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King Arthur Small-Batch Cinnamon Rolls
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King Arthur Small-Batch Cinnamon Rolls

Soft, tender, and brimming with cinnamon flavor, these small-batch cinnamon rolls are ideal for small households. With a yield of just two cinnamon rolls, there’s lots of flexibility to use whatever pan you have: a quarter-sized baking sheet, a loaf pan, a round cake pan, or a square pan. These cinnamon rolls also fit perfectly in a countertop oven, providing another easy way to bake no matter the size of your kitchen.

Hands-on 20 mins

Bake 15 to 18 mins

Total Time 2 hrs 30 mins

Yield 2 cinnamon rolls

Ingredients

Dough

Filling

*Use the lesser amount for stronger cinnamons, like Vietnamese (Saigon); the larger amount for milder cinnamons, like Indonesian/Ceylon.

Icing

  • 1/2 cup (57g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted if lumpy
  • 2 to 3 teaspoons milk

Instructions

  1. To make the dough: For best results, weigh your ingredients; in small-batch recipes, it’s important that ingredient quantities are precise. However, if you prefer to work with volume measurements, please be sure to measure your flour the King Arthur way: gently spoon the flour into a cup, then sweep off any excess.
  2. In a small bowl, mix together all of the dough ingredients then transfer it to a floured surface and knead by hand to form a smooth, soft dough.  

  3. Shape the dough into a ball, place it in a bowl, cover, and let it rise until puffy but not necessarily doubled in bulk, 45 to 60 minutes (depending on the warmth of your kitchen).
  4. To make the filling: While the dough is rising, use a fork to whisk together the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
  5. Prepare the pan of your choice: Line a quarter- or half-sheet pan with parchment, or lightly grease a loaf pan, 8″ or 9″ square pan, or round pan.
  6. To assemble the small-batch cinnamon rolls: Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and press it into a 4″ x 10″ rectangle.
  7. Brush the surface of the dough generously with milk and then sprinkle the filling on top, covering all but a 1/2″ strip along one short side. Press the filling gently to adhere.
  8. Cut the dough in half lengthwise using a bench knife. You will now have two rectangles, approximately 2″ x 10″.
  9. Starting with the filling-covered short end, roll one piece of dough into a log. To prevent the cinnamon roll from unraveling while it rises and bakes, tuck the end of the spiral underneath the bottom so that it’s held in place. Stand the log up, exposing the swirl, and press down to create a shorter cinnamon roll. Transfer it to the prepared pan and repeat with the remaining piece of dough.
  10. Cover the pan and let the rolls rise for 45 to 60 minutes. The dough will be puffy and shouldn’t bounce back immediately when gently pressed. While the small-batch cinnamon rolls are rising, preheat the oven to 375°F.
  11. Bake the rolls for 15 to 18 minutes, until a digital thermometer inserted into the center of one roll reads 190°F. Rolls baked on a baking sheet will be golden brown in color, while rolls baked in a pan with higher sides will remain pale. Allow the small-batch cinnamon rolls to cool while you make the icing.
  12. To make the icing: In a small bowl, combine the confectioners’ sugar and milk until you reach your desired consistency.
  13. Spread the icing evenly over the cinnamon rolls. Serve warm or at room temperature.
  14. Storage information: Store any leftovers, covered, at room temperature for several days.

Tips from our Bakers

  • Want fresh-baked, oven-warm buns in the morning? Prepare the buns up until the rise in the pan (through step 9). Cover the pan and refrigerate overnight. Next day, allow the buns to rest at room temperature for 15 minutes before uncovering and baking; you may need to increase the baking time by a few minutes.

King Arthur Cinnamon Rolls
by

King Arthur Cinnamon Rolls

Warm cinnamon rolls are available at every airport, every mall, and many fast-food outlets. So why make your own? Because YOU control what’s in them, using your own butter, sugar, flour, cinnamon, and other natural (not chemical-laden) ingredients. And besides, there’s nothing like pulling warm rolls right out of your own oven!

Ingredients

Dough

*Use the lesser amount in summer (or in a humid environment), the greater amount in winter (or in a dry climate), and somewhere in between the rest of the year, or if your house is climate controlled.

Filling

Glaze

  • 1 1/4 cups (142g) confectioners’ sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon King Arthur Pure Vanilla Extract
  • 4 to 5 tablespoons (57g to 71g) heavy cream or 2 to 3 tablespoons (28g to 43g) milk, enough to make a soft, spreadable icing

Instructions

  1. To make the dough: Weigh your flour; or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess. Combine the flour, dry milk, potato flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and lesser amount of water then mix and knead everything together—by hand, mixer or bread machine set on the dough cycle—to form a smooth, elastic dough, adding more water if necessary. If you’re kneading in a stand mixer, it should take 7 to 10 minutes at second speed, and the dough should barely clean the sides of the bowl, perhaps sticking a bit at the bottom. In a bread machine (or by hand), it should form a smooth ball.
  2. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl, and allow the dough to rise, at room temperature, until it’s nearly doubled in bulk, about 1 to 2 hours. Rising may take longer, especially if you’ve kneaded by hand or if your kitchen is cool. Give it enough time to become quite puffy.
  3. While the dough is rising, lightly grease two 9″ round cake pans.
  4. Transfer the risen dough to a lightly greased work surface, and pat or roll it into a 16″x12″ rectangle. It’s a nice, soft dough, and pats out easily.
  5. To make the filling: Combine the sugar, cinnamon, and flour.
  6. To assemble the rolls: Brush the dough lightly with milk. Sprinkle the filling evenly over the dough, covering the entire surface
  7. Roll the dough into a log the long way; it’ll stretch to about 20″ long as you roll. Using a bench knife or a serrated knife, cut the log into 16 slices.
  8. Space eight rolls in each of the prepared pans. Cover the pans and let the rolls rise until they’re noticeably puffy, about 1 to 2 hours; they should spread out and start to crowd one another.
  9. While the rolls are rising, preheat the oven to 375°F.
  10. Bake the rolls until they’re brown around the edges and beginning to turn golden brown across the center, about 20 minutes.
  11. Remove the rolls from the oven and place the pans on a rack. Wait 5 minutes, then transfer the rolls from the pans to a rack.
  12. To make the glaze: When you’re ready to serve the rolls, combine the sugar, vanilla, and enough cream or milk to make a spreadable glaze.
  13. Spread the glaze on top of the warm rolls and serve immediately.
  14. Store rolls, well wrapped, at room temperature for a couple of days; freeze for longer storage.

Tips from our Bakers

  • When making anything with yeast, including these rolls, let the dough rise to the point the recipe says it should, e.g., “Let the dough rise until it’s doubled in bulk.” Rising times are only a guide; there are so many variables in yeast baking (how you knead the dough; what kind of yeast you use) that it’s impossible to say that bread dough will ALWAYS double in bulk in a specific amount of time.
  • You can also bake these rolls in a 9″ x 13″ pan. Prepare the recipe as instructed through step 7. Divide the log into 12 equal slices, and arrange them in the lightly greased pan. Let the rolls rise as instructed, then bake in a preheated 375°F oven for about 20 minutes. Finish the rolls as instructed.
  • Want to prepare these rolls ahead of time, freeze or refrigerate them (unbaked), then bake fresh? To freeze, see our blog post, Freeze! Time-savers for the holidays. To prepare the night before, place the shaped buns in the pan, cover the pan, and refrigerate overnight. Next morning, let the buns warm at room temperature for about an hour, covered. Uncover and bake as directed.
  • Want to bake the rolls, but serve them later in the day (or within a few days)? Allow the unglazed rolls to cool completely, then wrap in plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to three days. Fifteen minutes before you’re ready to serve the rolls, preheat the oven to 350°F. Unwrap the rolls, place them on an ungreased baking sheet, and tent lightly with aluminum foil. Bake the rolls for 10 to 15 minutes, until they’re nicely warmed; make the glaze while the rolls are warming. Spread the glaze on the rolls when they come out of the oven.