Tangzhong Cinnamon Rolls

Using the same simple technique that defines Japanese milk bread, tangzhong cinnamon rolls easily win first prize in the softness and fluffiness competition — and they stay fresh for up to a week. Here’s how to make them.

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Why you’ll love this recipe

For years I had a different favorite cinnamon roll recipe — a lovely little brioche number that you can still find right here if you like. The thing is, though, then I started hearing about people using tangzhong in cinnamon rolls. It makes so much sense — and I can’t imagine ever going back. These rolls are:

• Absurdly soft and tender
• Really not any harder to make
• Egg-free, and therefore easy to veganize if you like
• Long-lived – they stay soft for up to a week, if you can keep them around that long

The dough is adapted from King Arthur, with a different baking method, and my own filling and frosting. To me, this combination is sheer perfection. I hope you’ll agree.

What is tangzhong, and why does it work?

Tangzhong is a simple paste made by whisking liquid and flour together and then heating them until the starches in the flour gelatinize. It makes for a super-hydrated dough that’s still an absolute dream to work with, and which retains more of its moisture for a longer period of time.

Tangzhong derives from the Japanese technique yudane. It proliferated first throughout East Asia and eventually throughout the world after Taiwanese author Yvonne Chen published her 2007 cookbook The 65°C Bread Doctor. (That’s the temperature at which the magic happens.)

What you’ll need

Here’s a glance at the ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe.

For the tangzhong

You’ll use a little bit of the recipe’s flour and milk to make the tangzhong.

• This dough is based on bread flour, which has a higher protein content than all-purpose. It yields a superior structure. Brands vary in protein content — for reference, I typically use King Arthur bread flour, which clocks in at 12.7% protein. You can make this recipe with a good-quality all-purpose flour if that’s what you’ve got. The rolls will still be fabulous.
• Whole milk enriches the dough just the right amount and is my strong recommendation for this recipe.

To make the dough

• I’ve pictured active dry yeast. You can use instant yeast interchangeably in this recipe.
• Use a really good-quality cultured, salted butter if you can. Here and virtually everywhere, I start with a cultured butter from grass-fed cows. The flavor is unbeatable. This sounds fancy but doesn’t have to be. Kerrygold, for example, is sold in most supermarkets at a reasonable price.
• The small amount of sugar in the dough itself is good old granulated sugar.
• Not pictured: You’ll need a small amount of a neutral-tasting oil to grease your work surface before patting out the dough. Safflower oil is my neutral-tasting vegetable oil of choice. You can substitute another oil that has similar properties, such as canola, sunflower, peanut, corn, or vegetable oil blend.

For the filling

• I like to use light brown sugar in these rolls, but dark brown sugar works too and provides a stronger molasses flavor, if that’s what you’re going for.
• Plenty of ground cinnamon provides tons of flavor.

To make the frosting

• Use good-quality, full-fat, block-style cream cheese.
• I tend to use good old powdered sugar from the grocery store and give it a sift. However, if you like, you can use organic powdered sugar. It tends to be processed with tapioca starch instead of cornstarch and have a smoother, more powerful thickening capacity.
• I always recommend a good-quality pure vanilla extract. In addition to vastly superior flavor, it adds a pretty tinge of color to the frosting, giving it a soft, organic off-white look.
• Heavy cream gives this icing a gorgeous texture that spreads beautifully when cool and drips just a bit when warm. Choose the best-quality one you can. For taste, health, and environmental reasons, I always buy organic heavy cream.

How to make them

Here’s an overview of what you’ll do to make a dreamy batch of tangzhong cinnamon rolls. You can see the steps in action in the video that accompanies this post, and get all the details in the recipe card below.

1. First you’ll whisk together tangzhong’s small quantities of flour and milk, then heat briefly until they form a paste.
2. Add the tangzhong to yoru mixing bowl, and then add the dough’s other ingredients in the order listed. Combine, knead, cover, and let rise.
3. Pat this beautifully well-behaved dough in to a rectangle, make and spread the filling, and roll and cut the cinnamon rolls. Let rise again, then bake.
4. Make the icing and spread it onto the whole batch or individual rolls. That’s it!

Expert tips and FAQs

More cinnamon roll recipes

• Puff pastry cinnamon rolls
• Brioche cinnamon rolls
• Swedish cinnamon buns
• Cinnamon roll cheesecake

5 from 2 votes

Tangzhong Cinnamon Rolls

By Carolyn Gratzer Cope

Using the same simple technique that defines Japanese milk bread, tangzhong cinnamon rolls easily win first prize in the softness and fluffiness competition — and they stay fresh for up to a week. Here's how to make them.

Prep: 45 minutes mins

Cook: 22 minutes mins

Additional Time: 2 hours hrs

Total: 3 hours hrs 7 minutes mins

Servings: 9 large rolls

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Ingredients

For the tangzhong

• ▢ ½ cup (113 grams) whole milk
• ▢ 3 tablespoons (24 grams) bread flour

For the dough

• ▢ ⅔ cup (151 grams) cold whole milk
• ▢ 2 ½ cups (300 grams) bread flour
• ▢ ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• ▢ 2 tablespoons (25 grams) sugar
• ▢ 2 ¼ teaspoons (7 grams) active dry or instant yeast (one packet)
• ▢ 4 tablespoons (56 grams) cultured, salted butter (such as Kerrygold), at room temperature

For the filling

• ▢ 8 tablespoons (128 grams) cultured, salted butter, at room temperature
• ▢ ½ cup (100 grams) light brown sugar
• ▢ 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

For the frosting

• ▢ 1 cup (113 grams) powdered sugar
• ▢ 3 tablespoons (42 grams) cultured, salted butter, at room temperature
• ▢ 1 teaspoon (5 ml) pure vanilla extract
• ▢ 4 ounces (114 grams) cream cheese (block-style), at cool room temperature
• ▢ ¼ cup (60 ml) heavy cream

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions 

Make the tangzhong

• To make the tangzhong, place the milk and flour into a small pot and whisk until perfectly smooth.
• Set over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened to a paste-like consistency that doesn’t fill back in when you drag your spatula across the bottom of the pot. This only takes a couple of minutes, and the transition from liquid to paste happens very quickly. Please refer to the step-by-step photos and the video for visual cues.

Make the dough

• Right away, add the tangzhong to a large mixing bowl of the bowl of a stand mixer. (The heat of the tangzhong helps warm the rest of the ingredients.)
• Add the milk, and then the flour, salt, sugar, yeast, and butter.
• Mix on low using the dough hook in a stand mixer, or by hand, until the ingredients come together.
• Knead on Speed 2 or by hand until the dough is smooth and elastic — 10 minutes in the stand mixer, or up to 15 minutes by hand.
• Shape dough into a ball and place it back into the bowl.
• Cover tightly and let rise until very puffy, 60 to 90 minutes. The dough will not necessarily double in size.

Make the filling and create the rolls

• To make the filling, use a fork to mash together the butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a medium bowl until well-combined.
• Lightly oil your work surface with a neutral-tasting oil.
• Turn the dough out onto the work surface and use your fingers to pat into a rectangle that’s 13.5 inches long and 10 inches wide, with one of the long sides facing you.
• Spread the filling evenly over the entire surface of the dough except for a strip about 1/2-inch wide on the long side farther away from you.
• Starting with the side closest to you, roll dough into a log. Use your fingers to seal the seam along the entire length of the log by pinching the loose flap of dough together with the log.
• Using dental floss or a very sharp knife, cut into nine 1 1/2-inch rolls.
• Grease an 8”x8” glass baking dish or a deep-dish 9” pie plate or round cake pan. Arrange rolls evenly in pan.
• Cover tightly and let rise again for 30-60 minutes, until they’re puffy and don’t spring back right away if you press your finger gently into the dough. (Alternatively, you can pop the covered pan into the fridge and let them slow-rise overnight, then bring to room temperature before proceeding.)

Bake the rolls

• While the rolls rise, preheat your oven to 350°F with a rack in the center.
• Remove cover from pan and bake for about 22 minutes, until very lightly browned and just cooked through (internal temperature 188°F on an instant-read thermometer). Once baked, the pan will be very full. I have never experienced drips, but you may want to put a baking sheet on a rack below your pan just in case.

Make the icing

• To make the frosting, sift the powdered sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl.
• Add the butter.
• With the paddle or electric beaters, beat on low until incorporated and then on medium-high until smooth.
• Add vanilla, cream cheese, and heavy cream and beat on medium speed until perfectly smooth and creamy.
• Spread frosting over the whole batch or onto individual rolls on serving plates.

Notes

Make-ahead instructions

One of this recipe's special features is that it stays at its peak for several days, and quite soft for up to a week. Once cooled, store covered at cool room temperature, either iced or before icing. I like to reheat each roll right before eating with a very short stint in the microwave (my microwave is strong, and it takes 10 seconds).

For overnight cinnamon rolls

You've got two options. Since the dough stays so soft, you can simply bake them the day before and then reheat, covered with foil, in center of a 300°F oven until warmed through. Ice them on the day of serving.

Or you can let the rolls slow-rise in the fridge overnight and bake in the morning. After arranging the sliced dough in the pan, cover tightly and refrigerate. Remove from the fridge an hour before baking to let the dough finish rising. (Depending on the temperature of your fridge, they'll have risen a tiny bit or nearly all the way overnight.) Once rolls have risen per the description in the recipe card below, proceed as directed. You don't need to make any further changes.

To freeze the dough

After slicing the dough, arrange slices on a parchment-lined baking sheet and pop into the freezer right away. Once frozen solid, transfer to an airtight container and keep frozen for up to three months. When ready to use, arrange frozen slices in a baking pan as directed. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature, then let rise as directed in the recipe card below before proceeding.

Suggested Additions

Try adding two teaspoons of pre-ground cardamom (or 3/4 teaspoon if you're grinding from fresh) to the dough for a wonderful flavor that evokes Swedish cinnamon rolls.

Or add one cup (120 grams) finely chopped walnuts or pecans to the filling before spreading.

Dough recipe is adapted from King Arthur.

Nutrition

Serving: 1, Calories: 523kcal, Carbohydrates: 63g, Protein: 10g, Fat: 26g, Saturated Fat: 16g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 68mg, Sodium: 327mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 3g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Breakfast and Brunch

Cuisine: American

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