Who doesn’t love waking up to some delicious, gooey cinnamon rolls with a creamy cream cheese frosting? Definitely a highlight of weekends for me when I have the time and/or energy to make them. I was very excited to see that King Arthur Baking chose Perfectly Pillowy Cinnamon Rolls as their 2021 Recipe of the Year. I usually opt for Alton Brown’s Overnight Cinnamon Rolls since I can do all the work the night before and just pop them in the oven and frost the next morning. King Arthur says their rolls stay perfect for up to 3 days due to the tangzhong technique when making the dough, so overnight preparations are not needed. I had heard that tangzhong makes a soft dough (thank you Great British Bakeoff), but I had never tried it for myself. I decided to give these pillowy cinnamon rolls a chance.
Making the Pillowy Cinnamon Rolls
The dough is the same as any other cinnamon roll recipe except for the tangzhong technique. This involves heating milking and flour on the stove until the mixture looks like a thick paste. Almost like the start of a roux. It only takes about 5 minutes and afterwards, you just dump the mixture into your mixing bowl and add the rest of the dough ingredients. For something that is suppose to have a big impact on the outcome of the dough, I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to incorporate the tangzhong.
Making the tangzhong 
Place tangzhong in mixiing bowl
After the dough comes together, you let it rise normally, roll it out, spread the filling, roll it up, and cut your rolls.
The King Arthur Baking recipe calls for 8 large rolls, which differs from the usual 12 rolls that I usually make. I was hesitant at first. How big will these be? These are just for my family. But I wanted to follow the recipe through as written and the recipe states, “their generous size is part of their charm.” So I rolled with it. I tried the recipe’s tip of cutting the dough with dental floss instead of a serrated knife and wow I was impressed. So much easier! Definitely going to be using that tip from now on. Now I had my 8 rolls and was ready for the second rise.
They didn’t seem to rise a crazy amount during the 60 minute second rise, but I could still notice a difference. I placed them separated on a baking sheet instead of having them side by side in a casserole dish. Then I said goodbye for about 18 minutes while they baked. King Arthur Baking says the baking time is 14 – 18 minutes and to “bake for the lesser amount of time for extra-soft rolls, and the longer amount of time for rolls with a bit more color and slightly firmer texture.” I watched the rolls and after about 18 minutes, they had that perfectly brown color I was looking for. I pulled them out of the oven and followed the directions of brushing the hot rolls with melted butter. My house smelt amazing while they were cooking.
The recipe says to let the rolls cool 10 – 15 minutes before frosting. While they were cooling, I made the frosting. The original recipe calls for powdered sugar, butter, milk, salt, and vanilla. I love a cream cheese frosting so I took the recipe tip of adding 4-6oz of softened cream cheese to the frosting and adding less milk. The frosting was really tasty. Not overly sweet thanks to the cream cheese. Perfectly spreadable and thick. I highly recommend using the cream cheese tip instead of the original frosting recipe. While I was spreading it over the cinnamons rolls, I thought that they definitely looked like they came from a bakery.
Family Taste Test
My whole family was waiting impatiently to try them. The result…WOW! Incredibly soft and fluffy. They really do live up to their name of pillowy cinnamon rolls. Usually, cinnamon rolls are baked with the rolls touching each other in order to prevent the rolls from developing an over hard and dry outside. Baking them separated from each other lets the rolls brown evenly all over, but I believe the tangzhong technique is what still kept them extremely soft, tender and not dried out. The frosting held up and did not thinly drip down the sides of the rolls. Needless to say, my entire family was extremely happy.
My Thoughts and Opinions
My one big critique is that 8 large rolls are just too much. Making the cinnamon rolls this size is great for a party because they do have that wow bakery perfection look, but for my family eating them with breakfast, I would have preferred half the size.
Then came the absolute moment of truth. We tried them for the next 2 days. I followed the directions of only frosting the rolls I was going to eat so I saved the unfrosted rolls in an airtight container on my counter and placed the frosting the fridge (because of the cream cheese). The next day I placed our desired rolls in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes and then frosted. I was so happy that King Arthur Baking was right. The pillowy cinnamon rolls tasted like I had just made them. This is a great go-to recipe when I want cinnamon rolls for a future morning, but don’t have the time/energy to make my overnight recipe. They were perfection and I am now a believer in tangzhong.
Pillowy Cinnamon Rolls – King Arthur Baking
Ingredients
Tangzhong
- 1/2 cup milk
- 3 Tbsp bread flour
Dough
- 2/3 cup milk cold
- 2 1/2 cup bread flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp instant yeast
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter softened
Filling
- 1 Tbsp butter melted
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar packed
- 2 Tbsp bread flour
- 3-4 tsp cinnamon
- pinch salt
Icing
- 3 Tbsp butter melted and divided
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 – 2 Tbsp milk for desired consistency
- 4 – 6 oz cream cheese, softened optional. If using, only using 2 tsp of milk instead.
Instructions
To make the tangzhong
- Combine both the ingredients in a small saucepan, and whisk until no lumps remain.
- Place the saucepan over medium heat and cook the mixture, stirring regularly, until thickened, paste-like, and the spoon or spatula leaves lines on the bottom of the pan. This should take 1 to 3 minutes, depending on the strength of your burner.
- Remove from the heat and transfer to a large mixing bowl, the bowl of a stand mixer, or the bucket of a bread machine (whatever you plan to knead the dough in).
To make the dough
- Add the ingredients to the mixing bowl in the order listed; the heat from the tangzhong will help to warm the cold milk.
- Mix — by hand, on low speed of a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, or in a bread machine set to the dough cycle — to bring the dough together. Next, knead the dough until it’s smooth, elastic, and tacky. This will take up to 15 minutes by hand, 10 to 12 minutes on medium-low speed of a mixer, or the length of the dough cycle in a bread machine.
- Shape the dough into a ball, place it in a bowl, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a reusable cover. Let the dough rise until puffy but not necessarily doubled in bulk, about 60 to 90 minutes (depending on the warmth of your kitchen).
To make the filling
- While the dough is rising, put the melted butter into a medium bowl and add the remaining ingredients, stirring until the mixture is the texture of damp sand. Set aside. Lightly grease a baking sheet, or line it with parchment paper.
To assemble the rolls
- Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface and press it into a 10” x 12” rectangle that’s about 1/2” thick. For evenly shaped rolls, try to pat the dough into an actual rectangle (with corners), rather than an oval. Sprinkle the filling over the dough, covering all but a 1/2” strip along one long side.
- Starting with the filling-covered long side, roll the dough into a log. Score the dough lightly into eight equal 1 1/2” to 2” pieces; this will make large, saucer-sized cinnamon rolls — their generous size is part of their charm. Cut the dough at the score marks. Dental floss will give you the cleanest cut: pull off a long piece of floss, loop it underneath the log at the score mark, and pull the ends in opposite directions to cut the dough. Repeat until you've cut all of the rolls. If you don’t have dental floss, a bench knife or sharp knife will work.
- Place the rolls onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing them so there’s at least 2” between each one and they’re 2” away from the edges of the pan; a 3-2-3 arrangement works well. To prevent them from unraveling while they rise and bake, tuck the ends of the spirals underneath the rolls so that they’re held in place.
- Cover the rolls with lightly greased plastic wrap or a reusable cover and let them rise for 30 to 60 minutes (depending on the warmth of your kitchen). The rolls should be puffy and the dough shouldn’t bounce back immediately when gently pressed.
- About 20 minutes before you’re ready to bake, position a rack in the top third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Bake the rolls for 14 to 18 minutes, until they’re a light golden brown and a digital thermometer inserted into the center of one roll reads 190°F. Bake for the lesser amount of time for extra-soft rolls, and the longer amount of time for rolls with a bit more color and slightly firmer texture.
- Remove the rolls from the oven, place the pan on a rack, and brush the hot rolls with 1 1/2 tablespoons (21g) of the melted butter. Let the rolls cool for 10 to 15 minutes before icing.
To make the icing
- Combine the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons (21g) melted butter with the remaining icing ingredients in a medium bowl, mixing with a spatula until smooth. Milk makes a lovely frosting; using cream in place of milk creates an extra layer of richness, while substituting buttermilk adds subtle tang, a nice counterpoint to the icing's overall sweetness.
- Ice the rolls and serve immediately. If you’re planning to serve the rolls later, wait to ice them until just before serving. Store icing at room temperature, tightly covered, until you’re ready to use it.
- Store completely cooled rolls, un-iced and well wrapped, for a couple of days at room temperature; or freeze for up to 1 month.
I made these. These are the best! I have never made a recipe when you cook bread flour and milk together until starting to get thick, this is tricky because you stop cooking when it starts to get thick. The second time I made these I cooked it until it got to thick and it was like one big glob, I had to start over. These are worth the time and waiting. I will always make this recipe! Sandra