The Best Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

The ladies at Yellow Rose Kitchen are so excited to share with you one of our favorite and most coveted recipes…our Cinnamon Rolls! These Cinnamon Rolls are buttery soft with just the right amount of sweetness from the cinnamon-sugar mixture. They are baked to golden brown and drizzled with dreamy brown sugar icing. We have become obsessed with these Cinnamon Rolls, they are so fun to make and we hope that you love them!

We began playing around with this recipe about three years ago! The girls kept asking for the cinnamon rolls you can buy frozen at HEB. They served their purpose until I realized how often we were buying them and I knew we could do better!

We played around using kolache dough to make cinnamon rolls, they were SO GOOD but took forever to make. When we discovered the biscuit-like dough we became obsessed, no more rise time. The butter bits throughout the dough make these cinnamon rolls buttery and soft. The thing that took this recipe to the top for my girls was the brown sugar icing. The brown sugar icing adds just the perfect amount of sweet richness to the cinnamon rolls.

These Cinnamon Rolls are really special and we are so happy to share them with our friends and community!

Now let’s make some Cinnamon Rolls!

Ingredients

Dough

• 1 stick Unsalted butter The butter needs to be cold!
• 2 1/2 cups All purpose flour Favorite brands: King Arthur or HEB Organic
• 4 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Fine sea salt
• 1 cup Buttermilk, keep the buttermilk cold!

Cinnamon Sugar Mixture

• 6 tbsp Unsalted butter, softened (the butter needs to be easily spreadable)
• 1/4 cup Sugar
• 1/4 cup Brown Sugar (preferably dark)
• 2-3 tsp Ground Cinnamon

Icing

• 1/4 cup Brown Sugar 
• 1 cup Powder Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla
• 2 tbsp Cold water

More Butter

• 1 tbsp Melted butter You are welcome to use a non-stick spray on the pan before putting in the rolls. I always use melted butter because why not!

Instructions

First thing…set the 6 tbsp of butter for the filling out to soften.

Dough Prep/Oven Preheat/Pan Prep

• Grab the food processor and a medium bowl. Measure out and place the flour, baking powder, and salt into the food processor. Cut one stick of butter into small pieces, about 1/2 inch in size, and place in the food processor with the dry ingredients. If you have the ‘pulse’ option, pulse the ingredients 10 times, then switch to a low setting for 10 seconds. The ingredients should be crumbly with baby pieces of butter, like pea size. You do not want the ingredients to look like sand. Transfer to the medium size bowl and place in the freezer for at least 10 minutes to chill.
• Preheat the oven to 425.
• Prepare the pan at this time using melted butter or non-stick spray.

Cinnamon Sugar and Icing Prep

• Prep the cinnamon sugar mixture in a small bowl. Set aside, until ready to use.
• Make the icing! In a small bowl or Pyrex measuring cup, combine all of the ingredients and mix well. This icing can easily be adjusted by adding more powdered sugar to thicken it and water to thin it out. I like to drizzle the icing onto the rolls, but some of you may like a thicker icing to spread on. You do you!
• NOTE: The icing prepared for this was made with Light Brown sugar because it was what I had at the house. Use Dark Brown sugar when you can!

Form the Dough Ball

• Remove the bowl from the freezer, make a little well in the dry ingredients, and pour in the cold buttermilk. Begin to stir the ingredients together with the fork, eventually stirring vigorously until a ball begins to form. If the dough is dry and not forming, add an additional 1 tbsp of buttermilk to the dough. At this point, begin using your hands to gently kneed the dough together until formed into a soft round ball.

Roll out the Dough

• Place the dough on a floured surface and flour the barrel of your rolling pin. Use your rolling pin to gently roll out the dough. Add flour to the surface as needed to prevent sticking to the surface, gently lift the dough and sprinkle some flour underneath as needed. Roll the dough into a 12×16-inch rectangle. A measuring tape comes in handy here, otherwise, you are welcome to wing it. Please note that in that case, you may end up with closer to 10 rolls versus 12. It’s all good!

Fill, Roll, Cut

• Once the dough is rolled out it’s time to spread the softened butter onto the dough using a butter knife. The butter should cover the entire surface.
• Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar filling on top of the butter and spread it out evenly.
• It’s time to roll…start rolling the Cinnamon Rolls from the top, you will be rolling the dough toward your body. Roll the dough tightly, pinching the end together as needed to prevent the cinnamon sugar mixture from falling out. Once you get to the end firmly pinch the seem of the log together!

Cut the Cinnamon Rolls using a sharp cutting knife. Begin by cutting the log in half. Cut one half at a time starting from the middle and going outwards. Each roll should be about 1 inch wide and you should get 5-6 rolls per side. After cutting one-half of the log, place the rolls into the pan leaving space in between. The Cinnamon Rolls are going to get BIG and FLUFFY! Finish cutting up the other half of the log and it’s time to bake!

Bake, Cool Time, and Brown Sugar Icing

• Bake the cinnamon rolls at 425 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown! Everyone’s ovens are different, so they may need a little extra time. Add 3-5 additional minutes in increments. Timers are super helpful, now is the time to use one :). I’ve had moments!
• Once the Cinnamon Rolls are done baking allow them to cool for 5 minutes before icing.
• Drizzle the icing all over the rolls! Use a knife to spread evenly if needed. Allow the icing to set for a couple of minutes before serving!

We hope that you absolutely love these Cinnamon Rolls and have fun!!!

Much love, The ladies of Yellow Rose Kitchen

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