Today on The Stay At Home Chef
I'm showing you how to make my famous Homemade Cinnamon Rolls.
I call these the best homemade cinnamon rolls ever,
and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of rave reviews agree,
and they're super easy to make.
Start by pouring 1 cup of milk into the bowl of a stand mixer,
or you can do this by hand.
It needs to be about 100-110 degrees.
Then we'll add in 1 tablespoon of instant dry yeast, or you can use active dry yeast,
2 tablespoons of sugar,
1 teaspoon of salt,
1 large egg,
and 3 tablespoons of softened salted butter.
If you're making this by hand instead of using a stand mixer, you can also just melt your butter,
that will make it a little bit easier to mix together.
Next we're going to start adding in our all-purpose flour.
Add in about 3 cups of your all-purpose or plain flour.
You can always add in more flour, but you can't take any away.
Then we'll get this mixing on a low speed,
or if you're doing it by hand, start stirring it with a wooden spoon.
You're looking for the dough to pull away from the sides and bottom of the bowl.
If it doesn't, add a little bit more flour,
you may need up to 3 1/2 cups.
Gradually increase the speed and let the dough knead until it's soft and smooth.
The dough should be soft to the touch and nice and squishy,
but not sticky at all.
You definitely don't want it to stick to your hands.
Then we'll lightly grease a bowl,
shape the dough into a little ball,
and then put it in,
and I like to rub it around in the oil, and flip it over so that the dough doesn't dry out.
Then cover it with a tea towel or plastic wrap and let it rise until double in size,
which will take about 1 hour.
Just before the dough is about finished rising, you'll want to put together your filling ingredients.
You'll need 1/2 cup of butter,
and you can either melt this, or you want it to be super soft so that it's spreadable.
Then you'll need 1 cup of brown sugar,
then we're going to stir that together with 2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon.
You just want to give it a toss until the cinnamon is mixed in with that brown sugar.
Then we're ready to roll.
Our dough has risen so I'm going to pull off the plastic wrap.
I'm going to turn it out onto a clean dry countertop, and roll it into an 18x12 inch rectangle.
It doesn't have to be exact, but you do want the dough to be fairly even.
By even I mean that if you rub your hand across, it's all an even thickness.
You don't want any bumps or low spots.
One cool little trick that I use all the time for measuring out the dough
is to just grab a standard size piece of paper.
Since a standard size piece of paper is 8 1/2 inches x 11 inches, and I need 12x18,
I know that this needs to be just a little bit bigger than the long side,
and it needs to be a little bigger than 2 of the short sides.
Next we're ready to fill.
Like I said before you can use either 1/2 cup of melted butter, which is a little bit messier,
but it does combine with the brown sugar mixture a little bit easier and roll easier.
Or you can use 1/2 cup of softened butter, just make sure it's softened enough that it will easily spread.
Plop that butter right down there in the center,
grab some of that butter,
and start spreading it on top of the dough.
Spread the butter in an even layer all the way to the sides and the bottom of your dough,
leaving just a little gap at the top there so that you can seal the dough once you roll it up.
Then it's time to sprinkle on the brown sugar cinnamon mixture.
What I like to do is just kind of dump it there across the center,
and then just get in there with my hands and spread it out into a fairly even layer,
and bring it all the way to the edges of the dough.
Up at the top you just want to spread it to cover the butter,
but once again you're leaving a little gap at the top so you can seal the edge there.
Once you've got that sugar on there we are ready to roll.
This is the tricky part.
You start at the bottom,
and kind of fold it over.
This is where using melted butter is advantageous,
because while it's messy, the brown sugar combines better with the butter,
and you get a more even filling.
So just kind of fold it over to get that first initial roll,
but once you get it going you should be able to roll it right up.
Once I get to that edge I just kind of pull the dough up,
and seal it.
Pinch it just a little bit into the dough,
it's already on there,
and then just give it a gentle roll.
We're going to cut this into 12 cinnamon rolls,
so I like to just give little marks on there to estimate where I'm going to cut,
then use a serrated knife to cut these gently into 12 even pieces.
You don't want to apply too much pressure, just use a sawing motion so you don't squish the roll.
Then you'll place each slice into a lightly greased 9x13 pan.
I'm going to do 4 rows of 3 here,
or you can do this on a large baking sheet so that they're all separate and they don't run together.
Also this recipe can be easily doubled.
You'll just want to put it into either two 9x13 pans, or onto a large baker's half sheet.
Once you have all 12 rolls you'll want to cover it with a tea towel,
or once again with plastic wrap, I'm using, because it's easier for you to see.
We're gonna let these rise and expand for about 30-45 minutes,
during which time you'll also want to preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
You can see the visual difference here side by side.
These are the rolls I just made, and these cinnamon rolls have been rising for about 45 minutes.
If you want to make these ahead of time you'll slide your un-risen rolls into the fridge,
covered of course,
and let them sit overnight.
In the morning you'll just need to let them come to room temperature for about 30-45 minutes before baking.
Once risen we're gonna bake these in the 325 degree oven for 15-20 minutes,
until your rolls are just kissed with golden brown.
While the cinnamon rolls are baking we'll put together our cream cheese frosting.
If you don't like cream cheese you can just use a simple icing.
You'll need 4 ounces of softened cream cheese,
along with 1/4 cup of softened salted butter.
We're going to whip this together with a hand mixer.
Whip it on a medium speed until well combined and smooth, which will take about 60-90 seconds.
Then we'll add in 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract,
and 1 - 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar.
If you like things a little bit sweeter, add 1 1/2 cups.
If you like it a little bit less sweet, just add in 1 cup.
Then we'll mix this on a low speed until combined,
and you can see it's pretty thick, so you'll want to add in 1 tablespoon of milk,
up to 2 tablespoons until you achieve a drizzleable consistency.
I don't know if drizzleable is even a word,
but you want it to be able to spread really easily on top of your baked cinnamon rolls.
I want to show you the consistency here.
You don't want it to be watery or runny, but you do want a nice, thick, soft drizzle.
Once your cinnamon rolls are fresh and hot out of the oven, you'll want to frost them while they're still warm,
and then you are ready to eat, because there's nothing better than a warm cinnamon roll.
Thanks for watching.
You can find the full written recipe in the video description,
or on my website www.thestayathomechef.com,
where you can find this recipe and other flavors of cinnamon rolls.
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