My Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls

Ok, guys. HERE IT IS! I’m pretty sure this is the most anticipated recipe I’ve hyped up in a very loooong time–and for good reason! I’ve been working hard trying to get this recipe as close as I can. To give you an idea of what I’ve been up to and why it took me so long to finally publish this, let me explain my whole process.

First I googled the ingredients of the cinnabon. After a few minutes, I found them. All companies have published their actual ingredients list SOMEWHERE. If it’s not on the web, go into the store and ask. These days, most companies have their nutritional information online. I found Cinnabon’s here. I also found a bunch of ‘cloned’ recipes which had almost NONE of the actual ingredients found in one of these divine cinnamon rolls. Real clone? I think not!

Once I had that list, I shortened it by taking out all the preservatives and things most people wouldn’t have on hand like whey, powdered egg, potassium sorbate and yellow #5.

I know I know….I just ran out of potassium sorbate too.

Then from here I went through the list again and decided what ingredients were used for what. Flour-goes in the dough, brown sugar-goes in the filling, etc. Also, having the ingredients listed in order from most to least helped quite a bit.

Once I had all that figured out, I just started testing. After 4 huge batches, I think I got a pretty good clone. If you’re going to make a clone, use this recipe! It’s the closest, next best thing using all the same ingredients.

After all that hype, are you ready to make some of these?! It takes some time, but just like anything good and holy, it’s totally worth it!

First up: the dough. Start out with warm water in your mixing bowl {not milk like the impostor cinnabon recipes online.}

Sprinkle some quick rising active dry yeast into the bowl along with about a tablespoon of the sugar.

Stir it around and let it proof for a few minutes while we get some other ingredients together.

Over to the side, measure out some oil, an egg and….buttermilk–the secret ingredient! Out of all the ‘cloned’ recipes I looked through online, NONE of them had buttermilk!! If you search Cinnabon secret ingredient on youtube, you’ll find the creator talking about her ingredient. She never says what it is, but buttermilk fits the bill of everything she was saying! I’m onto something….

Whisk this all together to break up that egg.

Now, after 5-10 minutes, your yeast should be looking pretty frothy and bubbly. Now you can add in that buttermilk/egg mixture…

…the remaining sugar

and some salt. Stir this around for a minute.

Then dump in about half of the measured flour into the bowl.

Once that is incorporated, sprinkle in more flour in 1/4 cup increments until the dough pulls away from the sides and the bowl looks clean. The dough should be sticky but not sticky enough to stick to your fingers when touched. Then, turn your mixer on low to knead 5 minutes. This dough pictured below is not quite ready. {See how it’s sticking to the bottom?} I ended up adding about 1/4 cup more flour and it was ready.

Once the dough is all kneaded, wrap it up and let it rise. In retrospect, I would have just greased a bowl and let it rise in there because…

after a few hours, things start to pop out and bulge. So, don’t be like me. Keep your dough in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and a dish towel and rise 1-2 hours or until it has doubled in size.

Now, for the filling–in a small bowl, measure out some brown sugar, corn starch and cinnamon. I know cornstarch is a totally weird ingredient, but it helps hold the filling in the cinnamon roll instead of oozing out all over the place. It still oozes, but not nearly as much. {Cinnabon actually uses some sort of chemical/food gum to help it not ooze which is REALLY appetizing I know…}

Stir this all together and set it aside.

Also, before you start rolling, get some baking pans ready by lining them with parchment paper and lightly greasing them with margarine.

Now comes the fun part! {Excuse these under exposed, not so sharp photos…I was running out of light!} Roll your dough out on a FLOURED work surface to be a 20×30 inch rectangle…or as close to it as possible. Don’t sweat if it’s 1-2 inches shorter. Also, I ended up cutting a section of dough off one end and patching it into the other end–no biggie. {You can see my patch job in this photo.} Spread some really soft margarine over the dough, leaving a 1 inch strip of dough plain and untouched.  

Dump that filling onto the margarine and spread it around to create an even layer.

You can see, we still are leaving that 1 inch strip of dough completely alone. 

Lightly press the sugar into the margarine with a rolling pin…

and roll up the dough as tightly as you can, ending with the plain dough on the bottom of this log. Slice the uneven ends off…

…and get out your measuring tape! I scored this log of dough first every 2 inches, then sliced it to ensure even rolls.

Then I propped them up in the prepared pan, covered with plastic wrap and a dish towel and let them rise. Actually, I popped them into the fridge overnight, then brought them up to room temp and let them rise before baking. After I took the pan out of the fridge, I let them rise 4 hours. It takes a while to take the chill off.

Of course if you leave them on the counter, an hour or two later, you should have some pretty darn perfect rolls.

Don’t forget to take the plastic wrap off before you bake! That would be bad…Mine were done after 17 minutes at 350. You’re going to want to watch these like a hawk!!! DO NOT let these over bake! Once the tops start to brown, they are done!

While the rolls are baking, we’re going to work on the frosting! Sweet blessed cream cheese frosting. I used a tiny little food chopper for mine, but feel free to use a hand mixer, or a stand mixer. Whatevs. Start by mixing the softened cream cheese and margarine together.

To this, pour in some corn syrup,

vanilla,

and lemon juice. USE REAL LEMON JUICE. The end.

Blend this up, scrape the sides and blend again.

Now dump in all your powdered sugar and mix mix mix.

Scrape the sides and mix again until everything is smooth and delicious. If you want your frosting to look more like cinnabon’s, whip it 5-7 minutes or until it lightens in color.

Now comes the home stretch!! Once your rolls are freshly baked, pull them out of the oven and give them a healthy slathering of that frosting. If your frosting isn’t finished once the rolls are done, pull them out and cover them lightly with foil. You don’t want the tops of these getting hard!

You’ll only end up using about half the frosting right away and that will melt right into the rolls. Then once they have cooled off a little more, feel free to go back and re frost them.

Do these not look incredible?! Picture perfect rolls….and my house smelled amazing!!

I dove face first into this entire pan and ate every last morsel. TO.DIE.FOR. Super sweet, chewy, light, fluffy, cream cheesy. Mmmm….heaven!So, there you have it! My Cinnabon! Hopefully, you’ll all find a few hours to make these! They are TOTALLY worth the wait! Have a great Wednesday!

THE Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll Recipe
yield: 15 rolls, approx.
 Print This Recipe

Ingredients:
for the dough-
3/4 cup warm water
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast {use the fast acting kind!}
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 egg
1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
4 1/2-5 cups all purpose unbleached flour

for the filling-
1/2 cup softened margarine
1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons cornstarch

for the frosting-
2 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup softened margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 tablespoon corn syrup
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

Directions:
Making the Dough- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, pour in water, yeast and 1 tablespoon of the granulated sugar. Stir and proof 5 minutes. Once mixture looks bubbly and frothy, pour in remaining sugar and salt. Stir on low for 15-20 seconds. In a small bowl, measure buttermilk, oil and egg. Whisk ingredients together until egg is incorporated to other two ingredients. Pour contents into the water and yeast mixture. Stir another 20 seconds in the mixer. Pour 2 cups of flour into mixer and stir on low until incorporated. Sprinkle flour in by 1/4 cup increments until dough cleans the sides and bottom of the bowl. Dough should be sticky but not sticky enough to stick to your hands when touched. Once it has reached this stage, turn mixer on and knead for 5 minutes. Remove dough from bowl, grease and replace back into same mixing bowl {since it’s practically clean anyways.} Cover with plastic wrap and a dish towel. Rise 1-2 hours or until dough has doubled in size.

Filling and Cutting Rolls- In a medium size bowl, stir brown sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch together until combined. Set aside. Punch down dough. Flour a large clean table liberally with flour. Lightly flour dough as well. Roll dough out to be a 20×30 rectangle {or as close to that as possible} while moving dough around to ensure it’s not sticking to your work surface. If it’s a little short or uneven, feel free to cut off the edges to even it all out. {FYI-I cut off some dough on one side and filled in a spot that needed more dough on the other side to make a more even rectangle.} Spread softened margarine over dough, being sure to go right to the edges leaving a 1-inch strip untouched on one of the longer sides of dough. Dump brown sugar mixture onto the middle of the dough and spread with your hands, creating an even layer over top of the margarine, still leaving that 1-inch strip of dough untouched. If you have any filling that falls off the sides of the dough, use a bench scraper to replace. Lightly press the sugar mixture into the margarine using a rolling pin. Roll the dough up into a tight log, finishing with the plain dough on the bottom to seal the entire thing together. Cut off the uneven ends to even out the log. Score log every 2 inches and then slice your rolls using those marks. Place into parchment paper lined, margarine greased pans. 12 into a 9×13, 3 remaining into a loaf pan, or 8×8 with the small ends. Cover pans with plastic wrap and dish towels. Let rolls rise another 1-2 hours or until they are touching and have risen almost double. My rolls always spread out more than up, so just be aware that they will most likely spread out more than up. Bake in a preheated 350 degree for 17 minutes, or until tops start to brown. Watch them carefully!!

For the Frosting- While the rolls are baking, whip cream cheese and margarine together. Stir in vanilla, corn syrup and lemon juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Pour in powdered sugar and stir slowly until it starts to incorporate. Then mix on high for 5 minutes or until frosting starts to lighten in color. Scrape sides and mix again briefly. Once rolls have been removed from the oven, frost using half the amount made. Then after they have cooled a few more minutes, frost again with remaining frosting. The first frosting will melt down into the rolls and the second layer should stay put. Serve warm.

Recipe Notes: See step my step photos for more details I neglected to mention. Also, if your frosting isn’t quite ready after you pull the rolls out of the oven, cover with foil so the tops don’t dry out and get crispy.