Who wants to talk about my favorite thing in the world?
Wait, let’s back up.
Y’know how I’m always talking about how I bake all these insanely delicious treats without tasting them, because my life is basically one crazy long diet? Well. I always says that I can totally resist eating my treats when dieting. I also say that there’s one treat that I just can’t resist. Which brings us right back to my favorite thing in the entire world.
So when I took a little dieting break for the holidays, it suddenly occurred to me. Duh. I can make my favorite treat in the world without torturing myself by not eating any.
So I made them. Cinnamon Buns. With cream cheese frosting frosting slathered thickly over it. Are you drooling yet? No? Try closing your eyes and smelling the gloriously heart-stopping scent of these cinnamon buns baking in your oven. Now imagine the frosting dripping down the sides of the warm bun. It’s a taste of heaven, nothing more or less.
Ok, and now a disclaimer, aka my attempt at showing you that I’m totally honest with you folks when I tell you that a recipe is insanely easy. This recipe isn’t easy. It involves three separate waits of an hour each. It involves rolling a lot of dough, very thinly. It involves making enough cinnamon buns to feed a (very grateful) army. But it is so, so worth it. One more word of advice: don’t start these at 11 PM like I did. Unless you enjoy staying up past 4 am.
What can I say other than make these. They are worth every. freaking. calorie.
Cinnamon Buns
Recipe slightly adapted from The Pioneer Woman (Note: I used a different glaze than her’s)
Ingredients:
I actually made these dairy-free. The diary free options are listed below.
4 (32 oz) cups milk or soy milk
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
2 packages dry yeast(.25 ounces each), or 4 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast
9 cups flour, divided
1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
1 scant (slightly less than full) teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups melted butter or margarine
2 cups sugar
Cinnamon
Instructions:
In a large pot on medium heat, heat the milk, oil and sugar until almost boiling. Remove from heat and set aside for about an hour. Important note: the mixture has to cool enough, or it will be too hot for the yeast to work properly.
When the mixture is cooled to warm, sprinkle the yeast over the mixture and let it sit for about a minute.
Add 8 cups of flour and stir until just combined. (Reserve one cup for later.)
Cover the mixture with a towel and set aside in a warm place. Leave it to rise for an hour. At this point, the dough should have risen a bunch.
Add the remaining cup of flour, the baking powder and baking soda and stir to combine. The dough can be used at this point, but it’s best after being refrigerated for about an hour, or up to three days.
Preheat the oven to 375.
To assemble the rolls: divide the dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a long rectangle, about 30×10 inches. The thinner you roll out the dough, the better the buns will be. Once the dough is rolled out, spread half of the melted butter or margarine over it. Next, sprinkle 1 cup of sugar evenly over the entire surface. Finally, sprinkle a generous amount of cinnamon over the entire thing.
Roll up the dough lengthwise, so that the roll ends up as long as the longer part of your dough rectangle. It’s important to roll it as tight as possible, because that makes the buns so much more delicious!
Cut the buns into slices, about 3/4 of an inch thick. Place them roll side down on a greased 9 inch round pan. The buns will expand so use 7-10 per pan.
Repeat with the other half of the dough.Set the prepared pans aside to rise for 20-30 minutes.
Bake the buns at 375 for 15-18 minutes, be careful not to let them get too browned. Remove from oven and set aside for 5 to 10 minutes before adding the icing.
Cream Cheese Icing for Cinnamon Buns
Ingredients
1 8-oz package of cream cheese (tofutti works well)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons milk, soy milk or rich’s whip
Instructions:
Combine all ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until combined. Spread icing over slightly cooled cinnamon buns.
Enjoy!
Oops, did I promise diet friendly recipes coming up? Well, I’ll post those soon, but y’all have to admit that these are so worth it. Hope everyone is doing well! Come back soon. -Miriam
Can I have one of those for breakfast please?!?
Cinnamon buns have been on my baking list for eons. Appreciate your honesty that this isn’t a quick recipe!
Looks delicious! Love the photos too!
Yum! Screw diets. 😉 These look amazing!
Oh my! I am totally making these! These look amazing! And you made them vegan! I want to eat my screen right now!
Tell me you did not stay up ’til 4 a.m. to bake these! You are one crazy baker but at least you had a wonderful, if not very early breakfast treat.
I think I gained 5 pounds just reading this entry. Oh. my. goodness.
Sinfully delicious…. glad I made you take home the left-overs!!!!!
Wow, looks incredible!
It’s funny – like every blog ever seems to use the PW recipe! I’m a bit nervous as to how much food it makes, though… Seems like I’d never give it all away!
Hey!! I thought u said something about healthy recipes coming up????
-Sarah Pascal Massry
OHHH MYYYY GOODDNESS!!!!
I may just save this as my screensaver. But then I’d never get any work done. Meh, work is over-rate anyway.
these look amazing! 🙂
Stoppit! You’re making me drool! 😀
I wish I could write something more substantial about how beautiful these treats are but I have to wipe this drool off my keyboard….
These look and sound amazing, will definitely be trying them. I have a recipe for cinnamon buns from a holiday in Canada in 2010 love them still warm out of the oven,they take me back to that wonderful holiday every time i make them, great blog 🙂
I just wish I have the xtra five hours in my day to bake this! Looks absolutely yummilicious!
cinnamon buns are THE BEST!! i’m drooling
looks really good, but really, 9 cups of flour for just one batch? thats insane!! or does it make more than one pan?
heyyy not fair! looks wayyyy too gooodd.. but my stomach cant afford it :(((((
I tried these when I was stuck home during the hurricane. They are as delicious as they sound, but not sure I’ll be making them again any time soon because of the amount of time it takes. Perfect for a stay at home day, though. And everyone enjoyed the fresh from the oven treats.
Yummy! I’ll def try these:)
Snapshots&S’more!
How many buns does this recipe yield? Nine cups of flour equals tons!
It makes quite a bit! About 6 pans worth. It freezes nicely though.
How can i cut this down..i only need 2 pabs- TOPS!
looks delish!! cant wait to try it out!!
OMG! Divine! Bookmarked this page a while ago, and finally made them. Wow! Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed!
Oh man! How scrumptious!!!
Can these be frozen raw and then popped into the oven frozen? I cannot wait to make these!!
I would bake them first then freeze. You can reheat for a few minutes.
Two quick questions-
1. When adding the yeast to the warm milk mixture, should that proof the yeast and start bubbling after a few minutes?
2. When you add the first eight cups of flour, do you mix it until smooth and then set aside to rise, or do I leave them?
I made half the recipe, and as Miriam said, half made 3 pans. They look fantastic…. I know they will taste wonderful.
I’m making these for Shalach Manos. Do you stack them when you freeze? Can I do the icing the night before I pack them?
I would ice them at the last minute, after freezing.
can i make the icing in advance and freeze it in a container?
Better to make it fresh, if you can.
To save some time, heat the milk just enough to dissolve the sugar. Then pour into a large bowl and it’ll cool enough to add the yeast in no time!
Can I freeze the baked buns without the icing and ice them when I want to use them? They look delishhhhhh!
Sure!
Would oil work instead of margarine? Thanks so much!
Did you try it with oil? I was wondering the same thing
Can I use rice milk instead of soy?
Hi,
Great recipe thank you! I had to add 11 cups and then rose and then added 1 cup w baking soda and powder. The dough was too sticky with just 8 cups. Was that an error?
Thanks
Great recipe and so easy- no mixer required! Just one question, I don’t see salt in the recipe which I know is a key ingredient in baking and PW has it in her original recipe. (I added a tsp to my dough when I made it last week and I making it again) Was it left out purposefully or was it an oversight? Thanks for your recipes, every single one I’ve tried was a hit!
These look amazing!
I have a problem though with the filling. Every time I make cinnamon rolls with filling like this it comes out gritty and ruins the texture of the roll. I’ve tried confectioners sugar but that was no good. What would you advise? I don’t see the issue in bought cinnamon rolls and I wonder what they are doing differently.
Thanks!
Can I make these with gluten free flour? Or it wont stick well because its missing gluten?
this has become a favorite recipe… would agree with the above comment that a little salt is a good idea
I add a dash or two. the dough is super sticky with 8 cups. before adding the last cup. will it become less so after being left in the fridge. should I add more flour or resist the urge to do so?
Thanks for a great recipe!!
Looks amazingly delicious! I was wondering how many cinnamon buns does it make? Or how many per pan? I need to make around 80/85 Cinnamon buns.
Hi I have a question. Firstly thank you for thus recipe.
I made the dough but I just realized that I won’t be able to bake it tonight. It’s been rising for almost an hour. Is there a way I can stop the dough from rising any longer and bake tomorrow?