Giant Cinnamon Roll

Week 420. Spring 2024. I am 41 years old and standing in my kitchen — the Bench house kitchen, the one that held cancer and divorce and cinnamon rolls — and the stove is on and something is cooking and the house smells like fresh herbs and possibility and this is my life. This is the life I built.

The garden is just planted, full of promise, and I stood in it this week and thought about dirt and time and the way both of them turn nothing into something if you're patient enough.

Mason is 13 and navigating middle school with the quiet competence that has always been his way — focused, kind, certain of who he is in a way that took me thirty years to achieve.

Lily is 11 and riding horses with the fearlessness of someone who has never considered the possibility of falling.

I made roast chicken with herbs this week. The food continues. The food always continues. It is the thread that connects every week to every other week, every year to every other year, every version of me to every other version — the woman on the kitchen floor, the woman at the chemo recliner, the woman at the grill, the woman at the outdoor table under the string lights. All of them, connected by the food they made with their hands. All of them, me.

The roast chicken was dinner — steady, herbed, ordinary in the best possible way. But the Bench house kitchen has always had cinnamon rolls threaded through it, part of the same story, part of the same hands, and so this week I made this one too: big, slow, soft, and worth every minute of waiting. It felt right to honor the whole of it — the savory and the sweet, the hard years and the good ones — in a single weekend of cooking.

Prep Time: 30 min | Cook Time: 30 min | Total Time: 1 hr 30 min (includes rise time) | Servings: 8

Ingredients

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (1 packet)
3/4 cup warm whole milk (about 110°F)
1/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 tsp fine salt
1 large egg, room temperature
4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened, divided
Filling:
4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
Cream Cheese Glaze:
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
3 tbsp whole milk
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Instructions

Activate the yeast. Combine warm milk, 1 tsp of the granulated sugar, and yeast in a small bowl. Stir gently and let sit 5–7 minutes until foamy. If it doesn’t foam, start again with fresh yeast.
Make the dough. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, remaining sugar, and salt. Add the yeast mixture, egg, and 2 tbsp softened butter. Mix until a shaggy dough forms, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 8 minutes until smooth and slightly tacky. Add flour a tablespoon at a time only if the dough is sticking heavily.
First rise. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel, and let rise in a warm spot for 45–60 minutes, until doubled in size.
Make the filling. Stir together 4 tbsp softened butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small bowl until a paste forms. Set aside.
Shape the roll. Punch down the dough and roll it on a floured surface into a roughly 12×16-inch rectangle. Spread the filling evenly to the edges. Starting from a long side, roll the dough tightly into a log. Using a sharp knife or unflavored dental floss, cut the log into 8 equal rounds.
Arrange and second rise. Lightly grease a 9-inch round cake pan or cast-iron skillet. Arrange one roll in the center and the remaining seven around it. Cover loosely and let rise 25–30 minutes until puffy and touching.
Bake. Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake rolls 25–30 minutes, until deep golden on top and cooked through in the center. If the top browns too fast, tent loosely with foil for the last 10 minutes.
Make the glaze. Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla and whisk until pourable. Adjust consistency with additional milk one teaspoon at a time.
Glaze and serve. Let rolls cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then pour glaze generously over the top. Serve warm.

Nutrition (per serving)

Giant Cinnamon Roll — The Kitchen That Holds Everything