The Best Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

If you have company coming for the holidays and you are looking for something special to make for breakfast, this recipe for homemade cinnamon rolls is out of this world.

I’ve been using this same recipe for a couple of years now and I always get rave reviews when I serve them. If you’ve never made homemade cinnamon rolls before, don’t freak out. You can do this. Homemade cinnamon rolls are easier to make than you’d think.

Ingredients for the Dough

1/4-ounce package yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup scalded milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour

Ingredients for the Filling

1/2 cup melted butter, plus more for pan if not using a baking liner
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/2 chopped nuts or raisins {totally optional}

Ingredients for the Icing

4 tablespoons butter, softened
2 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons warm water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Dissolve the yeast in warm water in a small bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl combine the milk, sugar, melted butter, salt and egg. Add in 2 cups of flour and mix {I use my hands} until nice and smooth. Add yeast mixture and then mix in remaining flour until dough is easy to work with. Knead dough on lightly floured surface for around 5 minutes. Place in a large bowl that’s been greased bowl with a we bit of vegetable oil then cover and let rise until doubled in size {usually about 1 hour}.

Once the dough has doubled in size, punch down it down and roll it out on to a floured surface. Ideally you want to shape the dough in to a  15 by 9-inch rectangle. Using a pastry brush, spread the melted butter all over dough.

Then sprinkle cinnamon and sugar over the buttered dough and then sprinkle a few nuts, or raisins if you like {we used pecans and raisins}. Next roll the cinnamon roll dough up into a tight log and seal the ends with a little melted butter. The cut into {12} 2 inch slices {I use unflavored floss to cut my dough}.

Place cinnamon rolls about 2 inches apart on a lined cookie sheet or a buttered pan. Let rise a second time until the dough has doubled {about 30-45 minutes} and then bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until nice and brown.

While the cinnamon rolls are baking, mix the butter, cream cheese powdered sugar, salt and vanilla. Add warm water as needed. Spread over warm rolls.

Dig in!