Classic Cinnamon Rolls (Williams-Sonoma)

Indeed these cinnamon rolls are truly classic...

The classic cinnamon rolls look - Irresistibly beautiful, isn't it?

Classic? Not entirely... Kiddish? A little... Why? Baking and eating these rolls reminds me in my late teens loving cinnamoroll and the lovely smell of freshly baked cinnamon rolls at the basement of Wisma Atria circa 1992, right in front of the exit of Orchard MRT train station. Like how Ju, The Little Teochew describes in her post, I was a student too at that time and love hanging out at Orchard after school. I didn't have a lot of extra pocket money to buy these cinnamon rolls but enjoying the free smell of cinnamon at Wisma Atria does make me feel good...

My schooling days favourite: Cinnamoroll and Cinnamon Rolls!

For this reason, I always want to bake cinnamon rolls and thought of proposing Flour's Famous Sticky Buns at first for this bake-along with Joyce from Kitchen Flavours and Lena from Frozen wings. Then, I realised that Flour's Famous Sticky Buns is using about 500g of butter and changed my chosen recipe to this Williams-Sonoma one which requires only 100g of butter in total!

Honestly and not bragging, I think I have chosen a great recipe... LOL! These cinnamon rolls are extremely delicious and I have no regret at all baking these. This is what I did....

For a real classic taste, I have decided not to add raisins in my rolls. I made 40% of the recipe into cinnamon rolls and 60% into plain sweet butter rolls.

Shaping the rolls

Making the rolls' sticky bottom (or top, depending on how you want to eat them)

Placing the rolls in baking pans

Watch them growing...

More butter? You will think that this amount is ok comparing to Flour's Famous Sticky Buns.

Enjoy the smell of cinnamon rolls baking... Like the basement of Wisma Atria circa 1992?

Speechless moments - I can't wait to pinch a roll after this shot!

Priceless moment indeed!

Here's the recipe from the book, The Williams-Sonoma, Baking Book
(with my modification and note in blue)

Make 14 Rolls

1/4 cup (60 ml) warm water (110-115°F / 43-46°C)
1/2 cup (125g) plus 1 tsp granulated sugar
(reduced to 60g)
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 1/2-4 cups (545-625g) all-purpose flour
(I have used 100g Italian OO flour and 500g bread flour)
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
2 large egg yolks
1 cup (250 ml) warm whole milk (110-115°F / 43-46°C)
(replaced with 250ml of warm water + 35g milk powder)
1 1/2 cups (330g) firmly packed light brown sugar
(reduced amount according to *)
6 tbsp (90g) unsalted butter, melted
(not all that I used are melted)
1/2 cup (155g) light corn syrup
(reduced amount according to *)
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup (90 g) raisins, soaked in warm water for 15 mins, drained, and squeezed dry
(I didn't add this)

In a bowl, combine the warm water and 1 tsp granulated sugar. Sprinkle with the yeast and let stand for 2 mins, then swirl and let it stand until foamy, about 5 mins.

Spread the butter over the bottom and halfway up the sides of a large bowl. In another large bowl, combine 3 1/2 cups (545 g) of the flour, the 1/2 cup (125 g or 60g) granulated sugar, and the salt. Make a well in the center and pour in the yeast mixture, egg yolks, and warm milk. Slowly mix together until the dough can be formed into a large ball. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface. Knead, sprinkling with the remaining flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking, until smooth and elastic, about 10 mins.

Gather the dough into a ball, place in the buttered bowl, and turn to coat all sides with butter. Cover with a kitchen towel. Set in a warm, draft-free place and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hrs.

Instead of kneading by hand, I've placed all my ingredients into my bread-maker and use "dough" setting to knead and prove the bread dough for 1 1/2 hr. I didn't use any warm or scalded milk and replaced it with milk powder plus water instead.

In a bowl, mix 3/4 cup (185 g) of the brown sugar, 2 tbsp of the melted butter, and the corn syrup to a smooth paste. Scoop half into each of two 9 inch (23cm) round cake pans and spread over the bottoms. In a small bowl, mix together the remaining brown sugar and the cinnamon.

* For 40% of the recipe, I mixed 70g of brown sugar, 1 tbsp of melted butter and 60g corn syrup into a smooth paste and spread it over one 20cm round cake pan. In another bow, I mixed 70g of brown sugar and cinnamon together.

Punch down the dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and roll into a 10-by-18-inch (25 x 45 cm) rectangle. Brush with 2 tbsp of the melted (or softened) butter. Scatter with the raisins, pressing them in lightly (I didn't do this). Sprinkle the dough (only 40% for mine) with the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Starting at one long edge, roll the dough tightly into a cylinder. Cut off and discard the rough ends. Cut the cylinder crosswise into 14 rounds. Place 1 round in the center of each pan. Arrange the remaining rounds around it. Cover and let the dough rounds rise until doubled, 45-60 mins.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) or 160°C fan forced. Brush the rolls with the remaining melted (or softened) butter. Bake until golden brown, about 30 mins (I baked for 30 mins). Place a wire rack over each pan and invert the rolls. Let cool and break apart to serve.

Note: I prefer to use softened butter instead of melted ones because I prefer the butter to melt and absorb into the bread dough while baking.

Happy Baking
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