Jumbo Cinnamon Rolls
If you love cinnamon rolls, you’ll love creating this one giant sweet roll. It’s so big, you’ll have to bake it in a pie tin! I’ll show you exactly how to adjust this recipe to achieve jumbo status! Make the dough the night before, roll it out and bake first thing in the morning – making your morning much easier and delicious! Watch my short video to learn how easy it is to roll up a giant cinnamon roll. Serve it as one big dessert to slice up and share with the family, or make it for one special person that you’re celebrating! These homemade jumbo cinnamon rolls are such a fun way to enjoy a classic treat!
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You won’t need to search for any more cinnamon roll recipes! For this giant cinnamon roll, we’re using my favorite recipe that I’ve used for more than 20 years! I love this dough recipe because it’s so easy to mix and handle. The dough, also known as my Master Roll Dough, can be used for Crescent Dinner Rolls, regular sized homemade Cinnamon Rolls and lots of other kinds of sweet rolls! This is the very recipe I used to make thousands and THOUSANDS of sweet rolls for my bakery customers!
Since I’ve shared this recipe, I have had so many people tell me it’s the best cinnamon roll recipe they’ve ever made!
“Made these last week and they are SO DANG GOOD!!! Thank you for the recipe!”
Adell
“Oh my goodness, I made your cinnamon rolls today. My life is forever changed! These are so amazing!”
Linda
Is bread making intimidating?
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How to bake with yeast
If you want more information about how to bake with yeast, check out my article about Active Dry Yeast vs. Instant Yeast. I also have a Guide to making Sourdough Starter, which is how to make a natural yeast.
How is a jumbo cinnamon roll different than a regular cinnamon roll?
Making a cinnamon roll that weighs well over one pound, is a bit different than making my regular cinnamon rolls. To achieve a perfectly golden, baked-all-the-way-through, jumbo cinnamon roll, there are two things you’ll need to adjust when rolling up and baking in a pie pan:
- Using a different rolling up technique than my regular cinnamon rolls, will allow you to achieve that jumbo status! Read on for my tried and true technique!
- Lowering the oven temperature and extending the bake time, allows this giant sweet roll to bake perfectly through to the center without getting too browned on top!
Jumbo cinnamon rolls are so much fun to serve for a unique and special treat! You can serve it as a dessert to share for a family dinner, or make someone their own jumbo cinnamon roll for a special celebration like a birthday or Father’s Day treat. It’s such a fun way to eat a classic treat we all love!
Ingredient List
There are some unique ingredients in this recipe that makes it so delicious! Each serves an important role in how this dough and these cinnamon rolls will turn out.
- Bread flour: Most bread recipes will use bread flour. It has a higher protein content (11-13%) than an all-purpose flour. Higher protein flours also mean a higher gluten flour – yielding a bread with a strong crumb structure.
- Powdered milk: In baked goods it provides a creamier flavor and helps yield a more golden brown color when baked. Look for powdered milk that is fine in texture. If you are looking for a non dairy option, try using a milk powder substitute like coconut, soy or rice powder.
- Instant Yeast: It can be added directly to your recipe without having to proof first. It’s a strong, fast acting yeast that will allow these sweet rolls to rise super fluffy. I like to use BellaRise instant yeast or SAF instant yeast
- Eggs: Eggs in bread help to create a fluffy, big rise. They are perfect for these rolls, since it’s meant to be soft and fluffy.
- Potato Flakes: Potato flakes (also known as boxed, instant mashed potatoes) in bread make the crumb more moist and tender. They also extend the shelf life of homemade bread.
- Softened Butter: adds a creamy texture and rich flavor. Make sure your butter is softened so that it incorporates easily into the dough. Use unsalted butter to control the amount of salt going into the recipe.
- Butter Flavor Shortening: Vegetable shortening has a high melt point, allowing it to create more steam in the dough when baked. This produces a lighter, airy texture bread. The butter flavor gives it a more rich, butter flavor. If you can’t find the Butter Flavor Shortening, use plain shortening – it will still turn out amazing!
- Cinnamon and brown sugar mixture: mixing these together before sprinkling on top of the dough helps give a more even distribution for the filling.
- Cream Cheese Frosting compliments the slight spice from the cinnamon perfectly!
Mixing cinnamon roll dough
I love baking with this dough! It’s such a pillowy, soft dough that’s so easy to work with! I use it in several other recipes like Crescent Dinner Rolls, Orange Rolls and S’mores Sweet Rolls! You’ll see it is so easy to mix up and use.
You will need to use some type of electric mixer to make this dough. My favorite mixer to use for bread doughs is by far my Bosch Universal Plus mixer! It is widely known as one of the best home kitchen mixers for mixing bread dough with ease. It has a high mixing capacity and high performing motor – making it an excellent option for mixing heavier doughs like bread. It also allows you to mix larger quantities. *I will usually double this recipe if using my Bosch mixer.
If you don’t have a Bosch mixer, the recipe I’m providing you with will fit nicely in a Kitchen Aid type stand mixer. Whichever mixer you use, be sure to use your dough hook attachment.
- Measure out all of your ingredients ahead of time. I always do this when making a recipe – it helps to prevent me from making any mistakes in measurements or leaving out ingredients. It also makes the mixing process go much smoother. I always suggest weighing out your ingredients with a food scale – you will get much more accurate results!
- In a large bowl, combine the warm water, powdered milk, potato flakes, sugar, salt, yeast. Whisk them together – this helps to break up the powdered milk and potato flakes and gets all of those ingredients incorporated before adding the heavier ingredients. Pour the yeast mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Add the eggs, room temperature butter and shortening. Add 3 cups of the flour (about half) and mix on low, just until all of the ingredients are combined and smooth.
- While the mixer is on low, gradually add two cups of the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. This is where getting to know your dough comes into play. You’re looking for the dough to clean the sides of the bowl as it’s mixing. It should be concentrated around your dough hook. Once you get it to this point, stop the mixer and lightly tap on the dough with your finger. If it feels soft, but not wet and sticky & is cleaning the sides of the bowl, it’s ready to knead. Return to mixing it on low and allow your mixer to knead it for 5 minutes.
- Place the dough in a greased, large mixing bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, about 60-90 minutes. Make sure you let your dough rise in a warm place, this helps the yeast stay healthy and active, rising your dough.
My number one tip for mixing this cinnamon roll dough
Avoid the urge to add more flour. This dough is very soft and easy to work with – it’s very forgiving! You may see a little bit of dough sticking to the sides of the bowl when it’s kneading – don’t panic! Go by how it feels. You want to use just enough flour so that it doesn’t feel wet or excessively sticky. Too much flour in your dough will give you dry, dense rolls. You can always add a bit more flour after it has kneaded if it’s too sticky to work with.
How to roll out a jumbo cinnamon roll
To make an extra giant cinnamon roll, we’re going to use a specific kind of technique that works perfectly! You will be using a pizza cutter to divide the rolled out dough into strips. Rolling each strip up one at time, you’ll keep adding these strips to the one roll, forming one giant homemade cinnamon roll! It’s almost like a snowball, rolling down a snowy mountainside, getting bigger and bigger as it picks up more snow!
This technique can also be used with regular sized cinnamon rolls – however, I do prefer my tried and true method for rolling up regular sized cinnamon rolls you can find HERE.
To roll up a giant cinnamon roll:
- After the dough has risen its first rise, turn it out onto a floured work surface.
- Divide the dough into three equal sized pieces, about 19 ounces each. This recipe will make 3 jumbo cinnamon rolls. If you’re only making one jumbo cinnamon roll, you can use the rest of your dough to make regular sized cinnamon rolls or crescent dinner rolls.
- Set aside two of the dough balls and roll out one of the three pieces of dough into a large rectangle, about 8×12 inches in size and 1/4 inch in thickness. Be sure to pull the corners out so that they are nice and sharp and all sides of the rectangle are straight. This helps to line up the dough as you roll it up.
- Brush the melted butter onto the surface of the dough. Sprinkle on a good amount of the prepared cinnamon sugar mixture. Spread it out all the way to the edges of the dough to make sure you get lots of cinnamon incorporated into your cinnamon roll.
- Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough lengthwise into four equal strips.
- Start at the short end of the first strip and roll up. Line up the end of the roll with the end of the second strip and continue to roll up, doubling the size of the cinnamon roll. Continue with the third and fourth strips, until you have rolled up all four strips into one jumbo cinnamon roll!
- Place on a greased, pie pan. Press down the center of the cinnamon roll if it’s poking out too much. You could also use a cake pan to bake this in. Any round pan about 8-9 inches will work. Cover the roll loosely with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place for its second rise, for about 20 minutes while you preheat your oven.
Baking
You might notice that the baking temperature and time is different than my regular Homemade Cinnamon Rolls. Since we’re baking up such a large cinnamon roll, taking the temperature down from 350°F to 325°F and increasing the baking time, will allow the cinnamon roll to bake all the way through without browning too much on the outside. If you like doughier centers (I know some of you are out there!), you can decrease the bake time in this recipe by about 5 minutes.
Once the jumbo cinnamon roll comes out of the oven, allow it cool for at least 10 minutes. If you like a runnier cream cheese icing that seeps into every crack, frost the cinnamon roll while it’s still a bit warm. Serving this dessert warm is also a must! Is there any other way to enjoy a cinnamon roll than eating it freshly baked and warm with melty cream cheese frosting?! I think not! Gooey giant cinnamon rolls are the ultimate!
Sometimes, I do like a more of a creamy, whipped frosting – so I’ll wait until the cinnamon roll completely cools and then frost it. This keeps it from melting into the roll and stays nice and creamy on top of the cinnamon roll.
Either way you enjoy it, it’s delicious!
How to make your cinnamon rolls ahead of time
My regular cinnamon rolls can proof in the refrigerator overnight and bake first thing in the morning, allowing you to have freshly baked cinnamon rolls in the morning without having to start from scratch. That doesn’t quite work for this jumbo cinnamon roll. If you let it sit too long (even in the refrigerator), it can get real big, really quickly.
The best way to make the jumbo cinnamon rolls ahead of time, is to mix the dough the night before, and place in a large air tight container. Then, in the morning, roll out the dough and shape as directed in the recipe. Let the jumbo cinnamon roll sit while you preheat the oven for about 20 minutes. Bake as directed in the recipe.
- Making the dough ahead of time is a great option for having freshly baked cinnamon rolls in the morning without having to start from scratch!
To serve this jumbo cinnamon roll, slice it up just like you would a pie. Served this way, it makes such a fun family dessert. If you’re making it for one special person, just hand them a fork and let them go to town! It’s so much fun handing someone this jumbo cinnamon roll with a fork and letting them have their own special dessert!
This giant cinnamon roll recipe is one your family will love enjoying!
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Comment & Share
Please leave a comment below and let me know how this recipe worked out for you! This helps me so much to hear your feedback, and it also helps others learn from your experiences with the recipe too!
Be sure to post your results to Instagram and tag me @thatbreadlady. I love seeing and sharing your beautiful creations!
Jumbo Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Dough Ingredients:
- 2 cups warm water (about 115°F)
- ¼ cup nonfat powdered milk
- ½ cup boxed potato flakes
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon instant yeast*
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- ¼ cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ½ cup butter flavored shortening
- 2 large eggs
- 5-6 cups bread flour
Filling Ingredients:
- ¼ cup salted butter melted
- ¾ cups dark brown sugar
- 4 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
Prepare the dough.
- In a large bowl, combine warm water, powdered milk, potato flakes, sugar, yeast and salt. Mix well with a wire whisk. Pour into the mixer bowl and secure the dough hook attachment to your mixer.
- Add the butter, butter flavored shortening and eggs. Add 3 cups of the bread flour. Mix for about 30 seconds until ingredients are incorporated. Stop the mixer and scrape down sides of bowl with a spatula.
- Turn mixer on low and add 2 more cups of the bread flour, 1/2 cup at a time. After adding the 2 cups of flour, let dough continue to mix for about 1 minute. Stop and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. If dough is not mostly cleaning sides of the bowl, add more flour 1/4 cup at a time until it cleans the sides of the bowl. Stop the mixer and check the dough by gently pressing your finger into it. If the dough does not stick to your finger, it should be ready to knead. *When in doubt, it’s always best to go lighter on the flour. You can always add more flour, but you can’t take flour away. Too much flour in your dough will give you dry, dense rolls.
- Knead on low speed for 5 minutes.
- Remove dough from mixer and place in a greased bowl. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise until doubled in size, about 60-90 minutes.
Prepare the filling.
- Melt ¼ cup salted butter in microwave safe dish and set aside.
- In separate bowl combine the brown sugar and cinnamon.
It’s time to roll.
- 1. After the dough has risen its first rise, turn it out onto a floured work surface.
- 2. Divide the dough into three equal sized pieces, about 19 ounces each. This recipe will make 3 jumbo cinnamon rolls. If you’re only making one jumbo cinnamon roll, you can use the rest of your dough to make regular sized cinnamon rolls or crescent dinner rolls.
- 3. Set aside two of the dough balls and roll out one of the three pieces of dough into a large rectangle, about 8×14 inches in size and 1/4 inch in thickness. Be sure to pull the corners out so that they are nice and sharp, and all sides of the rectangle are straight. This helps to line up the dough as you roll it up.
- 4. Brush the melted butter onto the surface of the dough. Sprinkle on a good amount of the prepared cinnamon sugar mixture. Spread it out all the way to the edges of the dough to make sure you get lots of cinnamon incorporated into your cinnamon roll.
- 5. Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough lengthwise into four equal strips.
- 6. Start at the short end of the first strip and roll up. Line up the end of the roll with the end of the second strip and continue to roll up, doubling the size of the cinnamon roll. Continue with the third and fourth strips, until you have rolled up all four strips into one jumbo cinnamon roll!
- 7. Place on a greased, 8 or 9-inch pie or cake pan. Press down the center of the cinnamon roll if it’s poking out too much. Cover the roll loosely with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place for its second rise, for about 20 minutes while you preheat your oven.
Bake.
- Bake in a preheated 325°F oven for 28-34 minutes or until edges are golden brown and interior seems to be done. Allow to cool 10-20 minutes before frosting. For runnier frosting, frost while warmer.
- Frost with my Cream Cheese Frosting.
Notes
- Find my cream cheese frosting recipe at: https://thatbreadlady.com/cream-cheese-frosting/
- *You can replace the instant yeast with active dry yeast – be sure to proof it first. Proof it by adding the active dry yeast to the water with 1 Tablespoon of the sugar. Let it sit for up to 10 minutes to foam up. If it doesn’t foam, replace yeast with a fresh package.
- To make ahead of time, mix up the roll dough and place in a large, airtight container in the refrigerator overnight. (no longer than 24 hours) The next morning, remove dough and roll up jumbo cinnamon roll as directed in recipe. Let it rise for 20 minutes while oven preheats. I would not suggest rolling it up and placing in the fridge overnight – it may proof too much, too quickly.
- This dough is the same base dough for my Crescent Dinner Rolls. It can also be used for various sweet rolls by switching up the filling and the frosting. It’s called my “Master Roll Dough” on my blog.
[…] Jumbo Cinnamon Rolls […]
Can you freeze it before the last rise??? Would that work?? And then let it thaw in the fridge and bake?
Yes, you definitely can freeze it that way. I would make sure you give yourself about one hour in the morning before baking, to let it sit out at room temperature in case it doesn’t completely rise in the refrigerator over night.
[…] Jumbo Cinnamon Rolls […]
Can you omit the potato flakes?
You can but they won’t be as delicious. The potato flakes add extra fluffiness and help extend the shelf life.
4 Tablespoons Cinnamon?
Yes Megan. I love a really cinnamon-y spiced cinnamon roll! You can definitely reduce the amount of cinnamon if this is too much for your preference! Hope you enjoy!
Can you substitute more butter for the shortening?
Yes, you can. Although, the shortening gives the rolls a fluffier texture and dough that is easier to work with. Enjoy!
Yes you can. However the bread won’t be as fluffy and the dough will feel a bit stickier.
Thank you. I made the rolls last night and used 1 cube of butter – total. They turned out great! Thanks for the recipe.