Use Bread Flour In Your Cinnamon Rolls And Thank Us Later

Cinnamon rolls are a sweet treat, equally as delicious as they are comforting. Each bite of the pillowy dough, topped with decadent frosting, seems to taste better than the next, especially if you're unraveling your way to the center. There are plenty of recipe variations out there, whether you're experimenting with baking in a cast iron skillet or making cinnamon rolls in a waffle maker, but a batch made from scratch is hard to beat. 

Using bread flour when making cinnamon rolls will make it hard to go back to canned or even store-bought rolls. It contains more protein than all-purpose flour, which allows you to knead it for longer without the dough getting tough. The higher protein content in bread flour will also allow for more gluten development, which ultimately leads to softer and fluffier cinnamon rolls. If your cinnamon roll recipe uses all-purpose flour, you can substitute bread flour in a 1-to-1 ratio. Even if you have none on hand, it's worth the grocery store trip — we promise.

Bread flour has a protein content of around 12 to 14 percent, which is higher than any other flour. As its name suggests, it is ideally used in breads, pizza dough, or pretzels. This type of flour will make your cinnamon rolls rise better, giving them an airier, fluffier texture. Because the dough contains yeast, gluten development from the higher protein content is necessary to give this bread structure and chew. The 10 to 12 percent protein found in all-purpose flour may not sound like a significant difference, but it will most likely lead to your rolls deflating and becoming denser once baked.

Bread flour can also retain more liquid, which will bring more moisture to the dough, once again resulting in a softer cinnamon roll. Keep in mind that even bread flour is sensitive to over-kneading, so make sure you only knead the dough until it's elastic in texture. Be careful not to overwork the dough when rolling it out, either, as you'll end up with denser rolls. And don't be overly generous with the bread flour — only add as much as you need to keep the dough from sticking. Too much flour will weigh the rolls down, preventing them from rising. So there you have it: bread flour is the cinnamon roll upgrade you didn't know you 'kneaded.'