I’ve been baking all my life (give or take). I can bake in my sleep. I can bake along with the best of ’em.
But I have had the hardest time coming up with a good cinnamon roll.
I’ve tried many different recipes and they always end up being too bready, too heavy, too doughy or too dry.
I just about gave up, figuring I must have the incurable CRBD (Cinnamon Roll Baking Disorder)….
But I tried just one more time.
I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before. Must be because I also suffer from GGDS (Good Grief Duh Syndrome) and sometimes have a hard time seeing the obvious.
It finally occured to me that since my homemade soft pretzels are so, so good…maybe that dough recipe would make a good cinnamon roll. And BOY was I right! Yumm-eee.
It was one proud day when I finally made a good cinnamon roll. And the fact that it was made with whole wheat and honey was an added bonus! Healthy and delicous…what a deal!
So, just in case you also have CRBD (see above to remind yourself what that is if you have GGDS and can’t remember)…here’s the recipe that finally worked for me!
Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls
1 cup water
2 Tablespoons yeast
2 teaspoons honey
2 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup honey
4 teaspoons sea salt
8 cups whole wheat flour
Ingredients for the “innerds” of your cinnamon rolls:
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup rapadura or sucanat (dehydrated cane sugar juice) (you can use white sugar if you want)
1/2 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
Melt your butter and set it aside. Mix together the rapadura and cinnamon in a bowl.
Ooey-Gooey Frosting
1/4 cup butter
3 Tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1-2 cups powdered sugar to make the consistency you like
Melt butter. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, milk and powdered sugar. Whisk together until smooth.
Okay, here’s how to make the dough…
In a large bowl, mix 1 cup very warm water, 2 T. yeast and 2 t. honey. Stir this together and kind of mush the yeast around. Let this sit for a few minutes while you do the next step.
Melt a stick of butter in a large saucepan. Add 1/2 cup honey, 4 t. salt and 2 1/2 cups of milk. Heat this to 120 degrees.
Pour milk mixture into yeast mixture and stir. Stir in 8 cups of flour, 2 cups at a time. (add more if you need it)
Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes. Plop it into a bowl, cover it and let it rise for 1-1 1/2 hours.
After dough is nice and fat, punch it down and knead out all it’s bubbles. Cut the dough in half, setting one half aside.
On a well floured surface, roll dough into a nice big rectangle, about 1/4 inch thick.
Use a pastry brush to spread 1/2 of the melted butter all over the rectangle. Sprinkle 1/2 of the rapadura/cinnamon mixture all over the butter.
Roll up the dough.
Cut into thin slices, about 1/2 inch thick.
Place rolls side by side on baking pan.
Repeat process with other 1/2 of dough.
Allow dough to rise about 30 minutes.
Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown at 350 degrees.
Allow rolls to cool a bit, then drizzle lots and lots of ooey-gooey frosting all over them.
Happy cinnamon roll baking!! Be sure to look through the “Natural Sugar Treats” section of my blog for more great recipes like this one…using great wholesome ingredients to make great treats!
———————————
You must enjoy torture! I’m sure that’s why you keep posting pictures of those delicious looking rolls! If I wasn’t so busy this week I think I’d actually bake them! I guess I’ll just have to wait a couple of weeks and get a grano(that’s a funny spanish word, slang I’m sure, for when you want something but can’t eat it!)!!
Thanks for the recipe. We can’t wait to try them.
They looks so delicious! :) I’ve been hoping you would post this cinnamon roll recipe! (I think I have CRBD too…) :) I’m looking forward to trying this one out!
By the way, I have your applesauce bread recipe in the oven right now. I used Apple-Blueberry Sauce. I haven’t had the batter yet, but I licked the beaters, and it was yummy! :) Thanks!
Blessings,
Michele
http://www.frugalgranola.blogspot.com
Oh, I’m making these tomorrow, for sure! Thanks for the tip.
Ohhh those look delicious! Adding those to my list of recipes to try! :)
Lady, you crack me up….CRBD & GGDS!!!
Thanks for the laugh!
Those look fantastic! I’m looking forward to trying them out (and the soft pretzels!).
Thank you oh great one! I look forward to trying this!!
Do you have any help more CCCD (Chocolate Chip Cookie Disorder)?
I’m pretty sure I have both of those disorders. Do you suppose there’s a government program for us sadly disabled folks that will provide a new
Suburban and annual vacations to Aruba? Hey, stranger things have happened.
But, seriously, I’m gonna try the recipe next week. Thanks!
Thank you so much for sharing the recipe and pictures. I’ve emailed them to myself for future use. I’ve never tried making cinnamon rolls, but yours sound like just the kind I want to try.
Looks and sounds delicious. I like that I could use the whole wheat dough to say that it went with our Weight Watchers’ plans. :)
Thanks for sharing the fruit of all your hard work. The pictures are beautiful, makes all the difference when we can see the finished product!
Yum! Thanks Laura for another good healthy recipe! I love your like-mindedness!
Lindsay @ Passionatehomemaking.com
Oh MY WORD!!!!!!!!!! You can make cinnamon ROLLS with the pretzle dough?????????????????????????
And I thought the pretzles could’t get any better.
You make my life better. :)
You know me and my sweet tooth…I could not resist giving this recipe a try today!?!?!
WOW! SOOOOOOOOO good! I love the butter in these, adds alot of rich flavor!
Every last one of these are gone, (I saw to that)! I blogged about it if you wanna have a look!
Thanks so much for sharing this with us!
Laura-
Do you make these in the morning, or can you make them ahead of time? My kids wake up starving at 7 am so I can’t imagine waking up at 5 to start the cinnamon rolls.
Toni
Help! I need baking 101. I tried these, and they barely rose. What kind of wheat flour do you use, b/c your pics look more white than wheat? My sweet daughter assured me that they would love them even if I wasn’t pleased with the results. :)
Thanks!
me too melanie – did we do something wrong? I’ve never even seen a roll
recipe calling for all whole wheat flour…
I love the idea of it but I hate wasting all the flour when my efforts
flop.
Thank you for this! My kids have been BEGGING me to make cinnamon rolls ever since their grandma made some for them a couple months ago. I’ve never actually tried making cinnamon rolls before, but you type out all the steps so nicely that I will definitely give it a shot! I know my kids will be thrilled! (And wheat, too! HOORAY!!)
I finally got around to using your recipe today, and took these babies to a dinner party. They went over very well, and I really enjoyed them, too!
I don’t know if I ended up over-kneading the dough, or if this is particular to whole wheat, but I found it incredibly difficult to roll the dough out into rectangles. It kept trying to snap back into its original shape. It took a LOT of effort. Even still, once I finally got them rolled out and into the pan, they did end up turning out nicely soft, instead of being tough like I was afraid they would be.
Hi Laura,
someone once shared with me an easy way to cut cinnamon rolls, and I thought I would pass it on. If you use a non-minty dental floss and wrap it around the log, then pass each end of the floss pass eachother it works to have the perfect cinnamon roll slices.
great looking recipe. thanks for sharing. my husband loves cinnamon rolls, and I know he’d love for me to make some “non-canned” ones.
I am so excited to have this one! making cinnamon rolls should be easy! For the topping my sister always lightly browns her butter before you mix it and whoa! it is heavenly! Thanks for this one!
We made the dough for these last night, then put them together for breakfast this morning. They were delicious! Thank you for sharing the recipe!
I only had 4 cups of whole wheat flour on hand, so ours were half whole wheat and half all-purpose flour. And I used regular sugar. AND I doubled the frosting… ;)
YUM!!!!!
Laura.. I make mine using my bread dough recipe and brown sugar *Usually i make extras and freeze them not baked in pans for later use but Hubby seems to have used the last batch last weekend and *gasp* didn’t tell me* but my grandmother makes THE BEST Cinnamon Rolls.. she uses her recipe for homemade biscuits and rolls it out puts the innards on the dough she uses dark brown sugar and then rolls back up cuts them bakes them and makes this fluffy cream cheese frosting.. ummmmmm Ok Pregnant Lady cravings now kicking in..lol Almost as good as her doughnuts *Which she will only make at christmas.. beleive me we count down to doughnut day in Our family.. Its the only time she uses her deep fryer ..they are sooo good.
Thank you they turned out great. I used xgave for the sugar {builds bones and low gycemic index} I used my meat thermometer, it starts at 130 so I just let it rise to almost that, worked great. I am trying honey powder this time, and 1/2 of the dough I made into sticky buns. Well see if everyone is happy this time?
Hi there!
Can these scrumptious-sounding rolls be made the night before? I would love to pop them in the oven on Christmas morning! :) Love your site by the way…
Best,
August
sorry – my computer crashed and I think I posted twice! Can you tell I’m excited about these rolls?? (ha)
Have you ever tried freezing the second batch prior to the second rise for a later baking date?
I love to do this with bread loaves and cookie dough for fresh-from-the-oven goodness. These look like good candidates.
Oh my gracious! I just tried these for the first time (I’ve had it bookmarked since you posted it…) and they are the best cinnamon rolls I have ever eaten!! I tried a different recipe a couple months ago and it was a total flop, but these were soooo easy and turned out wonderfully!!
Thank you so much for the recipe.
I used my Breadman breadmaker to make mine and it came out fabulous! I didn’t alter the ingredients. I put 1st 3 ingredients in breadpan. In separate bowl, nuked the butter, added the rest & nuked some more, then added to yeast mixture. I then added flour and set to “dough”. The icing is completely essential! I had some leftover Veggies links and used the same dough to make a couple “unpigs” in a blanket and they too came out great!
These turned out great and rose beautifully! Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Laura!
I had a dream this afternoon while I was napping with the baby about cinnamon rolls (at McDonald’s of all places – we never go there!) and woke up wanting some. :) We just started working through the alphabet, one letter a week, with our two year old and I think this would be fun for the letter C. Quick question though….Can these be pre-made the night before? Or whenever before and then frozen? Our days start really early (the two year old gets up at 430! i don’t suppose you have any suggestions for that, do you?) and I don’t really enjoy baking at 430 in the morning. :)
Thanks!
These rolls can DEFINITELY be made ahead of time, then be refrigerated or frozen until you’re ready to bake and serve them! If they are frozen, allow them to thaw overnight, then bake in the morning!
Just made these and they are FABULOUS!! Any suggestions for freezing? I have baked them and was gonna freeze and reheat do you think that will be okay?
Yes, they’ll be just fine if you reheat them after freezing!
Totally going to make these.
These are truly wonderful cinnimon rolls.
They sure did get great reviews.
Fresh baked or frozen and thawed they are awsome
Tks for sharing
I was so excited for this whole wheat recipe but my dough didn’t rise. Am I missing something?
Hmmm…did it rise the first time, but not after you shaped the rolls? Sometimes my rolls don’t rise well, but they still work okay.
Otherwise, all I can think of is that maybe the warm ingredients were too warm and killed the yeast?
Bread can be so finicky sometimes! Hopefully they’ll work next time?! :)
Can’t wait to try these! One quick question, for the milk should you use whole milk? The recipe doesn’t specify so I was wondering what you recommend. Thanks!
I use whole milk.
Also one last question salted or unsalted butter?
Either one is fine…I usually use salted.
thanks! I just made these for a birthday in the morning! Can’t wait to try them!!!
My family does not eat any refined sugar at all. Do you think it’s possible to make this 100% with honey?
I don’t know why it wouldn’t work! I say go for it!
I just made these for my room mates and they were a huge hit! we had them with margaritas, delicious! Now they call me “the champ” of the kitchen
thanks!
Thanks everyone, I will try to do you proud on this receipe…. I am bread dough challenged :)
I am going to try this right now.
THIS RECIPE HAS TOO MUCH BUTTER TO CALL IT “HEALTHY”!!SOME LIVE TO EAT, OTHERS EAT TO LIVE. I AM THE LATTER,
THIS RECIPE HAS TOO MUCH BUTTER TO CALL IT “HEALTHY”!!WHILE I KNOW BUTTER HAS A GREAT TASTE, I DO LIMIT IT’S USE.ESPECIALLY WITH THE EPIDEMIC OF OBESITY. SATURATED FATS NOT ONLY INCREASE YOUR CHOLESTEROL, BUT ADD UNNECESSARY WEIGHT TO THE BODY.
I realize that we are told that butter is bad for us. I disagree with that idea, even though nutritionists tell us that it is bad. Good (real) fat is not bad for us. I’ve done much research on this. Thanks for your comment and concern. I won’t eat the whole pan of these rolls…but I will still use butter in them!
I agree on the BUTTER issue with you , LAURA, my friend is a Nutritional Therapist and she uses butter and recommends that we all use fats in the right amounts for proper vitamin/mineral balance. Again, I agree that it is HOW MUCH of these lovley rolls you eat at one TIME that is key in being HEALTHY. Really, that leaves it to our self-control :)
Thanks for a great recipe! I just made them for the first time this morning and they turned out perfectly. I added some raisins and walnuts to the “innards” mixture. Instead of a powdered sugar frosting I used a maple syrup reduction to glaze the top. Yummy!
Just made these this weekend and they were great! Halved the recipe to make just one pan. This recipe is a keeper!
I am so excited to try out this recipe! My family eats cinnamon rolls (store bought)every Saturday as a tradition. My resolution this year was to try and make everything from scratch with whole and healthy ingredients. (Spurred by a passion for all things healthy and the book Hearth and Home by Karey Swan) This blog is heaven sent! Thank you!!!!! I can’t wait to add this as one more thing that I make with love for my husband and 2 little girls! :)
How could I do everything ahead of time but the baking? Or where could I stop? I’m really only thinking overnight. or would this need to be frozen not refridgerated?
Get the rolls shaped and cut into cinnamon rolls, but instead of letting them rise, put them in the fridge or freezer. If you refrigerate them, just bake them the next morning. If you freeze them, put them on a baking pan the night before you want to bake them, cover them and leave them out overnight to thaw/rise. Bake them in the morning. :)
I made these and the hot pretzels. Both turned out great! I have been thinking that this dough would make great mini pizza crust. It seems like it would be very versatile. I was thinking of trying to make something the shape of a bagle out of it to use as buns for sandwiches. I also used to go to a pretzel shop where they would wrap pretzel dough around turkey and swiss and bake it. That was great! I think I’ll try making that with this dough too! Thanks for sharing such a versatile and delicious recipe!
Did you use eggs? Or it worked without eggs?
I know it seems unusual, but the recipe does work without eggs! Mmm, now I’m hungry for cinnamon rolls…
Oh…take that same pretzel dough and roll a bit of it out. Then take a hot dog and piece of cheese and roll the dough around the dog n cheese. bake it until golden brown and brush with butter. Yum. We lived in NJ and the amish made and sold these for $1.50 I think. My kids were sad to leave these when we moved.
When I tried it I intended to halve the recipe and left half of the yeast behind — AND it still worked – if only a little compact.
This is a great recipe if you don’t enjoy a diabetic coma for breakfast like many recipes out there. FOUR STARS!!! I can’t wait to try it the correct way!
THANKS!!!!!!
Hi Laura –
I made this recipe using all whole wheat flour and it really did turn out great – I don’t understand why – but who cares?
I made the bread part exactly according to your directions but then morphed it with another recipe for caramel apple cinnamon rolls to make them into sticky cinnamon rolls with apples and pecans rolled up inside — the results were… indescribably delicious. Just one question – how would it affect this recipe to put a couple eggs in the dough — I hate to mess with it because it was so good but I just don’t feel quite right about there not being any eggs in the dough – stupid, huh…
My mom used eggs in her sweet rolls so that’s probably the root of my mindset – it can’t be right if it’s not the way mom did it…
I know – just try it and see – but thought I’d run it by you in case you have some good advise about that – like cut back on other liquids or (???) which might save me some wasted effort and ingredients. Thanks for this recipe!
Jan (Omaha)
SO glad the recipe turned out so well for you! I would think it might work with eggs…I don’t think it would hurt to try!
OK — Next time I’ll just put two eggs in –
everything thing else the same – and see what happens.
I’ll let you know what happens.
Thanks again,
Jan
I just made these (stayed up late to get them finished so they’d be ready in the morning before our homeschool co-op). Of course I had to have one before bed. YUM!!! Thanks for the great recipe. The only thing I did differently was to use regular sugars. I didn’t have any of the kind you use (I never even heard of it before your blog, honestly). Anyway, thanks again!
Laura,
Have you tried freezing these? If so, please share what you did. Paula from paulasbread.com mixes up enough dough to make her bread (5-6 loaves), pizza crusts for supper the night she makes bread, and puts a batch of cinnamon rolls in the fridge for the next morning. She gets the rolls out of the fridge 20 minutes before she puts them in the oven. I did that today so we are looking forward to cinnamon rolls in the morning. She hasn’t tried freezing hers though. Thanks, Tracy
I usually freeze the rolls after I get them rolled out and sliced but BEFORE I bake them. Then, I put them on a pan on my countertop all night and bake them the next morning. It works well for me!
Recipe looks great! I am a big fan of healthy options that still taste delicious. Do you think it would work to make these the night before and leave in fridge overnight, sliced and ready to bake?
I plan to slice them in half after baking, then butter and grill them lightly on the BBQ. A great little restaurant at the lake we have visited in the summer does this and they are wonderful warm off the grill!
Yes, I have made them that way before and baked them in the morning and it works great!
I figured you might like this tip. If you put one cup of liquid cream (fresher is better) and one cup of brown sugar mixed on the bottom then the rolls, then cook you will have a wonderful carmel roll. :) yummy.
I made these this morning – Yum! I soaked them overnight, substituting buttermilk for the milk, and they turned out great!!! Thanks for this and all of your recipes! :)
Hi Laura,
I recently made the pretzels with my son and they turned out great. However I couldnt seem to get the dough to stop being really sticky. It was really hard to get it to roll out into the snake so I could twist it into the pretzel shape. Is that normal or if not what could I do to fix those issues next time around? thanks!
I think it sounds like your dough needed more flour. When you mix them up next time, just be sure that the dough is nice and elastic…and if it’s still pretty doughy…add 1/2 cup of flour at a time until it isn’t doughy anymore.
Hey! I featured this on my blog! Hope that’s ok, I wanted to share it :) (don’t worry, I gave you ALL the very much deserved credit!)
Loved these
Sure, thank!
I mean, Sure…thankSSS. Shew!
these are awesome! thanks for sharing. i’ve made these for my family and several others. they are huge hit! posted the link to your blog on my fb.
Delicious! I made these for my husband and several of his friends this morning and they raved about them. I didn’t think they tasted like 100% whole wheat because they were so light, which I loved (I found your blog by googling ‘whole wheat cinnamon rolls’). I did all of the prep last night and refrigerated the unbaked rolls in their pans. This morning, we let them sit on the counter for an hour to warm up/rise, and then baked them. These will definitely be in my regular rotation.
Hello: I made these with polish wheat flour and they did not rise when baking …they were hockey pucks. What on earth went wrong I bought fresh ingredients used my kitchen aid to mix dough.I feel 8 cups of flour was too much ???????????
Thanks Martine
Yes, it could be that 8 cups of flour was too much. I’m sorry they didn’t work for you!
Thanks so much for such great recipes like this one. Quick question-have you ever soaked your grains before making these? If so, how? Did you just use buttermilk instead of milk or what? Thanks so much!!!
I have not soaked these before, but yes I think you could use buttermilk instead of milk and see how it goes!
I know this was a long time ago but I am curious if you soaked them and how they came out. Thanks!
I never did soak them…I keep doing it the lazy way! :)
I made these and was very disappointed, they just weren’t sweet enough. I realize that you like to cook without a lot of sugar, but cinnamon rolls are supposed to be sweet and decadent. I did like the frosting recipe, but overall, I’m glad I halved this recipe and I would not make it again.
Hmmm, bummer to hear that you didn’t like them. True, they aren’t very sweet…with the frosting we feel like they are just right. But they definitely aren’t what most people are used to I suppose.
Thank you for the recipe. I made them last night, my son loves them. It looked that I did not need all 8 cups of flour and mine turned a little too dark. Yours had nicer color, what kind of whole wheet flour do you use?
Thanks.
I used freshly ground flour from hard white wheat.
This is absolutely the best cinnamon roll recipe I have every tried! Thank you so much for posting it! :)
Thanks so much for sharing! I make these a little while back and posted about it on my blog. http://talesofdomestica.blogspot.com/2010/10/whole-wheat-cinnamon-rolls-yumm.html
They were yummy and I will be making again!
I’ve never made cinnamon roles ever but I tried these (I’m on a wholewheat, natural sugars only diet) and they are sooo good! Yum yum!
I made these today and I love the idea of a healthier cinnamon roll! But, mine did not rise correctly. I’m wondering what I might have done wrong? They had a great flavor, but they were just flat and very small. I used all of the same ingredients and followed all of the directions, except I used White Wheat Flour instead of Whole Wheat Flour. Could that have made a difference, or is there some trick to getting things to rise correctly? Thanks!
I’m not sure that you did anything wrong…this recipe doesn’t really create a huge, puffy cinnamon roll. Mine usually turn out small and soft, but not huge and bready. Did they dough rise in the bowl the first time, just not as much after you shaped them? That’s typically what mine does.
Hi, I am looking for a healthy recipe and found yours…i don’t use dairy though, so will soymilk work?
I stay away from soy, and haven’t tried any other types of milk in this recipe, but I’d imagine rice milk or coconut milk would work!
Hello Laura,
Thankyou for sharing this extraordinary recipe. I try to avoid to much sugar, so instead of putting frosting on top, I added raisins, walnut chunks, and little bits of apple. I was concerned about the added wt of all of these ingredients, but the dough rose beautifully and they taste great. Thank you again for sharing.
Patty
I have not tried this yet but soon will be.. How do I make the pretzels though??? Those sound perfect right now! Lol
https://www.heavenlyhomemakers.com/making-homemade-soft-pretzelsagain
I made these last week and I loved them! Perhaps a little too much. I did find I may have made them too small or I simply have trouble with yeast. :-/ But they made such cute little rolls and I may use them for a tea party sometime.
Do you think these would be sucessful if I made them to the point of the second rise and then refrigerate them overnight for Christmas morning?
Yes, I’ve done it that way before and it’s worked great!
Do you know about how many calories are in each roll?
Eek, sorry…I have no idea! :)
Idiot in the kitchen here… how could you make this recipe into cinnamon melts? Cinnabon and McDonalds make them into little “bites”, which I love, but would like to make a healthier version. This recipe sounds perfect, but I haven’t any idea how to “form” the little “bites”. Thank you…
Hmm, these might not be quite so “melt in your mouth” like the ones you’re referring to. The dough on these is a little dense. I’m thinking you might want to try making the dough from my Mini Apple Pie recipe: https://www.heavenlyhomemakers.com/mini-apple-pies-a-part-of-this-complete-breakfast then roll butter and cinnamon and sucanat up into that. That dough is more flaky and buttery, so I think that might give you the effect you’re looking for…maybe?
I’m having trouble with the dough rising. This is the first time I tried your recipe and am very excited about it. Can you confirm what yeast you are useing? i.e.: active vs. something else.
I use active rise yeast.
I have been craving cinnamon rolls ever since I got on a healthy diet. This recipe helped lots! Thanks, so much for that. For my own diet, I changed up a few things:
Butter – I used Great Value Cardio Choice butter which is extremely low in saturated fats and is mostly unsaturated.
Milk – I used skim here.
Honey – I used Agave Nectar, which is a good low GI replacement for honey.
Sugar – I used granulated Splenda in place of sugar.
Powdered Sugar – I did the following to make powdered sugar:
Add 1 1/2 cups SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener, Granulated and
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
Place the Splenda and the cornstarch in a mixer or food processor. Blend on high speed for approximately 1 minute,
until the texture is similar to powdered sugar. You may need to scrape down the mixer or processor bowl several
times in the process. Sugar can be stored in an airtight container for up to a month.
Thanks again!
Hi Matt,
IAs a nutritionist, I just wanted to alert you to the dangers of consuming Splenda, especially in such large quantities as are in one of these cinnamon rolls. Here is a link (there are many other sources of info online if you prefer to look yourself). But I wonder if you are aware of Stevia? It’s a much healthier alternative, as is Xylitol, a sugar derived from birch w/ far fewer calories than sugar cane sugars. There’s non chlorine molecules in it like in Splenda. It’s definitely better to use Splenda over aspartame if you decide to continue using it though! A little known fact; aspartame is never to be heated above 86 degrees F; it changes the molecules, and creates a far more toxic substance, so is never fit for baking, or even a cup of hot coffee! Best of luck with your new diet : )
http://www.womentowomen.com/healthyweight/splenda.aspx
I am aware of the many sources of the good and bad of Splenda and
other artificial sweeteners. Time Magazine recently did a post mentioning
it as well, saying that in fact, after hundreds of tests, it can be
assumed that these are safe. But, if you want to believe those, that’s
fine. I am not here to judge anyone. :)
I am not a nutritionist, but a nutrition researcher.
These made 24 large rolls for me; I divided the dough into thirds, and made 3 sets of 8 rolls. I wrapped 2 sets in plastic wrap & placed in a tall cup to store in the fridge for another day! Also, I replaced the butter in the dough with olive oil, and replaced most of the butter in the “innards” w/ olive oil (only used 2 tbspn butter inside). Melted butter, mixed w/ olive oil & rapadura & cinnamon, & refrigerated until firm. Then spread all the 3rds of dough w/ this concoction. Just trying to cut down a tiny bit on the saturated fat! There’s plenty more EFAs in these rolls : ). Thanks for sharing the recipe!
This is a lovely dough recipe! I ended up needing more than 10 cups of flour for it to come together and I also added about a cup of gluten. I also used demerara brown sugar rather than rapadura, since that’s what I had on hand.
I made half into sticky buns, just added a simple brown sugar caramel to the bottom of the pan, sprinkled some chopped apple and packed the rolls on top. I let them rise for about an hour before baking and they rose in the oven for me, too. They turned out looking like they came from a bakery!
The other half of the dough became hot dog/sandwich buns. This recipe is absolutely a keeper, thank you very kindly for sharing it!
i’m making these for the my 4 boys for breakfast. i read the reviews and it looks like a GO!! my boys are 4-14. don’t you just love boys??! ;)
I just finished baking these. I’m always looking for good ‘healthy’ recipes and I felt this qualified. They turned out spectacular. But… if I hadn’t been a bit of an experienced cook and had added all the flour, it would have been close to a cup too much of the flour I was using. The flour is whole wheat flour by Wheat Montana. I think the recipe is wonderful, but the amount of flour depends on the grain grown. I can’t imagine why someone would want to add eggs to this!!
Thanks for your recipe – my mom now has it too.
I made these tonight and they were awesome!! Thank you so much for the delicious recipe!!!
Mmmm! These are so yummy! I made a half recipe but a full recipe of frosting cause I love it. ;) I soaked it with coconut milk and apple cider vinegar (we can’t have dairy other than butter) and half of the water. They are so yummy, nice and soft! Even my nephew who is used to “junk” food really liked them.
We are completely out of butter and are snowed in and I really really want to make these..is there any suggestions on what or if I can substitute for butter? ;o(
I think you could probably sub your favorite oil…coconut oil maybe?
I’ll try that next time….but we got some butter today and the rolls are almost ready to go in the oen….I’ve decided that everytime I go to the store I will get butter even if I don’t need it…that way I’ll NEVER run out! lol
Snowed in here (Kansas) as well, Tanya!
I’m about out of honey. Any suggestions on a substitute for that?
I’d sub any kind of sugar for the honey, preferably sucanat if you have it. If not, maybe brown sugar?
Hi, i found your website through googling ‘whole wheat cinnamon rolls’ and they were absolutely scrumptious!! i made the dough the nite before and roll it out in the morning. They were so lite and did not taste whole wheat at all!! I love the fact that eggs were not needed as my son has an egg allergy. THANK YOU so much!! I’ll definitely be repeating this recipe…
I tried these for the first time today. They were wonderful and not too sticky sweet, but I did have one issue that I’m hoping you can help answer.
My rolls were very dense and heavy. No where near as light looking as your did in the picture. I’m wondering if I didn’t knead my dough long enough. I thought it was adequately springy but then again, I had a crying baby, two other kids playing around my feet and dinner going at the same time. :) I used hard white wheat, freshly ground and didn’t modify your recipe at all.
Any idea?
Yes, the dough may have needed more kneading, or it may not have had long enough time to rise?
I am trying this recipe today, couldn’t find my print out so printed it again just before finding the first one printout. It seems the tablespoon T and teaspoon t are inconsistent in my 2 printouts of the same recipe. I make a lot of bread so I can use my instincts but thought you might like to check your Ts & ts to make sure they are as you intended. Thanks for this great website!
Thank you…I need to go edit that!
Just made these this morning for our Sunday school class and they were AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I had kind of given up making a good whole wheat cinnamon roll, but I saw your recipe and thought I would give it a try. SO GLAD I did!!!!! My husband and 3 boys loved them….I don’t think we will have a hard time going through them :)Thanks so much for your website, such an encouragement for a stay at home mom trying to feed her family the healthy way.
Hi Laura,
I’m trying this recipe now and realize I only have bread machine yeast. I know the yeasts can be used interchangeable, but am not sure about some of the steps – do I omit the soaking? Halve the rise time? Any input would be helpful. Thank you!
Sarah
Eek, I have no idea. I don’t have a bread machine so I don’t know how that yeast works.
Thanks for your quick response! I googled it and there were a variety of answers, but I used the bread machine yeast with no apparent problems…just about to take them out of the oven now.
Thanks again!
I’m thinking of trying to make these this weekend, but I’ve never been able to find rapadura at any of the stores near me, and I can order it online, but I won’t have it by this weekend. Can I substitute sucanat for the rapadura, to avoid using sugar? Also, has anyone tried using Stevia? It’s a great sugar substitute for me, because I’m hypoglycemic so I have to be careful with my sugar levels, but it’s difficult to bake with since it does not convert well and throws off the consistency of the dough.
Sucanat and rapadura are pretty much the same thing…rapadura is a “name brand” for sucanat. So yep, go ahead and use sucanat. And I’M going to edit this post to say that you can use either one!!
Excellent – thanks so much. I can’t wait to try the recipe!
What kind of yeast do you use? I’ve never used yeast in a recipe before but lately I’ve been on a baking binge with whole wheat muffins and want to try these whole wheat cinnamon rolls. I have Fleischmann’s RapidRise yeast and Active Dry, will either of those work?
Thanks! recipe sounds yummy, can’t wait to try!
I use active dry, although I’m not sure it matters too much.
I am so excited to find this recipe! Just one question…can I substitute the oil in the dough recipe for applesauce? Trying to cut down on fat ;)
Hmmm…not sure if applesauce would work in this recipe or not. I’m afraid that without the fat, these would be kind of hard.
I went ahead and substituted applesauce for the butter in the dough recipe. I also added a 1/2 Cup of Gluten, and they were delicious!!! Moist, fluffy, and FAT FREE (of course without the icing) These were so amazing they didn’t last long enough to get the icing. Thank you for this amazing recipe, it is the new family favorite!
hm…I didn’t see anything about oil. Perhaps you meant butter?
I didn’t think of substituting yet, wanted to see if I could make a
decent roll. I did use fat free milk and some half n half (fat free)
but they didn’t raise very well. I’m wondering if I got it too hot and
killed the yeast. sigh. I, like you, have always wanted to make the
perfect cinnamon roll and I haven’t yet…my sister-in-law makes amazing
ones. I hoped these would be good…they taste okay, but they didn’t
really re. Did I kill the yeast?
Sorry, maybe I missed it but how many rolls does this recipe typically make? Can’t wait to try them tomorrow!
Momma, can you make these EVERY day?
Enough said!
I made these with my 10 year old and had a blast baking together. All that have tried these have loved these. Thanks for a great recipe! I would have made another batch but ran out flour.
Excellent! I love your recipes, they’re healthy and my guys usually like them.
LOTS of work and LITTLE taste. Tasted like CARDBOARD, actually
Aw, I’m so sorry these didn’t work well for you. Very disappointing, I’m sure! :(
I am going to have to go with Jackie on this. I love whole wheat and bake a lot of whole wheat pastries…and seriously, these were terrible :)
Such a bummer! These always turn out so well for us. Sorry they didn’t work for you. :(
I don’t understand about these comments!! I found this recipe when I was 12, and I made them all by myself! They were DELICIOUS!!!! I’ve made them many times since, and they have been fabulous each time! (except for once, when I didn’t kneed them enough, then they turned out a bit too tough.)
I’m with Evie – these are a favorite of mine to make. I love the recipe, I think they taste fabulous!
I don’t know what went wrong for the other reviewers, but these were great! I did use spelt flour instead of wheat, and I had to add another cup or so of flour. Then I used the cream cheese frosting recipe I found on this blog…. sooooo good. They were soft and just perfectly sweet.
I don’t know what happened with everyone else either! I used sprouted flour and coconut crystals and these were amazing!
By far the best cinnamon rolls I’ve ever tasted, and I’ve been making them since I can remember. I added some freshly ground cinnamon and flaxseed to the dough and it was absolutely perfect. The dough was impossibly fluffy and smooth despite being whole wheat (I used white whole wheat). Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe, it will be the only one I use from now on!
What about if you want to soak the dough? Have you tried it doing that first? Will it work at all?
I’ve not soaked the dough for these, so I’m not sure. You could maybe substitute buttermilk for the milk and go from there?
I used sprouted flour for it. It took a bunch more flour but worked out nicely.
If you’d like to make these and freeze them…should you freeze them before or after you bake them? I’m a single person and I would never get through a whole pan before it spoiled.
You could do either one, but it’s more fun to freeze them before you bake them so that you can have freshly baked cinnamon rolls any time you want one! Just freeze the shaped cinnamon roll before you allow it to rise, then put a few on a baking sheet the night before you want to bake them – put them in the fridge to thaw, then bake the next morning!
These tasted great! My whole family loved them. Thanks for the recipe.
I thought this was absolutely amaaaazing!!! I too have been searching for the ultimate-whole-wheat recipe for cinnamon rolls and until now, was unsuccessful. I was so close to giving up and your recipe was my last try. Thank you so very much. I have to say that there is a huge taste difference when using fresh milled wheat instead of the store bought wheat flour and I wonder if that might be where some of the negative reviews are coming from. Anyway, thank you again!! : )
Thank you for the great recipe! Easy, delicious, and as healthy as cinnamon rolls can get. We enjoyed them.
These were “to-die-for-delicious!” My husband and I had to agree to freeze some of these or they would have been gone within 3 days!!!
What kind of wheat do you use? I just bought a bucket of Hard White wheat. Would I need to use Soft White wheat for these?
Thanks so much.
Hard white wheat is perfect – that’s what I use for these. You actually can’t use soft wheat for these – soft wheat doesn’t work in recipes that call for yeast. :)
Wow, great to know that tip. Eventually I’ll work through this bucket. It arrived yesterday along with my brand new wheat grinder. The first recipe I will be trying are your pancakes . ~Amber
I made these last night (added blueberries to one of the batches) and it was great. I didn’t have powdered sugar, so I made a simple caramel sauce and poured that over it. It was great! I’m so glad to have a recipe that I can use and modify to make cinnamon buns (and sticky buns, which is my plan for the dough the next time).
So I know this post was forever and a day ago but I thought I’d comment anyway. After reading the reviews I think the ones that didn’t turn out probably didn’t knead the dough enough. Kneading is so important to get the gluten working; if you don’t put this bit of hard work in the bread will not have the proper crumb. Try a little more elbow grease next time!
I love your blog and have found many great recipes on here. The breakfast cookie was an especially big hit!
hate to be added to the naughty list :( – but these came out terrible here too. Dense, and not the best flavor dough. I still like your website tho! :) just wont be doing these again… not sure what went wrong.
These were wonderful. I have tried another recipe about 3 times and was unsuccessful with the dough and the flour adding part. But, I was able to use the 8 cups and add about a cup extra of flour. I also used a little bit of applesauce along with the butter, cinnamon/sugar mix. They were great. I am sticking with this recipe. Oh yeah and I mixed it in my bosch mixer. Love it, thank you so much for all your healthy recipes.
Awesome recipe! Turned out great for me :-) Perhaps some of those batches that didn’t turn out too great…yeast expired? Didn’t rise long enough? Rose in a cold room? Not enough kneading?
My kids – all 4 of them – are going to be SO excited to see homemade cinnamon buns when they get home.
MMMM, made these today and they were delicious! I subbed maple syrup for the honey (since I am allergic) and I made them last night, put in the fridge, then pulled them out this morning while my oven preheated. I used white wheat flour from the store. My hubby said they were better than the canned kind (which is high praise from him!). :) :)
I will say that I had to hand knead, which kinda sucked, since I only have the Artisan mixer and it couldn’t handle that much dough.
Oh and this recipe makes a LOT of cinnamon rolls – I froze over half and we still only ate half of what was left this morning (to be fair, it’s my husband and I and two very small girls).
Bread is bread. In and of itself it tastes like…well…bread! Those who felt these lacked flavor are probably having problems with the star of the dish – the cinnamon/sugar. Try increasing the amount you sprinkle on the dough before rolling. Also, try using dark brown sugar mixed with cinnamon. So much more flavor! I plan on making these tonight to eat for b’fast. Oh, who am I kidding. I’ll eat some tonight AND in the morning!
So That was soo cool to knead warm dough.. Neatest thing ever lol. Doesnt take much to make this momma happy.
So i dont know what I did wrong, they were really hard and didnt rise? Im not sure what I did wrong?
It is possible that the yeast was killed. If the warm water/yeast mixture turned out frothy
looking then it probably was working…I am wondering if the next mixture iwth the
butter was too hot and it killed your yeast.
I wonder??? I wanna try it again :0) Needing more too maybe ??
I know this is late, but I always use a seperate bowl to rise my yeast, no matter what the recipe’s says. Use a thermometer to start and make sure the liquid is btwn 100 and 110 degrees, add sugar, or honey or maple syrup and cover with saran wrap. I always let it sit for 10 minutes to develop the yeast and make sure you see alot of foaming action going on. After a while you’ll know the water temp and wont need the thermometer… This always works!! Hope this helps.. Oh, and definately add more cinnamon and sugar until its the flavor you like..
Hi, this looks just what i’m after, but one question; what kind of yeast do you use, fresh or dried/powdered????
please let me know I want to try them out today :-)
I use Red Star Dry Active Yeast.
so, I tried half the recipe, but sad to say it didn’t rise, I used instant dry yeast. ;-( real bummer, I really wanted to make a healthy c.roll
I use the red star active yeast and I get it from Costco. Store it in the fridge and change it out atleast once a year. I always use a separate bowl to rise my yeast, no matter what the recipe’s says. Use a thermometer to start and make sure the liquid is btwn 100 and 110 degrees, add sugar, or honey or maple syrup and cover with saran wrap. I always let it sit for 10 minutes to develop the yeast and make sure you see alot of foaming action going on. After a while you’ll know the water temp and wont need the thermometer… This always works!! Hope this helps.. Oh, and definately add more cinnamon and sugar until its the flavor you like..
Please unsubscribe me. Thanks!
I am planning to make these Christmas morning, but can I prepare them the night before so I don’t have to get up soooo early? What steps can I do the night before? Can I let the dough rise overnight? THanks in advance!
I would prep them but put them into the fridge after shaping them before they rise. They will rise slightly in the fridge, then bake them in the morning. They should poof up a little bit more in the oven. They won’t be super fluffy, because that’s not how these rolls are, but I’ve done it this way often and it does work!
We keep our house 60 degrees at night. Could I set them out of the freezer on the countertop overnight and then bake in the morning or should I refrigerate them? Thanks!
I have always refrigerated them. I am not sure what would happen if you left them out overnight but I doubt it would be bad. I am guessing it may even turn out the exact same. The only thing I would do is watch the time they bake the next morning so they don’t burn.
Could I sub non-dairy milk without any problems? I would think it would be fine but I have come to discover that protein can be an important part of the cooking process and that is a problem when using Rice Milk.
I’ve not tried that in this recipe, but I do think it should work fine!
I use rice milk all the time in recipes with no problem. I use it in a different cinnamon roll recipe and
it always works great.
Linda
I made these today and can I just say, OMGsh! these are like ‘crack’. So yummy! I’m excited (and my kids are thrilled) that I found a recipe for Cinnamon rolls – now, if i can just leave a couple for my hubby when he gets home.
My dough turned out very hard :( I accidentally bought Quick Rise Yeast and I also see that it says to refrigerate or freeze after opening which I hadn’t done (I opened it about a month ago) do you think that affected it? I tried the hotdog buns back in December and they didn’t rise and turned out hard too….. :(
That could be part of the problem. I am wondering too if the time kneeding
them was off???
Hey Laura, I made a few tweaks to your recipe- got decent results, the rolls taste pretty good, but in a healthy way. The main difference was I used four cups buckwheat flour and four cups whole wheat flour- the dough was super wet and would not hold together. I had trouble rolling the dough…any suggestions?
The only changes I made to the dough are:
4 cups buckwheat flour (which left 4 cups of whole wheat for the rest of the flour).
Agave Nectar in place of the honey
I only used 1/4 cup butter
Andi used Fleishman’s activedry yeast.
I’m not familiar with how using buckwheat changes the recipe, so I’m really not sure if I can answer the question. Using agave nectar instead of honey may have effected how well the dough rose becauce typically, yeast needs a real sugar in order to be activated.
These are amazing! I made them for my family this morning, and the first thing my husband said was, “These make Pillsbury wish they were never born! ” ;-) I was blown away by how moist and fluffy they were. For those that had issues, you may want to mention the temp your water needs to be to properly activate the yeast. I always heat mine to between 110-120 F or it will kill the yeast and they won’t rise. If I wasn’t a veteran baker, I probably would have made the same mistake. Thanks again for a great recipe. I can already tell this will become a favorite in our house! :)
Hi!
I just tried these today, they turned out delicious! The recipe is really easy to follow too! I halved it, and it still produced ALOT of cinnamon rolls! Yummy.
I’m linking your page to my post about making them! Thanks for posting! :)
Great recipe! I made these last night, let them rise on the counter (60degree house) and baked them this morning – yum!
Made these tonight as part of our breakfast for dinner! The are absolutely DELICIOUS!! My whole family loves them.
Have you ever freezed them? Could I put them in the freezer at some point before they are cooked? Maybe after they are ready for the oven and instead pop them in the freezer to be cooked fresh later? Suggestions?
That may work out just fine. I have never tried it though! I don’t see why it would’t work though.
Can these be made at night and not baked until the morning?
Yes, if you put them in the fridge after shaping them, that should work fine!
Great! Making these for our ‘special’ Easter breakfast!
These were so awesome! Ended up putting all of the ingredients in the bread machine before bed and ran the dough cycle. When I got up I just rolled it out put in the filing and rolled it up. Everyone loved it (no cardboard here!!). I did cut the recipe in half (too much dough for my bread machine and too much rolls for two adults and two toddlers) but used the whole recipes worth of filling!
Took these with us to the Easter Celebration at the Biltmore Estate and our breakfast looked just as good as the cinnamon rolls they were selling! We spend $4 on a latte and the family of 3 in front of us spend $22 on their breakfast.
I can’t wait to make these again — hope we have some company soon to serve these!
Is there a way to substitute out the honey for these? My littlest is still too young to have honey safely.
Yes! You could use sucanat. Laura wrote a post about healthy substitutions.
I will include that. :)
https://www.heavenlyhomemakers.com/how-to-adapt-a-recipe-to-make-it-healthier
I made these with my 2 year old and we loved them!! I have been looking for a 100% WW recipe for ever and they just never seem to turn out. We skipped the icing all together (for less sugar) and they were still amazing!!! Will def keep this recipe!! Thanks!
I made this recipe the other day and it was delicious! I was worried about being able to eat all the cinnamon rolls, though, since it made so much dough and we’re only 2 adults and a 1 year old. So what I did was this: I made the dough Friday evening, split it in half and made pizza with half of it (made 2 good sized pizzas and they were delicious!) and made up the cinnamon rolls with the other half and then put them in the fridge overnight for the second rise then when I turned on the oven to preheat in the morning, I took the rolls out and let them warm up a little on the counter, then cooked them as directed. The pizza and cinnamon rolls both came out great! There were still more than enough rolls for us and more than enough pizza, so I think next time I’ll split the dough in thirds, make pizza, cinnamon rolls and a loaf of bread, talk about multitasking! Thanks so much for this recipe, love it!
Can I come live with you?? :)
My guess is that those who didn’t like these either used too much or too little flour (I never put flour measurements in a yeast recipe because it’s just not accurate) and didn’t knead enough. 100% whole wheat dough needs a LOT of kneading to turn out right. I let the dough knead for 10 minutes in my mixer. Also, for those that have used instant yeast, you don’t need to proof it. Just add it with the flour. Otherwise, you have a fabulous recipe :) Baking with yeast dough takes a lot of practice!
I sure enjoy your syndromes, Laura. ;) I look forward to trying these cinnamon rolls and receiving more newsletters from you. :D
Blessings!
Can I make this the night before and put them in the fridge to do the final rise?
Just read all the comments, so never mind! Going to try this tomorrow for my hubbies game party.
My rolls look way different than Laura’s and I used at least 10 cups of flour! Didn’t rise at all, but they were good. It was my second time making them. I also use brown sugar and add nuts and raisins.
I am just making these and seeing all the comments i hope they’ll turn out delicious. Me and my mom are also on a diet so this is great and more nutritious so itll help us have something sweet but healthier too i think :)
I’m trying these out right now with white whole wheat and I noticed one of your comments so I have a question. You said white whole wheat doesn’t work with yeast above. How come? That’s what I’m using and I’m hoping they come out. But I used the white whole wheat to make your bread recipe and it didn’t come out as well. I wonder if that’s why. I made it before with the red hard wheat and it was alright. I mostly had trouble getting a nice grind from my grinder. Thanks!
It’s fine as long as it’s from a hard white wheat, and not soft (pastry) wheat.
I need some help. I have attempted this twice and my dough is not rising. I have tested the temp on the butter mixture and it says 120. The yeast is fine. I’ve been using it for other recipes and they are working. Just wondering if the mixture is killing the yeast. Has anyone had this happen? When I am kneading the dough, it’s still really warm. Is that normal??
I am not sure what the problem is…hmmm. I am stumped! Mine isn’t ever
super warm, but it’s not cold either…I wish I could help more!
I tried this recipe step by step & something went wrong. My flour did not rise & the rolls didn’t rise when I baked them. What went wrong?
Sounds like somehow your yeast died in the process. Maybe the milk was still too warm?
I tried these and they turned out great!
How many rolls does this make? I am searching the web today for exactly this and I would like to figure out the nutritional info. Thanks for sharing! I am dying for a guilt free cinnamon roll!
It makes about 24 rolls. :)
can i replace the honey with sugar?
Yes, that will work!
Just made this recipe w/white whole wheat dough and they were DELISH! They make way more than 24 rolls…I made 20+ in two small casserole dishes & I have about 20+ in the freezer for an easy make ahead breakfast. Can’t wait to leave them out the night before as you recommend & see them rise before baking them the next AM!
I’m thinking the people having problems did not see their yeast work? Make sure the water is warm to touch & not hot as to kill the yeast. The directions say very warm which might be misinterpreted.
Thanks Laura!!
Will it still work fine if i use sweetener (Splenda) instead of the sugar? I am assuming it will be but this is my first crack at cinnamon buns so I am not even sure what to expect!
I’m assuming it would work, but I don’t believe that splenda is a healthy sugar subsitute. Artificial sweeteners aren’t great for our bodies, unfortunately. :)
Could you use stevia?
I think that would work, but I don’t have enough experience with it to know how to substitute it in this recipe.
I have substituted 1/2 the sugar in baking for Stevia and it works very well. I have NOT make cinnamon rolls, but it should work. The ratio is 1t stevia = 1 C sugar. (ie 1/2t stevia = 1/2 cup sugar.)
I have been playing around with using 1/2 the sugar in baking recipe’s. Lately i’ve tried home made ice cream, chocolate and i made a hot cocoa mix (just add water). The recipe’s called for 2 cups of sugar and i’ve used 1 cup sugar and 1 t stevia powder – this was white pure stevia from trader joes and you cannot tell difference!!! For the Ice cream and hot cocoa, I added several T’s of Arrowroot powder to thicken it up. Have fun experimenting and share pls your results!
Can these hold uncooked overnight in the refrigerator? I want to prep in the evening and bake in the morning. Thanks!
Yes, that will work!
If I do it this way and pull them out of the fridge in the morning, do I need to let them come to room temp before baking them? And do I need to even do the second rise before putting them in the fridge? Or will being in the fridge overnight be “the second rise?”
I do try to let them get to room temp before baking them. The second rising happens naturally in the fridge. :)
Love this recipe. Just a couple things. My husband is kneading the dough right now. 8 cups of flour was not near enough. We lost count of how much more we added. It could be due to the rain. Also, my husband thought he was supposed to knead it in the pan. I assumed it would be kneaded on a flat surface.
Otherwise, so far so good. Oh, maybe save one tiny piece for the 4 yr old since he’s right in the middle of this.
Thanks for posting this.
that sounds like a good amount. i’ve only made cinnamon rolls once before
so i wasn’t sure how it would be but added 1/2 cup more.
and it was still sticking to the counter trying to knead
Awesome! It took about 9 cups flour for me. I also used half white whole wheat and half spelt. Used extra cinnamon too. Great Christmas morning treat! Thank you!!!
Have you ever made these and froze them to have on hand? Would you just take them out the night before to defrost/proof on the counter?
Yes, if you freeze them right after you’ve rolled and cut them (before the second rising), they work great! Then defrost them and let them rise overnight in the fridge or even countertop, then bake in the morning.
Seconds Kristen’s question and also wonders, at what step do you freeze them?
If you freeze them right after you’ve rolled and cut them (before the second rising), they work great! Then defrost them and let them rise overnight in the fridge or even countertop, then bake in the morning.
I just made these and the dough is absolutely amazing!! Can’t wait to ice them and start chowing down:) Thanks for sharing such a great recipe!
Do you have a suggestion for adapting this to soak the dough?
I haven’t tried soaking these, so I’m really not sure!! :)
Wow!!!! Delicious! Thanks so much for posting this. This is the first time the actually came good for me after many other times. I used 9 cups of flour. The only thing is that I need to work on the frosting part. It looked like I didn’t have enough. Which is fine by me, but maybe next time I will do more of the frosting part. THANK YOU!!
What kind of yeast do you use in these?
I use active rise. :)
Is active rise the same as rapid rise or breadmachine yeast? Thanks!
I’m not sure on the breadmachine yeast, but I believe it is the same as rapid rise.
So not active dry yeast? That’s what I use for my loaves of bread. Also, how did you defrost them before they started rising? If you make them the day before completely except maybe the frosting and fridge them would they reheat up well in the microwave? And how long do they keep once made?
I really think either yeast will work fine. I just defrost them on the countertop. Yes, they heat up nicely (although I usually use our toaster oven). These get dry after a couple of days, but don’t go bad until a week or so.
If I substitute almond milk for the milk and earth balance for the butter do you think this recipe will work. I have been a vegan for about a month and am still learning.
Thanks
I can’t say for sure since I’ve not tried it, but I would imagine so.
I just made them and substituted almond milk for the milk and earth balance for the butter.
They turned out amazing. Just wanted to let people who are vegan know that it works out just fine.
Would this dough also make a good loaf or two of good old whole wheat bread?
I don’t think this recipe would make a good loaf of bread, but here’s my Honey Whole Wheat Bread recipe: https://www.heavenlyhomemakers.com/how-to-make-whole-wheat-bread-tutorial
Would this dough work to make a cinnamon loaf of bread?
I don’t think this recipe would work very well as a loaf, but here’s the recipe I always use: https://www.heavenlyhomemakers.com/how-to-make-cinnamon-swirl-bread
Do u grease pans before u they go into the oven?
I don’t usually. :)
I have made these a few times as well as your pretzels and they alway turn our amazing. I think I killed the yeast. It did t seems to rise…..I am making them anyways since I don’t want to waste all the ingredients. I am sure they won’t be as amazing as they always are.
Was stoked to find a more healthy alternative to the normal version of cinnamon rolls. This recipe turned out great, and I was on the ‘hippier’ side and added one cup of quinoa flour and oat flour, minus that in wheat, and they turned out great, with a unique flavor. Thank you for your great ideas and time into each recipe. Looking forward to making more of them!!!
I am so thankful for this receipe!!
I am not an amazing baker and am gaining experience the older I get!!
Everytime I make these I make about 50 rolls with eavery batch!
I subtituted brown sugar for regular sygar and have used almond milk…always comes out amazing!
Active dry yeast works well and so does rapid rise…This is the receip that always comes out tasting amazing! Thank You so much!
Have you ever used the same cream cheese frosting you use on your banana cake for these rolls? It only has whipping cream vanilla honey and cream cheese.
Laura says, “Yes, it’s awesome!” ;)
These are fantastic. I have been looking for a recipe that is healthy enough to eat every week (Sunday morning tradition), but also easy enough to make every month or so and freeze. The trick is making them taste good enough for the sweet-tooth boys in this house! I can say for certain that these are definitely the winner.
My only changes – I realized too late that I only had one pack of yeast, but it was totally fine! I still managed to get 40 big rolls out of this recipe (enough for 4 weeks, woohoo!). Also, my sea salt is a fine grain, and 4 tsp worried me, so I put 3 and it was perfect. I also added more cinnamon to the filling b/c we love it :)
Is there a way to speed up the first rise? A warm oven, maybe? I am new to baking and have always wondered this. Thank you for the recipe!
You could do a warm oven, but make sure it’s not over 175 degrees or so. :)
I suppose you could, however I would just get in the habit of starting earlier and leave more time. That’s what I learned to do. For example, when i make pizza dough, I need to start before 2pm or I don’t make pizza for that day because I know that I need time for the dough to rise. While the dough is rising, I get the sauce and toppings ready for the pizza
Himalayan Sea Salt – Saturday I was in a local Indian grocerie store and found Himalayan sea salt and a VERY VERY good price
Wow, Laura! These were Ah-Mazing! My whole family loved them! I doubled the cinnamon and added 1/2 c cream cheese (softened), to the frosting. :) thanks for sharing your gifts with ot
*others* oops…
Hey Laura, love all your recipes! I tried this one (cinnamon rolls) and my yeast bubbled great but the dough failed to rise! I’m wondering if I killed it with the butter/honey/milk mixture. I didn’t have the correct thermometer to check the temp. Any suggestions?
Yes, it could be that the liquid was too hot? Although if it bubbled initially, I’m not sure why it wouldn’t rise later. :)
Ok, I used about 10 cups of flour and made 40 very nice sized rolls. :D I have 2 cake pans and a 9X13 pan in the freezer and one cake pan in the fridge. I think that I may need to invest in some disposable bake ware for freezing my baked goods. Ha, such a terrible problem to have. I’m even freezing individual frosting packets with the pans so I’m ready to go.
Just so you know, I’ve had a baking marathon of sorts…Raspberry Oatmeal bars, applesauce cake, Cinnamon rolls. and lots of pecan waffles for freezing. I’m so excited to be baking again. Thanks!
These sound amazing and simple enough to make! Would you happen to know the approximate calorie count per roll?
I don’t know how to figure out the calories in my recipes, sorry!
I made these tonight and halved the recipe. They were really good but my dough didn’t rise. Should I have used more yeast when halving it or do you think the milk mixture may have been too hot? Will keep on trying:}
My guess is that the milk was too hot and killed the yeast. :) Hope you have better luck next time!
Can they be prepared the day before and covered then baked the next morning? How many do they make?
Yep! This recipe makes 20-24 rolls. :)
Can you use fresh milled flour for this recipe? They sound delicious.
Yep, that’s what I use and it’s wonderful!