This dough recipe that turned out really good! These actually tasted like real cinnamon rolls. Of course, Cinnabon still taste better, but mine were still super yummy and honestly, I kind of preferred that they weren’t as sweet. The flavor was definitely there.
At first, my dough didn’t look smooth, and I started to worry that I messed something up. But after massaging it more and letting it sit for a bit, it softened up and smoothed out nicely. I learned that once you start kneading it, the dough just needs time to relax and come together.
The recipe made about 16-18 rolls depending how thick you cut them. I ended up tossing the end pieces because they were uneven. I also think I cut the rolls a bit too thin, but they still puffed up beautifully and way more than I expected! After baking, they kind of looked like little nipples, but the swirl pattern still held perfectly.
In the first picture, I made two different frostings. The one on the right was the standard version with cream cheese, milk, and sugar. The recipe called for butter, but I skipped it since there was already plenty of butter in the rolls themselves. The other frosting was my protein frosting, the same one I used for the Oreo brownies and Swiss rolls: made from yogurt, sugar, and cream cheese. It’s super good but has a slightly tangy flavor from the yogurt.
I honestly didn’t think these would turn out this good! My friends really enjoyed them, and I did too. I’d give this recipe 5 out of 5 cactuses. The hardest part for me was definitely the dough. I’m still not completely confident making dough from scratch because it’s so easy to mess up if you miss a step. But rolling it up, cutting it, and seeing the rolls puff up in the oven was so satisfying.