Easy Milk Bread Cinnamon Rolls (no Tangzhong needed!)
A delicious cinnamon roll lovingly made with milk bread, cinnamon filling, and cream cheese icing. Use our beginner-friendly recipe to make a cozy treat to share with family and friends!
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Servings: 6
Equipment
- electric mixer optional
Ingredients
Milk Bread Dough
- 3¾ cup bread flour 560 g
- 3 tbsp powdered whole milk 16 g
- 2¼ tsp instant dry yeast 7 g
- ¼ cup sugar 55 g
- 1 tsp salt 5 g
- 1 cup milk warm (120-130 °F)
- ½ cup heavy cream warm (120-130 °F)
- 1 egg room temp
- 4 tbsp butter melted
- roasted unsalted nuts (pecans, walnuts, etc.) optional
Cinnamon Spread
- ½ cup butter melted
- ¼ cup ground cinnamon
- 1 cup brown sugar
Cream Cheese Icing
- 4 oz cream cheese room temp, softened
- 1 tbsp butter room temp, softened
- ½ cup powdered sugar sifted, 50 g
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp milk
Instructions
Make dough and rise 1
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, instant dry yeast, salt, and sugar.
- Add in the milk and heavy cream. Whisk to combine.
- Add egg and butter. Mix with a spatula. It will be very sticky so mix until you can comfortably begin kneading by hand.
- Sprinkle flour on your hands and the kneading surface. Use only enough flour so that it doesn't stick. Knead for 12-16 minutes by hand until the dough comes together and passes the window pane test. See note 1.
- Place the dough in a greased bowl. Cover and let it proof for 1 hour or until the size is doubled.
Make Cinnamon Spread
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the brown sugar and cinnamon. Then add the butter. Set aside.
Divide dough and rise 2
- Remove the cover. Punch the dough to release excess air.
- Roll out the dough into a rectangle.
- Add a layer of cinnamon spread on the entire surface of the dough. Save half of the spread for later.
- Use a dough cutter to divide the dough into 6 equal sized strips.
- Roll each strip into a spiral. Place them in a greased baking pan. Cover and let is rise for 30 minutes - 1 hour until size is about doubled.
Bake the milk bread cinnamon rolls
- Generously spread the rest of the cinnamon spread all over the tops and sides of the rolls. Top with nuts if desired.
- Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.
- Remove from the oven when the crust is light brown and a toothpick test runs clean. Leave it in the hot baking pan, to allow the center to finish baking. See note 2.
- Let it cool for at least 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
Make cream cheese icing
- In a bowl, combine all icing ingredients. Cover and place in the refrigerator until serving. See Note 3.
Serving
- Serve warm with cream cheese icing.
Notes
Note 1: Check out The Kitchn’s blog posts on the window pane test and the poke test.
Note 2: It is important to remove the rolls from the oven once the crust is light brown all over and a toothpick test runs clean. At this point, the outer crust is done baking but the center is ever so slightly under. Once they are taken out of the oven, the rolls will continue to slightly bake in the baking pan, which will finish off the center. The center will be soft but fully cooked. You will know that you overbaked it if the outer crust is deep brown/burned and the center is hard and well done.
Note 3: Icing Troubleshooting. To ensure a smooth icing, sift the powdered sugar and make sure all ingredients are room temp to prevent lumps from forming. If the icing turns out lumpy, you can correct this by (1) straining the icing to catch the lumps or (2) microwaving it for a few seconds.
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