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+ servings

Cinnamon Roll Knots

Brown sugar & cinnamon filling in delicious sweet and delicate pastry braided and rolled into cinnamon roll knots.
Servings 8 Rolls
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Rising Time and Braiding Time 2 hours

Equipment

  • Candy thermometer
  • Rolling Pin
  • Electric beater or standing mixer
  • Baking sheet with 1/2 to 1-inch sides so the filling does not spill over into your oven
  • Parchment paper

Ingredients

Dough Ingredients

  • 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 package active dry yeast or 2 1/4 teaspoons
  • 1 1/4 cups milk
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 egg white for brushing on knots before baking them.

Brown Sugar-Cinnamon Butter Filling (If you really love the filling, then make 1.5 times the recipe for extra cinnamon-gooey knots!)

  • 1 cup light brown sugar packed
  • 4 oz. butter, at room temp
  • 2 tablespoons cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon cardamom optional, but we love this spice!

Instructions

DIRECTIONS - Dough

  • Mix 1 1/2 cups flour and yeast in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
  • In a saucepan, heat milk, butter, sugar and salt until warm (110 to 115 F) and butter is melted, stirring constantly.
  • Add milk mixture to dries along with the egg. Beat all at low speed for 30 seconds or so to moisten all dries. Then beat for 3 minutes at high speed.
  • Stir the remaining flour into the dough by hand to form a soft dough.
  • Dust your hands with a little flour and shape the dough into a ball.
  • Place dough ball in a lightly greased or sprayed large bowl, turn dough once to grease the entire ball and then cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and leave in a warm spot in the kitchen (not in the oven) to rise until doubled in size. This will take about 1 to 1 ½ hours.
  • Once the dough is doubled in size, punch down the dough to deflate slightly and let rest for 10 minutes.

Brown Sugar-Cinnamon Butter Filling

  • Mix all together well to incorporate butter, sugar, and spices.

Making the Cinnamon Knots

  • Line a baking sheet with 1-inch sides with parchment paper. (You want a tray with sides so that the brown sugar-cinnamon butter does not spill over into your oven!)
  • Sprinkle a cutting board or pastry cloth with flour. Roll the dough out into a large 14 x 18-inch rectangle on a floured cutting board or pastry cloth.

Spread Filling Over Entire Dough Rectangle

  • Spread cinnamon brown sugar butter evenly over the entire rectangle. See video.

Fold Dough into Overlapping Thirds

  • Starting at the longer end, roll the dough into thirds, lapping one-third over the center third and the last third over that to make a three-layer dough.

Cut Each Dough Strip into Three Slices, leaving the top 1-inch uncut (See Video Below)

  • Cutting across the narrow side of the folded dough, cut the dough into 8 strips, roughly 2-inches wide per strip.
  • Starting at the end with the open fold, cut the dough strip into three strips, but DON’T cut through the top end of the dough. Leave about 3/4 to 1-inch un-cut at the top.

Braid Dough Pieces (See video below)

  • Now, starting at the solid end, begin braiding the dough strips all the way to the bottom.
  • Roll the dough up towards you and then keep rolling to the top of the braid to form a cinnamon knot.

Roll Braids into Knots (see video below)

  • Place each knot on the prepared baking sheet and let rise for about 30 minutes to poof up a little bit more.
  • Preheat oven to 325 F. Lightly brush the tops of the knots with the beaten egg white.
  • Sprinkle the tops of the knots with pearl sugar, raw sugar, or cinnamon sugar.
  • Bake for 20-25 minutes or until rolls are just beginning to brown on top and the filling is beginning to bubble at the edges.
  • These are amazing fresh out of the oven, but you can certainly make ahead of time and freeze until ready to reheat and serve

Video

Author: Suz
Course: Breads, Breakfast
Keyword: Cinnamon Roll knots