World’s Best Cinnamon Rolls

Is bread flour better for cinnamon rolls? Check out our guide as we look at the best flour to use to make the perfect softer, fluffy cinnamon rolls today.

• Is bread flour better for cinnamon rolls?
• Can all-purpose flour be used for cinnamon rolls?
• How do you keep rolls soft when making cinnamon rolls?
• Should you knead cinnamon roll dough?
• Should you use warm or cold ingredients for cinnamon rolls?
• What happens when you use too much flour when making cinnamon rolls?
• Should I overbake or underbake cinnamon rolls? 
• Do I need to use fresh yeast when making cinnamon rolls?

According to statistics, 16.46 million Americans consumed cinnamon rolls as their breakfast of choice in 2020. This number shows the huge amount of people who love these sweet pastries.

Cinnamon rolls have been a popular pastry choice for a very long time as they are generally a crowd pleaser. Most people that you talk to enjoy the occasional cinnamon roll.

But how do you keep cinnamon rolls nice and soft when you make them at home? Is bread flour better for cinnamon rolls? These are common questions that home bakers may have.

There are all kinds of flour to choose from when you are getting ready to bake some homemade cinnamon rolls. Keep reading to find out if bread flour for cinnamon rolls is a good option or not.

If you are making cinnamon rolls at home, you should most definitely grab the bread flour to do this. Bread flour is hands down the best option when making cinnamon rolls.

Any good cinnamon rolls recipe is going to usually call for bread flour instead of other kinds of flour. This is because bread flour is high in protein, usually containing 11% to 13% more protein than other kinds of flour.

Protein is important in flour as it helps with the creation of gluten as you knead the dough. This protein creates stability and lift, allowing the dough to rise and hold its shape.

This protein is important because pastries will become tough and dense if they cannot rise. The dough also must be able to hold that rise and not fall or end up deflating in the oven.

Bread flour is a common choice when baking cinnamon rolls because it helps them to hold their shape. This not only creates beautifully swirled cinnamon rolls, it keeps them soft and pillowy after they have been baked.

This makes all of the difference and works much better than other kinds of flour that don’t have as much protein. In fact, most bakers recommend that people always use bread flour when they are working with any kind of kneaded dough that has to rise.

If you are making cinnamon rolls, you may be wondering if you could substitute all-purpose flour for bread flour and vice versa. This is a switch that you can make, though it won’t yield the same results.

Bread flour and all-purpose flour are similar, but they are different when it comes to the protein they contain. Bread flour has more protein than all-purpose flour, making it a better option for pastries.

Most people recommend baking cinnamon rolls with bread flour, as this creates a fluffier and softer cinnamon roll. Though all-purpose flour will also work to create tasty cinnamon rolls.

All-purpose flour is exactly like bread flour, but its lack of protein will not result in as much structure. This will result in a wetter dough that does not hold its shape as well.

An all-purpose dough can rise just as well, but it is much more likely to deflate and become dense. This can still create great cinnamon rolls, but they won’t be the best cinnamon rolls.

So the answer to the question, is bread flour better for cinnamon rolls, is going to be yes. This is the best flour option for home bakers, though all-purpose is also an option.

If you are going to be using a cinnamon rolls recipe at home, you probably want to know how to keep your rolls soft. One of the most common complaints is that cinnamon rolls can become hard once you have baked them.

This is an issue that many home bakers experience as cinnamon rolls are made with a yeast dough that has to rise. A baking process like this can leave a lot of room for mistakes to occur.

The good news for home bakers is that there are different tips that you can use to prevent your cinnamon rolls from getting hard. These tips can help you to make the best cinnamon rolls that taste like they were professionally made.

Keep reading to find out how to keep your cinnamon rolls recipe from turning out dense and hard.

One of the most important tips when making cinnamon rolls is to not over-knead the dough. You want to knead the dough until it is soft and elastic, but you also don’t want to overwork it either.

When it comes to other yeast recipes like bread dough, you want to knead it as much as you can. This creates more structure and a bready texture, perfect for bread but not for cinnamon rolls.

For cinnamon rolls, you want to knead the dough just enough to combine everything and get the dough smooth. You also do not want to overwork the dough as you are rolling it out.

If you handle the dough too much, you will end up pushing out all of those air bubbles developed from rising. This will create a denser and less fluffy cinnamon roll that just won’t be as good.

Another great way to avoid having hard and dense cinnamon rolls is to use ingredients that are warm or at room temperature. This is something that many cinnamon rolls recipes will ask for.

Warm ingredients mix together easier and will not be as tough and resistant. This helps the dough to come together quickly and become smooth without having to overwork the dough.

This can help your cinnamon rolls to come out of the oven soft and fluffy with just the right texture. Just keep in mind that the ingredients should not be hot or melted.

The butter, for instance, should be soft but not melted, as this will mess with the final result of the cinnamon rolls.

If you are making cinnamon rolls, you will need to use a fast-acting yeast that will help them to rise. Not only should you use the right kind of yeast, but your yeast also needs to be fresh and ready to go.

It is not uncommon for yeast to sit out for too long and become stale and less effective. This can create less frothing or no frothing at all, which is going to negatively impact the dough itself.

If the yeast is not active, it will not react with the dough and help it to rise. This will create a dense dough that often will not have the right kind of flavor that dough should have.

This is why you should activate your yeast in warm water or milk to ensure that it is active and ready to be used. You should also store your yeast in the fridge or freezer to help lengthen its shelf life.

One of the most common mistakes people make when baking cinnamon rolls at home is adding too much flour. This is very easy to do as you are kneading the dough and using flour to keep it from sticking.

Unfortunately, adding too much flour can result in chewy and dense cinnamon rolls that just aren’t fluffy and soft. This is because too much flour weighs the rolls down, preventing them from rising and becoming soft.

Even if you use bread flour for cinnamon rolls, this can still happen if you use too much flour. You should add a little less than the recipe calls for, only adding more as needed to keep the dough from becoming too sticky.

Another common issue that people make with their cinnamon rolls is baking them for too long. This not only risks impacting the flavor if they are too brown, but it will also make them dry and tough.

Cinnamon rolls should become golden brown and have a little give in the center. The bottoms should be golden brown as well, which will help you to know if the rolls have baked through.

Keep in mind that the cinnamon rolls will continue to bake after you have removed them from the oven until they cool down. As a rule, it is best to start checking them around the 30-minute mark to avoid overbaking them.

If you are wondering, “is bread flour better for cinnamon rolls?” then the answer is it is definitely one of the better options. Anyone who wants to make cinnamon rolls at home should consider using bread flour.

When you are baking any kind of pastry, the type of flour that you use can make a huge impact. This is because some flours are better for different kinds of recipes and react differently.

So if you want to make the best cinnamon rolls, you should look into the kinds of ingredients that you are using.

Do you want to make amazing cinnamon rolls at home? Contact us today at Worlds Best Cinnamon Rolls for access to some of the best cinnamon roll recipes online.

Don’t forget that National Cinnamon Roll Day is on October 4th. Go test out one of our cinnamon roll recipes. Click here now!