Cinnamon roll recipe: easy small-batch rolls for two
Cinnamon roll recipe: easy does not mean skipping the rise. This homemade cinnamon roll recipe makes two generous rolls with a soft milk dough and a cinnamon-sugar swirl. Allow roughly 2½hours overall, including two rises and about 15–18 minutes in the oven.
A small batch rewards accurate weighing. Set out softened butter and measure the dough flour separately from the teaspoonfuls used in the filling. No egg is required in this version.
If the dough is slow to puff in a cool kitchen, give it time rather than putting it on a very hot radiator. Yeast activity and room temperature change the schedule. A firm, unrisen roll will not turn light merely because the oven is hot.
Tuck the tail underneath so the spiral stays together. Add icing after the initial burst of heat has passed; on a piping-hot roll it will run off. These are two large rolls, so they can also be shared in smaller pieces.
Ingredients
Step 1
Mix dough flour, granulated sugar, yeast, salt, warm milk, butter and vanilla. Knead briefly by hand until smooth and soft. The milk should feel comfortably warm, not hot.
Step 2
Cover in a bowl and let rise until puffy, approximately 45–60 minutes. Mix filling sugar, filling flour and cinnamon separately. Line a small baking sheet with parchment.
Step 3
Press dough into a 4-by-10-inch rectangle. Brush lightly with the measured milk and sprinkle filling evenly, leaving a narrow bare strip at one short end.
Step 4
Cut lengthwise into two 2-by-10-inch strips. Roll each from a filling-covered short end, tuck the loose end underneath and place swirl-up on the sheet. Leave space between the rolls.
Step 5
Cover and rise another 45–60 minutes, until puffy. Heat oven to 375 °F (190 °C). Bake about 15–18 minutes, until cooked through; a thermometer in the dough center should read about 190 °F (88 °C).
Step 6
Cool briefly. Stir powdered sugar with milk, beginning with two teaspoons, and spread a little icing over each roll.
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