Leite’s Culinaria Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
As you may know, I am a huge fan of Leite’s Culinaria and often go to their site for ideas and recipes. When I discovered this recipe several years ago, I shared it with you. It makes the most delicious cinnamon rolls I’ve ever had! With all the snow we’ve had this week and the weather being so cold it’s the perfect time to heat up the oven and make these yummy cinnamon rolls.
- Quick Glance
- Prep: 45 M
- Total: 3 H, 15 M
- Makes 20 small or 9 giant rolls
INGREDIENTS
- For the dough
- 10 ounces warm milk, [about 105°F (40°C)]
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 5 to 5 1/2 cups bread flour, plus more as needed
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 3 large eggs
- For the honey butter
- 1 cup honey
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
- For the cinnamon sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- For the icing
- 5 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 4 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 10 ounces confectioners’ sugar
- 2 ounces heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS
- Make the dough
- 1. Prepare a sheet pan or baking dish by lining it with parchment paper and rubbing it with butter.
- 2. In the bowl of a standing mixer, stir together by hand the warm milk, yeast, and sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes. Add the flour, salt, butter, and eggs. Using the dough hook, mix until the dough is completely developed, 8 to 10 minutes. (By “completely developed” we mean that the dough should “clean” the side of the bowl, with no extra flour at the bottom; you might need to add a little more flour. The finished dough will be tacky but not sticky.) Remove the dough hook and cover the bowl with plastic. Set the bowl in a warm place and let stand until it’s double in size.
- Make the honey butter
- 3. In a medium bowl, stir together the honey and the butter until completely combined.
- Make the cinnamon sugar
- 4. In a small bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon until completely combined.
- Assemble the cinnamon rolls
- 5. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll it out into a rectangle roughly 18 inches by 24 inches and about 1/2-inch thick. Liberally brush the dough with half of the room-temperature honey butter. Sprinkle with as much of the cinnamon-sugar mixture as you please.
- 6. Beginning with the 24-inch side of the dough, roll it tightly from the bottom to the top of the rectangle, gently pulling the dough to make an even, semi-tight spiral. Divide the long roll into individual rolls by cutting it in half crosswise with a serrated knife, then cut each portion in half again. Divide each quarter into 5 pieces. Place each spiral roll on its side. Carefully take the tail end of the piece of dough from one roll and gently pull and wrap it around the rest of the spiral dough, tucking it underneath. Place the roll in the pan and press down slightly on it. Repeat with the rest of the rolls, fitting them sort of snugly in little rows in the pan.
- 7. Preheat the oven to 350°F (176°C). Cover the pan with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and set it in a warm place. Let them rise again until while the oven preheats.
- 8. Bake the cinnamon rolls for 15 to 20 minutes, until they are a deep golden brown, rotating the pan once halfway through. Remove from the oven and lightly brush with the remaining honey butter.
- Make the icing
- 9. Place the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a standing kitchen mixer, and mix on low speed until smooth. Add the confectioners’ sugar, cream, and vanilla, and whip until smooth.
- 10. When the cinnamon rolls are completely cool, slather them with icing. Serve the cinnamon rolls as-is or warm them in the oven at 325°F (163°C) for 2 to 3 minutes.
Visit Leites Culinaria for more great recipes.