My Best Cinnamon Rolls are traditional cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing. This recipe incorporates a secret ingredient that will remind you of pecan twirls. Written for mixing and kneading in a bread machine, but you can also use a stand mixer or do it by hand. See the recipe notes.
Do you remember the pecan twirls we used to have for breakfast sometimes as kids?
They come in a foil pan with round molded places for each roll. As you slowly unroll them, the pecans fall out everywhere. What fun! (Unless you are the person who gets to sweep the floor.)
There was something different about the spices in those twirls…
I think I figured it out. Read on to find out how I incorporated the tiniest bit of ground cloves into my cinnamon rolls.
These are actually a variation on the dinner rolls I posted a few days ago. I ALWAYS make them in my bread machine but NEVER bake in it. That would be pretty hard to do with cinnamon rolls anyway.
How to roll out “My Cinnamon Rolls:”
Best eaten the day they are baked. However, they can be frozen and are pretty tasty when zapped very briefly in the microwave and eaten immediately.
p.s. A cheap kitchen secret you can make yourself:
It’s a homemade flour shaker–or at least that’s what I call it. The next time you have an empty glass left over with a secure lid, poke holes in the top. I used an awl (think that’s what it’s called– Tim the tool man I’m not.) This is more than handy whenever you make bread, pie crusts or rolled cookies.
If you love your sweets to come with a little bit of cinnamon, check out these posts...
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Twisted Cinnamon-Pecan Breakfast Yeast Bread
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A Texas-Sized Cinnamon Roll from a Bread Machine
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Cinnamon Crispy Toasts
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Homemade Brown Sugar-Cinnamon Oatmeal Pop-Tarts
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Flaky Biscuits with a Million Layers of Cinnamon
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Whole Wheat Apple Pie Yeast Bread
A sweet yeast bread to mix and knead in a bread machine, then baked in a conventional oven
If you make this and enjoy the recipe, it would help me and others if you would return to this post and leave a rating (on the recipe card itself underneath the picture). Although always appreciated, no comment is required. Thanks so much! Paula
My Best Cinnamon Rolls: Inspired by Pecan Twirls
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm milk (if using skim milk which is usually all I have, replace 2 Tablespoons of milk with heavy cream)
- 1/4 cup butter + 2 tablespoons softened butter for filling
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 3 cups unbleached flour
- 2 1/4 teaspoons bread or instant yeast
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
- Pinch of cloves (the secret ingredient).
Instructions
- Place ingredients into bread machine in order listed. Select dough cycle. After about 5 minutes, check dough. It should barely stick to sides and then pull away. If too wet, add flour 1 tablespoon at a time. If too dry, add water or milk one tablespoon at a time. See pictures of what dough should look like here. When finished, dough should be doubled in size and light. If not, allow to stay in bread machine a few more minutes till risen. (This may happen if the house is cold.)
- After the dough has risen, remove from the bread pan, punch down gently and divide dough in half. On a generously floured surface, roll each half into a rectangle size. The bigger the better--gives more surface to layer the good stuff, like butter, sugar, and cinnamon. Don't roll it too thin, however, or it will tear and cause you all kinds of frustration.
- Spread each rectangle with approximately 2 tablespoons of softened or melted butter.
Filling
- Mix brown sugar, cinnamon, and cloves.
- Distribute half of this mixture over first rectangle and half over the second. Sprinkle about 1/4 c. chopped, toasted, pecans over the brown sugar-cinnamon layer.
- Roll up dough the long way. Slice into 8 equal pieces. Place cut side down in greased 8 or 9-inch pan or glass dish.
- Cover and let rise till double in a warm, moist place.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake rolls for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Frosting
- Ice with 2 cups powdered sugar mixed with 1/4 cup cream cheese and 2 tablespoons coffee. May need more or less coffee depending on how thick you like your icing. Milk will substitute for coffee.
Notes
Directions for making bread with a stand mixer or by hand:
- To make this recipe in a heavy-duty stand mixer, add ingredients to the bowl in the same order. Turn on low to mix until all ingredients are moistened. Using dough hook, turn speed to 2 or 3 and continue beating/kneading until dough becomes smooth and elastic, about 5-10 minutes. Cover and allow to rise in a warm place. Deflate dough gently and shape rolls as indicated in recipe.
- If making by hand, combine all ingredients into a shaggy ball in a large bowl. Turn dough out on a floured surface and knead with your hands until dough becomes smooth and elastic, a process that will likely take 10-20 minutes depending on your experience. Place dough ball into a greased bowl. Cover and allow to rise until double. Deflate dough gently and shape rolls as indicated in recipe
- Please note: If you substitute regular yeast for instant or bread machine yeast, you must dissolve it first before adding to the dry ingredients. Stir it into about 1/4 cup of the lukewarm liquid called for in the recipe. Let sit for about 10 minutes. Add to other wet ingredients and then add dry ingredients. Proceed as directed to knead and shape rolls.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving:Calories: 196 Total Fat: 5g Saturated Fat: 3g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 2g Cholesterol: 25mg Sodium: 191mg Carbohydrates: 34g Fiber: 1g Sugar: 14g Protein: 4g
Ju
April 8, 2019 at 7:30 pmCan I sub the butter with oil? Thanks.
MerryChristmas Claus
April 2, 2017 at 10:56 pmIt’s too long of a story but I have a special bread maker which belonged to a now-deceased friend of my mother’s. I am 61 and my mother passed away in 1985, her friend in 2004. I use her bread machine sparingly to preserve it and found your website while looking up a question on Yogurt starter and have spent several hours glued to your site. This is the last recipe for tonight but tomorrow I will pull it out and make one of your bread recipes, maybe cinnamon rolls in her honor, maybe the dinner rolls which would have been my mom’s favorite. Either way, thanks for an enjoyable evening.
Even Santa was happy with the Salad in a Jar idea. Thanks. I have now bookmarked your site so I can remember where I found all these fabulous recipes.
Mrs. Claus
Le
April 29, 2016 at 6:23 pmDo you leave the flour in it? If so, how do you keep from getting moisture in it? I love your recipes-you inspired me to get my first bread maker! Used the dough cycle for first time today…bread is rising now so we shall see!
Amy
August 17, 2015 at 9:14 pmHi, newbie here. Came across your recipe and I made the cinammon rolls last night and it was yummy when hot. However, the base will tend to burn before the roll is done… how do I avoid that?
Also, when eaten the next day, it tends to be a little dry and slightly hard when eaten. How do I avoid that? (I toasted it slightly the next day)
Thanks for your great recipe but please help with my problems
Melissa
November 2, 2014 at 9:57 pmWOW, WOW, WOW… my family just loved these! Made the sweet milk white bread so I knew I could not go wrong trying another recipe 🙂 I was SO right! Amazing! I think my bucket list shall include making all recipes from “Salad-In-A-Jar”.
Thanks again! From the newest Happy Baker!
Holly
September 26, 2014 at 3:04 pmSo this recipe makes 16 rolls essentially right? Can I cut it in half to just make 8? I don’t need that many.
Paula
September 26, 2014 at 4:07 pmI have never made just half of this recipe so can’t say for sure. You could just divide the dough into 8 rolls instead of 16. They would be nice and big. 🙂
MamaToMany
August 30, 2014 at 7:26 amWow!!… I’m so excited to try your method of “don’t bake in the bread maker unless you want to single-handedly bring on an apocalypse”- the regular rolls are on my list for tomorrow, and if I can get those the way they should be then these cinnamon rolls! Yay! My kids will thank me profusely… but I have you to ‘blame’ 🙂
And that flour shaker?! Genius!!!!!!
Thank you for sharing!!!
Sunshine
May 26, 2014 at 8:25 amInstead of poking holes in a jar, I rinse and dry an empty Parmesan cheese container & fill it with flour. Love your blog!
Paula
May 26, 2014 at 11:43 amGood idea, Sunshine. Haven’t bought canned Parm in years but great way to recycle.
Kris
March 27, 2014 at 12:13 pmThanks for posting pictures. They do help a lot .
Paula
March 29, 2014 at 7:20 amYou’re welcome.
Lenora Hammond
March 12, 2014 at 4:15 amHi there! Just wanted you to know that your rolls are just so so successful each time….unlike many other bread machine recipies I have tried! Yesterday I hosted a committee meeting for my cancer group….and made these rolls with a twist: I added in finely chopped red onion that I had sauteed with fresh tomatoes….plus of course the cheese! Yum! Today, I will try the Cinnamon rolls…..thank you for such an enjoyable website 🙂 Blessings……Lenora, Cape Town South Africa
Paula
March 12, 2014 at 10:14 amHi Lenora,
Your variation sounds absolutely wonderful! Thanks for sharing.
Elaine Sipos
January 26, 2014 at 10:21 amHi Paula,
Just made the Cinnamon Rolls, so delish! I will share some with the neighbors, can’t leave these out, too tempting. I like the coffee in the icing, cuts down on the sweetness of the sugar. My husband ate two while I was in exercise class this morning and they were not iced yet. Delicious without icing also. Thanks for the great recipe.
Cindy Goodwin
November 25, 2013 at 2:57 amHi!
I stumbled upon your website on Pinterest! It has been years since I have had cinnamon rolls! This is the first time I have made dough with my breadmaker though. I usually bake a loaf of bread, unlike you. I live in Australia and the flour isn’t as forgiving here. My loaves have come out fairly solid (unlike the Canadian flour) I have since discovered a Bread Improver that is safe to use. It is getting towards summer here and the house is a nice warm temperature so I thought of giving it a go (during my exercise course, LOL!) I noticed that Butter isn’t added to your Filler, but is mentioned as something to do. I used 1/4 C butter and 1/4 cup white sugar, at least 2 cups of brown sugar, and probably close to 3TBSP cinnamon (like I remember my Mom doing). I sprinkled at least 1 1/2 cups of sultanas on the baking paper and placing my 24 rolls on that( I rolled really thin as my Mom used to do). So very yummy!
Paula
November 25, 2013 at 7:27 amHi Cindy,
Your rolls sound delicious! Thanks for the heads-up about the butter. Enjoy that warm weather.
Paula
December 1, 2013 at 8:33 amHi Cindy,
Rolling your dough thin makes a much more decadent cinnamon roll as you have figured out. But if you do that, (and increase the butter and sugar amounts) you may have to lengthen that exercise course you were talking about. 🙂
karla
October 24, 2013 at 12:05 pmHi!
I just made this recipe and it worked wonderfully! Thank you so much! So happy to have home-made cinnamon rolls! 🙂
I would like to know if I can freeze the rolls unbaked. If yes, can i put them on the oven straight from the freezer?
Thank you 🙂
Karla.
Paula
October 24, 2013 at 4:00 pmYes, you can freeze them unbaked but I don’t think they are quite as good. However, you must let them thaw and rise before baking which can take up to a couple hours depending on the ambient temperature.
I prefer to bake the rolls, then freeze. If you want to make rolls the day before and bake the next morning, I recommend the “Super Convenient Potato Cheese Rolls” without the cheese of course.
Make the dough and roll out like cinnamon rolls, cover and refrigerate. In the morning, it won’t take as long to warm up and rise compared to frozen dough. Something about potatoes in the dough gives them more staying power and I think you will find them equally delicious.
Holly
August 20, 2012 at 3:13 pmoh and if i leave it in the bread machine till the very end, when i take it out do i let it rise again or go straight to the oven? *sigh* this is confusing.
Holly
August 20, 2012 at 3:07 pmPaula,
I am extremely new to making bread and am going to also use my bread machine that a friend gave me to make dough and then bake in the oven. I found a recipe i want to try for sweet white bread that supposedly is really good like hawaiian bread. My questions are, my bread maker apparently beeps once after kneading and then 8 times after it is completely done in bread maker i guess after it has risen. When do i take the dough out? Also, u say let dough rise in a warm, moist place. My thermostat is usually always on 75-77 and where do i set it to rise? i also have a small portable heater in my bathroom if need be (although that sounds kinda weird to put bread dough in the bathroom lol). I just have no idea what i’m doing so some direction would be great. Thanks!
Pam
May 19, 2012 at 2:06 pmCan you make these the night before up to the point before the last rise and then refrigerate them? I love them – but do not love getting up at the crack of dawn to have them ready for my little ones.
Pam
rere
May 6, 2011 at 9:20 pmthis recipe looks very good, can’t wait to make them, thanks!
Roy
March 2, 2011 at 10:13 amI’m going to try to make your cinnamon rolls, but the recipe for the filling doesn’t seem to have enough cinnamon (2 tsp). Should the amount be 2 tbsp or am I missing something?
“Mix 1 cup brown sugar with 2 teaspoon cinnamon and a pinch of cloves (secret ingredient).”
Lourdes
December 21, 2010 at 3:26 amJust found your site and love it – I love to bake and have a sweet tooth which doesn’t help the waistline. I keep finding more of your recipes that I want to try! And I really like your philosophy towards the bread machine… we have one gathering dust and I am now determined to take it out and give it a try this week to make some pizza!! Thanks for sharing with all of us 🙂
Paula
December 21, 2010 at 5:44 amThanks for stopping by louboo. Pizza is a great place to start with a bread machine.
Another Foodie
May 16, 2010 at 8:59 amLove your site. Great pictures as well!
Susan
October 6, 2009 at 12:23 pmHello there!
I LOVE your site and enjoyed reading about you and your fresh salad ideas and this flour shaker! How awesome is that???
I would love to have one too, so the next time I have a jar with a nice lid, I will ask my husband to make me one too!
Thank you for the great ideas!
Kathy Stephenson
August 27, 2009 at 6:11 amI just found your blog through Pioneer Woman, and I love it! I love your homemade flour shaker. It’s on my “Honey-Do List”!
Romaine
August 27, 2009 at 6:24 amThanks for stopping by Kathy. Are you a baker? If so, you are going to enjoy your shaker–and probably use less flour in the process. Less mess and better product.