Fluffy, tender, sweet, butter and ridiculously good, these Stroud’s Cinnamon Rolls are heavenly! They’re perfect for anytime of the day. You’re going to fall in love with them.
If you’re like me, you have probably never tasted or even heard of Stroud’s Cinnamon Rolls, until now that is. They’re served at the Oak Ridge Manor in Kansas City, MO and are a customer favorite.
After getting a recent issue of Cook’s Country magazine and seeing these rolls in there, I knew it was my duty as a blogger to make and share this recipe with you ASAP. These cinnamon rolls are not your typical/normal “cinnamon roll” They’re basically a cross between a dinner roll and a cinnamon roll. Instead of the cinnamon sugar mixture being swirled up inside the roll, the mixture coats the outside of the rolls and they are heavenly!
They’re seriously phenomenal and it’s impossible to stop at just one. So you might want to be prepared to take some over to a neighbor like I did so you don’t eat the entire plate.
If that doesn’t make your mouth water, then I don’t know what will.
You guys, these are seriously fantastic and really simple to make. I changed up the way the dough is mixed because I didn’t love how the instructions had you do it. They turn out perfectly and now the dough comes together even easier.
HOW TO MAKE STROUD’S CINNAMON ROLLS:
- Whisk together warm milk, butter, and egg in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add flour and yeast and using the dough hook, mix on low speed until all flour is moistened, about 2 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes.
- Add sugar and salt and mix until dough is smooth (dough will be slightly tacky/sticky and stick to the bottom of the bowl). Scoop dough into a large, greased bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Combine sugar, cinnamon, and salt in bowl. Reserve ¾ cup cinnamon sugar. Place remaining cinnamon sugar in shallow dish. Place 6 tablespoons melted butter in second shallow dish.
- Grease 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Turn out dough onto counter and divide into fifteen portions (about 1 oz each). Place a portion of dough in your palm and roll against counter into smooth, tight ball. Repeat with remaining dough.
- Roll each dough ball in melted butter in shallow dish, then roll in cinnamon sugar in shallow dish. Place dough balls in prepared dish in 3 rows of five into the prepared pan. Cover loosely with plastic and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 1 hour (cinnamon sugar coating may crack during rising; this is OK). Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Bake until puffed and golden brown, about 25 minutes.
- Whisk reserved cinnamon sugar and remaining 6 tablespoons melted butter in bowl until combined (mixture may look separated). Brush tops and sides of hot rolls with cinnamon sugar–butter mixture (use all of it) and let cool in dish for 10 minutes. Remove rolls from dish and serve warm.
The pan on the left is how they will look after you have rolled the dough balls in the melted butter and cinnamon/sugar mixture. The pan on the right is how they look after they have raised. The sugar mixture on top will crack on of the some of the rolls and that’s just fine.
Look at these beauties after they come out of the oven and are brushed with more melted butter and cinnamon & sugar. Oh my goodness I want one right now.
CAN I MAKE THESE ROLLS AHEAD OF TIME?
Yes you absolutely can. Before letting the dough balls rise for the second time (step 5) cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Let dough balls sit at room temperature for 1 hour before baking. (You do roll them in the butter and cinnamon/sugar mixture first and then cover the dish with plastic wrap.)
Print
Stroud’s Cinnamon Rolls
- Total Time: 2 hours 5 minutes
- Yield: 15 rolls 1x
Ingredients
Dough:
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm milk (110 degrees)
- 4 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1 large egg
- 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
Coating:
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (I use kosher)
- 12 tablespoons butter, melted, divided
Instructions
- Whisk together the warm milk, butter, and egg in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add flour and yeast and using the dough hook mix on low speed until all flour is moistened, about 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl as needed. Let stand for 15 minutes.
- Add sugar and salt and mix on medium-low speed for 5 minutes or until dough is smooth (dough will stick to the bottom of the bowl). Transfer dough to a large, greased bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Combine sugar, cinnamon, and salt in bowl. Reserve ¾ cup cinnamon sugar. Place remaining cinnamon sugar in shallow dish. Place 6 tablespoons melted butter in second shallow dish.
- Grease 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Turn out dough onto counter and divide into fifteen portions (about 1 oz each). Place a portion of dough in your palm and roll against counter into smooth, tight ball. Repeat with remaining dough.
- Roll each dough ball in melted butter in shallow dish, then roll in cinnamon sugar in shallow dish. Place dough balls in prepared dish in 3 rows of five into the prepared pan. Cover loosely with plastic and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 1 hour (cinnamon sugar coating may crack during rising; this is OK). Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Bake until rolls are puffed and golden brown, about 25 minutes.
- Whisk reserved cinnamon sugar and remaining 6 tablespoons melted butter in bowl until combined (mixture may look separated). Brush tops and sides of hot rolls with cinnamon sugar–butter mixture (use all of it) and let cool in dish for 10 minutes. Remove rolls from dish and serve warm.
- Prep Time: 1 hour 20 mins (includes rising time)
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Category: Breads
Recipe Source: Cook’s Country Magazine June/July 2020
Looks delish!
Thanks Amie! They are amazing!
Hi Jodi I have a question, after the first and you are going to make dough into balls, my dough was extremely sticky to the point I could not make balls. What did I do wrong, I filled the recipe to the letter and always am careful in measuring. Thank you, pam
Hey Pamela, I’m sorry your dough was so sticky. The only reason I can think of that your dough was too sticky would be that you didn’t add enough flour and/or a little too much milk. It is a slightly sticky dough, but not so sticky that you can’t form dough balls with it. But without seeing what you did, I can’t really say for sure. Don’t be afraid to add a little more flour next time if your dough seems too sticky. Good luck.
I am a 25+ year customer of Stroud’s and adore their cinnamon rolls. This recipe is very close to the real thing. Enjoyed it but would not add salt to the topping mixture next time.
★★★★
So happy to hear these are close to the real thing. I’ve never had an actual Stroud’s roll, so that’s good to know. Thanks Joy.
Jody, they look fabulous! ❤️
Thanks Jolynn! They are heavenly! I hope you have a chance to make them.
I live 3 1/2 miles from Stroud’s and those rolls are a must when you eat there. They also have great gizzards and livers.
Lucky you that you’ve gotten to eat the real deal. If they’re anything like this recipe then I know they’re amazing! Not so sure about the gizzards and lizards though (lol)!
These rolls are ah-mazing. Michelle and I must be neighbors (although my drive is a bit shorter). My favorite thing to serve alongside these rolls is chili! Sounds weird to some; others are, “of course you should serve cinnamon rolls with chili.” These are the perfect rolls to serve with chili. I hate trying to cut 15 rolls from a batch of dough. I much prefer to do 16 (you just divide in half over and over until you have 16) I pan them in three columns 5, 6, 5 rolls.
Always had these type of rolls with chili in elementary school in Kansas. Delicious!
After a four day food tour of the city, these rolls were probably my favorite single dish. I’m a simple man! But thank you for the recipe! I’ll be making these immediately.
★★★★★
Great! Let me know how they turn out.
I made this yesterday, after going to Stroud’s the week before, and this recipe was SPOT ON! It was exactly what I wanted!
I did have to proof for longer than an hour each time, but it’s winter, and that’s a small price to pay. Thank you so much!
★★★★★
Thanks Eric! So happy to know they are spot on! I absolutely LOVE them! Thanks for letting me know! Take care.
These look amazing. Can you make them with regular yeast rather than the rapid rise yeast? Can wait to give them a try.
Hi Betsy! You should be just fine using regular yeast. I’d love to hear back from you if you make them.
What is best way to keep them fresh if all are not eaten at one time? They are fantastic
Hi Deb, I honestly haven’t had to store them because we’ve eaten them all the day I make them or I delivery them to neighbors. I would keep them loosely covered in a coo, dry place (you don’t want them getting sweaty), and eat them within a day or two at the most. They really are best if eaten and served warm the day you make them.
Do you have the carb count for one roll?
Sorry Jan, I don’t provide that information. There are plenty of websites where you can put the ingredients in and it will calculate it for you.
Thank you for sharing! I don’t know how close the recipe is to the original but all I can say is that, this recipe makes a really good cinnamon roll 🙂 I have made this recipe as is several times and it comes out good each time.
★★★★★
This recipe is unreal! For the NFL playoffs I try to make foods that are popular in the city of the teams playing. Needless to say the Chiefs make the playoffs a lot! We made these last year and again this year and these cinnamon rolls are perfection! The recipe is easy to follow and comes out perfect each time! Never been to Kansas City so I can’t compare, but these are delicious!
★★★★★
Thank you Tracy! So happy you love these rolls!
Hi! I don’t use yeast, like I’ve never. Do I add it in dry to the mix with everything else, or would I add it to warm water first? I’ve only ever seen it used by mixing it with warm water so I’ve no idea. I’m sorry this probably sounds like a silly question!
Hi Becca, not a silly question if you’ve never used yeast. Some recipes you do add the yeast to the water first, some recipes you don’t. For this recipe you add the warm milk, butter and egg to the bowl of a stand mixer. After mixing those ingredients together you add the flour and yeast to that mixture. Just follow the directions and you shouldn’t have any problems. Good luck!
Hi Jodi,
If I am making them a day in advance, am I rolling them into balls and in the butter and cinnamon sugar before refrigerating? Could that 1st rise be done in the fridge like is done with Liza dough?
Joe
Hi Joe, yes roll them in the butter and cinnamon sugar first and then refrigerate. You can refrigerate them for up to 24 hours. Let them sit at room temperature for 1 hour before baking them.