Last night, I was scrolling through some beautiful photos of food on Instagram and saw these little braided cinnamon rolls. I was instantly intrigued and after a bit of research, I found a video of Richard Bertinet creating these fabulous little braids of deliciousness. If you are interested in checking his video out, click here.
Yesterday was Easter, my husband and I are under military travel restrictions due to Covid and we do not have children, so my day was wide open. I put on a pot of coffee, found some episodes of I Love Lucy on Hulu and started working my way through his recipe…
This dough is very easy to bring together and if you measure out your ingredients (and you definitely should!), it will turn out fabulous!
To begin, gather 7 ounces of whole milk, 2 medium eggs, 1 pound 5 ounces of bread flour, 1 ounce of fresh yeast or 10 grams of instant yeast, 2 ounces of caster sugar, 2 teaspoons of salt and 7 ounces of unsalted butter at room temperature.
In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl, if kneading by hand, add 7 ounces of buttermilk and 2 medium eggs. Pour all of the flour into the bowl and then add the yeast (1 ounce of fresh yeast or 10 grams of dry instant yeast) into one side of the bowl and 2 ounces of caster sugar and 2 teaspoons of salt into the other side of the bowl. Last, but not least, add 7 ounces of room temperature unsalted butter and attach the dough hook.
Start your mixer on low until all of the ingredients are combined and then increase the speed to medium and let it knead until the dough is smooth, the butter is fully incorporated and the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl. This should take around 5 minutes.
Form the dough into a ball and place it in a lightly floured bowl. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let it rest in a warm place for about an hour or until it has doubled in size.
Once the dough has rested, transfer it onto a lightly floured surface and roll it out into a large rectangle. The dough should be less than a quarter of an inch thick throughout and as even as possible.
To make your filling, simply cream 5 1/2 ounces of butter until smooth. Add 9 ounces of brown sugar and 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon and mix until combined.
Evenly spread the filling across the entire surface of the dough. Be sure to get close to the edges, so even your “end” rolls have some of that delicious filling inside…
These next few steps are where this classic cinnamon roll recipe transforms into something special. Instead of rolling this dough up like a long cigar, fold the top third of the rectangle of dough towards you (photo below)…
Now, fold the bottom third of the dough over the top third creating three equal layers.
Trim off the ends, so they are neat and straight and then cut the entire rectangle into even strips about 1 1/2 inches wide….
Now, slice 3 evenly sized strips into each portion, leaving 1/2 inch uncut at the top.
Braid the 3 strips and bring the top and bottom ends together on the underside, creating a round loop. Once you have braided and rolled each portion, transfer it into a lightly greased muffin tin, braid side up.
Cover the rolls with a clean kitchen towel and let them rest for 45-60 minutes in a warm place.
Once the rolls are nice and puffy, brush them with an egg wash of 1 egg whisked with 2 tablespoons of whole milk. Bake in a 395 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until they are puffy and golden brown.
Note: The filling gets quite bubbly as they bake, so you may want to place a piece of foil on the rack under your cinnamon rolls to catch any filling that could drip over. I did not have any filling actually escape, but it did get very close to the edges of my muffin tin.
While they are baking, place a sheet of parchment paper, wax paper or some paper towels under a cooling rack and have a small spatula ready to pop the cinnamon rolls out of the muffin tins as soon as you pull them from the oven. You do not want these rolls cooling in the muffin tin, because as soon as that beautifully bubbly filling begins to set up, it will glue them into place. Although chiseling cinnamon rolls out of a muffin tin sounds like a blast (just kidding, it does not), I prefer to easily pop them out right away and clean my pan right afterwards. Then you have hot little cinnamon rolls ready to glaze and an easily rinsed muffin tin.
Easy, quick and no chiseling required…
Look how cute he is! The braids are still absolutely beautiful and each one is unique, but although the tops of these cinnamon rolls are eye catching, its the bottom that I am obsessed with. As they cool, the filling that settled near the bottom sets up into this mildly crunchy toffee like crust that I cannot get enough of.
Each little piece braided over the top of these cinnamon rolls can be pulled apart to be enjoyed individually until you work your way down into the soft, cinnamony center. Can you tell that I enjoy every little part of these sweet little rolls? Well, I can’t help it! They are so good and so cute…
If you want to “glaze” these cinnamon rolls, I would suggest a light glaze instead of the classic thick white frosting that is typically smeared over a pan of classic cinnamon rolls. Simple combine 2 cups of confectioners sugar with 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Add just enough whole milk to create a smooth, drizzle-able consistency (between 2-4 teaspoons) and as soon as you pop these babies out of the muffin tin, drizzle them with some glaze and get ready to fall in love with the cutest and tastiest little cinnamon rolls you have ever made.
Cheers!
Braided Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Cinnamon Roll Dough
- 7 ounces of whole milk
- 2 medium eggs
- 1 lb 5 ounces of bread flour
- 1 ounce of fresh yeast or 10 grams of dry instant yeast
- 2 ounces of caster sugar
- 2 teaspoons of salt
- 7 ounces of butter, unsalted, cubed, room temperature
Cinnamon Roll Filling
- 5 1/2 ounces of butter, unsalted, room temperature
- 9 ounces of brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons of ground cinnnamon
Egg Wash
- 1 medium egg
- 2 tablespoons of whole milk
Cinnamon Glaze
- 2 cups of confectioners sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- 2-4 teaspoons of whole milk
Instructions
Make the cinnamon roll dough...
- Add the whole milk and 2 medium eggs into the bowl of a stand mixer
- Pour all of the bread flour over the milk and eggs
- Add the yeast to one side of the bowl and the salt and sugar on the other side
- Add all of the cubed room temperature butter over the other ingredients and attach the dough hook
- Mix on low speed until all of the ingredients are combined
- Increase the speed to medium and mix until the dough is smooth, all of the butter is fully incorporated and the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl
- Form the dough into a smooth round ball and place it into a lightly floured bowl
- Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and rest the dough in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size
- Transfer the dough onto a floured surface and roll it out into a large rectangle that is less than 1/4” thick throughout
Make the cinnamon roll filling...
- Make the filling by creaming the butter until smooth, add the brown sugar and cinnamon and cream until combined
- Spread the filling over the entire surface of the dough
Braid the rolls...
- Fold the top third of the rectangle towards the middle (photos above) and then fold the bottom third over that creating a three layered rectangle
- Cut the entire rectangle of trim-folded dough into strips approximately 1 1/2 inches wide
- Working with one strip at a time, cut two slices down the center of each portion creating three strands with a 1/2” uncut portion towards the top (photos above)
- Braid the three strands and roll the strip into a round ball
- Place the braided rolls into a lightly greased muffin tin
- Once all of the rolls have been braided, cover the muffin tin with a clean kitchen towel and let them rest in a warm place for 45-60 minutes
- Preheat your oven to 395 degrees and place a rack in the center
- Once the rolls have rested, make an egg wash by combining 1 egg with 2 tablespoons of whole milk and brush the top of each roll with the egg wash
- Bake in a 395 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown
- Transfer the cinnamon rolls onto a cooling rack lined with parchment paper as soon as they are done baking
Make the glaze...
- Make the glaze by combining 2 cups of confectioners sugar with 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and add enough whole milk to create a smooth drizzle (2-4 teaspoons)
- Drizzle the cinnamon glaze over each braided cinnamon roll
- Enjoy warm!
