For the last few years, I have been on a noble quest to find or create the best cinnamon roll recipe. I’ve been testing and tweaking my methods to find the softest bread, but I recently realized I’ve been starting in the wrong place: The bread isn’t the problem, it’s the filling. Conventional cinnamon roll recipes include a filling that will leak out before the roll is done baking. To make a better roll, you need to make better, gooier cinnamon filling that won't leak out of the bun. To do that, you just need to add starch.
Butter doesn’t cut it
My gold standard cinnamon roll is a Cinnabon, and I don’t care who knows it. They’re soft and so sweet they offer a moderate risk of blowing out my blood sugar levels. But they're worth it. While I’m not trying to make a copycat bun at home, I am trying to duplicate the Cinnabon's inner goo, which is thick and commands space in the swirl. This can’t be achieved with the standard at-home recipe of butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon, and yet that's the most common suggestion.
Cinnamon roll filling made of these three ingredients looks good at first, but once it hits the oven’s heat, it all runs out, leaving behind a cinnamon stain. Adjust the ratio to add more butter, and what happens? It all melts out again, but now the rolls are frying in butter and the sugar is burning at the bottom. This combo will never succeed, because butter will always melt out before the bread bakes. Here's where the starch comes in.
Starch will stabilize your filling
For goo that stays, we need a substance that will not melt away with high temperatures, and which can hold the crucial measurements of cinnamon and sugar suspended within. The answer is starch. Its gelatinization power is employed thicken and bind ingredients in cooking and baking. The only tough part: most starches thicken once heat is applied, and since cinnamon rolls stand on-end, we can’t risk the filling running out while the dough proofs. Here's where you can employ instant clear jel.
Instant clear jel is a modified corn starch commonly used in pie fillings and canning preserves. While you might not be familiar with it, you’ve probably eaten it before. It’s just like other cooking starches—flavorless and mostly clear—but it thickens as soon as it comes in contact with moisture, no heat required. (This shouldn't be confused with “clear jel cook type” which does require cooking, hence the name.) This clever starch allows you to decide exactly how thick or thin you want your cinnamon filling to be before it ever meets the roll. I bought a bag of instant clear jel from Amazon, but you can also find it from other websites, stores that support an interest in canning or preserving, and possibly even at your local grocery store.
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How to make the gooiest cinnamon roll filling
Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and instant clear jel in a small bowl. Use a rubber spatula or whisk to combine the ingredients and make sure there aren’t any pockets of instant clear jel hiding in the bowl—like regular corn starch, instant clear jel is a fine powder, and if it’s not dispersed with other granulated or powdered ingredients, it can clump when activated. Add a couple tablespoons of water and use the rubber spatula to stir. The mixture should be thick but spreadable. If it's too thick, adjust the consistency by adding a few drops of water at a time.
You’ll notice that butter is nowhere to be found in this filling. I find that the filling has a robust flavor as-is, and the type of bread I use for a cinnamon roll is enriched with butter already, so I don’t miss it. However, if a butterless filling does not compute for you, you can stir a couple tablespoons of melted butter into your cinnamon mixture after adding the water.
You can use this cinnamon roll filling in any roll recipe you like. If you already swear by your brioche roll, stick with it and use this filling to take it to the next level. I’m still working on my own ultimate cinnamon roll recipe, but this one is pretty tasty in the meantime. The filling is phenomenal, and leftovers reheat well in the microwave; just give them a zap for five to 10 seconds.
Gooey Cinnamon Roll Recipe
Ingredients
For the roll
¾ cup milk, luke warm
¼ cup sugar
2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast
3 eggs
4 cups flour
1 ½ teaspoons salt
6 tablespoons butter, room temperature
For the filling
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons instant clear jel
1 ½ tablespoons ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons water
For the icing
4 tablespoons butter, very soft
1 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons milk or water
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
1. In a mixing bowl, combine the milk, sugar, and yeast. Let it sit for a minute, then stir it together briefly. Add the eggs, flour, and salt. Use a dough hook attachment and mix the dough on speed 2 for three minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a flexible bowl scraper. Mix again for another three minutes.
2. Set the mixer to speed 3 and begin adding the butter in tablespoons chunks, allowing the butter to fully blend in before adding the next nub. Scrape down the bowl and mix it again on speed 3 for 12 minutes. The dough should be smooth and shiny. It should be soft but not very sticky. If the dough is “pooled” at the bottom of the mixing bowl, add a tablespoon of flour and mix it until it’s absorbed. The dough should mostly release from the bowl, but if a little is sticking to the bowl that’s okay.
3. Remove the dough and shape it into a ball on a lightly floured countertop. Butter a deep bowl and add the ball of dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow it to proof until doubled in size. This can take about 2 hours.
4. Meanwhile, make the filling. Add the brown sugar, instant clear jel, salt, and cinnamon to a small bowl. Stir it with a rubber spatula to combine the ingredients thoroughly. Add the water and stir. The filling should be thick but spreadable. Add water a few drops at a time if it's too thick.
5. Butter a 13 by nine-inch baking dish. Dump the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and fold the dough in half to punch it down. Stretch the dough out into a rectangle about a third of an inch thick. It’ll be about 24 by 12-inches. Spread the filling across the entire surface, leaving a quarter-inch border at the long end furthest away from you. Starting with the long end closest to you, roll it up.
6. Use a piece of floss to cut the rolls into even pieces, you’ll get 12 to 14 rolls. Stand them, swirl-up, in the buttered baking dish and let them proof for another hour or until they’re noticeably pudgier.
7. Preheat the oven to 350°F about 15 minutes before the rolls are ready to bake. Bake them for 25 to 30 minutes. Cool for at least 20 minutes.
8. With a whisk, mix the soft butter, salt, and powdered sugar together. It will be dry and chunky. Add the vanilla extract and the milk or water. Whisk until smooth. Spread the icing on the barely warm cinnamon buns and enjoy.