What is Tangzhong?

The Tangzhong method is an Asian technique made popular by Yvonne Chen’s book “65°C Bread Doctor”. It involves cooking a little bit of flour with a portion of the liquid in the recipe until a paste forms before mixing it with the remaining ingredients. The starches in the cooked flour gelatinize and are able to hold onto more water than if you had simply mixed all the ingredients together without heat. More water in the dough translates to more steam during baking which helps the dough rise and yields lighter and fluffier rolls. More water also means you won’t be disappointed with dry rolls if you save some for the next day.

Image showing the light and fluffy texture of the cinnamon roll.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Delicious: These cinnamon rolls are seriously good and they keep very well for a few days if there are any left!

Small batch: Not sure if that’s a good selling point or a bad one as I’m dreaming of the next batch I’ll make! But if you’d like to indulge without making a large portion, this is the perfect recipe. And you could easily double the amounts if you’d like to feed a crowd.

Customizable: You can easily make the rolls larger, or even smaller, use less filling, add different spices or chocolate chips etc…

Egg free: No need to crack eggs for this recipe.

Tangzhong cinnamon roll drizzled with icing.

Ingredients

For the dough

Bread flour: For structure. We’re adding quite a bit of liquid in the dough for incredibly soft rolls that last longer. So you’ll need to use bread flour with a high protein content which can absorb more liquid than all-purpose flour. I’m using bread flour with 13% protein content (shown in the nutritional table found on the flour packaging).

Milk: We’re not using any eggs in this recipe so we’re using quite a bit of milk for hydration, 86% the amount of flour!

Butter: Unsalted butter, to add richness and flavor to the dough. I added more than the original recipe (by King Arthur Baking) for even softer, richer rolls. I use European style butter which is 82% fat.

Yeast: Instant yeast, for rise and flavor. No need to dissolve it in liquid, we’re just adding it to the other ingredients.

Sugar: Source of food for the yeast, a little bit of sweetness, browning and to make the rolls last even longer without drying out. I’m using double the amount called for in the original recipe.

Salt: To enhance all the flavors, strengthen the gluten network and keep fermentation under control.

Overhead shot of cinnamon roll ingredients. — Dough ingredients

For the filling

Sugar: I like to use dark brown sugar, for a deep flavor with caramel undertones. You could use light brown sugar if you prefer.

Cinnamon: The star of the filling! Use as much or as little as you want. I like using a generous amount for a nice cinnamon kick. Avoid using old cinnamon which might have become a little bland.

Butter: We’ll be adding just a little bit of melted butter to the filling so it sticks to the dough. If you add too much butter, the filling will become clumpy and hard to spread. It might also bubble up a lot during baking covering up the swirls or leaking. Some recipes call for spreading softened butter on the dough first, then sprinkling the filling. I found this method a little too messy as the dry filling doesn’t stick to the dough properly and tends to spill from the sides whilst rolling. Feel free to use whatever method you are most comfortable with.

Salt: A pinch, to make all the flavors shine.

Flour: Optional, but recommended so the filling stays put during baking.

Overhead shot of cinnamon roll filling ingredients. — Filling ingredients

Step-by-Step Instructions

Making the dough

Let’s start by making the Tangzhong.

Simply whisk together a little bit of flour and milk in a saucepan until there are no flour lumps left.
Cook until thickened.

Whisking flour and milk to make tangzhong.

Transfer to the mixing bowl then pour cold milk over it to cool it down.
Top with the remaining flour.

Pouring milk over tangzhong in mixing bowl.

Flour poured over tangzhong and milk in mixing bowl.

Add the sugar and salt.

Then add the yeast and diced butter.

Adding yeast to cinnamon roll ingredients in mixing bowl.

Butter added to cinnamon roll ingredients in mixing bowl.

Mix on low speed to combine the ingredients then increase the speed and keep kneading until elastic.

Mixing dough with paddle attachment to combine ingredients.

Mixing small batch cinnamon roll dough with paddle attachment.

It’s a small portion and the dough might get splattered onto the sides of the bowl. Just stop the mixer occasionally to scrape the bowl and you’re good to go!

Dough splattered onto the sides of the mixing bowl.

Scraping mixing bowl to remove the dough from the sides of the mixing bowl.

Once the dough has been kneaded enough, shape it into a ball then cover and let it rise until puffy.

Elastic cinnamon roll dough wrapped around paddle attachment.

Dough shaped into ball placed back in mixing bowl.

Windowpane test: To determine if the dough is ready, try slowly stretching a small piece of dough into a thin layer (with lightly oiled hands as the dough is quite sticky). If it doesn’t tear, it’s ready.

Dough tearing when stretched needs more kneading.

Dough passes the windowpane test and doesn't tear when stretched.

Making the filling

While you’re waiting for the dough to rise, you can start preparing the filling.

Mix together sugar, cinnamon, flour and salt.

Cinnamon roll filling ingredients in small white bowl.

Combining filling ingredients with a spoon.

Then add a little bit of melted butter and mix until evenly incorporated.

Pouring melted butter over cinnamon roll filling ingredients.

Cinnamon roll filling looks like damp sand and is ready to be used.

Shaping the rolls

Time to shape those rolls.

Gently punch down the dough.

Cinnamon roll dough after first rise has puffed up.

Place it onto a lightly floured piece of parchment paper or work surface.
Start patting it into a rectangle. You can then use a rolling pin to finish rolling it out.

Patting dough into a rectangle on a piece of parchment paper.

Tip: You can use the parchment paper as a guide to get a neat rectangle. Fold it over the dough to contain the dough, creating a rectangle of desired size than flip over and start rolling out the dough.

Sprinkle the filling over the dough.

Dough rolled out into rectangle inside a piece of parchment paper.

Filling sprinkled over rolled out cinnamon roll dough.

Then spread evenly with the back of a spoon or your hands.

Once that’s done, you have two options: roll into a log, or cut strips. Let’s start with the most common (and slightly speedier option):

Roll tightly into a log. You can use the parchment paper to roll the dough if it’s too sticky or chill it briefly.

Spreading filling evenly over dough with the back of a spoon.

Tip: To avoid having to trim off messy edges, place your hands on the edges first as you roll to keep a straight line then roll the center when needed.

Once you have a cylinder, mark the dough with a knife to divide it into equal pieces.
Then slice it with a serrated knife or by sliding a dental floss under the dough and crossing it over to get a neat roll.

Marking the dough cylinder with a knife before slicing into individual rolls.

Cutting the dough into rolls using dental floss.

Just as a side note to give you an idea, this is what might happen if you spread softened butter on the dough then sprinkle the filling over it. Even if you press down with a rolling pin, quite a bit of cinnamon sugar will fall from the sides. It will still taste great. It just might not be as tidy. Up to you to choose your favorite method.

Cinnamon roll filling sprinkled over dough with softened butter didn't adhere well and fell off sides.

Dough cylinder before cutting it into individual rolls.

Alternate method of shaping

Instead of rolling the dough into a log after spreading the filling, you can cut strips with a pizza cutter. Then simply roll each strip onto itself to get those nice swirls.

Pros: You have more control over the swirls. It’s much easier to roll thin strips tightly rather than the whole log.

Cons: A little more time consuming and you’ll need to roll out the dough into a wider rectangle to get the same number of rolls as the log. The log naturally gets wider as you apply pressure when rolling.

Rolled out dough with cinnamon roll filling.

Baking the rolls

Place the shaped rolls into a greased pan lined with parchment paper. Let them rise until puffy then bake until golden brown and enjoy!

Shaped cinnamon rolls in pan after rising look puffy and stuck to each other.

Troubleshooting Cinnamon Rolls

Dry cinnamon rolls

Too much flour: It’s always best to weigh the flour to avoid accidentally adding more than needed which would yield dry cinnamon rolls. The dough is supposed to be quite sticky but should be easy to handle with oiled hands once it has been kneaded enough. Only add more flour if it’s impossible to handle after at least 10 minutes of kneading and add very gradually (not more than 1 tablespoon at a time). When rolling out the dough, sprinkle very lightly with flour and remove any excess.

Overbaked: Try baking for a little less time or at a slightly lower temperature next time. Using a digital thermometer inserted into the center of a roll might be the best way to determine when the cinnamon rolls are ready so you don’t end up with underbaked or overbaked rolls. Aim for an internal temperature of about 88°C/190°F.

Not stored properly: Don’t leave the cinnamon rolls uncovered for too long. It’s best to place them in an airtight container once they have cooled down or wrap them well in plastic wrap.

Dense cinnamon rolls

If the rolls don’t rise properly, you’ll end up with dense cinnamon rolls instead of a light and fluffy texture.

Expired/dead yeast: If you’re using old yeast or add the yeast directly over the hot Tangzhong, the dough won’t rise properly (or at all), leading to tough and dense rolls.

Underfermented/underproofed: The dough should ideally be left to rise in a warm environment, at around 24°C/75°F. If your kitchen is very cold, it will take longer for the dough to rise. Try placing the dough in a warm spot such as a turned off oven with the light switched on. Use visual cues instead of time to determine when the dough is ready: the dough should have visibly increased in volume during the first rise and a finger indentation on the shaped dough should slowly bounce back after the second rise.

Not enough structure: When kneading the dough, the proteins in flour will form gluten which gives the dough strength and elasticity. If the protein content of your flour is too low or if you don’t knead the dough until it is elastic, the gluten structure will be too weak to trap the gas bubbles created by the yeast and the dough won’t rise properly. You should ideally use bread flour with a protein content of about 13% and knead for at least 10 minutes or until a small piece of dough can be stretched without tearing (windowpane test). Using less flour than needed will also result in a weak structure.

Overproofed: If the dough is left to rise for too long, the gluten structure will start to weaken. As a result, the dough might deflate during baking yielding dense rolls. If you created an indentation with your finger that didn’t bounce back at all after the second rise, the dough was probably overproofed.

Too much flour/not enough liquid: The dough should be sticky but manageable with lightly oiled hands once properly kneaded. If you add more flour than needed in an attempt to reduce the stickiness, the dough won’t rise properly and you’ll end up with dense and dry cinnamon rolls.

Comparison of two rolls, one is rolled too tightly and the center has popped out.

Shaping issues

The center of the roll pops out during baking: This is most likely due to rolling the dough too tightly or crowding the rolls in the pan. Try loosening the rolls a little and/or using a slightly larger pan next time.

The rolls unravel during baking: To prevent this from happening, try placing the seam towards the edges of the pan so it can’t unravel as it rises. Alternatively, you could tuck the ends under the rolls to keep them in place.

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