Cinnamon rolls à la Cinnabons

These famous cinnamon swirl buns, inspired by one of the popular American bakery chains, have already become iconic. Although the original recipe remains a secret, it’s definitely worth trying this homemade version of Cinnabons — just as delicious! Fluffy yeast dough, plenty of intensely cinnamon filling and, of course, cream cheese frosting. The buns are baked together in one large pan and gently pulled apart after baking. Warning: they’re addictive ;).

Makes 12 buns.

Ingredients for the cinnamon rolls à la Cinnabons:

• 540 g strong white bread flour
• 80 g caster sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 10 g instant dry yeast or 20 g fresh yeast
• 75 g butter, melted
• 250 ml milk
• 2 large eggs

Mix the flour with the dry yeast (if using fresh yeast, prepare a yeast starter first). Add the remaining ingredients and knead into a dough, adding the melted butter near the end of kneading. Knead the dough long enough for it to become soft and elastic. Place the dough into a lightly floured bowl, cover with a kitchen towel and leave in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1.5 hours.

After this time, roll the dough out into a rectangle measuring 40 x 30 cm, lightly dusting the work surface and rolling pin with flour to prevent sticking. Brush the rectangle with melted butter and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar filling. Roll the dough up tightly from the longer side to form a long log. Using a sharp knife, cut the roll into pieces about 3–3.5 cm thick* (12 equal pieces). Arrange them in a 23 x 33 cm baking tin lined with baking paper — the buns will touch each other as they rise. Cover with a kitchen towel and leave to rise again for about 30 minutes, until doubled in size.

Bake the risen buns in an oven preheated to 180°C for about 20 minutes.  Remove from the oven and cool slightly. Spread the slightly warm cinnamon buns à la Cinnabons with cream cheese frosting, pull apart and serve.

Ingredients for cinnamon filling:

• 80 g butter
• 200 g soft light brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Melt the butter and leave to cool slightly. Mix the brown sugar with the cinnamon and set aside.

Ingredients for  cream cheese frosting:

• 60 g butter
• 1/2–3/4 cup icing sugar
• 120 g cream cheese, such as Philadelphia
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2–4 tablespoons milk

All ingredients should be at room temperature.

Place the butter, icing sugar and vanilla extract into the bowl of a mixer and beat until pale and fluffy. Add the cream cheese and beat until smooth. Gradually add the milk, mixing continuously, until you get a slightly runny frosting (adjust the consistency with more or less milk as needed).

Method for bread machine users:

Place all the yeast dough ingredients into the bread machine in the following order: liquid ingredients first, then dry ingredients, and finally the yeast. Select the ‘dough’ programme (kneading and first rise). Once the programme has finished, remove the dough, knead it lightly, and continue according to the main recipe above.

* A useful trick is to use a piece of thread or string: slide it underneath the rolled dough and pull the ends together over the top to cut neat rolls.

Enjoy!

Source of inspiration — JoCooks.com, recipe modified.