The Best Homemade Cinnamon Rolls - A Recipe with Pictures

Cinnamon rolls are by far my favorite breakfast. Don't get me wrong; I love biscuits and gravy, bacon, sausage, eggs, pancakes, waffles, and all the other delicious breakfast food that is out there. There is just something about cinnamon rolls though. I love when they are warm, soft, gooey, and straight out of the oven.

Unlike the other recipes I have posted on this site, this is not a review of a recipe posted somewhere else on the web. This is an original recipe handed down from my mother-in-law and modified by me. These really are the best cinnamon rolls I have ever tasted, so I hope you like them!

It seems like most homemade cinnamon rolls I have tasted are a little dry. They taste good, but they are lacking that gooey cinnamon-sugar center that you get with store bought rolls. That is not true of these. There is a special step in the middle of making these rolls that I think makes all the difference.

The ingredients for these cinnamon rolls are very basic. You will need to start with some type of bread dough. You can use my Sourdough Bread recipe which is what I used. Pillsbury makes a hot roll mix that has directions for cinnamon rolls on it that would also work well.

In addition you will need icing for your rolls. I used a homemade butter cream icing, but you could easily use a powdered sugar glaze or store bought icing.

Rolls

• Bread Dough
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon

Topping

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Start by rolling out your bread dough. Be sure you use plenty of flour to keep it from sticking. You want to make a long rectangle. Keep in mind that the wider the rectangle, the more layers your cinnamon roll will have. The longer the rectangle, the more rolls you will be able to make.

Spread 1/4 cup softened butter on the rolled out dough. You don't want melted butter for this; it just needs to be soft enough to easily spread.

Mix the sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle it on top of the butter.

Once you are finished with the filling, you can roll up the dough. Starting on one end, begin to roll up your dough. Brush any excess flour off the bottom as you go.

Using a large knife, cut the roll into 1 to 1-1/2 inch sections. If you want to make bigger rolls, you can. I spray my knife with Pam for easier cutting.

Place all the rolls in a greased 9x13 in baking dish. Be sure to leave some room between them to let them rise.

Let your cinnamon rolls rise in a warm place for several hours. I let mine rise for about four hours. You want them to be about double in size, so if yours take more or less time that is ok.

I think this is the secret step. This is what sets these cinnamon rolls apart and makes them gooey and delicious.

After your cinnamon rolls have risen and while your oven is preheating to 350 degrees, put together the topping. My mother-in-law doubles both the cinnamon and sugar and triples the butter for this part. I was trying to cut some of the calories out of this recipe, so I used much less of everything. My cinnamon rolls were still gooey and wonderful though!

Mix together the butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Spoon a bit of this mixture onto each roll.

Bake your cinnamon rolls at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. You're looking for the rolls to be just slightly brown.

I iced my cinnamon rolls with homemade butter cream icing. I will post the recipe shortly, so that you can use it if you want to. These would be great with any icing though, so be creative!