Buttermilk Cinnamon Rolls
Pillowy soft dough, a rich cinnamon filling, and melt-in-your-mouth cream cheese frosting. You're going to love these Buttermilk Cinnamon Rolls!
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Ingredients
For the Dough:
- 1 cup buttermilk warmed (Microwave in 30 second increments, it should feel like a baby’s bottle, not too hot) (substitution: whole milk or non-dairy milk of choice)
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar divided
- 4 ½ tsp 2 standard packets
- 1/2 cup very soft
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
- 4 1/2 cups (substitution: all-purpose flour), plus more, if needed.
For the Filling:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 TBSP all purpose flour
- ¼ c granulated sugar
- ½ c brown sugar
- 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
For topping the rolls:
- 1/3 cup heavy cream for pouring over the rolls, optional but it will make the cinnamon rolls incredibly moist and tender
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 8 oz 1 block cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 ½ c powdered sugar sifted
- 1 tbsp milk or heavy cream
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
Instructions
Activate the yeast for the dough:
- Pour the warm milk into a small bowl or glass measuring cup. Add 2 tbsp of the granulated sugar and sprinkle the yeast over the mixture. Stir and allow to sit for 5-7 minutes, until frothy and activated.
Make the dough:
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Set aside.
- Pour the yeast mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. (If kneading by hand, simply add to a large bowl).
- Add the remaining sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, flour and salt.
- Mix on medium speed for 5-7 minutes, until the dough is elastic, smooth, and is pulling away from the sides of the bowl.
- If the dough seems too sticky, you can add 1 tbsp more flour at a time, until it starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. *At most, I have added about 3 tbsp more flour.
- If you are mixing and kneading by hand, pour the dough onto a floured surface and knead for 5-7 minutes by hand.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl. Cover and allow to rise. In a warm environment this will take about 1 hour, cooler environments can take up to 2 hours.
Cinnamon sugar filling:
- In a small bowl, combine flour, butter, sugars and cinnamon until combined. Set aside.
- Shape, assemble, and proof the cinnamon rolls:
- Once the dough is done rising, generously flour your work surface. Turn the dough out onto the surface and lightly sprinkle the top with more flour.
- For 8 larger cinnamon rolls, roll the dough out to a 16x15” rectangle. For 12 smaller cinnamon rolls, roll it out to a 24x15” rectangle.
- Spread the cinnamon filling all over the surface of the dough, and spread/smooth it out evenly, leaving a very small border around the edges.
- Starting on the long end, tightly roll the dough up into a log. Using a sharp knife or unflavored floss, cut the dough into 8 larger or 12 smaller rolls total. Each roll should be ~2” in width.
- Place the rolls a greased or parchment paper lined baking pan. Cover the pan with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and allow to rise for another hour, until puffy.
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
Bake:
- Once the cinnamon rolls are ready to bake, pour heavy cream evenly over the rolls.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, depending on the size of your rolls. The last 5 minutes, of baking, turn the oven up to 375 degrees.
Prepare cream cheese frosting and serve:
- While the rolls are baking, prepare the cream cheese frosting. In a large bowl using a handheld mixer, beat the cream cheese and softened butter until smooth and fluffy. Then, beat in the powdered sugar, milk or cream and vanilla until well combined and smooth.
- Remove the rolls from the oven and allow to rest for 10-15 minutes.
- Then, spread the cream cheese frosting all over the rolls.
- Serve and enjoy!
Tried this recipe?
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