We have a fantasy about how to make cinnamon rolls. It goes like this: Slow jams croon as you open your oven and inhale the intoxicating aromas of cinnamon and nutmeg. The lights dim as you notice the molten butter and brown-sugar swirl enrobed in golden-brown, pillowy dough. You savor the sweetly excruciating ten minutes of waiting as the cinnamon rolls cool (maybe you'll sneak just one errant nut), and smile contentedly as you drizzle on vanilla icing. Now you take a deep breath. You are about to enjoy one of the greatest pleasures known to man: a hot, homemade cinnamon roll.
Too much? In the Epicurious Test Kitchen, we experience this fantasy more than we'd like to admit, so we set out to create Our Favorite Cinnamon Rolls. Here's how we arrived at the perfect recipe.
The perfect cinnamon roll dough
To get started, we turned to our super-popular four-fork-rated recipe Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Glaze for our basic dough. Many reviewers loved this recipe because it uses rapid-rise yeast. Unlike active dry yeast, this type requires no proofing and can be mixed in with dry ingredients, so the rise is more reliable and you get fluffy rolls every time. We also felt this recipe had a nice ratio of flour to milk. However, during our testing process we decided to decrease the sugar in the dough slightly and flavor the dough itself with cinnamon. And we added a little more egg and butter for extra tenderness—why not?
The richest cinnamon roll filling
Every successful cinnamon roll has three essential ingredients: brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter. But how much to use? Fans of the recipe above raved over the sugary swirl, but they wanted more! So we took our cue from Cinnamon Rolls with Icing and increased the amount of butter in the filling. To intensify the richness even more, we switched to dark-brown sugar and increased the amount. We also added nutmeg and a pinch of salt to the mix for a greater depth of flavor. The recipe for Cinnamon Rolls with Pecans gave us the genius idea of adding pecans for sweetness and crunch. Now our cinnamon rolls were really coming together.
The best cinnamon roll pan(s)
We learned that the pan you use to bake your rolls makes all the difference. We took a cue from Cranberry Cinnamon Buns and tried baking the rolls in two round cake pans rather than one large baking dish. This method helps the rolls bake evenly so every roll is as delicious as the next.
A classic cinnamon roll glaze
When it comes to glazing cinnamon rolls, most people fall into one of two camps: They either like a drizzle of powdered-sugar icing or a slather of tangy cream cheese frosting. Frankly, we were torn. We tried a classic cream cheese glaze and even tasted one with a hint of orange zest. But in the end, our purist side won: The classic powdered-sugar icing allows the flavors of the cinnamon rolls to shine through. We tweaked the glaze in the Cranberry Cinnamon Buns slightly by adding a hint of vanilla and a pinch of salt to gild our lily.
Our Favorite Cinnamon Rolls is a fantastic combination of sweet, tender dough, richly spiced filling, and the perfect glaze. Even better, the recipe is a great do-ahead. Assemble the rolls the night before, cover and refrigerate, and let them come to room temperature the next morning. Pop them in the oven to fill your home with the tantalizing scent of freshly baked rolls. Just don't forget to hide one for yourself!
