Truck Stop Cinnamon Rolls!

Fresh baked truck stop cinnamon rolls

Making cinnamon rolls is hands down one of the most popular ways that folks use our brioche dough. Not only is this an easy dough to prepare, but since it can be used for up to five days after being made, there is the potential to eat cinnamon rolls every day of the week. Of course, we stand by the phrase “all things in moderation,” but it’s still nice to know that there’s a way to make every Monday morning more enjoyable.

Truck stop cinnamon rolls are not much different than our regular buns, they are just significantly bigger (each one can serve two. Or more?). They are perfect for brunch or company; a special indulgence.

Cinnamon rolls before going into the oven

Truck Stop Cinnamon Rolls (For A Crowd)

2 1/2 pounds Brioche dough (page 65 of Holiday and Celebration Bread or recipe here on the website) OR (page 300 of The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, or the recipe here on the website)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon orange zest
6 tablespoons butter, melted

Cream Cheese Icing:

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
6 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
4 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon orange zest

Here is the secret to getting the right texture for the buns. You need to fold the dough over a few times and get that gluten all linked up and excited. This happens naturally with the master recipe, but all the butter in the brioche can stand in the way, so we need to give it a little help. Just 3 or 4 turns will do the trick, an extra 30 seconds of work will make all the difference. Now that we have the gluten all excited and bunched up we need to give it a rest or it will be impossible to roll out. This may take 15-20 minutes. If your kitchen is warmer, it may go faster.

Once the dough is ready, roll it to 1/4-inch thick rectangle. Brush the entire surface with the melted butter. In a small bowl mix together the sugars, cinnamon and zest. Spread the mixture over the butter topped dough. Use your hands to make sure you have an even coat of the sugar. Then roll the dough up, starting at the short end.

Just sliced cinnamon rolls

Use a Bread Knife, Kitchen Scissors or floss to cut the log into 8,10, or 12 equal pieces. (The 8-pieces here made large buns, cutting less pieces will make larger buns, more pieces smaller buns.)

Cinnamon rolls ready for the oven

Set the buns on a parchment lined Sheet Pan or in a buttered baking dish. Give them about 1 1/2 to 2-inches between them. It is okay if they rise together in the oven.

Loosely cover the buns and let them rest between 1 1/2 to 2 hours. The long rest will insure that you have a fluffy bun. (You can set these up the night before and let them rest overnight in the refrigerator. In the morning take them out and let them sit on the counter for about 45 minutes to an hour.) You may get away with slightly shorter rise, but the buns will not be quite as soft.

Preheat the oven to 350°F and place the rack in the middle of the oven.

Unfrosted truck stop cinnamon rolls

Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, just until the centers are set when poked with your finger (they should be caramel colored). Let them cool for about 10 minutes.

Truck stop cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing

Mix together the ingredients for the icing and spread over the warm buns. Enjoy!

Truck stop cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting

Red Star Yeast (Lesaffre Yeast Corp.) provided samples of Red Star PLATINUM Yeast for recipe testing, and sponsors BreadIn5’s website and other promotional activities. 

16 thoughts to “Truck Stop Cinnamon Rolls!”

  1. Hi Zoe,

    First and foremost, thank you for your live videos. I love watching you! My question is: can scones be made with the your 5 min dough or would you say scones dough is a diff texture more of a biscuit? Just curious since you created several diff recipes using the same dough over the past couple of weeks. Thanks in advance, Robin 😉

    1. Scones really are more biscuit-y, and they’re not risen with yeast, so the flavor profile will be completely different. That said, if you put currants, raisins, or cranberries into our challah or brioche (or other enriched recipes from our books or this website), flatten it out, and cut triangles– it will delicious and vaguely similar to scones! (with coffee or tea, for my money)

  2. So I have loved your cookbooks and bread. I have been doing your breads for over 10 years. (Can’t remember when I got started.) Anyway, I tried a version of the cinnamon rolls the other day….not this one exactly. It is a recipe similar to the Amish milk bread dough – just no potato flour. Anyway, the bread part of the cinnamon rolls didn’t turn out like bread. It was almost more cakey than stringy with the gluten. When I was picking up the dough out of the bowl (after sitting for over 5 hours total), it also was not stringy like bread dough should be. I have done cinnamon rolls with your original bread dough forever ago. And I have made cinnamon rolls just the regular way as well. So I know what it is supposed to turn out like. Just not sure what is going wrong. Any ideas? Does my flour not have enough gluten? Should I add gluten? I have done it about 4 different times now. I have used white flour and 1/2 white and 1/2 wheat. Even used a new bag of flour. Would appreciate any thoughts. Thank you!! Again, love your recipes!

    1. Your question is getting at whether there was enough protein in the flour– did you change brands? What brand of flour are you using, for the white, and the WW. If nothing’s changed, it’ll be hard to figure out why it’s coming out differently. Long-shot–any chance your oven temp is off? Could check with something like https://ow.ly/8CVPU

      1. That is the crazy thing. Nothing has changed. The flour is just a store brand. The wheat is home ground. Haven’t had problems with them in the past. I have a thermometer in the oven. That is consistent. The only thing that has changed is trying out the cinnamon roll recipe since I hadn’t tried that before. So I just thought I’d ask just in case you had seen something like this happen before. I’ll keep working it.
        Thanks!

      2. Ah, I think we have a winner. Home-ground flour means that the moisture level (and for that matter, the protein level) isn’t as consistent each time you buy it. Commercial vendors source enormous quantities, heat-dry it, and then blend it so every bag has exactly the same moisture and protein levels. Even if you always buy your wheat from the same place, it’s going to vary much more than commercial. So basically, the recipes have to be flexible for hydration.

        Also, your grinder’s surfaces may be wearing, and that’ll change the grind–coarser probably, and that changes the results too, for hydration, and the dough’s handling properties.

  3. Hello! Love your recipes (and Zoe’s Instagram!). I have a few substitution questions I’m hoping you can answer. First: can I use your white bread master recipe, instead of brioche? Next, can I use coconut oil instead of butter (I can’t eat dairy)? Lastly, can I use grapefruit rind instead or orange? Or should I just omit that? Thank you so much!

    1. All of these swaps should work just fine, but the result of course will have a different taste and texture.

  4. Hello from Staying Home in California. I am planning on making your cinnamon rolls. When using brioche dough, you instruct to fold the dough. I assume you are rolling into a rectangle and folding to create an envelope? Can you elaborate? Thank you.

  5. Wow! I can’t wait to try out your recipes for gluten free bread. It is becoming very difficult to find in stores. My poor little grandson needs it & then when you do find any products you are limited with the purchase!

  6. Hello, your Truck Stop Cinnamon Rolls have been my go-to for years. My family loves them; however, we now have a family member with an egg allergy. Is there another dough recipe from “The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day” book that works as a substitute for the brioche dough in this recipe? Thank you!

    1. Hi Ashley,

      You can make these with the master recipe. When you roll them out, use sugar to do the rolling instead of flour and it will make a more tender and sweeter dough. it can get a little sticky, so I sometimes do this on a silicone mat.

      Thanks, Zoë

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