Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting
Bakery-style cinnamon rolls: a pillowy, enriched dough made with the tangzhong technique — a Japanese method of cooking a small portion of flour and milk into a paste before adding it to the dough — which allows the dough to hold far more moisture than normal, producing rolls that stay cloud-soft for days rather than going stale by evening. The filling is brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter that melts into gooey caramelized layers during baking. The crowning cream cheese frosting is spread over warm rolls so it partially melts into the swirls. These are the rolls that end arguments about what to bring to brunch.
Ingredients
- 40 gplain flour
- 200 mlwhole milk
- 400 gbread flour or strong white flour
- 60 gcaster sugar
- 7 ginstant yeast
- 1 tspfine salt
- 2 eggs
- 80 mlwarm whole milk
- 60 gunsalted butter
- 120 gsoft brown sugar
- 2 tbspground cinnamon
- 60 gunsalted butter, very soft
- 150 gfull-fat cream cheese
- 60 gunsalted butter
- 200 gicing sugar
- 1 tspvanilla extract
- 2 tbspwhole milk or double cream
Method
- Make the tangzhong. Whisk 40 g plain flour with 200 ml milk in a small saucepan until no lumps remain. Place over medium heat and stir constantly for 2 to 3 minutes until the mixture thickens to a smooth, pudding-like paste — when you drag a spatula across the bottom and it leaves a clean line, it is ready. Scrape into a bowl and cool to room temperature. This paste is the secret to ultra-soft rolls.
- Make and knead the dough. In the bowl of a stand mixer combine bread flour, caster sugar, yeast, and salt. Add the cooled tangzhong, eggs, and warm milk. Mix on low speed with the dough hook until a rough dough forms, about 2 minutes. Increase to medium and knead 5 minutes. Add the softened butter in small pieces over 3 minutes — the dough will look greasy and messy before it comes together. Continue kneading 8 to 10 more minutes until the dough is smooth, elastic, and pulls away cleanly from the sides of the bowl. It will be slightly tacky but not sticky. Cover and rise in a warm place until doubled, 60 to 90 minutes.
- Roll out and fill. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 40 × 30 cm (16 × 12 inch) rectangle. Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together. Spread the very soft butter evenly over the entire surface, right to the edges. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar evenly over the butter. Starting from a long edge, roll the dough tightly into a log. Using unflavoured dental floss or a sharp serrated knife, cut into 12 equal rolls. Arrange cut-side-up in a lined 23 × 33 cm (9 × 13 inch) baking tin. Cover and rise until the rolls are puffy and touching each other, 45 to 60 minutes.
- Bake. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the rolls are light golden — do not bake until deeply golden or they will be dry inside. The internal temperature of the dough should read 88°C (190°F). Remove from the oven and cool in the tin for 5 minutes only — they should be warm but not scorching when you frost them.
- Make the frosting and finish. Beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Add the sifted icing sugar and vanilla, beating until light. Add milk or cream to reach a spreadable consistency — it should be thick enough to sit on the rolls but soft enough to melt slightly into the warm swirls. Spread generously over the warm rolls. Serve immediately for the gooey experience, or at room temperature where the frosting will set to a creamy layer.
FAQ
Tangzhong (湯種) is a Japanese and Chinese bread-making technique in which a small portion of a recipe's flour and liquid are cooked together into a thick paste before being incorporated into the main dough. When heated to around 65°C (149°F), the starch granules in the flour gelatinise — they swell, rupture, and permanently bind water molecules. This pre-gelatinised starch can hold significantly more water than raw flour can, allowing the dough to be more hydrated overall. Higher hydration produces a softer, more tender crumb. The bound water is also more resistant to evaporation during baking and cooling, which is why tangzhong breads stay moist longer than conventional enriched breads.
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Comments (1)
The cream cheese frosting must go on while the rolls are still warm from the oven. Not hot — warm. Hot rolls melt the frosting into a thin glaze. Cold rolls do not absorb it. There is a window of about 10 minutes after they come out that is perfect. The other thing I learned after testing this recipe many times: do not skip the overnight rise in the fridge. Room temperature rolls are good. Cold-fermented rolls have a depth of flavour that is noticeably better, and the texture is more tender.