Cinnamon Rolls (Kanelbullar / Cinnabon Style)

Ingredients

• For the enriched dough
• 250 ml whole milk, warmed to body temperature
• 7 g instant dried yeast, one standard sachet
• 50 g caster sugar
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 75 g unsalted butter, softened, cut into pieces
• 500 g plain white flour, plus a little extra for dusting only
• 1 tsp fine salt
• For the cinnamon-sugar filling
• 100 g unsalted butter, melted
• 150 g light brown sugar
• 2 tbsp ground cinnamon, Makara cinnamon preferred for the American style
• For the Swedish variant (kanelbulle)
• 1 tsp ground cardamom, added to the dough; omit for American style
• For the cream cheese glaze (American style)
• 200 g full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
• 120 g icing sugar, sifted
• 30 ml whole milk, to loosen to a pourable consistency
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. 1
   Combine the warmed milk, yeast, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Allow to stand for 5 minutes. Add the eggs, then the butter pieces, then the flour and salt (and cardamom if making kanelbulle). Mix with a dough hook on medium speed until the dough comes together into a smooth, cohesive mass — 8 to 10 minutes. The dough is ready when it clears the sides of the bowl but remains visibly tacky to the touch; do not add extra flour to eliminate this stickiness.
2. 2
   Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and leave at room temperature until doubled in volume. This first proof establishes the dough's structure and open crumb. The dough is ready when a floured finger pressed into the centre leaves an indent that springs back slowly rather than immediately.
3. 3
   Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll to a rectangle approximately 45 cm × 35 cm. Pour the melted butter over the entire surface and spread to the edges with a palette knife or the back of a spoon. Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon, then scatter evenly across the buttered surface, again to the very edges. This is where the dish lives or dies: complete edge-to-edge coverage of both the butter and the sugar-cinnamon ensures even filling in every slice; any gap at the perimeter produces a dry, empty outer edge and an over-loaded centre.
4. 4
   Starting from the long edge nearest to you, roll the dough away from you into a cylinder. Apply moderate, even pressure — firm enough to prevent air pockets but not so tight as to compress the spiral layers. The completed cylinder should feel springy when pressed lightly from above.
5. 5
   Using a length of unflavoured dental floss or thin kitchen string, cut the cylinder into 12 equal rounds approximately 4 cm thick. Loop the string beneath the cylinder, cross the ends above, and pull — each roll is released cleanly with its spiral intact. Arrange the rounds, cut-side up, in a buttered 33 cm × 23 cm baking pan with a small gap between each.
6. 6
   Cover the pan loosely and allow the rolls to proof a second time at room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes. The second proof is complete when the rolls have expanded to fill the gaps between them and the dough yields slowly but fully to a gentle prod.
7. 7
   Bake in an oven preheated to 190°C (conventional) until the tops are evenly golden and a probe thermometer inserted into the centre of a central roll reads 88°C. Do not bake beyond this point — over-baking dries the crumb irreversibly within an hour of cooling.
8. 8
   For the American-style cream cheese glaze, beat the cream cheese, icing sugar, vanilla, and milk together until smooth and pourable. Apply the first layer of glaze to the rolls immediately on removal from the oven while they are at their hottest — this layer melts into the surface to form a glossy base. Allow the rolls to cool to warm, then apply a second, thicker layer. The glaze is correctly set when it holds its own shape but has a satin sheen rather than a matt surface.