I love cinnamon rolls so much that I once baked nine different recipes in a day to find my all-time favorite. I conducted a blind tasting with my friends and family, and together we found a recipe that is so perfect that I’ve hardly strayed from it over the past five years. The rolls have a pillowy, soft doughy texture and a balanced ratio of dough-to-filling-to-icing.
During the cinnamon roll bake-off, there was a recipe (it took second place) that included a surprising ingredient, and as it turns out, it can take any cinnamon roll recipe—even store-bought and frozen rolls—from great to amazing. I'm always open to tweaks that enhance even my favorite recipes, so I've been using this easy one-ingredient upgrade whenever I make cinnamon rolls: heavy cream.
The idea behind adding heavy cream to cinnamon rolls comes from Tastes of Lizzy T's. Julie Clark, the blogger behind the website, notes that after years of research, she discovered that the key to getting perfectly gooey rolls is to “pour heavy cream over the cinnamon buns before baking. THIS is the secret ingredient and what makes the rolls rich and gooey.”
Cinnamon rolls rely on sugar and fat in the dough to keep it plush. Adding a little more fat in the form of heavy cream serves two purposes:
The heavy cream is a hydrating liquid that will soak into the rolls as they bake and create steam, making them just a little softer and preventing them from drying out.
The heavy cream absorbs the cinnamon, sugar, and butter that leaks from the insides of the rolls as they bake to create a glorious cinnamon sugar syrup for the bottom of your rolls.
How To Use the Heavy Cream To Upgrade Cinnamon Rolls
Start by preparing the cinnamon rolls, either from scratch or from a tube. Once they are assembled in a pan, risen, and ready to bake, heat half a cup of heavy cream (about 3/4 tablespoon per roll) in the microwave or on the stove just until warm to the touch but not hot.
Because yeast is sensitive to temperature and the rolls have likely been rising in a warm or at least room temperature atmosphere, it’s important that the heavy cream is not cold so it doesn’t inhibit the rolls from continuing to rise as they bake. Never ever add heavy cream that is cold straight from the fridge.
Pour the warmed heavy cream evenly over the top of the rolls. Bake following the recipe or instructions on the packaging, and enjoy! You'll get the most pillowy and delicious cinnamon rolls.
Can You Use Milk Instead?
Yes, but you won't get the same results. Heavy cream or whipping cream are ideal for this trick. In a pinch, you can use milk, but since milk is lower in fat the rolls won't be as rich. Whole milk or any higher-fat milk is the best—I’d avoid using skim milk.
A Bonus Tip for the Gooiest Cinnamon Rolls
If you’re willing to put in just a little more effort for the gooiest cinnamon rolls, take a cue from the restaurant chain KYU. After their cinnamon rolls are baked, they pipe additional filling made with creamed butter and cinnamon sugar into the swirls for a cinnamon roll that explodes with filling goodness.
Watch me talk about my favorite cinnamon rolls HERE.
Savory cinnamon rolls that use bacon or similar ingredients can benefit from Ceylon cinnamon. Remember that there are no hard-and-fast rules for what cinnamon to use in your rolls. But, if you need a recommendation, you can't go wrong with Saigon cinnamon.
ONLY add as much flour as needed to handle the dough. It's better for the dough to be sticky at the start than to add too much flour and wind up with dense rolls, instead of light and fluffy ones.
Bread flour has more protein than all-purpose flour, making it a better option for pastries. Most people recommend baking cinnamon rolls with bread flour, as this creates a fluffier and softer cinnamon roll. Though all-purpose flour will also work to create tasty cinnamon rolls.
Overbaked cinnamon rolls are tough and chewy instead of light and pillowy. Since it can be a bit tricky to know when rolls are fully baked, use a digital thermometer. Bake cinnamon rolls until golden brown and the internal temperature reaches between 190°and 200°F.
Do you need to refrigerate cinnamon rolls? Unfrosted cinnamon rolls do not need to be refrigerated and will keep best at room temperature. Iced cinnamon rolls, and especially rolls with cream cheese frosting, should be stored in the fridge.
The rolls are still prone to over-proofing if left in the fridge too long; and the cinnamon-sugar filling can melt and make the bottoms of the rolls syrupy and damp if left unbaked for too long. Also note that some cinnamon roll recipes are made with chemical leaveners versus yeast.
Imagine a regular cinnamon roll but add blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries on top. This triple berry cinnamon roll adds a punch of fruit flavor to the mix. These fruits all taste good on their own, taste good with sugar frosting, and taste good on top of a cinnamon roll.
This special Indonesian cinnamon, called Makara, is trademarked by Cinnabon. And because of that trademark, you won't find this product in your local grocery store spice aisle.
The viral TikTok cinnamon rolls don't stop with adding cream the pan — most versions also include the addition of drizzle a butter, brown sugar and cinnamon mixture over top the buns before baking. Just melt 4 tablespoons butter and stir in 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon.
Line your baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange the cinnamon rolls, making sure to leave about an inch of space in between. Cover the rolls tightly with plastic wrap and let them rise for 60 to 90 minutes in a warm and draft-free environment.
According to our very own “Prince of Pastry” Chef Eddy Van Damme, heavy cream has 36 to 40 percent milk fat and will whip up firmer with stiff peaks that hold their shape longer than whipping cream peaks do. Heavy cream is a good choice when decorating pies or cakes, or for thickening sauces and ganache.
Just before baking your cinnamon rolls, pour a bit of heavy cream over them in the pan (use ¼ cup to ½ cup for every 6 cinnamon rolls). The cream absorbs into the rolls as they bake, making them ultra moist and gooey (in a good way!).
So, if you're cooking something forgiving like soup or mashed potatoes, heavy cream and half-and-half are virtually interchangeable in equal amounts, yes—both will give you that creamy texture we all love and crave. Just be mindful that heavy cream contains more fat, so it will taste much richer.
Introduction: My name is Jonah Leffler, I am a determined, faithful, outstanding, inexpensive, cheerful, determined, smiling person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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