4 In Breakfast

Cinnamon Rolls with Light Glaze

Make these small Cinnamon Rolls with Light Glaze for your next breakfast. They have the warm and comforting cinnamon flavor and a light sugar icing. The icing is just enough to add that little sweetness you need in the morning.

Top down picture of Cinnamon Rolls with Light Glaze

Cinnamon rolls in the morning is such a wonderful way to wake up. This is not my every day breakfast, you know what I am saying. Every now and then a little extra attention is needed especially after a night with very little sleep. A couple of nights ago, we were awakened about a dozen times. Heavy rain, thunder and lightning, right on top of us. The whole house was shaking, as if the heaven was coming down on us. In between these weather outbursts, a couple of coyotes were howling away as, if they were auditioning for a audience.

The howling and high pitched screams or yips easily penetrate our bedroom, as they pass through the wooded area behind our house. Don’t you sometimes would love to know what animals say or think? I visualized them standing on that hill in the backyard, head thrown back and singing their song.

I have the same with many animals; wishing that I could understand them. Would you not like to know what your dog or cat is thinking? When your dog turns on the puppy eyes or when your cat start blinking his eyes. I am sure that most of us know our pets pretty well, and know when they want their meals/snack, when they need to be cuddle or a back scratch or when they need to go out. But do we really know what they think or say when they bark, whine, meow, hiss or purr. I, for one, would love to know what goes on in those furry heads.

So one morning, earlier this week, these cinnamon rolls did their job, as a picker-upper. We only had a few hours of sleep, so a little extra sugar to start the day with, was a good solution. Followed by the oh so necessary cups of coffee.

Side picture of Cinnamon Rolls with Light Glaze

I slightly adapted the recipe of these Cinnamon Rolls from Sommer Collier @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.

Make a dough from the ingredients listed below (milk, butter, sugar, flour, yeas, salt and an egg) and allow it to rise until double in volume. Punch down, roll, fold and turn and repeat this 2 more times. Then roll out to a 10 x 16 inch sheet of dough. Then spread the cinnamon filling onto the dough. Leave a strip on one long side uncovered, so when you finish rolling the dough the last side is dough to dough and not dough to filling as that won’t stick very well.

Picture of unbaked cinnamon rolls

Cut the roll in 12 small cinnamon rolls or even 16 (see image above). I prefer small rolls over large rolls. However, if you prefer the larger cinnamon rolls, I would like to suggest that you roll the dough starting at the short side and then cut it into 6. 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.

Place the cinnamon rolls in a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for about 20 minutes. It goes without saying that larger cinnamon rolls need to be baked longer. While these cinnamon rolls are baking, make the sugar icing by mixing confectioner’s sugar, milk and vanilla extract. Drizzle or pour the glaze over the cinnamon rolls after they are just slightly cooled.

Divide the Cinnamon Rolls with Light Glaze over two plates, poor yourself a glass of juice and a cup of coffee and enjoy waking up.

Cinnamon Rolls with Light Glaze
Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Cinnamon Rolls with Light Glaze

Author: Marinka
Make these small Cinnamon Rolls with Light Glaze for your next breakfast. They have the warm and comforting cinnamon flavor and a light sugar icing. The icing is just enough to add a little sweetness.
Prep Time2 hours
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time2 hours 20 minutes
Pin Recipe Facebook
Servings: 2 people

Ingredients

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 9×9 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.
  • Add egg, flour and salt to the milk 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 is 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 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.
  • Preheat an over to 350 degrees F and bake the cinnamon rolls 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.
  • 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.

Nutrition

Calories: 1355kcal | Carbohydrates: 203g | Protein: 22g | Fat: 52g | Saturated Fat: 31g | Sodium: 1652mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 98g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Tried this recipe? Tag me Today!Mention @agourmetfoodblog on Instagram

You Might Also Like

4 Comments

  • Reply
    Karly
    May 26, 2019 at 6:09 pm

    I never get tired of cinnamon rolls! Thanks for sharing!

    • Reply
      Marinka
      May 27, 2019 at 8:56 am

      You’re so right Karly. Thank you.

  • Reply
    Caryn
    October 20, 2024 at 12:04 pm

    Wondering why one photo above shows 16 rolls instead of 12? Will be trying this recipe.

    • Reply
      Marinka
      October 20, 2024 at 2:44 pm

      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.

    Leave a Reply

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.