Cinnamon Roll Donuts

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My cinnamon roll donuts are the same gooey, plush cinnamon rolls we all know and love but fried to deep golden perfection just like a donut and dipped in a sweet cream cheese glaze! Trust me, you’ll never want a regular donut or cinnamon roll ever again!

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 30

Total Time 1 30

Servings15 donuts

CourseDonuts

CuisineAmerican

AuthorSloane

Equipment

Ingredients

For the dough:

113 g (½ cup) whole milk, warmed to 110 degrees F
7 g (2 ¼ teaspoon) active dry or instant yeast
20 g (1 ½ tablespoon) granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temp
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
300 g (2 ½ cups) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
85 g (6 tablespoon) unsalted butter, room temp

For the filling:

56 g (4 tablespoon) unsalted butter, softened
106 g (½ cup) brown sugar
6 g (1 tablespoon) cinnamon

For the glaze:

28 g (2 tablespoon) unsalted butter, melted
56 g (2 oz) cream cheese, room temp
113 g (1 cup) powdered sugar
30 g (2 tablespoon) heavy cream or milk

For frying:

48-64 oz neutral oil, enough to fill 2" of your dutch oven

Instructions

For the dough:

In a glass measuring cup, heat the milk to 110 degrees F (40 degrees C) and stir in the sugar and yeast. If using active dry yeast, allow it to sit for 15 minutes for the yeast to activate. If using instant yeast, simply move on to the next step.
Mix the eggs and vanilla into the milk yeast mixture.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix the flour and salt together. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour and mix on low-medium speed for about 3 minutes, or until it forms a ball around the hook.
Add in a few pieces of butter at a time, allowing them to fully incorporate before adding more. Once all of the butter is incorporated, turn the mixer up to medium-high speed and mix for 8-12 minutes. The dough will eventually pull away from the sides of the bowl and have a silky smooth texture with minimal stickiness. To check if the dough is ready, use the windowpane test - tear off a small piece and carefully spread it out to see if you can see the light through it without it tearing. If it tears, mix for another minute or two and check again.
Once the dough is ready, transfer it to a lightly greased bowl, cover, and allow to proof overnight (or at least 6 hours) in the fridge. Alternatively, you can let the dough rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until doubled in size.

For the filling:

In a medium bowl, combine the butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon, and mix until smooth. Set aside.

For the glaze:

In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and heavy cream until smooth. Set aside.

To shape & fry the donuts:

Fill a dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot with enough neutral oil to cover 2” (5 cm). Place the oil over low heat just to get it started while the donuts are shaped and rising.
Place a wire rack over a paper towel lined baking sheet. On a separate baking sheet, cut out 15 parchment squares for the donuts.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to a rough rectangle measuring 12"x18".
Spread the cinnamon sugar filling all over the dough. From the long side, roll the dough up into a log. Use a knife to score lines every 1” to get 15 rolls. Use unflavored dental floss to cut each roll by placing the floss under the dough, wrapping around, and pulling to cut through.
Place the rolls on the parchment squares and cover with plastic wrap to rise at room temperature for about 30 minutes or until nearly room temperature, but still slightly cool to the touch. When pressed with a finger, the dough will slowly spring back.
Meanwhile, turn the heat up to medium to bring the oil 350 degrees F. Place a wire rack over a paper towel lined baking sheet.
Once the dough has proofed and the oil has come to temperature, use the parchment squares to gently lower 3-4 donuts into the hot oil. Fry the donuts for about 2 minutes on the first side, then flip over and fry for an additional 2 minutes until deeply golden.
Transfer the donuts to the wire rack. Wait a minute or so for the oil to come back up to 350 degrees F, then continue frying the donuts.
Once the donuts have cooled just enough to handle, dip them in the cream cheese glaze and enjoy!

Notes

Proof the dough overnight: I recommend allowing your brioche dough to rise slowly overnight (or at least 6 hours) in the fridge. Cold dough is so much nicer to work with! But you can also let it proof at room temperature for one hour and make the donuts immediately.
Make the donuts within 24 hours: To find that sweet spot between properly proofed with a developed flavor and over-fermented, I recommend giving the dough at least 6 hours to rise in the fridge, but no more than 24 hours.
Wait for the oil to temp to rise again before frying more donuts. When frying, be sure to wait a minute or so in between each set of donuts for the oil temperature to come back up to 350 degrees F.

Nutrition Facts

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