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The Best Cinnamon Rolls Ever! A buttery cinnamon filling swirled inside a sweet dough and topped with decadent cream cheese frosting.
If you’ve been looking for a staple cinnamon roll recipe for holidays, brunch with friends or cozy weekend mornings, these are the best cinnamon rolls ever!
We grew up eating these cinnamon rolls, and to be honest, have been a bit intimidated to make them ourselves. They really do set the bar for all cinnamon rolls on the internet right now. We finally mustered up the courage to make them, and they turned out exactly how we remember.
These sweet rolls are so decadent and delicious, and we think the secret to them is the sweet dough.
This post is all about the best cinnamon rolls.
This inspiration behind the recipe…
We call these cinnamon rolls Aunt Jenny’s cinnamon rolls, because the recipe was passed down to us from our aunt. We vividly remember going to her house during the holidays and our cousins would be making them.
Our aunt and cousins would spend the morning making these for us, and when we can still remember the first time we ate them. The warm sweet roll with thick, buttery, cinnamon filling was so delicious, and the tangy cream cheese frosting added a delicious flavor that cut through.
You may be skeptical about these cinnamon rolls and whether they are the best you’ve ever tasted, but once you try them, you really will be making these for every holiday, breakfast with the family or as a decadent dessert after dinner.
The Best Cinnamon Rolls Ever (Aunt Jeni’s Cinnamon Rolls)
The Sweet Dough
Like we said before, this sweet dough is truly what makes these cinnamon rolls stand apart from any other cinnamon roll we’ve ever made.
What’s in the sweet dough?
Milk: We like to use alternative milk (like almond milk) in our baked goods, because we often don’t have real milk on hand. Feel free yo use any of milk you would like!
Sugar: The half a cup of sugar adds sweetness and helps to activate the yeast in the dough.
Salt: Salt is used to balance out the sweetness in the dough.
Butter: The butter makes the dough so decadent and light.
Dry Yeast: This recipe uses 2 packets of dry yeast.
Warm Water: The warm water helps to activate the yeast and add moisture to the dough.
Eggs: Three eggs are added to the sweet dough.
All-purpose flour: You will use 6 1/2 cups of flour in this recipe. It may seem like a lot, but the dough is still super moist and sticky.
Cinnamon Filling
The one difference we noticed in this cinnamon filling compared to other recipes we’ve made before, is the thickness of the filling. We always loved the cinnamon rolls that had more filling, so we really loved that these cinnamon rolls certainly didn’t lack any filling.
What’s in the cinnamon filling?
Brown sugar: Brown sugar is traditional in cinnamon roll filling, and gives this a delicious sweet filling.
Sugar: You will also add a cup of white sugar to this filling as well.
Butter: We cut our sticks of butter into thirds so that they would bend easier in the stand mixer.
Flour: This is something we thought was unique to the recipe, but it does thicken the cinnamon roll filling quite a bit.
Cinnamon: This is what gives the cinnamon roll it’s name! We are obsessed with cinnamon, so we always add more than is called for in the recipe.
Cream Cheese Icing
This cream cheese frosting balances out the sweetness of of the cinnamon rolls with its tangy flavor.
What’s in the cream cheese icing?
Cream cheese: Cream cheese adds a tangy flavor, and is just the perfect flavor of icing for cinnamon rolls
Butter: At this point, what is butter not added to? But, it does make this icing taste super yummy.
Powdered Sugar: Powdered sugar adds sweetness and is a super simple base to make a delicious icing.
Vanilla: The vanilla flavor elevates the flavor of this icing.
We said above that these cinnamon rolls were intimidating for us to make, but in all honesty they were so simple and delicious!
We think it was the fact that we wanted them to live up to the insanely good cinnamon rolls our Aunt Jenny always made for us, and they actually did! You will seriously be obsessed!
Enjoy the best cinnamon rolls ever with a hot cup of coffee, a cappuccino or a hot cup of tea!
This post is all about the best cinnamon rolls.
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The Best Cinnamon Rolls Ever (Aunt Jeni’s Cinnamon Rolls)
- Total Time: 2 hours 40 minutes
- Yield: 18 rolls 1x
Description
The best cinnamon rolls recipe for holidays, brunch with friends, or for a delicious dessert!
Ingredients
Sweet Dough
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup butter
- 2 pkg dry yeast
- 1/3 cup warm water
- 3 eggs (room temperature)
- 6 1/2 cups flour
Cinnamon Filling
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 1/2 tbsp cinnamon
Cream Cheese Icing
- 1 8 oz pkg cream cheese (softened)
- 6 tbsp butter (softened)
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
Sweet Dough
- Combine milk, sugar, salt, and butter in a small saucepan. heat over low heat until the butter and sugar dissolve. Cool to lukewarm.
- Dissolve yeast in warm water in a warmed bowl. Add milk mixture, eggs, and 5 cups of flour. Beat with a dough hook on speed 2 for 3 minutes.
- Continuing at speed 2, add the rest of the flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough clings to the hook and cleans the sides of the bowl. Knead on speed 2 for 5 more minutes.
- Place dough in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place until it's doubled in size (about 1 hour).
- After 1 hour, punch the dough down and shape into a 10 x 30 x 1 inch rectangle.
Cinnamon Filling
- Place brown sugar, sugar, butter, flour and cinnamon in a mixer bowl. Mix with a flat beater on speed 2 for 1 minute.
- Spread the cinnamon sugar filling evenly over the dough. Roll the dough tightly from long side to form a 30 inch roll, pinching seams together. Cut into 18 1 1/2 inch slices.
- Place rolls in a greased cake pans, cover and let rise in a warm space for 1 hour.
- Bake at 350 F for about 20 minutes.
Cream Cheese Icing
- In a stand mixing bowl, mix cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla until it's completely combined.
- Once the rolls have cooled for 5 minutes, smear the icing over the top.
- Enjoy with a cappuccino or hot cup of tea.
- Prep Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Breakfast, Dessert
- Cuisine: American
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