Cinnamon Roll Casserole (2024)

FAQs

Why are my homemade cinnamon rolls tough? ›

Don't Overmix the Dough

When making cinnamon rolls, mix the dough just until the ingredients are incorporated and the dough is smooth and soft. Overmixed dough leads to tough cinnamon rolls. The dough is ready when it pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl and feels tacky but doesn't stick to your fingers.

Cinnabon's Secret Ingredient

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.

There are a lot of variables that go into the consistency of dough, even down to the weather and humidity. But the most common reason cinnamon rolls don't turn out fluffy is because the dough didn't have enough time to rise.

Bake cinnamon rolls until golden brown and the internal temperature reaches between 190°and 200°F.

Can cinnamon rolls rise for too long? Yes definitely! If you let your cinnamon rolls rise for too long you can over-proof them. This can lead to dense rolls or rolls that collapse after baking.

Adding too much flour will make your rolls very dry. Once you have added the appropriate amount of flour, turn your mixer to a low speed and let the machine do all the kneading for you.

The rolls won't have a light and fluffy texture without enough air bubbles. There are a few more reasons your yeasted dough doesn't seem to be rising, including yeast that's too old or expired, a room temperature that's not sufficiently warm, or the liquid you bloomed the yeast in being too hot.

Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Once proofed, bake the cinnamon rolls for 20-30 minutes. When the cinnamon rolls are lightly golden brown, spot-check their internal temperature with a Thermapen to test their doneness. Their internal temperature should be 190–200°F (88–93°C).

Place the cinnamon rolls into your prepared pan, with little room between each roll and ½ inch from the edge of the pan. Lightly press down on each roll so that the edges of each roll barely touch each other, and improve their round form if needed.

Can I leave cinnamon rolls out overnight before baking? ›

Instead of letting the rolls rise at room temperature and baking them, you'll cut and arrange the rolls in the baking pan, tightly cover them with plastic wrap, immediately transfer them to the fridge and let them rest overnight. (Do not leave them out at room temperature for any longer than needed.)

Reheat In Oven

Add a little dribble of water (1 teaspoon per roll) over each to rehydrate them as they are reheated. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil. This will trap steam and rehydrate the rolls as they warm up. This will make sure they are soft and delicious.

Too much flour, or not the right kind, could be to blame. Dough made only from flour with a high or even average amount of protein (like bread flour or all-purpose flour) can become tough from overmixing. Protein gives bread structure in the form of gluten—the more you mix and move the dough, the more gluten you get.

When cinnamon rolls turn out too hard and dense, the yeasted dough didn't rise adequately, according to Miss Vickie's Pressure Cooker Times. If the dough used in a cinnamon roll recipe hasn't doubled in size before being rolled around the sweet filling, too few air bubbles will form.

If the dough doesn't spring back at all, you've likely over-proofed the dough. When the dough rises too much before it gets baked, it will collapse, rather than rise, in the oven's heat, and the crumb will be uneven and ragged.