Amanda Eaton is a very busy homeschool & homemaker mama as well as Homestead Mamas co-founder. When not homeschooling her four children or designing merchandise and education bundles, she can be found in the kitchen creating seasonally based recipes.
I can’t be the only one out there who bakes according to season. Certain foods seem to fit certain temperatures better. A summer breakfast in my mind includes fresh fruit, maybe waffles, fluffy eggs. But there is something about the cooler fall weather that makes me crave warm, home-baked goods to pair with my coffee, and what’s better than warm, gooey, bready, cinnamon rolls?
This is a simple recipe that makes 15-20 rolls. I say 15-20 because this time I decided to cut my dough thinner and squeeze 20 rolls into my 9×13 pan and they still turned out wonderful. The dough can be frozen, and even the baked rolls can be frozen and warmed up in the oven. I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does!
For the dough:
1 cup of warm milk (I always use whole milk for baking)
1 Tbsp. of active dry yeast
½ cup of white sugar
1/3 cup of softened butter
2 large room temperature eggs
4 ½ cups of flour
1 tsp. of salt
For the Filling:
½ cup of almost melted butter
1 cup of packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp. of cinnamon
½ cup of heavy whipping cream
Frosting:
1 bar of cream cheese (room temperature)
1/3 cup of melted butter
2 Cups of powdered sugar
1 Tbsp. of vanilla
1 Tbsp. of milk (depending on your preference of thickness of frosting)
Bake at 350* for 18-20 minutes.
I use a kitchen aid mixer and bowl and first pour in the milk, sprinkle on the yeast and sugar, and let sit for a few minutes to activate the yeast. Then add the butter, room temperature eggs, flour, and salt, and using my bread hook, knead it until it’s come to a nice dough that’s not sticking to the sides. If it is sticking, add more flour one tablespoon at a time.
Once your dough has come together, place it in a greased bowl, and let it rise until it’s almost doubled in size. To cheat a little with time, sometimes I turn my oven on to 350* and once it reaches 350* I turn it off, then place my tea-towel covered bowl in the oven (which is OFF, but warm) and it rises in about 20-30 minutes.
Next you will punch down your dough and place it on a floured surface to roll out. You’ll want to roll it about 24×12”. I am not a perfectionist, so I just roll it out until it’s a rectangle that is about ¼ of an inch thick. Once it’s rolled out, add your almost melted butter, and cinnamon and sugar, and roll tightly. As pictured, I cut my rolls into 20 thinner rolls, and squished them into my 9×13 pan. 5 rows of 3 would’ve fit better, but like I said, I’m not a perfectionist 😉
Once you have your rolls cut, place them in a greased 9×13 dish, pour the ½ cup of whipping cream over them, and cover with a tea towel to rise again. You can do the same cheat method as before if you prefer or let them double in size in an hour or two. (A warmer place will help them rise- yeast grows in warmth!)
Once the rolls have risen again, place in an oven preheated to 350* and bake for 18-20 minutes, checking around that time to see if the tops are golden brown.
Now it’s time for the frosting! Mix up your frosting ingredients, and when your cinnamon rolls have cooled for a few minutes, slather them up with that frosting! I like to add the frosting while the rolls are still hot so that it melts right into the rolls. Enjoy!