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I have perfected my cinnamon rolls recipe—these are truly the best cinnamon rolls I have ever eaten. I’m warning you now: These cinnamon rolls will ruin all other recipes for you, and the reason is vanilla ice cream! A decadent ice cream, butter, and brown sugar sauce is poured over these giant cinnamon rolls and baked into the most delicious cinnamon rolls you will ever eat!
Karlynn’s Recipe Rundown : Grandma’s Ice Cream Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
- The base recipe for these cinnamon rolls is the perfect sweet bread recipe: my Grandma’s Babka or Easter bread recipe. My Grandma Marion’s recipe is the base for most of my sweet dough recipes as it’s the best one I’ve ever come across in all my years of baking.
- The secret to my Grandma’s dough is using egg yolks, not whole eggs, for richness and scalded milk. This yields the lightest cinnamon rolls ever.
- This recipe does take hours to make, so plan your time accordingly. Enjoy the process!
- Use a serrated knife when slicing the rolled up dough into rolls, it works better to ensure the dough doesn’t tear.
Quick Step-by-Step Summary: How to Make these Incredible Cinnamon Buns
While the process is a decent number of steps, I can promise you it is definitely worth it. Here’s how you make them:
- Prepare the scalded milk mixture.
- Let it cool.
- Whisk in the beaten egg yolks and stir in the salt.
- Proof the yeast in a stand mixer.
- Mix the dough in the mixer.
- Knead the dough for another 10 minutes.
- Cover the dough in the mixing bowl with a clean, damp kitchen towel and let rise.
- Punch down the dough and form a rectangle.
- Add the brown sugar mixture to the dough.
- Roll into a log shape, then slice into eight 2 inch pieces.
- Place four into each pan.
- Prepare the vanilla ice cream sauce then pour over the rolls.
- Place them in the oven to rise a second time.
- Bake them in the oven.
- Prepare the icing while they bake.
- Spread the icing over the rolls after they’ve been removed from the oven and have cooled for 5 minutes.
- Enjoy!
Perfectly Baked Cinnamon Rolls, Right to the Center!
This might be a hot take but here it is : I cannot stand cinnamon rolls that are tough on the outside and raw dough in the middle, as a lot of recipes are. The inside of cinnamon rolls should be baked through completely, light as air, pillowy soft, and not “gooey“ (I find gooey is just a cover word for under-baked) and the sauce should be what is making the cinnamon rolls even softer and decadent beyond your wildest cinnamon roll dreams.
These cinnamon rolls are PERFECTION, from the outside to the inside. Just follow my recipe exactly, and you will achieve this!
Ingredients Tips For Grandma’s Ice Cream Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
- Make sure you use REAL dairy vanilla ice cream or this will not taste as intended.
- Use a higher fat content milk for richer cinnamon roll dough.
- Be careful when scalding the milk, do not let it boil. My mom’s trick is to do this in the microwave as it’s easier to manage.
- You will only be using egg yolks, I would recommend setting the whites aside for breakfast the next morning so you don’t waste them.
Why You Use Scalded Milk in Yeast Dough Recipes
Scalding milk changes the whey protein in it, making it a better food for yeast.
This means that with a yeast-based bread recipes you get faster proofing, a larger volume, and lighter, airy bread. While the dough takes longer to rise when you scald the milk (sometimes up to half an hour more), the end result is worth it.
How to scald the milk
You can scald the milk in a pot on the stove or in a microwave safe bowl in the microwave. With either method, you heat the milk until it is steaming, but not boiling. Once the milk steams, remove it from the heat and follow the recipe directions to use it.
Step By Step Photos
I’ve included step by step photos below as some of us work better with visual guidelines, and remember, if something is not clear, please ask in the comments below (or via social media) and I will update this post as needed to ensure it’s as informative as possible.
I hope you love these as much as we do. My neighbor gave them a 10/10 when I sent some over for testing and we’ve made them more than once already (although the calorie count is high, so I have to resist making them TOO often).
Happy baking!
Karlynn
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Grandma’s Ice Cream Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Scalded Milk Mixture
- 1 cup whole milk
- ½ cup butter
- 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3 large egg yolks beaten
- 1 teaspoon salt
Yeast Mixture
- ¾ cup water heated to 115℉
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast yeast
Dry Ingredients
- 5-6 cups all-purpose flour
Cinnamon Sugar Filling
- 2 cups brown sugar well packed
- ¾ cup salted butter softened
- 2½ tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
Vanilla Ice Cream Caramel Sauce
- 1½ cup vanilla ice cream has to be real dairy ice cream
- 1½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup salted butter
Cream Cheese Icing
- 2-4 tablespoons whipping cream
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- ¼ cup salted butter
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
Prepare the Scalded Milk Mixture
- Place the whole milk, butter, and white sugar in a small saucepan. Heat the mixture over medium-high heat until the butter and sugar are dissolved. To scald the milk, continue to heat the mixture until the milk is steaming, then remove from the heat. Do not let it boil. You can also do this in the microwave (my Mom's trick) in a large glass microwave-safe measuring cup.
- Let the mixture cool.
- Once cooled, whisk the beaten egg yolks into the mixture. Stir in the salt.
Proof the Yeast
- In the mixing bowl of your stand mixer, add the 115℉ water and one teaspoon of granulated sugar. Mix together, then add the yeast. Stir until the yeast starts to dissolve, then let sit until the entire mixture is bubbling.
Make the Dough
- Once the yeast has been proofed, pour the milk and egg mixture into the mixing bowl. Attach your dough hook.
- Add the first two cups of flour into the mixing bowl, and using the dough hook, mix on low until combined.
- Add the next 1-2 cups of flour, mixing in slowly with the dough hook. Add enough flour until the dough barely sticks to your hands, pulls away from the sides of the bowl, and starts to smooth out. This can take up to 6 cups of flour in total or slightly more, depending on factors like humidity.
- Knead for another 10 minutes with the dough hook. Cover the dough bowl with a damp, clean kitchen towel. Place in a warm place for an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
- Once the dough is ready, punch it down in the bowl.
- Dust your work surface with flour. Turn out the dough onto the floured surface. Create a rectangle with the dough with your hands right at the start, not a circle. Use a heavy rolling pin to roll the dough into a 17 ×21-inch rectangle.
- Combine the melted butter, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small bowl. Spread out the mixture in an even layer on top of the dough rectangle, leaving a ¼ inch edge of plain dough at one of the 17-inch ends of the dough rectangle. This will help you seal the dough together after you roll it.
- Roll the dough tightly into a log, starting at the 17-inch end of the dough rectangle covered in butter and cinnamon.
- Pinch the roll closed using the plain dough, then place the log seam-side down on your work surface.
- For perfect cinnamon buns, use a serrated knife to trim ½ inch off the ends of the roll, removing the dough that doesn't have filling in it. You don't have to do this, but this will make them all perfect. You can bake up the little ends later if wanted, or discard them.
- Slice the log into eight pieces that are 2 inches wide.
- Get out two 8×8 baking pans.
- Place four rolls into each pan.
Prepare the Vanilla Ice Cream Caramel Sauce
- Combine the ingredients for the sauce in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, ensuring all the ingredients have melted together, then remove from the stove immediately.
- Pour the sauce over each pan of cinnamon rolls, splitting between the two pans. Make sure to cover the top of the rolls with sauce. Place in a warm place to rise again for 45 minutes, or until the rolls have doubled in size. You do not have to cover them if you made sure there is sauce on top so that they don't dry out.
- Move your oven rack to the second-from-the-bottom position. Preheat your oven to 325℉.
- Bake the rolls for 45-55 minutes until the edges are golden and the centers have risen and are puffy. If the tops start to get too brown, lay a piece of aluminum foil over the top and continue to bake. The rolls are baked when an instant-read thermometer inserted into the middle of the dough reads 190℉.
- While the cinnamon rolls are baking, prepare the cream cheese icing. Beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Beat in the powdered sugar, then beat in the cream, one tablespoon at a time, until the desired consistency is reached.
- Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes.
- Slather icing on top of the cinnamon buns and serve right away, drizzling the ice cream sauce over top of the cream cheese icing.
Nutrition
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