The holidays are a time when everyone takes a turn in the kitchen from the youngest playing in the flour and sugar to the matriarch of the family who has her own recipes memorized.

Caren Sample is known most for her cakes. They are perfectly decorated for any occasion you could wish. But cakes are not the only thing she loves, she has a heart for treats big and small and there is no better time to bake than the holidays.

Whether its peppermint chocolate cupcakes with Santa hats, gingerbread cookies, hot chocolate bombs shaped like snowmen or festively decorated cakes, you can see all that she has to offer through her website and Facebook page at Bake a Cake Caren.

She is sharing her cinnamon roll recipe, step by step, so that even if you’ve never baked before you can follow along, or if you’ve got a recipe of your own you can try some new techniques.

Caren’s Cinnamon Rolls

Prep Time 2 hours

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 2 hours 20 minutes

Servings 8 large cinnamon rolls

Ingredients

For the dough:

• 1 cup warm milk (whole milk; 110 degrees F)
• 2 ¼ teaspoons quick rise or active yeast (

1/4

• -ounce package yeast)
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
• ¼ cup salted butter, melted
• 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

3/4

• teaspoon salt

For the filling:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1-2 tablespoons ground cinnamon (to taste)
• ¼ cup butter, softened

For rolls in pan:

• ¾ to 1 cup heavy whipping cream

Optional cream cheese frosting:

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 ½ cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Warm milk to around 110 degrees F. I like to do this by placing milk in a microwave safe bowl and microwaving it for 40-45 seconds. Transfer warm milk to the bowl of an electric mixer and sprinkle yeast on top. Add in sugar, egg, egg yolk and melted butter. Mix until well combined. Let this rest for 5 minutes until yeast is bubbly.

With paddle beater of mixer, or wooden spoon, stir in flour and salt with until a dough begins to form.

Place dough hook on stand mixer and knead dough on medium speed for 8 minutes. Dough should form into a nice ball and be slightly sticky. If it’s too sticky (meaning it’s sticking too much to the bottom of the mixer, add in 2 tablespoons more flour.) If you don’t want to use an electric mixer, you can use your hands to knead the dough for 8-10 minutes on a well-floured surface.

Transfer dough ball to a well-oiled bowl, cover with a cotton tea towel. Allow dough to rise for 1 hour to 1 ½ hours, or until doubled in size. This may more or less time depending on the humidity and temperature in your home.

After dough has doubled in size, transfer dough to a well-floured surface and roll out into a 14×9 inch rectangle. Spread softened butter over dough, leaving a ¼ inch margin at the far side of the dough.

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar and cinnamon. Use your hands to sprinkle mixture over the buttered dough, then rub the brown sugar mixture into the butter.

Tightly roll dough up, starting from the 9-inch side and place seam side down making sure to seal the edges of the dough as best you can.

With a serrated knife, cut roll in half, cut the halves in half, and those sections in half. You should have 8 large rolls.

Place cinnamon rolls in a greased 9×9 inch baking pan or round 9 inch pie pan. Cover with cotton tea towel and let rise again for 30-45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove towel, pour heavy whipping cream over cinnamon rolls and bake for 20-25 minutes or until just slightly golden brown on the edges. You want to underbake them a little so they stay soft in the middle, that’s why we want them just slightly golden brown. Allow them to cool for 5-10 minutes before frosting.

To make the frosting: In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Beat until smooth and fluffy. Spread over cinnamon rolls and serve immediately. Enjoy!

Recipe notes

To make overnight cinnamon rolls:

After placing rolls into the greased pan (after the first rise), simply cover, place overnight in the fridge and then leave them on the counter for 30-45 minutes before baking (this is known as the second rise). Bake them as directed.