How is it possible to be gooey, soft and fluffy all at the same time?
These super fluffy, soft, pillowy cinnamon rolls have been perfected over 15 years of real home cooking and years of commercial cooking (when I owned the cafe). This is the actual small batch recipe I have used and tweaked over the years.
They are filled with the perfect amount of cinnamon filling and then topped with lashings of dreamy vanilla cream cheese frosting.
They can be frozen and defrosted in a microwave in 40 seconds. Plus you can partially make the dough the night before and finish a second rise and bake in the morning.
This is the ultimate cinnamon roll recipe!
If you have never baked with yeast before don't be afraid, it's actually pretty easy as long as you follow the recipe and steps. I have found the following tips super helpful to ensure a consistent rise every time.
1. Make sure the yeast is within use by date.
2. Proof your yeast - This is a process where you add the dry yeast to liquid and activate it (with sugar in this recipe) to see if it blooms. Imagine going through the whole process of mixing and kneading bread for 10 or more minutes, putting it in a warm place to rise and having a ball of dough that is hard and heavy instead of elastic and springy. Proofing your yeast is a surefire way to test that it is still active.
3. Don't overheat the yeast during the rise process. When I was young I remember my first try baking with yeast I used hot water and killed the yeast. I thought if gently warming yeast worked then hot could only work better and faster. Nope, uh-uh, No! Luke warm is the way to go here.
4. Use bread flour. This one is not essential but I find that my rolls hold up better with bread flour. When I use all purpose or plain flour the rolls collapse down on themselves a little during the cooling process. They still taste amazing and to be honest the slightly sunken tops are a good way to hold more frosting. But for perfect rolls which are softer and fluffier, bread flour will get a better result.
5. Knead your dough until elastic and it springs back. If you don't knead your bread enough it will be dense and not rise as well. If you have a stand mixer this is easy to achieve with a dough hook. If you are doing it by hand don't be tempted to skimp on this step.
6. Double rise but....don't over rise. Rolls that have been left to rise too long will result in a tougher texture roll. The taste may be overly yeasty and sour and the dough may collapse during cooking. It's another example of more is not always better.
*Bonus Controversial Tip - It is possible to use yeast that is past its best before date. If you follow Tip 2 and proof your yeast and it blooms it is ok to use.
I follow these couple of tips and consistently get great soft fluffy inside and golden baked outside results.
I think everyone should try cooking with yeast at least once. The feeling of pride when you take your first bite of home baked bread made from scratch with your own hands is pricelessly rewarding in so many ways.
Happy Baking
XX
Linda M
Best Fluffy Soft Cinnamon Roll Recipe - makes 12 cinnamon rolls
170grams warm water (heat in microwave from 10-20 seconds until barely warm)
1 packet dry yeast (7g)
85g caster sugar
460g bread flour
1 tsp salt
1 egg
40g melted butter
Mix together water, yeast and 1Tbsp sugar and set aside to bloom. This usually takes around 4 minutes for me.
In a large bowl mix together flour, remaining sugar, salt, butter, egg and proofed yeast mixture and mix until just combined and then knead until smooth and elastic and the dough bounces back when pressed lightly. If you have a stand mixer this Will take around 10 minutes on low speed.
Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and set aside in a warm spot to rise for 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size. It was winter for the ones I made in the picture so I covered my bowl with plastic wrap and set it in the oven on 50C (around 120F).
Dust the bench down with flour and roll the dough out into a rectangle of around 45 X 30 cm (18 by 12 inches).
Shape the dough into a rectangle as you roll it. I like to pick my dough up and at the start turn it so it does not stick to the bench and rolls out an even thickness.
Spread on filling (recipe below). Roll up into a long log then cut 12 rolls 1 1/2 inches each.
(this picture only has 6 rolls the recipe is for 12 rolls as per below picture)
Frost with cream cheese frosting (recipe below). When I had the cafe I would turn the rolls out onto a tray lined with parchment paper and then flip back over onto a wire rack lined with parchment paper and allow the rolls to cool before frosting them for a neater looking finished roll. However you can frost them and eat them still warm fresh out of the oven and the result is a gooey delicious roll like the picture at the top of this blog post.
Cinnamon swirl filling
70g (2+ 1/2 oz) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
Cream Cheese Frosting
70g (2+ 1/2 oz) unsalted butter
70g (2+1/2oz) cream cheese
2 cups icing (powdered) sugar (In Australian can use Icing Sugar Mixture)
2 tsp Vanilla extract
Mix all ingredients together for a few minutes until light and fluffy. I use a stand mixer.
Original photos and recipe from the Bubble and Sweet blog ©Linda McCubbin 2025. I love when people share my blog ideas and give credit. Please feel free to link back to my blog for non commercial purposes or contact me. Affiliate links and adds may earn me money, however all ideas and opinions are my own.
