If you've ever decorated a home on a budget, chances are you've braved IKEA, the Swedish temple of cheap housewares and warm cinnamon rolls. We decided to recreate the popular rolls to IKEA standards - a few simple components and easy assembly for breakfast in bed.
There's no shortage of cinnamon roll recipes out there (as well as sticky buns, their doughier, caramel-coated sister). Most require time for dough to rise, which I took in stride with my first batch. But after hours of mixing and rising (twice!), I pulled dry, disappointing blobs from the oven. No, my guests said sadly (as we ate around an IKEA table), I wouldn't make those again.
Let's face it. I love fresh bread as much as the next girl, and enjoy making it when I have the time. But when I wake up craving cinnamon rolls I'm about as likely to start kneading as I am to build that bureau from scratch. This is about convenience: I want pre-made pieces I can screw together with an Allen key.
After that scarily Sandra Lee moment of realization I took a different tack. IKEA rolls are bready (unlike the gooey goodness of Cinnabon), so why not start with bread dough.... or Trader Joe's pizza dough, to be exact. Brush a square with melted butter and cinnamon-sugar, roll into swirls and bake, simple as that.
In 30 minutes, my house smelled of cinnamon and warm rolls emerged from the oven (tasting, if I may say so, better than IKEA's). Are there more authentic recipes out there? Sure, just like there's beautiful vintage furniture. But when you want to start the day with fresh-baked sweets, these no-fuss rolls are just the ticket.
IKEA-Inspired Cinnamon Rolls
makes 6 cinnamon rolls
1 package Trader Joe's plain pizza dough*
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Icing
1 tablespoon whipped cream cheese
1 tablespoon buttermilk
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine cinnamon and sugar. On a lightly-floured surface, roll pizza dough into a 9-inch square. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, leaving 1/2 inch border of plain dough around edges.
Roll dough to form a tight log, pinching to seal the seam shut. With the seam side down, cut evenly into six pieces with a serrated knife. Place in buttered pan, and brush tops with any remaining butter.
Bake until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool for a few minutes before icing.
For Icing: Whisk cream cheese and buttermilk in large bowl until thick and smooth. Sift in confectioners' sugar; whisk until smooth glaze forms, about 30 seconds.
Drizzle glaze over buns with a spoon. Or, if you want to get fancy, fill a plastic Ziploc bag with the glaze, cut off the tip of one corner, and drizzle in a professional-looking zigzag. Serve warm.
* You can substitute 2 packages of Pillsbury's French Loaf dough for the Trader Joe's pizza dough. The Pillsbury dough also made tasty rolls, but did they not rise as much in the oven.
Related:
• Quick Cinnamon Rolls
• Spicy Sticky Cinnamon Rolls
• Sleep In! How to Make Breakfast Rolls Ahead of Time
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I've been making cinnamon rolls using pizza dough for a while. It's always a request of repeat guests. I actually buy fresh dough from Wegman's and throw it in the fridge until I need it, or I use a cheap frozen thaw-able dough. Mostly I get the same results, so I don't really fuss over what brand of dough. I change things up for repeat guests with different nuts, orange zest in the icing, nutmeg/cloves/allspice added to the cinnamon, or something similar. I've yet to make a variety that didn't get devoured. And I never have to wake up incredibly early to whip up a nice breakfast for people. I get up, throw on the oven, roll out dough, slather ingredients, slice and bake while I catch a quick shower. Couldn't be simpler or more delicious!
If you want something nearly as fast but all home-made, the "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes" book has a great recipe for making cinnamon rolls using their make-ahead, no-knead (and no double-rise) dough. For me, it's easiest to get the rolls ready for baking the night before. Then in the morning, you just pull out the pan and pop them into the oven. (I imagine you could do the same thing with pizza dough, too.)
@marisab: yes, you can do ahead with the pizza dough--great point! Just need to get it out of the fridge in the morning and let it sit a bit before baking. I just lay the pre-prepped pan onto the oven, or nearby if you have a wall oven, and while the oven preheats, the rolls warm up just enough to rise again to where they need to be. When the preheat alarm goes off, they are usually ready to pop right in. It's a great time to prep coffee, squeeze juice, set the table, etc. I'm not a naturally early riser, so the prep the night before helps me catch a few extra zzz's, and if I just can't get out of bed in the morning, my husband (a very novice cook) can actually handle getting breakfast together for our guests while I rouse myself.
Thanks for the no-knead bread tip! There are so many mornings when I'd love to make rolls, but don't have anything prepped or defrosted ahead of time, and then I'm stuck.
Do these really not have to rise? I thought I tried this once and they turned out like hockey pucks. But I could be misremembering, it could have been my signature Rock Hard Whole Wheat Dough.
Gen.ius. I don't know why I never thought of it, thanks :)
These are known as kanelbullar in Sweden, a very popular pastry.
Mmmm, these sound delicious and super easy. Trader Joe's pizza dough is so good for so many things. Trader Joe's also just started carrying "jumbo" cinnamon rolls in the refrigerated section, the kind you pop out of a can. They are delicious (with better ingredients than your other canned cinnamon rolls...) and super easy too.
If you are trying to save time, Trader Joe's has cinnamon rolls in the refrigerated department... new for our store, they are awesome!
Oh, YUM.
I tried these this morning and was amazed at how good they were! I have to admit I was a little skeptical about using pizza dough, but they really came together nicely without anything to give away that they weren't entirely homemade. Definitely a keeper!
I always went hard core and insisted on making brioche for my cinnamon rolls. Until I tasted the cinnamon rolls from our local natural foods store. I finally macguyvered my own version using biscuit dough as the base, folding the dough in thirds 3 times to get some layer action. SO much easier.
DO NOT tell my spousal unit that it's possible to make these. They're the only reason she agrees to let me drag her to IKEA.
You're right that Swedish cinnamon rolls are made with a bread dough, and starting with TJ's pizza dough is Sheer Genius! Like you, my sticking point with making my own rolls is the bother and time involved in making the dough -- I remember making rolls with my grandmother when I was younger and making a batch of cinnamon rolls is pretty much guaranteed to consume an entire morning. Which is why she typically made very large batches and froze most of the rolls for later. I can hardly wait to try this trick myself.
If you want to go to a little more trouble, before the final roll out, you can roll the dough out, butter lightly, fold, and roll out again two or three times before you add the cinnamon and sugar. Also, another nice variant is to add ground hazel nuts or ground almonds to the butter/sugar/cinnamon layer. And of course, you don't need cinnamon sugar -- you can just use granulated sugar and cinnamon successively.
I'm so excited to see this--I'm hosting Christmas morning for my in-laws for the second year in a row. Last year, thinking I wanted a little of my own childhood traditions in the mix, I made some very complicated, from-scratch cinnamon buns that turned out small, dry, and not the gooey delights I had envisioned. This looks way simpler, and much tastier! Can't wait to try it...