Homemade Seed-Oil Free Cinnamon Rolls

These soft and chewy seed-oil-free cinnamon rolls will make you forget store bought cinnamon rolls! You’ll love it because this recipe makes the softest and most delicious cinnamon rolls–the extra effort is totally worth it!    

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My family generally tries to avoid seed oils and most store bought cinnamon rolls contain some version of seed oil, so I started making mine at home. Because I was already on a hunt to resolve some health issues, I also went on a hunt to figure out the healthiest flour to use. Turns out the only way to get the incredible nutritional benefit of whole grains (wheat contains 40 of the 44 essential nutrients our bodies need to survive) is to mill your flour at home (if you want to learn more about milling your own flour check out this post). If milling your own flour isn’t something you’ve looked into yet, I highly recommend it! 

 

I think this is the absolute most delicious cinnamon roll recipe! Even though it’s made with freshly milled flour you would never know because of how soft and chewy they are. If you’ve been skeptical about making a batch of cinnamon rolls with 100% fresh milled flour, I highly recommend you give this recipe a try–It will transform your thoughts about freshly milled products!

 

Ingredients

 

This recipe uses only eight basic ingredients you probably already have on hand and one specialty ingredient that you’ll only need if you’re freshly milling your flour and that you can leave out if you can’t get your hands on it. To make the cinnamon rolls you’ll need flour. As I already stated, I mill my own because of the amazing health benefits, but if you don’t yet mill your own flour, you can use all-purpose flour or bread flour. 

 

You’ll also need salt, yeast, water, an egg, honey, a healthy oil (I use a high quality extra virgin olive oil), and sunflower lecithin. If you’re using store-bought flour, you can leave out the lecithin. If you’re using freshly-milled flour, the lecithin adds a very fluffy delicious texture, but you can also leave it out if you struggle getting your hands on it. If you don’t have any and want to try it you can get it from Azure Standard, Bread Beckers, or from Amazon.  

 

Instructions

 

While the dough does take a long time to come together, most of the time is spent waiting. The actual hands-on time is only about 30 minutes. 

 

To start, heat up your water (I think it’s easiest to use an adjustable temperature electric kettle set to about 130–this is the one I have) and, if you’re milling your own flour, get that started milling (you will need to mill about 3 cups of wheat berries–I use 3 cups hard white). 

 

 

While my flour is milling and my water is warming, I start adding all the other ingredients except the yeast to the mixer. Once the water is warm, add that too and mix the ingredients slightly to incorporate (this does not have to be perfect, you just want to get things going). 

 

Next, while your mixer is on a low speed, add about 2 cups of flour. 

 

 

Once the flour is incorporated add your yeast. Let the yeast incorporate for about 10 seconds and start adding additional flour until you get the desired consistency for your mixer. I usually start by adding an additional cup and a half right away and then start watching closely to see how much of the remaining cup I will need to add. 

 

The desired consistency of the dough will strongly depend on what type of mixer (or kneading method) you’re using. If you’re using a KitchenAid with a dough hook, you want the dough to clean the side of the bowl. Note this does not mean that there can’t be a little dough residue on the side of the bowl; instead, you want the main dough ball that’s around the hook to not be leaving behind residue as it mixes. A little sticking on the very bottom of the bowl as it mixes is fine; you’re mostly looking at the sides of the bowl. The way the dough hook works generally requires more flour so you will likely end up adding all the flour and might need to add even a little more.  

 

I burned my KitchenAid up pretty quickly after starting to make all my bread products from scratch, so I transitioned to this Ankarsrum Mixer–it’s incredible! If you’re using the Ankarsrum, you don’t need to use the dough hook attachment, instead use the roller and scraper–this way can handle a softer dough (softer dough = softer cinnamon rolls). To see if you’ve added enough flour in the Ankarsrum, pull the roller away from the side into the center of the bowl. If the dough immediately follows the roller to the center–leaving the sides of the bowl–your dough has enough flour. If not, just keep adding small amounts of flour until the dough follows the roller into the center. This is usually about 2 cups for me. 

 

A note about flour amounts: remember the amount of flour needed for a recipe is largely dependent on environmental factors including your elevation, climate, season, temperature, humidity, etc. That means the amount of flour that works for me in Arizona might not be the right amount for you in Florida. When baking any yeasted bread product, you just have to learn what to look for in your dough. This can seem intimidating at first, but it’s really not that hard. Just accept that it may be a bit stressful the first few times you do it, but you’ll get the hang of it pretty quick. I’ve never made a bread that was inedible–dense, for sure (that’s pretty close to the worst case)! You may also need a little extra flour if you’re using store-bought flour. 

 

Once you have the appropriate amount of flour you need to knead the dough, if you’re using freshly milled flour, you can turn your mixer off and let the dough rest for about 15 minutes before kneading to allow the dough to absorb some water, but this is optional. Whether I do this depends almost entirely on how much time I have. You can also wait to add in the yeast until after the dough rests for 15 minutes if you prefer. If I let the dough rest, I usually add the yeast after the rest, just before kneading.   

 

To knead the dough, turn your mixer on a low to medium speed and let it knead for at least 5 minutes. At this point I like to check the dough. While you generally can’t over knead to the point of ruining your dough, the dough will become tougher with more kneading than is necessary. 

 

To see if your dough has been sufficiently kneaded, I stick with the “window pain” test. I get my hands wet and rip off a small piece of dough. I slowly and carefully start stretching the dough into a rough square to see if I can get the middle to become thin enough to see light through it without tarring. If the dough passes the window pain test, you’re all done kneading. If not, turn your mixer back on for a few more minutes until the dough passes. 

 

Generally, freshly milled flour will take longer to knead than store-bought flour, though the kneading time will be significantly reduced if you let the dough rest for 15 minutes before kneading the dough as discussed above. In my Ankarsrum Mixer it usually takes about 8-10 minutes to knead if I don’t let the dough rest and about 4 if I do.  

 

 

Once the dough is kneaded, gather the dough off of your mixer attachments and the side of the mixer bowl and form a ball. Place the dough ball back in your mixer bowl or in a different bowl, coat lightly with oil (optional), and cover with a lid or a clean kitchen towel to rise for about one and a half hours or until the dough has doubled in size. Again, the rise time will depend on how warm it is in your kitchen–the warmer the kitchen, the shorter the rise time. 

 

 

After the initial prove, it’s time to shape your dough. To make cinnamon rolls, place your dough in a ball on a lightly floured or oiled surface. Use a rolling pin to roll your dough into a rectangle about ½ inch thick and about 12×18 inches in size.

 

 

Now, spread the butter over the surface of your dough leaving about 1/4th of an inch on each edge. Sprinkle on your cinnamon, sugar, and nutmeg evenly over the butter. 

 

 

Once your dough is covered in the filling, starting with the long side, start gently rolling your dough up into a log. If your dough starts sticking to the counter, use a bench scraper to help gently release it. 

 

 

Take your log and cut it about every 1-2 inches (depending on how tall/thick you want your rolls). Using a sharp bread knife or some cooking twine is the best way to cut your dough while keeping its shape. Place each cinnamon roll in a nonstick or greased 9×13 baking dish.

 

 

Once your cinnamon rolls are in the baking dish, cover it with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let it rise for a second time. The second rise generally takes about an hour. You want the dough to look puffy and generally be about 1.5x bigger.

 

After about an hour, preheat your oven to 350. While your oven is preheating, mix a cup of brown sugar or sucanat with a cup of heavy whipping cream and evenly pour the mixture over the top of the cinnamon rolls. 

 

 

Once your oven is preheated, bake your cinnamon rolls until the internal temperature is about 190. This will generally take about 15 minutes. Let the cinnamon rolls cool for about 10 minutes then flip them out onto a serving tray. The whipped cream and sugar will have made a delicious caramel-y glaze–its so good!   

 

 

 

Notes

 

• You can store your cinnamon rolls in the fridge for up to 4 days, but they will obviously be best if eaten hot! 
• You can pre-make your dough the day before and instead of letting the rolls proof for the second time on the counter, stick them in the fridge and take them out about 45 minutes to an hour before baking them. 

 

Love, 

     this Mama