{"slug":"perfectly-pillowy-cinnamon-rolls","collection":"recipes","is_recipe":true,"visibility":"public","title":"Perfectly Pillowy Cinnamon Rolls","description":"Soft yeast rolls built on a tangzhong (a cooked flour-and-milk paste), filled with brown sugar and cinnamon, baked free-standing on a sheet pan and finished with a vanilla butter icing. Makes eight large rolls that stay soft for several days.","body_md":"1. **Make the tangzhong:** Whisk 113g (½ cup) oat milk and 24g (3 tbsp) bread flour in a small saucepan until no lumps remain. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens to a paste and the spatula leaves lines on the bottom of the pan, 1–3 minutes. Scrape it into the bowl you will knead in (a stand mixer bowl, or a large mixing bowl).\n\n2. **Mix the dough:** Pour the 151g (⅔ cup) cold oat milk over the hot tangzhong — the paste warms the milk. Add the 300g (2½ cups) bread flour, 6g (2 tsp) kosher salt, 25g (2 tbsp) granulated sugar, 2 tsp instant yeast and 57g (4 tbsp) softened butter, in that order. Mix on low speed with the dough hook, or by hand, until the dough comes together.\n\n3. **Knead:** Knead until smooth, elastic and tacky: 10–12 minutes on medium-low in a stand mixer, or up to 15 minutes by hand.\n\n4. **First rise:** Shape the dough into a ball, put it in a bowl, and cover with a plate or a damp towel. Let it rise until puffy but not necessarily doubled, 60–90 minutes.\n\n5. **Make the filling:** While the dough rises, stir together the 14g (1 tbsp) melted butter, 107g (½ cup) light brown sugar, 14g (scant 2 tbsp) bread flour, 3–4 tsp ground cinnamon and ⅛ tsp kosher salt until the mixture looks like damp sand. Lightly grease a baking sheet or line it with parchment.\n\n6. **Roll out:** Turn the dough onto a lightly greased work surface and press it into a 25×30cm (10×12in) rectangle about 1.25cm (½in) thick. Square off the corners; an oval gives uneven end rolls.\n\n7. **Fill and roll:** Sprinkle the filling over the dough, leaving a 1.25cm (½in) strip bare along one long side. Starting from the filling-covered long side, roll the dough into a log.\n\n8. **Cut:** Score the log into eight equal pieces, each 4–5cm (1½–2in) wide, then cut at the marks. Unflavored dental floss gives the cleanest cut: loop it under the log and pull the ends in opposite directions. Otherwise use a bench knife or a sharp knife.\n\n9. **Arrange:** Set the rolls on the prepared baking sheet in a 3-2-3 pattern, at least 5cm (2in) apart and 5cm (2in) from the pan edges. Tuck the loose end of each spiral underneath its roll so it cannot unravel.\n\n10. **Second rise:** Cover the rolls with a lightly greased sheet of parchment or an inverted second pan and let them rise until puffy, 30–60 minutes. A gently pressed fingertip should leave a dent that does not spring back at once. About 20 minutes before baking, set a rack in the top third of the oven and heat it to 190°C (375°F).\n\n11. **Bake:** Bake for 14–18 minutes, until light golden brown and 88°C (190°F) in the center of a roll. The shorter time gives the softest rolls; the longer time gives more color and a slightly firmer crumb.\n\n12. **Butter:** Move the pan to a rack and brush the hot rolls with 21g (1½ tbsp) of the 42g (3 tbsp) melted butter. Cool for 10–15 minutes before icing.\n\n13. **Make the icing:** Stir the remaining 21g (1½ tbsp) melted butter with the ½ tsp vanilla extract, ⅛ tsp kosher salt, 170g (1½ cups) sifted confectioners' sugar and 14g (1 tbsp) of the oat milk or cream until smooth. Add up to 14g (1 tbsp) more to thin it to a spreadable consistency.\n\n14. **Finish:** Ice the rolls and serve. If serving later, hold the icing, tightly covered at room temperature, and ice just before serving.\n\n## Notes\n\n- **Source and status:** King Arthur Baking, imported 2026-10-04 and rewritten in house style. A house favorite.\n- **Oat milk replaces the source's whole milk** (household default) in the tangzhong, the dough and the icing. Whole milk works gram for gram. The source also offers buttermilk for thinning the icing.\n- **Salt is restated for Diamond Crystal.** The source calls for 1 tsp (6g) table salt in the dough; the 6g weight is kept and is 2 tsp of Diamond Crystal. The source's two 1/16 tsp table-salt pinches become ⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal each. With Morton or table salt, halve the spoon measures.\n- **Weights are the source's own.** Milk is given by weight (113g and 151g) rather than converted to ml. The filling flour is the source's 14g, which is slightly under 2 tbsp at the house rate of 8g per tbsp.\n- **The dough's milk goes in cold**, straight from the fridge; the hot tangzhong brings it to temperature.\n- **Butter is written as unsalted throughout.** The source specifies unsalted only for the dough and plain \"butter\" for the filling and icing.\n- **Yeast runs high on purpose.** 2 tsp (about 6g) instant yeast on 324g total flour is roughly 1.9%, above the usual 0.5–1% band; this is the source's amount for an enriched, sweetened dough. Salt is 1.85% of flour.\n- **Covers:** the source covers the dough and the shaped rolls with plastic wrap; a plate, damp towel, parchment or inverted pan replaces it here.\n- **Why tangzhong:** cooking part of the flour in liquid to about 65°C (149°F) gelatinizes its starch so it holds more water, which makes the rolls softer and slower to stale.\n- **Cream cheese icing:** stir 57–90g (4–6 tbsp) very soft cream cheese into the icing with the other ingredients. Mix fully before adding more than 2 tsp of liquid, then thin 1 tsp at a time.\n- **Make ahead:** bake the day before, cool completely, and store un-iced and tightly sealed at room temperature. To serve, cover loosely with foil, warm at 150–175°C (300–350°F) for 5–10 minutes, then ice.\n- **Storage:** un-iced and well wrapped, a few days at room temperature or up to 1 month frozen.\n- **Bread machine:** the source also allows kneading on a bread machine's dough cycle.\n","draft":false,"servings":"8 large cinnamon rolls","prep_time":"30 min","cook_time":"15–21 min (tangzhong 1–3 min, bake 14–18 min)","total_time":"2 hrs 50 min","times":{"prep":{"minutes":30},"cook":{"minutes":15,"minutes_max":21},"total":{"minutes":170}},"source_name":"King Arthur Baking","source_url":"https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/perfectly-pillowy-cinnamon-rolls-recipe","created_at":"2026-10-04T23:07:56.986729Z","updated_at":"2026-10-04T23:22:51.102268Z","categories":["Bread","Breakfast","Rolls"],"tags":["Cinnamon","Make-Ahead","Oat Milk","Tangzhong","Yeast"],"methods":["Baked"],"themes":["Vegetarian"],"ingredients":[{"section":"Tangzhong","items":["113g (½ cup) oat milk","24g (3 tbsp) bread flour"],"parsed":[{"raw":"113g (½ cup) oat milk","qty":113,"unit":"g","item":"oat milk"},{"raw":"24g (3 tbsp) bread flour","qty":24,"unit":"g","item":"bread flour"}]},{"section":"Dough","items":["151g (⅔ cup) oat milk","300g (2½ cups) bread flour","6g (2 tsp) Diamond Crystal kosher salt","25g (2 tbsp) granulated sugar","2 tsp (6g) instant yeast","57g (4 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened"],"parsed":[{"raw":"151g (⅔ cup) oat milk","qty":151,"unit":"g","item":"oat milk"},{"raw":"300g (2½ cups) bread flour","qty":300,"unit":"g","item":"bread flour"},{"raw":"6g (2 tsp) Diamond Crystal kosher salt","qty":6,"unit":"g","item":"Diamond Crystal kosher salt"},{"raw":"25g (2 tbsp) granulated sugar","qty":25,"unit":"g","item":"granulated sugar"},{"raw":"2 tsp (6g) instant yeast","qty":2,"unit":"tsp","item":"instant yeast"},{"raw":"57g (4 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened","qty":57,"unit":"g","item":"unsalted butter","prep":"softened"}]},{"section":"Filling","items":["14g (1 tbsp) unsalted butter, melted","107g (½ cup) light brown sugar, packed","14g (scant 2 tbsp) bread flour","3–4 tsp (8–10g) ground cinnamon","⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt"],"parsed":[{"raw":"14g (1 tbsp) unsalted butter, melted","qty":14,"unit":"g","item":"unsalted butter","prep":"melted"},{"raw":"107g (½ cup) light brown sugar, packed","qty":107,"unit":"g","item":"light brown sugar","prep":"packed"},{"raw":"14g (scant 2 tbsp) bread flour","qty":14,"unit":"g","item":"bread flour"},{"raw":"3–4 tsp (8–10g) ground cinnamon","qty":3,"qty_max":4,"unit":"tsp","item":"ground cinnamon"},{"raw":"⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt","qty":0.125,"unit":"tsp","item":"Diamond Crystal kosher salt"}]},{"section":"Icing","items":["42g (3 tbsp) unsalted butter, melted","½ tsp vanilla extract","⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt","170g (1½ cups) confectioners' sugar, sifted","14–28g (1–2 tbsp) oat milk or heavy cream, to thin"],"parsed":[{"raw":"42g (3 tbsp) unsalted butter, melted","qty":42,"unit":"g","item":"unsalted butter","prep":"melted"},{"raw":"½ tsp vanilla extract","qty":0.5,"unit":"tsp","item":"vanilla extract"},{"raw":"⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt","qty":0.125,"unit":"tsp","item":"Diamond Crystal kosher salt"},{"raw":"170g (1½ cups) confectioners' sugar, sifted","qty":170,"unit":"g","item":"confectioners' sugar","prep":"sifted"},{"raw":"14–28g (1–2 tbsp) oat milk or heavy cream, to thin","qty":14,"qty_max":28,"unit":"g","item":"oat milk or heavy cream, to thin"}]}],"servings_int":8,"qc":{"status":"passed","last_checked_at":"2026-10-04T23:23:04.134059Z","checked_by":"robert@sigler.io","standard_version":"2026-09-06","findings_count":0,"stale":false,"completeness_gaps":[]}}