The Perfect Weekend Bake
There is no more welcoming smell in a home than cinnamon rolls baking on a Sunday morning. These are the real deal: a rich, egg-and-butter-enriched dough, a generous cinnamon-brown sugar filling, and a cream cheese glaze that melts into every swirl. The kind of roll that your guests will ask about for years.
The key to cloud-soft rolls is the enriched dough — milk, eggs, and butter all slow down gluten development and add tenderness. Combined with a proper proof, the result is rolls so soft they practically melt when pulled apart.
Ingredients
Dough
- All-purpose or bread flour 500 g
- Whole milk, warm (40°C) 240 ml
- Caster sugar 70 g
- Instant yeast 8 g
- Fine salt 8 g
- Large eggs, room temp 2
- Unsalted butter, softened 80 g
Cinnamon Filling
- Unsalted butter, soft 80 g
- Light brown sugar (packed)150 g
- Ground cinnamon 2.5 tsp
Cream Cheese Glaze
- Cream cheese, soft 120 g
- Icing sugar, sifted150 g
- Whole milk 3–4 tbsp
- Vanilla extract 1 tsp
Method
Make the Enriched Dough
Warm the milk to 40°C (just hot enough to hold your hand in comfortably). Whisk in the yeast and 1 tsp of the sugar and let it sit 5 minutes until foamy. In a stand mixer with a dough hook, combine flour, remaining sugar, and salt. Add the yeast mixture and eggs. Mix on low until shaggy, then increase to medium and knead for 5 minutes. Add the softened butter a few cubes at a time. Increase to medium-high and knead for 8–10 minutes until the dough is smooth, elastic, and just slightly tacky. It should pull away clean from the bowl sides.
First Rise — 1 to 1.5 Hours
Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover, and leave at room temperature until doubled in size — about 1 to 1.5 hours. For overnight rolls, cover with cling film and refrigerate. The dough rises slowly in the fridge and develops more complex flavour by morning. Remove from the fridge and let it sit 30 minutes before rolling.
Make the Filling
Beat the softened butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon together until smooth and spreadable. The consistency should be thick but spreadable — like peanut butter. Don't warm the butter too much; if the filling is too runny, it will leak out during rolling.
Roll, Fill, and Cut
Punch down the dough and turn it onto a lightly floured surface. Roll into a 40cm × 55cm rectangle, about 5mm thick. Spread the cinnamon filling all the way to the edges, leaving a 1cm border along one long side. Starting from the opposite long edge, roll the dough up tightly into a log. Pinch the seam firmly to seal. Using a very sharp knife or unflavoured dental floss (a classic trick — it cuts without squashing), cut the log into 12 equal portions, each about 4cm wide.
Second Rise — 45 to 60 Minutes
Arrange the rolls cut-side up in a greased 23cm × 33cm baking dish with a small gap between each. Cover loosely and leave to rise until puffed and touching each other — 45 to 60 minutes. They're ready when they jiggle when you shake the pan and have visibly grown. Do not rush this step; under-proofed rolls are dense and dry.
Bake
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan (200°C conventional). Bake for 22–25 minutes until golden on top and a skewer inserted in the centre of the middle roll comes out clean. The internal temperature should reach 88°C. Don't overbake — overbaked cinnamon rolls are dry. Pull them slightly before they look fully done; carryover heat finishes the job.
Make the Glaze and Frost
While the rolls bake, beat together the cream cheese, icing sugar, vanilla, and enough milk to reach a thick but pourable consistency. Pour generously over the rolls while they're still warm (not piping hot — give them 10 minutes). The glaze will melt into all the swirls and pool in the gaps between rolls. Serve immediately.
Tips for the Softest Rolls
- Room temperature ingredients matter. Cold butter won't incorporate properly; cold eggs slow fermentation. Take everything out 1 hour before baking.
- Knead fully. The butter makes the dough feel squidgy and under-developed. Keep kneading past this stage until the dough is genuinely smooth.
- Dental floss trick. Slide a length of unflavoured floss under the log, bring the ends up and cross them — it cuts perfectly without squashing the rolls flat.
- Don't overbake. Pull at 22 minutes and check. Golden, not dark. The rolls continue cooking in the hot pan after you remove them.
Storage & Make-Ahead
Leftover rolls keep covered at room temperature for 2 days. Reheat individual rolls in the microwave for 20–30 seconds. To make ahead, assemble the rolls and refrigerate overnight before the second rise — take them out in the morning, let them proof for 1.5 hours at room temperature, then bake fresh.