Evelyn’s Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Evelyn’s Homemade Cinnamon Rolls – seriously the BEST cinnamon rolls EVER! Surprisingly simple to make and ready to eat in about 2 hours. Butter, sugar, salt, yeast, powdered milk, water, eggs, and flour. Top with a quick powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla glaze. Makes a lot. Great for gift giving! Freezes well too. My husband ate a whole pan himself!

pouring icing on homemade cinnamon rolls

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The BEST Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

These cinnamon rolls are AMAZING! My friend, Robin, gave me a cookbook a few years ago from Evelyn Watts. Evelyn owned a bakery in Munford, AL, and her family made a cookbook of all her recipes. Robin gave me a copy and told me that the cinnamon rolls were the best! I finally got around to making the cinnamon rolls. OMG! Let me tell you, these are the BEST homemade cinnamons rolls EVER! Chicken Legs ate a whole pan by himself! Fortunately, this makes a lot of cinnamon rolls, so I was able to eat a couple myself. Crazy good.

cinnamon rolls rising

How To Make Cinnamon Rolls With Yeast

I know making homemade cinnamon rolls can be intimidating. Working with yeast tends to scare people. Well, no need to be scared. Evelyn’s Cinnamon Rolls are very easy to make.

Start with a ¼ cup of yeast. YES, a ¼ of a cup. It sounds like a lot, but that is the correct amount. Take the yeast and mix it with warm water, melted butter, and sugar. Let it bubble up. This will take 2 or 3 minutes. Add the salt, eggs, flour, and powdered milk. Mix that together and let it rise until it is doubled in size.

Punch the dough down and divide it into two. Roll each dough ball out into a 24×14-inch rectangle. Top with melted butter, cinnamon, and sugar. Slice and place in a greased pan to rise. Once the cinnamon rolls are nice and fat, bake. Top with a quick homemade icing and you are in for a treat!

glazed cinnamon roll

Can Cinnamon Rolls Be Frozen?

YES! This recipe makes about 3-½ dozen cinnamon rolls. You can freeze the unbaked cinnamon rolls. Place the rolls in the pan and freeze before they rise. When ready to bake, take the rolls out. Let them thaw and rise until they are double in size. Bake as directed below.

You can also freeze the baked cinnamon rolls for a quick treat later. Cover with plastic wrap and foil.

How to Reheat Cinnamon Rolls With Icing

To reheat leftover cinnamon rolls, just pop them in the microwave for 30 to 60 seconds. To reheat frozen cinnamon rolls, thaw completely and microwave or cover in foil and reheat at 350ºF in the oven for about 20 minutes.

glazed homemade cinnamon rolls

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls Make Great Gifts!

We absolutely LOVED these cinnamon rolls! They are surprisingly simple to make and they taste AMAZING! They make GREAT homemade gifts. These would be perfect for teacher gifts, neighbors, co-workers, and friends.

As I said this makes about 3-½ dozen cinnamon rolls. Perfect for gift giving. I like to buy a bunch of round foil pans and bake the homemade cinnamon rolls in them. Once they are iced, cover with plastic wrap or put in a clear cellophane bag with a ribbon.

pouring frosting over homemade cinnamon rolls

Evelyn’s Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Yield: 12 people
Prep Time 1 hour 45 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 5 minutes
Evelyn’s Homemade Cinnamon Rolls – seriously the BEST cinnamon rolls EVER! Surprisingly simple to make and ready to eat in about 2 hours. Butter, sugar, salt, yeast, powdered milk, water, eggs, and flour. Top with a quick powdered sugar, milk and vanilla glaze. Makes a lot. Great for gift giving! Freezes well too. My husband ate a whole pan himself! #cinnamonrolls #bread #breakfast

Ingredients:

Dough

Filling

Glaze

Instructions:

  • In the bowl on a heavy-duty stand mixer, combine yeast, warm water, sugar, and 6 Tbsp melted butter. Let sit until foamy/bubbly, about 3 minutes.
  • Add salt, powdered milk, eggs, and flour. Mix with the dough hook until thoroughly combined. Cover loosely and let rise until double, about 45 minutes.
  • To assemble the rolls, remove half the dough from the bowl.
  • On a floured surface, roll dough into a 24×14-inch rectangle. Combine 1-½ cups sugar and cinnamon. Spread ¼ cup of melted butter on top of each rectangle. Sprinkle with half of the cinnamon sugar mixture.
  • Starting on the long end, roll the dough up tightly jelly-roll style.
  • Cut into one-inch pieces and place in greased baking pans. Repeat with remaining dough.
  • Let rolls rise until double in size, about 45 to 60 minutes.
  • Preheat oven to 350ºF. Bake rolls for 20 to 25 minutes.
  • To make the glaze: In a medium-size mixing bowl, mix together the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and milk. Drizzle over warm cinnamon rolls.

Notes:

Can increase amounts of melted butter and cinnamon-sugar mixture in rolls if desired.
Adjust the amount of milk in the glaze to get your desired consistency.
Can add chopped pecans to cinnamon sugar mixture for pecan cinnamon rolls.
Can freeze baked cinnamon rolls.
Can freeze unbaked cinnamon rolls. Prepare through step 6 and freeze. When ready to bake, take the rolls out. Let them thaw and rise until they are double in size. Bake as directed above.

Steph

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glazed homemade cinnamon rolls

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Comments

  1. Hi Mrs. Evelyn is my mom. Glad you enjoyed her cookbook. My mom was a wonderful, Christian and wonderful cook. We miss her so much . Thank u for sharing her recipes. She loved to cook. Thank u Tammy Watts McBurnett

    1. My friend, Robin Hill, gave me your Mom’s cookbook. We have enjoyed so many of the recipes. I hate that I never got to meet her. Robin just loved her!

  2. Hi!

    How long will it take the rolls to unthaw and rise after Step 6?

    I want to make them in advance for Christmas but want to allow enough time for them to thaw and rise on Christmas Eve for Christmas morning.

  3. Would you mind sharing more recipes from Evelyn's cookbook? I have tried to find it with no success and her son says they will not be doing another printing of it.

    1. I’ve shared several on the blog. Email me & I will send you links. I can also send other recipes if you know what you want????

  4. Steph,

    Do you know why Evelyn's recipe calls for a 1/4 cup of yeast? Does it really need that amount?

    1. I don't know why Evelyn used that exact amount. I used 1/4 cup of yeast to achieve the results above. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.

  5. When I read the title of your post I knew it was going to be Evelyn Watts ! I grew up in Munford and she was the manager of our lunch room ! Yeast rolls , cinnamon rolls , cheese straws, cream cheese mints and peanut butter cookies , takes me back to my childhood 🙂

    1. yes! I am friends with Robin Hill. She gave me Evelyn's recipe book a few years ago. So many wonderful recipes.

  6. These look really good. Just a hint, cut them with a kitchen scissors rather than a knife and they will keep their shape much better. Some people would say a use piece of dental floss but I think a scissors beats that.

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