Cinnamon rolls – they are easily my favourite baked good, ever. They are sweet and rich but not too much, no matter where I go, I will always opt for the cinnamon roll and I’ve eaten my fair share of them.
These are slightly different to my usual recipe, they are brightly coloured – they are a rainbow version. Theres no difference in the flavour but these were for Birmingham Pride which is this weekend in Birmingham.
If you’re making these, they are perfect for the cinnamon roll fan, as well as the rainbow fan in your life. It all starts with an enriched dough, which has butter, sugar and egg in, partnered with the sweet and spiced light brown sugar and cinnamon filling and lastly finished with a sweet and tangy cream cheese icing – you can’t go wrong.
On a positive note, these are fun and easy to make and they’re huge – especially compared to most places I’ve had cinnamon rolls from in the past.
Anyway, lets get started, shall we?
Ingredients:
Cinnamon roll dough:
500g strong white bread flour.
8g salt.
7g yeast.
75g butter, at room temperature.
75g granulated sugar.
15g milk powder, full fat.
1 egg.
175ml water.
Food colouring paste/gels (red, orange, yellow green, blue and purple).
Filling:
175g butter, room temperature.
175g light brown sugar.
ground cinnamon (as much or as little as you’d like).
Cream cheese icing:
85g soft cheese, at room temperature.
60g butter, at room temperature.
200g icing sugar.
1 tsp vanilla extract.
Red food colouring.
Method:
Before you get into any baking, you’ll want to do some prep work first. Take the time to weigh up all the ingredients, lightly oil a bowl and get any equipment ready. When the time comes, preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f.
To start on the bread dough, place the bread flour and salt into a bowl and give it a good mix to incorporate the two together.
Then place the remaining ingredients into the bowl, then mix them all together on a low speed for 2 minutes, followed by a further 4-6 minutes on a medium-high speed until a dough has formed. The dough should be soft, if it’s sticky, add a little flour.
Knead the dough until the dough is smooth and elasticated. This takes around 5-7 minutes, depending on how well mixed it was in the first place. You can then process the ought straight away, so scale into 6 equal balls of dough ands then colour them the colours of the rainbows. Round the balls of dough, then place onto a lined tray and cover loosely with clingfilm and allow to prove until dough in size.
Take each of the coloured balls of dough and roll them into long sausage shapes – around 10 inches in length. Roll them close together so they batch once rolled out – they don’t have to be perfect as that would be difficult to achieve (plus imperfect lines make it a little more tie dye looking).
You’re looking for the dough to be around 30cm x 20cm, it should be rectangular.
Spread the room temperature butter all over the top of the dough, getting as even layer as possible. You can then go ahead sprinkle over the light brown sugar,a agin ensuring even coverage all over and to finish the filling, sprinkle over ground cinnamon (use as much or as little as you’d like – I used a lot as I really like cinnamon).
I’m making 8 larger cinnamon rolls, rather than my usual smaller version. I take my dough and cut it into 8 equal parts (trimming away any messy edges from the outer edge), roll them up into 8 rolls (you can do it any other way that works for you also, the is the way I like and prefer, personally).
Place the rolls into a lined 9×13 inch baking pan and cover with clingfilm, leave somewhere warm and allow them to prove until they have risen well, they should be batched together by the end of the time. How long this will take will vary on how warm it is – try not to exceed 30-35˚c.
Once you see the rolls have just about proved to the right amount, preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚c.
Bake in your preheated oven at 180˚c/350˚f for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
While your cinnamon rolls are baking in the oven, it’s the perfect time to make the cream cheese icing which will top the rolls.
Into your mixing bowl of choice, place the cream cheese, butter, icing sugar and vanilla extract. Beat together on a medium-high speed until all of the ingredients have become fully combined and there mixture is smooth and well combined.
Set the cream cheese icing aside until its needed later.
Now that the cinnamon buns are baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool down, almost fully before you finish them off.
Now you can start to add the cream cheese icing on to the buns. I wanted to do something a little different, so piped the cream cheese icing into heart, topped the heart with rainbow sprinkles and you’e done.
These are a little different but honestly, they taste so good – you’ll be missing out if you didn’t make them.
Well, that’s how you make cinnamon rolls my way. They are (fairly?) quick and easy to make, which makes them that bit more enjoyable. If you make too many, bake them off, then wrap them with some cling film and place into the freezer. You can keep the rolls in the freeze for up to 3 months, just make fresh cream cheese icing when you take them out.
That’s all for today guys, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, don’t forget to share this recipe with your family and friends and enjoy it. I’ll be back soon with another blog post and YouTube video, so join me then. In the meanwhile, don’t forget to check out my other social’s – Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. The YouTube tutorial will be linked down below.