Brown butter, spices, & pecans take these brown butter pecan cinnamon rolls to another level of delicious. Soft, gooey, full of warm flavors & topped with a dreamy brown butter cream cheese frosting!
Homemade cinnamon rolls have to be in heaven. I’m convinced of it. If you’ve never made and/or eaten homemade cinnamon rolls before, I plead with you to do so ASAP. Then, and only then, will you understand why I take such a strong stance on the spiritual matters surrounding homemade cinnamon rolls. And these cinnamon rolls in particular have a special place in the heavenly realms. Why? Brown butter, cozy spices, and pecans. That’s why.
These cinnamon rolls are just too delicious. Brown butter is infused into the dough AND into the dreamy cream cheese frosting that’s slathered on top. Also, the filling is a concoction of brown sugar, butter, pecans & every cozy spice you can think of. Are you drooling? I’m drooling.
Comfort food at it’s most comforting.
Also, I’m posting these right before Thanksgiving because let’s be honest these would be PERFECT for Thanksgiving morning. Your friends and family will definitely be thankful for you after you make these. Like when you go around the table & say what you’re thankful for, someone will in fact say, “I’m thankful for (insert your name here) because he/she made those delish brown butter pecan cinnamon rolls.”
Happy Thanksgiving & happy baking, my friends! I’m thankful for you even if you hit the “jump to recipe” button & skipped reading my entire monologue about the drool-worthiness of these delish cinnamon rolls.
What you’ll need to bake these cinnamon rolls:
Active dry yeast: Yeast is the key player in bread fermentation. By feeding on sugars in the dough & producing carbon dioxide, yeast serves as a leavening agent, strengthens the dough, and helps develop flavor.
Whole milk: Tenderizes the dough & makes these cinnamon rolls extra soft. The sugars in the milk help activate the yeast in the fermentation process.
Sugar: Adds sweetness, helps tenderize the dough, and helps activate the yeast in fermentation process.
Flour: For structure.
Kosher salt: For balance. TIP: While I recommend kosher salt, if you don’t have it on hand, use ½ the amount of table salt.
Eggs: For binding and structure.
Vanilla: For added flavor.
Brown butter: Browning the butter adds a distinctive, nutty, caramel-like flavor to these cinnamon rolls. Melted butter also adds moisture and softness to the dough.
Butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom & pecans for the filling.
Brown butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and whole milk for the frosting.
FAQs:
Why is this recipe primarily listed in grams? I develop my recipes in grams because weighing your ingredients is the best, most accurate way to bake. Baking is a science and precision is key to success! Measuring cups are not standardized, and what’s more, the way each baker uses them varies drastically, which ultimately gives you inconsistent (and sometimes negative) results. For instance, did you know that scooping flour out of a cannister can give you 50% more flour than what’s called for in the recipe? By weighing your ingredients rather than using measuring cups, you can confidently know that you are using the correct amount of each ingredient, giving you greater success & delicious results. I highly recommend using a kitchen scale, like this one when you bake. Plus, it makes clean up a lot easier!
Can I make these ahead of time? I haven’t tried with this specific recipe yet, but I imagine you can do some of the work a day in advance. I would recommend the following: the night before baking, make the dough, do the first proof, & punch the dough down before covering and popping it in the fridge overnight. The next morning you can roll out your dough, assemble, do the second proof, & bake!
Where is the best place to proof my dough? Yeasted dough requires a warm environment to proof, ideally around 75°F. Most often, allowing your dough to proof covered at room temperature will do the trick. However, if your kitchen is a bit chilly, turn your oven on & place the bowl containing your dough on top of the oven. The ambient temperature from the oven will provide some extra warmth to proof the dough!
How will I know when these are baked? The best way to know when these are fully baked is by measuring the internal temperature, which should be 188°F. If you don’t have an instant-read thermometer, you can follow some other cues: 1) the exterior should be golden brown and 2) a toothpick inserted into one of the rolls should come out clean. When in doubt, it’s best to underbake cinnamon rolls than to overbake!
Can I leave out the pecans? Sure thing! You can opt to leave out the pecans & these will still be delicious.
A few notes before you bake:
Browning butter is a simple process that adds a distinctive, nutty, caramel-like flavor to these cinnamon rolls. Here’s how you do it:
- Be sure to use a stainless-steel or light-colored pan so you can see the transformation of the butter. Otherwise, you won’t know when the butter is officially browned.
- The process goes by quickly, so keep a close watch and don’t leave the stovetop.
- Brown the butter by looking and listening:
- Place the butter over medium heat, stirring until melted. The butter will eventually begin to boil, and you’ll hear a crackling sound- this is the water evaporating from the butter. At this point, reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to stir the butter frequently.
- The boiling and crackling will eventually subside, and a foam will form on the surface.
- While you stir, you’ll notice the liquid butter underneath the foam change from golden yellow to tan to brown, and you’ll see brown flecks appear throughout the foamy mixture on top. This is when you know the butter is properly browned and it’s time to come off the heat.
- Remove from heat and pour butter into a heatproof bowl. Don’t forget to scrape out all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan! This is where all the best flavor comes from.
This recipe calls for brown butter in two forms: melted and solidified/ softened. The melted brown butter will be used in the cinnamon roll dough & the solidified/ softened brown butter is used in the cream cheese frosting. Be sure to read through the recipe- it gives thorough instructions regarding all things browned butter!
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Brown Butter Pecan Cinnamon Rolls
- Prep Time: 35 minutes (plus 2 hours proofing time)
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 12 rolls 1x
- Category: Breakfast/ Brunch
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Breakfast
Description
Brown butter, spices, & pecans take these brown butter pecan cinnamon rolls to another level of delicious. Soft, gooey, full of warm flavors & topped with a dreamy brown butter cream cheese frosting!
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 240 gm (1 cup) whole milk, warmed to 105-108°F
- 7 gm (1 packet) active dry yeast
- 67 gm + 1 tablespoon (1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon) granulated sugar, divided
- 531 gm (4 1/4 cups, spoon & leveled) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 113 gm (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, browned & cooled slightly (*see recipe for instructions)
For the filling:
- 113 gm (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 160 gm (2/3 cup, firmly packed) light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 90 gm (3/4 cup) pecan halves, chopped
For the frosting:
- 113 gm (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, browned, solidified, and softened (*see recipe for instructions)
- 2 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 150 gm (1 1/4 cups) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon whole milk
Instructions
To brown the butter:
- First, brown the butter that you will use for the cinnamon roll dough & the frosting.
- Place 226 gm (1 cup) butter in a small stainless-steel or light-colored saucepan set over medium heat, stirring until melted. Allow to come to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, stirring frequently. Butter will start to make a crackling noise.
- Eventually the crackling will subside, and a foamy mixture will surface to the top. As you continue to stir, you’ll notice the liquid butter underneath the foam will go from golden yellow, to tan, to brown, and the foamy mixture will have brown flecks throughout. Once you’ve reached this stage, pour butter into a medium-sized heatproof bowl, being sure to get all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Set aside 90 gm (6 tablespoons) of the browned butter to use in the cinnamon roll dough & place the rest in the fridge to solidify (you will use this later for the frosting).
To make the dough & assemble the rolls:
- In a small bowl, combine warm milk, yeast, and 12 gm (1 tablespoon) sugar. Set aside for 10 minutes, until yeast is activated & mixture is foamy.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the hook attachment, add remaining 67 gm (1/3 cup) sugar, flour, kosher salt, eggs, vanilla, 90 gm (6 tablespoons) browned butter, & foamy yeast mixture, and mix on low speed until mixtures comes together, about 2-3 minutes. Increase to medium speed and knead for 7-9 minutes, until dough is smooth, elastic, and pulling away from the sides of the bowl.
- Place dough in a lightly greased bowl & turn to coat. Cover with plastic wrap & leave to proof in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, 1-1 1/2 hours.
- Before the dough finishes the first proof, prepare the filling (see instructions below). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper & set aside.
- Punch down the dough to deflate. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface & roll into an 18″x12″ rectangle. Spread filling evenly over the dough, leaving a 1″ border along one long side. Sprinkle chopped pecans evenly over the filling.
- Starting with the long side covered with filling, roll the dough into a tight log. Place the log seam-side down on the prepared baking sheet, & place in the freezer for 10 minutes to firm up a bit. In the meantime, lightly spray a 9×13″ baking tin with baking spray and line with parchment paper, allowing excess paper to hang over the sides.
- Using a sharp, serrated knife, trim the ends of the log & cut into 12 equal rolls. Place rolls in the prepared baking tin, leaving space in between each roll to allow room to rise. Lightly cover with plastic wrap & proof for another 30-45 minutes, until rolls are puffy. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350°F. (Tip: now is a good time to check on the chilled brown butter. If it is hard, go ahead and set it out on the counter to come to room temperature to make the frosting. If it is still liquid, leave it in the fridge.)
- Bake for 30- 35 minutes, or until golden brown and an instant read thermometer inserted into one of the rolls registers 188°F.
- Spread frosting onto warm rolls. Serve warm.
To make the filling:
- In a small bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, stir together softened butter, brown sugar, spices, and vanilla until creamy.
To make the frosting:
- Remove the remaining brown butter from the fridge if you haven’t done so already. If the brown butter is too hard, fill a bowl with warm water & place the bowl of brown butter inside for a few minutes, until the butter softens.
- Place cream cheese & 70 gm (5 tablespoons) solidified and softened browned butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and cream on medium-high speed until fully combined & creamy. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add in powdered sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, & milk, and beat on medium-high speed until combined & creamy, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Reduce mixer to low speed & continue to beat for 1 minute to remove excess air.
