These are the ultimate soft cinnamon rolls in the WORLD. Big, fluffy, soft, gooey, and absolutely delicious. The best thing about these rolls is their texture. While all cinnamon rolls are delicious straight from the oven, they often harden up and become dry as they cool. I assure you this recipe gives you the light, fluffy, moist cinnamon rolls evar, these rolls will stay soft for several days after baking. Youโll never go back to any other recipe once you try this one!
Welcome to the All Cinnamon Lovers on this cinnamon board ๐ Seriously, these cinnamon rolls are so big, fluffy, and so PERFECT, packed with not only a cinnamon brown sugar filling also with some yummy peaches compote and brown butter streusel and glazed with vanilla icing glaze that drips into the middle and soaks every single bite.
How to Make Ultimate Soft Cinnamon Rolls With Peach Compote Video?
What is the trick to keeping the cinnamon rolls soft and fluffy?
If you’re one who is looking for a wonderfully soft, tender dinner roll don’t worry I assure you are at the right place ๐ This Asian technique gives the ultimate soft cinnamon rolls that stay moist and fresh for longer days after baking at room temperature. I bake cinnamon rolls with tangzhong, don’t worry this name sounds difficult but the technique is very easy.
What is Tangzhong?
Tangzhong involves cooking a portion of the flour and liquid in the recipe into a thick slurry prior to adding the remaining ingredients. Why? This pre-cooking accomplishes two positive things: it makes rolls softer and more tender and extends their shelf life. By using this method, the flour will absorb twice as much hot water or milk as it does the cool/lukewarm water or milk you’d usually use in yeast dough.
Not only does the starch in the flour absorb more liquid; since heating the starch with water creates structure, it’s able to hold onto that extra liquid throughout the kneading, baking, and cooling processes. Which in turn means:
โข Since there’s less unabsorbed water in the dough, it’s less sticky and easier to knead;
โข The rolls may rise higher, due to more water creating more internal steam (which makes rolls rise in the oven โ along with the carbon dioxide given off by the yeast);
โข Having retained more water during baking, rolls will be moister and will stay soft and fresh longer.
Let’s Make Cinnamon Rolls!
To make the tangzhong, Combine a small amount of bread flour, water, and milk (quantity mentioned in the recipe card below) in a small saucepan, and whisk until no lumps remain. Place the saucepan over medium heat, and cook the mixture, whisking constantly, until thick and the whisk leaves lines on the bottom of the pan. This will probably take only a minute or so. Remove from the heat, and set it aside for several minutes to come to room temperature.
To make the dough: Add bread flour or all-purpose flour in a large bowl attached with the stand mixer. Add dry milk powder, dry instant yeast, salt, and mix the dry ingredients with the whisk. Add the tangzhong, melted butter, eggs, and lukewarm milk in the dry ingredients and knead the dough โ by hand, mixer, or bread machine โ to make a smooth, elastic, somewhat sticky dough.
Shape the dough into a ball, and let it rest in a lightly greased bowl covered with a cling wrap for 60 to 90 minutes, until puffy but not necessarily doubled in bulk.
Prepare Peach Compote:
I have been eyeing up on some yummy ripe peaches in my fridge and I decided to give a whole lot more flavour to my cinnamon rolls with peach filling. I peeled the peaches and cut in cubes, and put them into a saucepan. Add light brown sugar and some salt in it. Place over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, then roughly mash. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, for15 minutes, or until thick. Transfer to an airtight container and chill completely. Can be made ahead.
Prepare Cinnamon Filling:
This filling is very easy, pour melted but cooled unsalted butter in a bowl and add brown sugar and cinnamon powder with vanilla. Mix it and set aside.
Icing Glaze:
The icing is truly unforgettable too! Just powdered sugar, cream and vanilla. YES PLEASE. Cinnabon, youโve got nothing on these rolls. Mix all ingredients and your icing is ready. You can adjust the consistency by adding more powdered sugar or cream.
After 90 min, when the dough has risen, gently deflate the risen dough, divide it in half, and shape each piece into a rough ball. Working with one piece at a time, roll the dough into an 18″ x 8″ rectangle. Don’t use extra flour for rolling and dusting the work surface. I would suggest using a silicon mat or parchment paper to roll out the dough.
Brush half the cinnamon filling onto the rolled-out dough and then spread the peaches compote to the rolled dough surface. You can use peaches compote or apple compote also, you can skip this filling. Starting with one edge, roll the dough into a log. Put these two logs into the freezer for 30 minutes.
Cut the log into 6 slices, 1 1/2″ each. Repeat with the second piece of dough and the remaining filling. Lightly grease a 9″ x 13″ pan. Space the rolls in the pan. Cover the pan and let the rolls rise for 45 to 60 minutes until they’re crowding one another and are quite puffy. While the rolls are rising, preheat the oven to 350ยฐF or 180 ยฐC with a rack in the bottom third. Uncover the rolls, and bake them for 22 to 25 minutes, until they feel set. They might be just barely browned; that’s OK. It’s better to under-bake these rolls than bake them too long. Their interior temperature at the centre should be about 188ยฐF.
Remove the rolls from the oven, and turn them out of the pan onto a rack. Spread them with the icing; it’ll partially melt into the rolls. Serve the rolls warm. Store completely cool rolls for a couple of days at room temperature, or freeze for up to 1 month.
Why there’s no sugar in the dough for these rolls?
First, we feel the sugar in the dough, being hygroscopic, tends to attract all the water molecules to itself, leaving the surrounding bread with a somewhat dry mouthfeel. And second, between their filling and glaze, the rolls have the perfect amount of sugar to taste wonderfully sweet โ without seeming too sweet.

Ingredients
For Tongzhong:
- 5 tablespoons or 71g water
- 5 tablespoons or 71g whole milk
- 3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon or 28g Bread Flour
For Dough:
- all of the tangzhong (above)
- 4 cups + 2 tablespoons or 496g Bread Flour
- 1/4 cup or 35g dry milk
- 1 3/4 teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast
- 3/4 cup or 170g lukewarm whole milk
- 2 large eggs
- 3/8 cup (6 tablespoons) or 85g unsalted butter, melted
For Cinnamon Filling:
- 100g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 180g dark brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- pinch of salt
For Peach Compote:
- 1000g peaches, peeled and diced
- 50g dark brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1/2 tsp salt
For Icing Glaze:
- 150g powdered sugar sifted
- 3 Tbsp heavy cream
- 1/4 tsp vanilla bean paste
Instructions
For Tangzhong/Starter:
-
Combine bread flour, water, and milk in a small saucepan, and whisk until no lumps remain.
-
Place the saucepan over medium heat, and cook the mixture, whisking constantly, until thick and the whisk leaves lines on the bottom of the pan. This will probably take only a minute or so. Remove from the heat, and set it aside for several minutes.
For The Dough:
-
Add bread flour in a large bowl and add dry milk and salt. Mix all dry ingredients with a whisk.
-
Add the tangzhong with the remaining dough ingredients includes melted butter, eggs, and milk. Knead the dough โ by hand, mixer, or bread machine โ to make a smooth, elastic, somewhat sticky dough.
- Shape the dough into a ball, and let it rest in a lightly greased covered bowl for 60 to 90 minutes, until puffy but not necessarily doubled in bulk.
For Peach Compote:
- Place all of the ingredients into a medium pan and place over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, then roughly mash.
- Continue to cook, stirring frequently, for 15 minutes, or until thick. Transfer to an airtight container and chill completely. It can be made ahead.
For Cinnamon Filling:
- Pour melted but cooled unsalted butter in a bowl and add brown sugar and cinnamon powder with vanilla. Mix it and set aside.
For Icing Glaze:
- Mix all ingredients in a bowl and mix it with a fork or whisk and your icing is ready. You can adjust the consistency by adding more powdered sugar or cream.
Assembling:
-
Gently deflate the risen dough, divide it in half, and shape each piece into a rough rectangle.
-
Working with one piece at a time, roll the dough into an 18" x 8" rectangle.
-
Brush half the cinnamon filling onto the rolled-out dough.
- Spread the peach compote all over the dough with a spatula.
-
Starting with one edge, roll the dough into a log. With the seam underneath, cut the log into 6 slices, 1 1/2" each.
-
Repeat with the second piece of dough and the remaining filling.
-
Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan. Space the rolls in the pan.
-
Cover the pan and let the rolls rise for 90 minutes until they're crowding one another and are quite puffy.
-
While the rolls are rising, preheat the oven to 350ยฐF or 180ยฐC with a rack in the bottom third.
-
Uncover the rolls, and bake them for 22 to 25 minutes, until they feel set. They might be just barely browned; that's OK. It's better to under-bake these rolls than bake them too long. Their interior temperature at the center should be about 188ยฐF.
-
Remove the rolls from the oven, and turn them out of the pan onto a rack. Spread them with the icing; it'll partially melt into the rolls.
-
Serve the rolls warm. Store completely cool rolls for a couple of days at room temperature, or freeze for up to 1 month.
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