Baking · European
Cinnamon Rolls
Made with Ceylon rather than cassia, which gives a rounder, more perfumed roll.
An honest note before you start: the sharp bite most people associate with a cinnamon roll comes from cassia. Ceylon gives you something rounder and more floral. Many people prefer it; some find it too gentle against that much sugar. We use a heavier hand with the cinnamon to compensate.
Ingredients
- 500 g strong white flour
- 7 g instant yeast
- 60 g caster sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 250 ml whole milk, warmed
- 80 g butter, softened
- 2 eggs
- For the filling: 120 g soft brown sugar
- 2½ tbsp ground Ceylon cinnamon
- 90 g butter, very soft
- For the glaze: 120 g icing sugar, 2 tbsp cream cheese, splash of milk
Method
- Mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Add the warm milk, eggs and softened butter, and bring together into a shaggy dough.
- Knead 8 to 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Cover and prove until doubled, about an hour.
- Roll the dough out to a rectangle roughly 40 by 30 cm. Spread the very soft butter right to the edges.
- Mix the brown sugar with the ground cinnamon and scatter it evenly over the butter. Use all of it — Ceylon needs the volume.
- Roll up from the long edge, fairly tightly, and cut into 12 pieces with a serrated knife or a length of thread.
- Arrange in a lined tin, cover and prove a second time until puffy, about 40 minutes.
- Bake at 180C fan for 22 to 25 minutes until golden. Cool 10 minutes, then spread over the glaze while still warm.
Tip. Two and a half tablespoons sounds like a lot, and it is deliberate. At the usual quantity Ceylon can vanish under the sugar.
More in the recipe collection, or read about the spices themselves.
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