Hello again! I have a treat to share with everyone. A few weeks ago I used the bread machine to make cinnamon roll bread. It’s my take on a recipe in the book that came with my bread machine.

Now, if you’re looking at getting a bread machine, I use the Zojirushi. It’s not cheap, but you do get what you pay for. I have never had this thing fail and have never had any parts go bad. It’s as efficient as the day I got it nearly four years ago. So one of the first recipes I tried from the book was this cinnamon roll bread. It’s a good recipe. I adjusted it to gear more towards our joint cinnamon obsession we have as a family. The icing recipe downright sucked, so I used an old one I’ve had forever. Probably not as healthy for you, but if you’re baking cinnamon roll bread, healthy probably isn’t that high of a priority for this recipe.

This loaf doesn’t last more than two days at my house and that’s only because we have to limit the kids. My son will projectile vomit if he consumes too much junk in a day. He has been that way forever, so we all practice self control around sweets as a general rule.

Anyway, this bread. If you do not have the same bread machine, you can tinker with it. My machine is for a 2 lb. loaf and is more horizontal in shape, not vertical. It looks like a meatloaf pan. If you do not have a bread machine, you can still use a loaf pan and it’ll look just as pretty.

I am going to add the manual time adjustments made to the bread machine for rise times the rolls spend in the actual machine. If you are not using a machine, you can easily make the rolls and roll them out and let them rise in the fridge overnight to use the next day.

The first thing we do is add the ingredients. Add the ingredients in the order your manual for your bread machine specifies. The order I use is:

1. Liquids
2. Any substance that is almost that in between consistence of solid and liquid
3. Spices/herbs/seasonings (including sugar)
4. Flour
5. Yeast in a hole I make in the flour pile

For the bread, I add the following in this order:

1. 1 cup milk (we use milk from our own goats)
2. 2 beaten large eggs (we use our duck eggs because they’re the best for baking)
3. 2 1/2 tablespoons softened butter (we use home churned cow butter from another local homestead)
4. 4 tablespoons sugar
5. 2 teaspoons salt
6. 4 1/4 cups bread flour (all-purpose works, too)
7. 2 teaspoons active dry yeast (I have used bread machine yeast with success)

Now the interesting part. The first time I did this part I felt like I was doing it wrong because everything was put in manually. Now I have this setting saved in the machine and it’s not so bad. Again, you can make the rolls and store them in the fridge overnight and then bake in the oven if that’s easier.

Some bread machines have a “REST” option. The reason is you don’t really use a lot of cold ingredients for most bread recipes as it can actually affect the whole process. So the rest period is used to have everything sit and come to as close to room temperature as possible before kneading begins. This isn’t needed for this particular recipe so I shut it off. So, when I use this recipe it immediately begins kneading. I have the kneading time set to 20 minutes. I tell our Amazon Echo to let me know when kneading is done so I can do some laundry, prep for dinner, feed the animals, whatever I need to while I let the bread machine do my least favorite step of bread making: kneading. I hate it.

My machine also beeps for what is now called the “SHAPE” phase. You should have a pretty decent sized bit of dough. If you have my brand, or if yours does something similar, leave the machine on and take the dough out. You need to split the big ball of dough in half. Because it’s huge. Shape each piece into a ball and cover with a damp cloth for 30 minutes of rest time. At this time, before you forget, take out the kneading blades from the bread pan. You no longer need them at this point and they’ll puncture your pretty bread. After time is up, roll out one ball with a rolling-pin into a 12″ X 12″ square. Don’t let this intimidate you though. It did me and I don’t know why. It’s going to be just as tasty and pretty if it’s not a perfect square or exactly 12″ X 12″ so don’t fret if it looks ugly at first.

Brush milk on the square and then add your sugar and cinnamon mixture on top and smooth it out. We use 1/3 cup of sugar and about a tablespoon of cinnamon, give or take. I swear not all of the cinnamon in my house smells as strongly depending on the brand I buy or how long it’s been stored. We love cinnamon so I add the tablespoon and mix it up, then I actually smell it to see if I’d like to add more. It’s kind of weird practice, but I don’t add the same exact amount every single time. Now, this can be overbearing for some. So if I’m making this for a crowd and not just my family I reduce the cinnamon to only 1 teaspoon. 1 tablespoon truly is a lot.

After placing the mixture, I use my hands to roll it up, sealing either side of the roll. Then you take a knife and cut as close as you can to 10 equal pieces. Repeat this process for the second ball then place all rolls randomly in the bread pan. Truly be random. It’s so pretty when it’s done.

Put the bread pan back into the machine, close the lid, and hit start. On my machine, I’m given the option to put in for three different rise times so that the rolls rise sufficiently before baking. Again, if you do not have this option, let them rolls rise overnight in the fridge. My rising times are as follows:

• Rise 1: 45 minutes
• Rise 2: 25 minutes
• Rise 3: 55 minutes

Then my loaf bakes for 55 minutes.

The icing I use is a simple one, but not as simple as the recipe in the book. The book states to just mix 1/2 cup of powdered sugar with 1 teaspoon or so of water. I didn’t like it. My family and I like cream cheese icing. The icing recipe I used calls for:

1. 6 tablespoons butter
2. 6 cups powdered sugar
3. 4 ounces softened cream cheese (I have used more before)
4. Start off with about 4 tablespoons of milk, but add more if needed

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, whisk until butter turns from yellow to a darker golden. Remove from heat and add to a mixing bowl. In the mixing bowl add cream cheese and mix for about 2-3 minutes until creamy. Mix the powdered sugar one cup at a time with about a tablespoon or two of milk after each addition. Once all the powdered sugar is added, add a tablespoon of milk as needed while mixing until you get the creamy consistency you want. Then pour over the loaf. The result?

I sometimes make a double batch for dipping because some of the bread gets neglected. I like to pull the rolls off to eat, but you can certainly slice this like bread successfully. It tastes heavenly and looks great for parties. It’s one of our favorites and I love being able to make it in my bread machine because there is so much that calls for my attention in just one day. It’s just so easy to get everything ready and have most of it done in the machine.

Want to know what machine I use? I recommend the Zojirushi bread machine

Thanks for reading, leave comments below if you’ve tried it or have any questions. Until next time!

Follow our blog to stay updated. We’re also on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram. Come check us out.

Affiliate Disclosure