These were overnight cinnamon rolls, but I did not use my starter for these! I think I was kind of intimidated. I wanted to see if I could nail a good yeast cinnamon roll before I used my own starter.

These did not disappoint. I’ll probably make 1 more batch before I use my starter. Yikes!

Here’s a quick video in case you want to watch first. I like to watch cooking videos. It’s a hobby of mine. It’s like a kind of visual pep talk. Pumps me up and all.

The recipe I used to go off of was an absolutely amazing one from the blog Joy, Food, Sunshine. Her post here is incredible and really goes into tremendous detail for making the best cinnamon rolls. I’ll warn you, it is LOoooooong, but worth the read. She gives really great tips and things to consider before you start that I found very helpful. She also gives solutions for various what if scenarios.

I just needed a shorter version for the blog because, as always, I tweaked it and just needed a shorter version.

My family is also a little odd and doesn’t like the traditional cream cheese frosting type deal, so I used our typical glaze instead. The recipe on JFS uses a cream cheese frosting that looks absolutely amazing if you wanted to check that out here.

Additionally, I did not use a Kitchenaid mixer for these and they came out great. I changed the directions to reflect that as well! Reason being was, well… I made these one night when the kids were in bed and I didn’t want to wake them up with the extra noise! And I suppose I was a little lazy and didn’t want to get it out that late… anyhow, they came out great using an old fashioned bowl, whisk and wooden spoon, just in case you didn’t have one.

Ingredients

Cinnamon Roll Dough

• 1 cup milk warm (105 degrees F)
• ½ cup + 1 TBS granulated sugar divided
• 1 TBS Active dry yeast
• 2 large eggs room temperature
• 6 TBS butter melted
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 4 to 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour*
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

*I subbed white whole wheat here, bc that’s all we had

Cinnamon Roll Filling

• 3/4 cup brown sugar packed
• 2 ½ TBS ground cinnamon
• 4 TBS butter softened

Cinnamon Roll Frosting

• 2tbsp milk
• 1C Powdered Sugar

Directions

Make the Cinnamon Roll Dough:

1. Warm milk in the microwave milk for 45-60 seconds. It should be warm but not hot to the touch (about 105 degrees F).
2. Place milk into the bowl of your standing mixer, then add 1 TBS sugar and 1 TBS yeast to the warm milk. Stir and let it sit (proof) for five minutes or until it becomes foamy.
3. Add the ½ cup sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla to the mixture in the bowl. Stir until combined
4. Add 4 cups flour, salt and cinnamon and stir the dough slowly at first, and then vigorously until it comes together.
5. Knead dough until a large ball is formed. The dough should be smooth and only slightly tacky to the touch. If the dough seems too sticky and is not forming a ball, add more flour 1 TBS at a time until a smooth ball is formed.
6. Transfer dough to a floured surface and knead with your hands until it is smooth and elastic (about 3-5 minutes). Form it into a ball.
7. Grease a large bowl and place the dough inside.
8. Cover the bowl with a warm, damp towel and put the bowl in a warm place to rise.
9. Let the dough rise in a warm place about 1 hour or until dough has doubled in size.

Make the Filling:

1. While the dough is rising, make the filing. In a small bowl, combine butter, brown sugar and cinnamon until mixture is homogenous (uniform throughout). Set aside.
2. Alternately, you can combine the cinnamon and sugar. Then melt the butter and brush it on the rolled dough, then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on the butter-brushed dough. (I think this way is easier)!
3. Assemble Cinnamon Rolls
4. Sprinkle a large work surface with flour.
5. Gently press the gas out of the dough and form it into a rectangle.
6. Roll the dough into a 24×12” rectangle, about 1/4 inch thick.
7. Spread the filling all over the dough using greased hands or a greased spatula. This process can seem difficult but it gets easier as you spread it. (Alternately: if you only combined the cinnamon and sugar, then melt the butter and use a pastry brush to spread the melted butter all over the dough. Then sprinkle the dough with cinnamon sugar and pat it down gently to insure it sticks).
8. Roll up dough cut into 12 equal sized rolls (feel free to measure and cut each roll to be 2” long).
9. Line a 9×13 inch glass baking dish with parchment paper and lightly grease. Then place rolls in 4 rows of three, evenly spaced.
10. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
11. Bake Cinnamon Rolls
12. Once rolls are doubled in size, bake them in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 18-20 minutes. They will rise more in the oven. (NOTE: Check the center cinnamon rolls and make sure they are baked through. If your oven bakes cool or unevenly you may need to increase the baking time up to 10 minutes longer. If the top starts to brown before the center is baked, tent the baking pan with foil to prevent further browning).