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Moist Cinnamon Rolls

"These are moist, delicious rolls. They can be made gooey by making a caramel sauce. They also freeze well."

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 30,777 recipes mention both. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

The recipe

15 rolls
Prep30 min
Cook20 min

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, wheat, tree nuts (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Warm the milk until it feels warm, not hot, about 110°F (43°C). Stir in the yeast and sugar and let it stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.

  2. Whisk in the egg and the 2 tablespoons of butter, then add the salt. Stir in the bread flour gradually until a soft dough forms.

  3. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for about 8 minutes until smooth and elastic. Place it in a greased bowl, cover, and let it rise in a warm place for about 1 hour until doubled.

  4. Melt the 1/3 cup butter with the 1/2 cup brown sugar and 2 tablespoons milk, stirring until smooth. Spread it over the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan and sprinkle with the 1 cup chopped walnuts.

  5. Roll the risen dough into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Brush with the 1/4 cup melted butter, then sprinkle evenly with the 1/2 cup brown sugar, the cinnamon, the 1/2 cup chopped walnuts and the raisins.

  6. Roll the dough up tightly from the long edge and pinch the seam closed. Cut into equal rolls and arrange them cut side up over the topping in the pan.

  7. Cover the pan and let the rolls rise for about 30 minutes until puffy.

  8. Bake at 375°F (190°C) for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown on top.

  9. Let the rolls cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then invert them onto a serving plate and spoon any topping from the pan over them.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Sugar + cinnamontop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together30,777 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Butter + breadtop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together27,145 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Milk + buttertop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together81,222 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Milk + breadtop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together11,363 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

  5. Milk + cinnamontop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together12,647 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

Sugar and cinnamon share little aroma chemistry, yet 30,777 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Flavor stand-ins for the walnut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, egg, butter, sugar, bread, flour, cinnamon):

  1. Almondbetter flavor fit
  2. Pecansabout as good a flavor fit
  3. Cocoaabout as good a flavor fit
  4. Walnutthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, egg, butter, sugar, bread, flour, cinnamon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).