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Cinnamon Rolls

A sweet roll made from dough, butter or milk, sugar, and cinnamon, baked until golden.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Cinnamon Rolls

Why it works: Sugar and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Cinnamon Rolls

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Shape the dough

  1. Mix the dough until it has doubled in size.

  2. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board.

  3. Roll the dough to ¾ inch thickness.

  4. Brush the rolled dough with butter or milk.

  5. Sprinkle with a mixture of sugar and a little cinnamon.

  6. Roll the dough up tightly.

  7. Cut the roll into 1-inch slices.

Rise and bake

  1. Place the slices in a buttered baking tin.

  2. Brush the slices with butter.

  3. Cover and let rise until doubled in size.

  4. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 30 to 40 minutes.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together30,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Butter + cinnamontop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,784 recipes

    Shared aroma: anethole (sweet, anise).

  3. Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Dough
Forms the structure that traps gas and sets into the soft, airy crumb of the rolls.
Butter or milk
Adds moisture and fat, keeping the rolls tender and helping the surface brown.
Sugar
Sweetens the filling and caramelizes during baking for a browned, sticky layer.
Cinnamon
Provides the warm, aromatic flavour that defines the filling.

The step that matters

Let the slices rise until doubled. The dough must fully expand before baking; under-proofed rolls stay dense, while the gas trapped by yeast gives the light, open texture the rolls need.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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