Homemade cinnamon rolls

Today I want to share flavourful and fluffy yeasted cinnamon rolls that we'll decorate with pleasant, lightly vanilla icing.

Cinnamon rolls come out incredibly fluffy, and their aroma will make you reach for the next one. They're pleasantly sweet and just perfect for those longer Autumn evenings, especially when coupled with a mug of hot cocoa or tea.

You'll find the list of ingredients, method and approximate nutritional value below.

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List of ingredients (12 cinnamon rolls)

Dough

• 500 g wheat flour
• 60 g sugar (~5 tbsp)
• 7 g dry yeast
• 0.5 tsp salt
• 250 g kefir
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1.5 tsp vanilla paste
• 60 g butter
• 1 tbsp milk

Filling

• 175 g brown sugar
• 2 tbsp cinnamon
• 20 g butter

Icing

• 150 g icing sugar
• 1-2 tbsp water
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Put 500 g wheat flour, 60 g sugar, 7 g dry yeast and 0.5 tsp salt into a large bowl. Stir through the contents of the bowl shortly with a whisk until everything gets evenly distributed.
2.  Once dry ingredients are well mixed together, add 250 g lukewarm kefir, 4 large egg yolks and 1.5 tsp vanilla paste. If you don't have vanilla paste at hand, you can use vanilla extract or replace some sugar with vanilla sugar. Mix the contents of the bowl with a wooden spoon, only until flour absorbs moisture.
3. Add 60 g cool melted butter to the dough. Mix the contents of the bowl with a wooden spoon again, only until dough absorbs fat. Start kneading dough then, in the bowl at first, until roughly uniform dough forms. Transfer it onto a floured worktop then and knead until smooth, elastic dough forms. It will take quite long to knead dough by hand, so you can also use a kitchen robot fitted with a dough hook. My dough was ready after around 12 minutes.
4. Form dough into a ball and put it into a lightly oiled, large bowl. Turn dough over a few times to coat it in oil and prevent it from drying. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and set it aside into a warm place until dough doubles in volume. It took my dough about 1.5 hours to raise, but the exact time will depend on ambient temperature.
5. Prepare cinnamon filling towards the end of dough raising. Put 175 g brown sugar and 2 tbsp cinnamon into a small bowl. Stir through the contents of the bowl shortly until the mixture becomes uniform. Try to break up any sugar lumps in the process as they will make it harder to roll up your cinnamon buns. Set the mixture aside until you're ready for the next step.
6. Transfer raised dough onto a clean worktop, press it down to remove air and shape it into a small rectangle. Roll out the dough into a larger rectangle, roughly 40 x 25 cm. Even out the sides of the dough rectangle to make it easier to shape your buns.
7. Spread cool melted butter on top of the dough. Leave a clean strip, around 2 cm wide, along one of the wider edges. This is where we will close our cinnamon roll later on. Scatter sugar and cinnamon mixture evenly on top of butter, again leaving a clean strip along the longer edge. Press the mixture lightly into the dough, evening out the layer.
8. Roll up the dough into a tight roll. Don't rush it, be as accurate as you can. It may be difficult at the very beginning as sugar and cinnamon will make it hard to make the first fold, but it will get easier afterwards. The more tightly you roll up the dough, the more cinnamon layers you will obtain.
9. Place the cinnamon roll on the worktop, seam down, and try to even it out to make it uniformly thick across the whole length. Cut the cinnamon roll into 12 equal pieces. It is best to use a very sharp knife that will not squish the cinnamon buns. If your knife is dull, dough may shift underneath and you don't won't to deal with it at this stage.
10. Place the cinnamon rolls in a baking tin lined with baking paper, two centimetres apart. I'm placing my buns in a 24 x 36 baking tin. Press the cinnamon rolls lightly to close the gaps between dough layers and make the filling a bit more compact. Cover the baking tin loosely with plastic wrap and set aside into a warm place for around 30 minutes, for the dough to rest and rise a bit.
11. After 30 minutes the cinnamon rolls should raise enough to start touching one another. Remove plastic wrap at that point and and brush each cinnamon roll with a bit of milk. That will help our cinnamon rolls become beautiful and golden as they bake. You can use melted butter or egg wash instead, they will work just as well.
12. Bake the cinnamon rolls in an oven preheated to 180 deg C, no fan, for 15 - 18 minutes, until they become beautiful and golden. Take ready cinnamon rolls out of the oven and set aside in the tin until completely cool. One or two hours should be enough.
13. Meanwhile, prepare a simple icing. Put 150 g icing sugar into a small bowl. Add 1 tsp vanilla extract and about 2 tbsp of water. Add water in batches until you get your desired icing texture. Transfer ready icing into a piping bag and use it to decorate cool cinnamon buns. Set the buns aside for around 15 minutes, until icing sets.
14. Enjoy!

Approximate nutritional value

100 g

• 343 kcal
• Carbs: 61 g
• Fat: 9 g
• Protein: 7 g
• Fibre: 0 g

1 cinnamon roll (recipe makes 12 cinnamon rolls)

• 319 kcal
• Carbs: 57 g
• Fat: 8 g
• Protein: 6 g
• Fibre: 0 g