These giant Old-Fashioned Cinnamon Rolls are a sweet treat with cinnamon and brown sugar filling and the best flour buttercream frosting.
Grandma made these homemade rolls for many holidays and special occasions like Christmas morning, Valentine’s Day and Easter. This is a vintage recipe that we enjoy.
Amish Style Cinnamon Rolls
With a soft and moist dough that’s sweet this homemade bread dough, has a brown sugar and cinnamon filling with icing that makes each bite melt in your mouth.
Soft cinnamon rolls that are sweet, but not too sweet are topped with old-fashioned buttercream frosting with flour. These traditional Amish-style cinnamon rolls are made with mashed potatoes and other common ingredients.
Mashed potatoes help hold the moisture in this recipe. You don’t taste potatoes, but get the benefits of texture and moisture. We use leftover unseasoned Mashed Potatoes or mashing up baked potatoes.
The frosting is more rich than sweet and has a good thickness to stick to the top of the roll. There’s no drizzling this icing and hoping you taste it. Thick buttercream has a little flour to help stiffen it up. The frosting is one of our favorite icing recipes in simplicity as well as in taste and texture.
Cream cheese icing is commonly used on Frosted Banana Bars, The Best Cake, and Pumpkin Pecan Bars, but we love this old-fashioned icing without cream cheese.
Farmhouse Cinnamon Rolls
Giant bakery style cinnamon rolls are always a treat and we love making these giant treats at home. Soft with a rich frosting when you eat one you think “Oh boy, this is excellent!”
These rolls feel like something your grandma would make and that’s exactly where this recipe came from. The same grandma that lived in the farmhouse that’s part of the underground railroad. It’s no surprise that these Farmhouse Cinnamon Rolls are one of our farmhouse favorite recipes.
While the recipe takes time because there are several steps that involve some work and then waiting, these rolls are not difficult to make. Just plan an afternoon at home and enjoy making these yeast rolls to enjoy for breakfast the next day.
These giant cinnamon rolls are also reminiscent of Gaston’s Cinnamon Roll at Be Our Guest Restaurant at Disney World.
We also love the look of these Old Fashioned Butter Rolls from Cooking with Carlee. There are so many delicious variations of cinnamon rolls!
Ingredients Needed
- Warm water
- Sugar
- Vegetable oil
- Mashed potatoes, unseasoned and without milk
- Egg
- Salt
- Rapid rise yeast
- Nonfat dry milk powder
- All-purpose flour
- Bread flour
- Butter
- Brown sugar
- Cinnamon
- Confectioners’ sugar
- Vanilla extract
Can You Freeze Cinnamon Rolls?
Cinnamon rolls can be baked and wrapped in foil and then frozen in an airtight self sealing bag. Be sure to freeze baked bread without frosting for best result.
Icing can be frozen separately, but it is very easy to mix up a whole or partial batch of icing when the cinnamon rolls are defrosted.
Tips & Tricks
- Recipe makes 8 giant rolls, 12 large rolls or 27 standard rolls
- Use unseasoned mashed potatoes without milk that are at room temperature or warm. Using cold mashed potatoes could prevent the yeast from activating and rising. Ensure potatoes are peeled before mashing.
- Warm water before mixing to help yeast grow and dough to rise.
- Times listed are for rapid rise yeast; if active dry yeast is used rising times should be doubled.
- Since this makes a big batch of dough I found beginning kneading with the dough hook on the electric mixer and finishing up with my hands on a clean counter works well.
- I use the warming drawer on my oven set to low for dough to rise.
How to Make Old-Fashioned Cinnamon Rolls
Heat water to around 110°F. In a large mixing bowl dissolve yeast in warm water with sugar. Add vegetable oil, egg, salt, mashed potatoes and mix well.
Stir in nonfat dry milk powder and all-purpose flour and beat for 3 minutes.
Gradually add the bread flour 1/2 cup to 1 cup at a time until dough no longer sticks to the bowl.
When the dough is workable transfer to a lightly floured surface or use the dough hook attachment on your electric mixer and knead for about 10 minutes.
Grease a large, deep bowl with butter. Form the dough into a large, smooth ball and place in the bowl with the smooth side down. Then flip over with the smooth side up so the bottom can get greased while the dough rises.
Cover with a clean dish towel and allow the dough to rise in a warm, draft free place until it has doubled. This step takes about 45 minutes to an hour.
Punch dough down very thoroughly to break up any air bubbles. Regrease bowl. Shape into a smooth ball again. Turn over so the dough is greased on the top and bottom. Cover and let rise for an additional 30 minutes.
Punch dough down again and transfer to a lightly floured surface.
Roll into a rectangle. Dough should be about 1 3/4 inch thick and 15 x 12 inches in total size. Spread softened butter across the dough.
In a small mixing bowl stir together brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle mixture over the butter and tightly roll the dough up from the long side.
Measure dough and make the roll 16″ long. With a serrated knife, cut the roll using a sawing motion into 8, 12 or more rolls.
Place rolls cut side up in greased baking dishes. Cover with clean dish towels and allow the dough to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
Bake rolls for 10 minutes in a preheated 325°F oven. Then raise the temperature to 350°F and bake for 5 to 10 minutes longer. Making 12 rolls bakes for an additional 8 minutes. Smaller rolls will take closer to 5 additional minutes, and giant rolls may take closer to 10 more minutes.
Remove from oven and invert pan onto wax paper-lined wire racks to cool as quickly as possible. Rolls may be left in the pan but will take longer to cool. Allow rolls to cool completely before icing.
How to Make Old-Fashioned Cinnamon Roll Frosting
Add softened butter, flour, confectioners’ sugar, salt and vanilla to a mixing bowl. Beat until blended then frost the tops of cool rolls.
More Old-Fashioned Farmhouse Style Recipes
Crock Pot Mac and Cheese makes creamy macaroni super easy to make.
Kielbasa and Sauerkraut is another classic meal. that can be made in a skillet, crockpot or as a sheet pan meal.
Copycat Bob Evans Sausage Gravy Recipe is simple and delicious for any meal of the day!
Cream Puff Cake is another quick way to make a fancy dessert at home. And the cream filling is amazing!
Printable Old-Fashioned Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
Old-Fashioned Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Rolls
- 1 1/2 cups warm water about 110°F
- 3 envelopes rapid rise yeast
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup mashed potatoes unseasoned and without milk
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons nonfat dry milk powder
- 2 1/2 – 3 cups bread flour
Filling
- 1/3 cup butter softened
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
Frosting
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar
- speck salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
Cinnamon Rolls
- In a large mixing bowl dissolve yeast in warm water with sugar. Add vegetable oil, egg, salt, mashed potatoes and mix well.
- Stir in nonfat dry milk powder and all-purpose flour and beat for 3 minutes.
- Gradually add the bread flour 1/2 cup to 1 cup at a time.
- When dough is workable transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes.
- Grease a large, deep bowl with butter. Form the dough into a smooth ball and place in the bowl with the smooth side down. Then flip over with the smooth side up so the bottom can get greased while the dough rises. Cover with a towel and allow the dough to rise about 45 minutes to an hour until it has doubled.
- Punch dough down very thoroughly to break up any air bubbles. Regrease bowl with butter. Shape into a smooth ball again. Turn over so the dough is greased on the top and bottom. Cover and let rise for an additional 30 minutes.
- Punch dough down again and transfer to a lightly floured surface.
- Roll into a rectangle. Dough should be about 1 3/4 inch thick and 15 x 12 inches. Spread softened butter across the dough.
- In a small mixing bowl stir together brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle it over the butter and tightly roll the dough up from the long side.
- If the roll has stretched out longer than 16 inches, pat the ends towards the center to make a fat 16-inch roll.
- With a serrated knife cut the roll using a sawing motion into 8, 12 or more equally sized rolls.
- Place cut side up 1 1/2 inches apart (for giant rolls) in greased baking dishes. Cover with a towl and allow dough to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Bake rolls for 10 minutes then raise oven temperature to 350°f and bake 5 to 10 minutes longer depending on the size of the rolls.
- Once baked invert pans onto wax paper lined wire racks and allow rolls to cool completely before frosting.
- Beat frosting ingredients until blended then frost the tops of the cooled rolls.
Notes
- Use unseasoned mashed potatoes without milk that are at room temperature or warm. Using cold mashed potatoes could prevent the yeast from activating and rising. Ensure potatoes are peeled before mashing.
- Warm water before mixing to help yeast grow and dough to rise.
- Times listed are for rapid rise yeast; if active dry yeast is used rising times should be doubled.
- Since this makes a big batch of dough I found beginning kneading with the dough hook on the electric mixer and finishing up with my hands on a clean counter works well.
- I use the warming drawer on my oven set to low for dough to rise.
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