I’ve been baking for over 10 years now. And I feel like this is an important distinction to make because of the internet trolls who are judging coronabakers {/kəˈrōnə-bā ker/ n. A person who never baked in pre-corona periods, but who has started baking now due to quarantine angst and home-bound munchies. Ellis is a coronabaker who didn’t own any baking pans pre-corona but now makes sourdough bread like it’s his full time job.}

Anyway, I think if you’ve never baked before now is a great time to get started. I use to love making elaborate breads, but since I got a grownup job with grownup hours I’ve been sticking to easy recipes like scones and cookies. NO MORE. Coronavirus has given me the opportunity to reclaim my baking powers and I’m loving it.

Surprisingly, in all my years of baking I’d never tried making cinnamon rolls. Honestly they seemed a little daunting. Something about how pretty cinnamon rolls are all rolled up with frosting intimidated me, whose speciality has never been pretty when it comes to baking. But, cinnamon rolls are at their best when they’re gooey and hot and melty with frosting that gets everywhere—so basically they’re best out of the oven. I decided that there’s no better time to try them than now, when literally I have no other place to be but home.

Also, I miraculously found yeast in the store last week.

And boy, my quarantine cinnamon rolls are good. They’re gooey and melty and oh so soft and cinnamon-y. Below is the recipe I used. I recommend visiting joyfoodsunshine.com if you’ve never made cinnamon rolls because her step by step before the recipe is so helpful. 

A couple notes, my batch only made 11 cinnamon rolls instead of 12 because I didn’t roll the dough out as much. I prefer my cinnamon rolls a little doughy. I also added maple syrup to the filling and cut the sugar in the frosting by half. I always bake with salted butter, so I never add salt to my recipes. The recipe shows with my adjustments.

You can of course make this recipe with a kitchen mixer or KitchenAid, but why? It’s corona quarantine season and we’re all at home getting way less physical exercise than we should and feeling a little frustrated at how loud our partner breathes. Go ahead and take it out on a little stirring and kneading.

Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

Makes: 12 cinnimon rolls

Ingredients

Cinnamon Roll Dough:

• 1 cup milk warm (105 degrees F)
• ½ cup + 1 TBS granulated sugar divided
• 1 TBS Active dry yeast
• 2 large eggs room temperature
• 6 TBS butter melted
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 4 to 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Cinnamon Sugar Filling:

• 1 cup brown sugar 
• 2 ½ TBS ground cinnamon
• 6 TBS butter softened
• 1.5 tablespoons maple syrup

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
• ¼ cup butter softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• ½ tsp pure vanilla extract

Cinnamon Rolls Instructions

Make the Cinnamon Roll Dough:

1. Warm milk over the stovetop or in the microwave. It should be warm but not hot to the touch (about 105 degrees F, I find that using the inside of my wrist is the best way to measure the heat).
   
2. Place milk into a large bowl, then add 1 TBS sugar and 1 TBS yeast to the warm milk. Stir and let it sit (proof) for five minutes or until it becomes foamy.
   
3. Add the ½ cup sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla to the mixture in the bowl and stir with a baking spatula until combined.
   
4. Add 2 cups flour and cinnamon and stir the dough with the spatula. Slowly add remaining 2 cups of flour until the dough is mixed together completely.
   
5. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead the dough. The dough should be smooth and only slightly tacky to the touch. If the dough seems too sticky, add more flour (about 1 tbsp at a time). Knead dough for 3 – 5 minutes then form it into a ball.
   
6. Grease a large bowl (you can use the same bowl as for mixing but make sure to wipe it clean) and place the dough inside.
   
7. Cover the bowl with a warm, damp towel and put the bowl in a warm place to rise. If your house is cold, you can heat your oven to the lowest temperature while you’re making the dough and then turn it off. By the time you put your dough in, it should be slightly warm but not hot and perfect for rising dough.
   
8. Let the dough rise in a warm place about 1 hour or until dough has doubled in size.

Make the filling:

1. While the dough is rising, make the filing. In a small bowl, combine butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and maple syrup until mixture is homogenous (uniform throughout). Set aside.

Assemble Cinnamon Rolls

1. Sprinkle a large work surface with flour.
   
2. Gently press the gas out of the dough and form it into a rectangle.
   
3. Roll the dough into a 24×12” rectangle, about 1/4 inch thick.
   
4. Spread the filling all over the dough using greased hands or a greased spatula. This process can seem difficult but it gets easier as you spread it.
   
5. Roll up dough cut into 12 equal sized rolls. (Remember to measure before cutting so that your rolls are all similar in size. If you like doughier cinnamon rolls, you roll out the dough thicker and make less cinnamon rolls).
   
6. Slightly grease a 9×13 inch glass baking dish. Place rolls inside, evenly spaced.
   
7. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
   

Bake Cinnamon Rolls

1. Once rolls are doubled in size, bake them in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 18-20 minutes (I baked mine for 19 minutes and they were perfect). They will rise more in the oven. (NOTE: Check the center cinnamon rolls and make sure they are baked through. If your oven bakes cool or unevenly you may need to increase the baking time up to 10 minutes longer. If the top starts to brown before the center is baked, tent the baking pan with foil to prevent further browning).
2. You’ll know the rolls are done when you tap them and they sound hollow.

Make the Cream Cheese Frosting

1. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Do NOT chill the frosting. Keep it at room temperature until the cinnamon rolls are baked.
   
2. Once the cinnamon rolls have bene removed from the oven, spread the cream cheese frosting on them while they are still hot.
   
3. Cool & serve warm!