The dough is an enriched yeast dough, soft, slightly sweet, and pillowy once proofed. The cinnamon and butter filling goes on after the first rise, the dough rolls up and gets cut into rounds, and the second rise happens in the baking dish before they go into the oven. What comes out is golden, pull-apart rolls that are soft all the way through with a caramelized cinnamon layer running through each one.
The glaze is light by design, powdered sugar and milk, to drizzle over the warm rolls without turning them into something that needs to be eaten with a fork. This makes a small batch sized for two people to have a couple each, fresh from the oven, on a morning that deserves it.
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Key Ingredients in This Recipe
You’ll find the complete list of ingredients and exact quantities in the recipe below.
FOR THE DOUGH
- Milk
- Butter
- Granulated sugar
- Dried yeast
- Egg
- All-purpose flour
FOR THE CINNAMON FILLING
- Brown sugar
- Butter
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
FOR THE LIGHT GLAZE
- Confectioner’s sugar
- Milk
- Vanilla extract
How to Make Cinnamon Rolls with Light Glaze
- Step 1 – Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan and remove from heat. Add the sugar and the butter and allow the butter to melt. When the milk is cooled down to lukewarm, add the yeast, stir and wait 5-10 minutes until you see the surface of you milk mixture become frothy.
- Step 2 – Transfer the milk mixture to a bowl, add egg, flour and salt and knead with your mixer for about 10 minutes. The dough will stretch a little and the gluten starts to develop. Add a little bit of flour if the dough is too sticky, but be careful not to add too much. Cover your bowl with plastic wrap or a towel and allow the dough to rise until double in volume. This will take about 1-1.5 hours.
- Step 3 – In the meantime make the cinnamon filling by mixing the sugar, butter, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set it aside until you’re ready to make the rolls.
- Step 4 – Punch the risen dough down and transfer to a floured work surface. Work it a few times, by folding and rolling, folding and rolling out. The final roll will be a rectangle of 16 x 10 inches.
- Step 5 – Spread the cinnamon filling over the dough. Leave about 1 inch uncovered on one long end. Now roll up the dough tightly, start at the long end that is covered with cinnamon filling, until you have a roll.
- Step 6 – Cut the roll in 12 or 16 equal pieces and place them in an 8×8 baking dish, lined with parchment paper. Allow them to rise for another 30 minutes. In my opinion, smaller bites are more delicate, more flavor and even though the amount is the same, it feels different. You can of course double the recipe and you can have 12 large/normal cinnamon rolls, rolling again from the longer side. If you make the cinnamon rolls a day ahead of time, cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge until the next day.
- Step 7 – Bake the cinnamon rolls in preheated over of 350°F for approx. 20 minutes. If you bake the rolls that were made a day earlier, please allow them to warm to room temperature before you place them in the oven. It goes without saying that larger cinnamon rolls may need to be baked longer.
- Step 8 – Make the glaze while the cinnamon rolls are baking, by mixing sugar, milk and vanilla extract. Take the cinnamon rolls out of the oven, allow to cool just a little bit and drizzle with the sugar glaze.
I adapted the recipe from Sommer Collier from A Spicy Perspective. I love this recipe, because of the way Sommer makes the filling. She mixes cinnamon and nutmeg with sugar and softened butter; a great way to spread the cinnamon filling evenly over the dough. My main adaptation was in the topping; I made a light sugar glaze instead of a cream cheese one. Cream cheese glazes are just a little too much for me; it almost masks the flavor of the cinnamon rolls.
Divide the Cinnamon Rolls with Light Glaze over four plates, poor yourself a glass of juice and a cup of coffee and enjoy waking up.
Cinnamon Rolls with Light Glaze
Pin Recipe FacebookIngredients
Dough
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup butter
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1.5 teaspoons yeast
- 1 egg
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
Cinnamon Filling
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed, dark or light brown
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1.5 tablespoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Light Glaze
- 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- All ingredients need to be at room temperature, especially the butter and the eggs. Cover a 8×8 baking dish with parchment paper.
- Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan and remove from heat. Add the sugar and the butter and allow the butter to melt. When the milk is cooled down to lukewarm, add the yeast, stir and wait 5-10 minutes until you see the surface of you milk mixture become frothy.
- Transfer the milk mixture to a bowl, add egg, flour and salt and knead with your mixer for about 10 minutes. The dough will stretch a little and the gluten starts to develop. Add a little bit of flour if the dough is too sticky, but be careful not to add too much. Cover your bowl with plastic wrap or a towel and allow the dough to rise until double in volume. This will take about 1-1.5 hours
- In the meantime you can make the cinnamon filling by mixing the sugar, butter, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set it aside until you’re ready to make the rolls.
- Punch the risen dough down and transfer to a floured work surface. Work it a few times, by folding and rolling, folding and rolling out. The final roll will be a rectangle of 16 x 10 inches.
- Spread the cinnamon filling over the dough. Leave about 1 inch uncovered on one long end. Now roll up the dough tightly, start at the long end that is covered with cinnamon filling, until you have a roll.
- Cut the roll in 12 or 16 equal rolls and place them in the baking dish. Allow them to rise for another 30 minutes (if you make them ahead, cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and place them in the fridge. (NOTE 1)
- Preheat an over to 350°F and bake the cinnamon rolls for approx. 20 minutes. (NOTE 2 and 3)
- Make the glaze while the cinnamon rolls are baking, by mixing sugar, milk and vanilla extract.
- Take the cinnamon rolls out of the oven, allow to cool just a little bit and drizzle with the sugar glaze.
Notes
- I prefer to roll them in smaller cinnamon rolls. There is something about small sweet bites.
- If you bake the rolls that were made a day earlier, please allow them to warm to room temperature before you place them in the oven.
- If you decided to make larger cinnamon rolls, they may need to be baked longer.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I never get tired of cinnamon rolls! Thanks for sharing!
You’re so right Karly. Thank you.
Wondering why one photo above shows 16 rolls instead of 12? Will be trying this recipe.
Hello Caryn; Thank you for your comment and very perceptive of you to see that. I didn’t even notice that myself. As a food blogger I make recipes multiple times before they become part of my blog and every time, I take pictures, so I can select the nicest one to show on the blog. With this particular recipe, I opted for the 12 rolls, but the number can be adjusted to 16 or 6 if you prefer large cinnamon rolls. Clearly my explanation was not clear, so I made some adjustment to the text in the blog post. Thank you again for pointing this out and please let me know whether you like the rolls.