Cinnamon Raisin Rolls – Soft & Fluffy Homemade Treat

I love these cinnamon raisin rolls. The aroma of cinnamon that fills the kitchen as these rolls bake is so inviting and pleasant. And the soft and fluffy, sweet buns that come out of the oven afterward are truly something to look forward to every time I make these cinnamon raisin rolls.

This recipe is adapted from my easy yeast rolls recipe. The yeast rolls are my family favorite and I bake them so very often. I love how the buns turn out so soft and fluffy every single time and it is just perfect for these fluffy cinnamon rolls. These rolls are filled with butter, cinnamon sugar (brown sugar mixed with cinnamon powder), and raisins and topped with a simple butter and honey glaze.

If you have tried your hand at baking breads before, this will be an easy recipe for you. If you have not, just follow the steps closely and you will have a dish of soft and delicious cinnamon raisin rolls in no time at all.

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How to Make Cinnamon Raisin Rolls

Ingredients

Cinnamon Rolls Dough

• All-purpose flour + salt
• Instant yeast
• Milk (room temperature)
• Sugar
• Butter

Cinnamon Rolls filling

• Butter
• Brown Sugar
• Cinnamon powder
• Raisins

Cinnamon Rolls Glaze

• Butter
• Honey

Mixing the dough

Start by preparing the dough for the cinnamon rolls.

1. In a large mixing bowl, add the milk and yeast. Mix with a fork until the yeast is dissolved.
2. Add in the egg and sugar, followed by flour and salt.
3. Mix on medium speed (with a dough hook attachment) until the dough comes together. This should take approximately 2 minutes.
4. Next, add the butter (should be soft) and continue kneading in your mixer for another 8 minutes. Depending on how your machine works, adjust the speed on your machine between low to medium. Too high a speed will result in the dough balling up on the side of your bowl and if this happens, you will see that the machine hook is not actually kneading the dough.
5. At the end of the 8 minutes, the dough should be smooth and no longer sticky.
6. Turn it onto a work surface. Dust it slightly if you find it sticky (though I often find that the dusting is not necessary). Knead by hand for about 30 seconds to form a smooth ball. To do this, place your fingers under the dough and fold it to the center. As you do this, push the lifted dough in with your palm. Repeat the process until you have folded all sides of the dough.

Proofing the dough

1. Place the dough ball in a large bowl.
2. Cover and let it proof until it doubles in size. This should take any time between 45 minutes up to 2 hours (depending on the temperature of your kitchen).
3. Turn the proofed dough onto your workspace. Press to remove air bubbles. Dust it lightly with flour if necessary.
4. Roll the dough into a rectangle measuring 25 cm by 30 cm.

Assembling the cinnamon raisin rolls

1. Spread butter all over the rolled dough.
2. For the cinnamon sugar, add brown sugar and cinnamon powder in a small bowl and mix until the cinnamon is well combined.
3. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar all over generously. You can do this by hand or with a spoon.
4. Next, sprinkle the raisins.
5. Once the filling is done, start rolling the dough from one of the longer edges.
6. Roll it into a tight log and seal the ends by pinching them.

Cutting the cinnamon raisin rolls

1. Cut the log into 9 equal sections. You can either use a ruler to measure and cut the equal sections. Or you can start by cutting the log into 3 large sections.
2. And then divide each of the 3 sections into 3 smaller sections to form 9 equal sections.
3. Arrange the rolls into a well-greased, 7 inches square tin or baking dish.
4. Cover the tin with a kitchen towel and let the cinnamon rolls proof until double in size.
5. Bake the rolls in a preheated oven at 175 degrees Celsius for 25 minutes.
6. As soon as the cinnamon raisin rolls are baked, remove them from the oven and brush some butter over them, followed by honey.

Let the rolls cool slightly before turning them out onto a wire rack to cool further.

Tsese rolls are best served on the day they are made. Leftovers can be left at room temperature and are best reheated before consuming.

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Notes

Flour

• This recipe uses all purpose flour. It will work just as fine with bread flour.

Yeast

• The yeast I have used to make these cinnamon raisin rolls is instant yeast. Instant yeast does not require activation (ie. the process of mixing the yeast with liquid and setting it aside to turn frothy before adding in other ingredients). In fact, you can dump in all your ingredients (except butter) all at once and mix the dough before adding the butter. I prefer to do it in stages though, but the choice is yours.

Kneading the dough

• I use a mixer with a dough hook attachment to knead the dough for these cinnamon raisin rolls. It is a lot easier and saves time on kneading too. The kneading time indicated in this recipe is for machine kneading. If you choose to knead by hand, the kneading time would need to be increased to such a time until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Proofing

• To help with the proofing, place your dough in a warm spot in your kitchen. This can be anywhere near the stove or next to a warm dish). The other way is to place it in your oven. Don’t switch the oven on, just leave the door closed, and that should help with the proofing.

Refrigeration and freezing

• The dough for these cinnamon raisin rolls can be made ahead of time and refrigerated (if kept overnight) or frozen (if kept for more than 24 hours). If you wish to keep it overnight, simply place it in a large bowl, cover it with cling wrap and place it in the fridge. It will continue to proof albeit at a much slower rate. The next day, check to see if it has doubled in size. If yes, you can roll and fill it. Otherwise, let the dough rise at room temperature before rolling and filling it.
• If you wish to keep the dough for more than 24 hours, as soon as you finish kneading it (before the first proofing), wrap it tightly in a cling wrap and freeze it. To use, thaw it in the refrigerator section ( I normally thaw overnight). Remove the dough, unwrap it and let it proof until double in size before rolling and filling it.
• The rolls can also be frozen after filling and arranging in the baking tray. Simply wrap the tray tightly with cling wrap (before proofing) and freeze. Let the rolls thaw and proof until at least double in size before baking.

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Cinnamon Raisin Rolls Recipe

Here is the full printable version of my cinnamon raisin rolls recipe. And while you are at it, if you have not read my recipe notes above, I would encourage you to do so for tips on baking the best cinnamon raisin rolls.

And that’s my easy cinnamon raisin rolls recipe for you.

Here are my other posts you might want to check out:

• Old Fashioned Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
• Coffee Rolls with Coffee Cream Cheese Glaze
• Coconut Rolls with Coconut Glaze
• Easy Yeast Rolls
• Strawberry Cinnamon Rolls

Happy Baking 🙂