Fuzz had a friend over yesterday, so to make a good impression I baked King Arthur Flour's Cinnamon Rolls.
King Arthur's Cinnamon Rolls Review
My timing was pretty bad, though. I started making the rolls a few minutes after our friend arrived and by the time they were baked her mother had already picked her up. That, plus it was now 30 minutes before dinner. Double bad timing! Luckily, the recipe includes the most perfect instructions for re-heating and icing. I served these for breakfast this morning and they were just as good as if I'd served them fresh out of the oven. Oh, and I'll never make cinnamon rolls without mashed potato flakes again! (Update: Not true).
This recipe from King Arthur is *the one*. The dough is pleasure to work with (they instruct you to roll it out on a greased surface rather than a floured surface, which makes sense), it's feather light, and has just the right amount of sweetness. Also, the recipe doesn't call for any eggs. I was worried the rolls wouldn't be satisfying without egg in the dough, but that wasn't the case. Here's a texture shot for you.
Since I didn't make any changes other than to add a teaspoon of vanilla to the dough, I'm linking directly to the recipe -- King Arthur Flour Cinnamon Rolls.
I did do one experiment. Instead of cutting the cylinder into 16 rolls and dividing them among two pans, I cut the cylinder in half, wrapped the cut half tightly, and froze it so that I could bake the rest later. My plan is to cut the frozen cinnamon roll dough, put them in the freezer, and see if 8 hours is enough time for the frozen dough to thaw and rise. I'll update the post when I figure that out.
Erin says
OK, thanks. I'm happy to yank some butter out of my fatso recipe. I will try these sometime soon (after cruise) and let you know how it goes. And PS, just wondering how these would be as donuts? I have a good fried scone recipe with no egg and potato buds. It sounds similar. (There goes the butter I just saved.)
Anna says
Erin, they definitely weren't as buttery and rich as ones that had been smeared with butter, but their light, sweet texture made up for it. And I guess the 6 tablespoons of butter in the dough helped, because I didn't feel like I was missing anything even though there wasn't butter mixed in with the cinnamon sugar.
Erin says
Anna, I have never made cinnamon rolls with brushing/smearing/slathering butter on the dough before you put on the cinnamon and sugar. I noticed the recipe calls only for brushing with milk. How was the filling flavor with no butter? I'm definitely going to give these a go!
Anna says
Sue, thanks! I'll look for the Carl's recipe.
Sue says
Too bad the timing didn't work out for Fuzz's friend but at least you got some tasty rolls for your efforts. For me the Carl's Cinnamon Rolls recipe from King Arthur is my favorite. I don't use the fancy glaze with the recipe, just a regular glaze. Somewhere on the King Arthur site there are great instructions for making rolls ahead of time and freezing them. Maybe on their blog?