pieces. I ended up with 11 buns)
11. Turn the oven to 350F (177C); it will take time for the oven to come to temperature. Place the baking dish of cinnamon rolls on top of the oven and set the timer for 30 minutes to rise uncovered. (First photo is a shot before the cinnamon rolls are left to rise. They will get bigger yet.)
     

    

     

    After rising, they will be huge!
    

12. Bake at 350F for 25 to 30 minutes. The cinnamon rolls will become brown on the edges, but it is not done yet at the 25 minute mark. Lower the oven temperature to 325F (163C) when the edges are brown but the centre has yet to reach golden brown at around the 30 minute mark. Continue to bake for another 20 minutes at 325F until total baking time has reached 50 minutes.
    
    Nutrition Facts

    Big Fluffy Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

    Amount Per Serving

    Calories 249 Calories from Fat 153

    % Daily Value*

    Total Fat 17g 26%

    Saturated Fat 10g 50%

    Polyunsaturated Fat 1g

    Monounsaturated Fat 4g

    Cholesterol 60mg 20%

    Sodium 9mg 0%

    Potassium 35mg 1%

    Total Carbohydrates 25g 8%

    Dietary Fiber 1g 4%

    Sugars 20g

    Protein 2g 4%

    Vitamin A 10%

    Calcium 1%

    Iron 3%

    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
13. (Who's counting calories when you are eating cinnamon buns?) Let your big cinnamon rolls cool and enjoy while it is fresh!

Share this Recipe

Powered byWP Ultimate Recipe