Best Cinnamon Crunch Rolls Recipe
These really are the Best Cinnamon Crunch Rolls Recipe. Why? Because I've added a Cinnamon Crunch topping (think Cinnamon Crunch Bagels) which takes this way over the top!
Servings: 14 rolls
Calories: 504kcal
Equipment
- Jumbo Muffin Pans
Ingredients
Cinnamon Roll Dough
- ½ cup unsalted butter (114 grams or 1 stick)
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100 grams)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sour cream (225 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast (1 packet)
- ½ cup water, lukewarm
- 2 large eggs
- 4 cups all-purpose flour (560 grams)
Cinnamon Filling
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (45 grams)
- 1 cup dark brown sugar (200 grams)
- 2 +1 tablespoon + teaspoon cinnamon
Cinnamon Crunch Topping - If making all 14 of the rolls with the crunch topping DOUBLE THIS RECIPE
- ½ cup dark brown sugar (100 grams)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar (50 grams)
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (58 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 egg white to brush on rolls
Vanilla Glaze - If making all 14 rolls with the vanilla glaze - DOUBLE THIS RECIOPE
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar (200 grams)
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (45 grams)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 to 3 tablespoons milk
Instructions
Cinnamon Roll Dough
- Cut the butter into pieces and place in a small saucepan along with the sugar and salt. Heat until the butter is melted. Remove from the heat and let it sit until it is lukewarm.
- Whisk in the sour cream and vanilla followed by the eggs, yeast, and water.
- Add the flour to the bowl of a mixer. Fit the mixer with a dough hook if available.
- Pour the liquid over the flour and beat on low to bring together. Knead in the machine for 3 minutes, turning after about 1 ½ minutes as the dough will adhere to the top of the dough hook and not get beaten. The dough will be very soft and more of a batter.
- Spray a container at least 3 times the size of the dough with a non-stick baking release. Add the dough and cover with plastic wrap. Mark the time on it. Allow it to rise until doubled, about 2 to 2 ½ hours.
- After it has risen, deflate it, re-cover it and refrigerate overnight so the butter can firm up. It may or may not rise again in the fridge. That's fine. It can be refrigerated up to 3 days.
Cinnamon Filling
- Melt the butter. Reserve. Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon, mixing completely. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent the brown sugar from drying out.
Assembly
- Line 14 jumbo muffin cups with jumbo paper liners. Spray with a non-stick baking release. Set aside.
- Remove from the refrigerator. Roll the dough into a 13" x 22" rectangle, keeping the 22" side horizontal on the table.
- Brush it with the melted butter from the Cinnamon Filling to within ½" of the far edge. Spread the filling over the butter keeping the far edge without anything on it.
- Starting from the long side (22") roll the dough up tightly to within the ½'. Brush the edge with water. Bring it up to cover the dough and seal the edge by, pressing it down and smearing the edge.
- Mark the roll 1 ½". Place a long piece of thread or fine floss under the dough on the marking extending to the front and back. Bring the thread up to the top, cross it and pull sharply on both ends. It will cut the rolls cleanly. Repeat with the remaining rolls.
- The filling will be loose, so pick it up quickly and carefully place it into the sprayed paper cups, filling side down. Press the rolls flat in the cups.
- When all of the rolls are in the cups, cover with tea towels and allow them to rise until doubled but reaching only to about ½" of the top, about 1 ½ hours.
Cinnamon Crunch Topping
- While the rolls are rising, combine the brown and granulated sugar with the cinnamon, mixing well. Cover with plastic wrap to keep the brown sugar from drying out.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Add the melted butter (rewarm if it has solidified) and vanilla to the cinnamon-sugar mixture and blend together. This will not be crumbs. It is more of a thick paste.
- When the rolls are ready, beat the egg white till foamy. Brush the tops of the rolls with the egg white.
- Gently, so as not to deflate the rolls, spread about 1 slightly rounded tablespoon of the Cinnamon Crunch on each roll covering it well. Press it gently into the egg whites to make sure it adheres.
- If using the vanilla glaze, do nothing to the top of the rolls.
- Bake for 20 to 23 minutes until browned and baked through. Do not overbake.
- Let the baked rolls cool for about 5 minutes then carefully lift them by the paper liners out of the pans. Gently, pull down the papers, remove the rolls, and set the on cooling rack to cool completely.
- If using the vanilla glaze, combine all of the ingredients for the glaze, adjusting the powder sugar if too thin or adding more milk if too thick, Spoon over the rolls, letting it drip down the sides. Leave them out to dry.
- While all yeast dough is best the day it is baked, these have an amazing shelf life if covered for several days.
- Either of these can be frozen. The Cinnamon Crunch Rolls can be frozen as is, then well wrapped individually and frozen for a couple of months. The vanilla glazed rolls can be frozen WITHOUT the glaze wrapped as above.
- Thaw either at room temperature. To freshen, preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the rolls on a sheet pan and cover the pan tightly with foil. Heat for 10 to 15 minutes. Cool.
- Apply the vanilla glaze after the rolls have cooled.
Notes
There is always an abundance of photos to guide you in the post above. If you have questions, look at the photos or read the header of the article. Many of them will be answered there.
As always, I recommend using a scale for accuracy and consistency. Flour, in particular, is difficult to measure by volume. For my recipes, I use 140 grams per cup of unsifted all-purpose, bread or whole wheat flour and 125 grams of cake flour. Others may use different weights so use whatever they suggest.
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All-purpose flour is the flour of choice for this particular recipe.
While the recipe uses instant yeast, it is still added to the liquid ingredients.
Korinje cinnamon is my choice for its bold, intense flavor.
The Sour Cream adds softness to the final, baked dough and enhances its shelf life.
Dark Brown Sugar is preferred over light for its more intense flavor.
The dough can refrigerated up to 3 days.
I often bake individual rolls in Jumbo muffin pans lined with large muffin papers. Doing it this way avoids the rolls sticking as they sometimes can and they bake up with softer sides.
Be sure to spray the paper liners for easier releasing.
Do not be tempted to add additional flour. The dough should remain a batter. Chilling it overnight will firm it up and make it easy to handle.
Be sure to make the filling ahead of rolling out the dough so it won't warm up and become soft.
Nutrition
Serving: 14rolls | Calories: 504kcal | Carbohydrates: 79g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 75mg | Sodium: 197mg | Potassium: 147mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 47g | Vitamin A: 608IU | Vitamin C: 0.3mg | Calcium: 91mg | Iron: 2mg
