County Cinnamon Rolls
The secret ingredient to pillowy, soft, tender homemade cinnamon rolls is found in this recipe for County Cinnamon Rolls: instant potato flakes! This unusual yet easy ingredient combines with bread flour and pantry staples to bake up SUPER soft, gooey cinnamon rolls!
Country Fair Style Cinnamon Rolls Made With A Secret Ingredient!
If you’ve ever been to a country fair, then you know ALL about the tantalizing aroma of food that lingers in the air! From Funnel Cakes to irresistible Churros and sticky, sweet Caramel Apples, the urge to taste it all is consuming!
And these soft, gooey County Cinnamon Rolls fall into the same category of delicious country fair food! But since we’re from Maine it seemed more appropriate to name them County Cinnamon Rolls since the northern counties in our state are known for their Amish population and huge potato harvest.
Which then connects the dot to the secret ingredient that makes these cinnamon rolls SO great… potato! Stay with me because you don’t actually taste the potato in these rolls. Instead, the addition of potato increases the starch content of the dough, allowing for more moisture retention which in turn leaves us with incredibly soft, tender cinnamon rolls that last for days!
So, bake up a batch to bask in the nostalgia of country fairs, enjoy them for breakfast, or as a sweet, gooey treat that remains soft even days after baking!
Rebecca’s Recipe Review
Taste: Sweet, cinnamon, cream cheese.
Texture: Super soft and pillowy dough with a gooey bottom and center.
Ease: 7/10 – cinnamon rolls can be a lot of work. This recipe is not hard to prepare but can be a little tricky.
Pros: Texture and flavor.
Cons: Time. Plan for about 2.5 to 3.5 hours to make these start to finish. But note that a lot of that time is hands off.
Would I Make This Again? Yes, although these are not my favorite cinnamon roll recipe (my Tangzhong Cinnamon Rolls still hold that spot), they are delicious.
County Cinnamon Roll Ingredients
This county cinnamon roll dough recipe includes basic ingredients such as granulated sugar, salted butter, salt, vegetable oil, powdered milk, whole milk, and large eggs as well as additional large egg yolks. We then use a packet of instant yeast as our leavening agent to give our dough the perfect rise.
The combination of bread flour and instant mashed potato flakes is key in the foundation of the dough. This is because bread flour has higher gluten and protein content, giving the cinnamon rolls a chewy, soft bite while the starch from the potato flakes holds in extra moisture to enhance the soft, tender texture of these rolls even more!
The two ingredients create a delicious combination that will have you grabbing a second cinnamon roll! Once the dough is complete, it’s rolled out and then brushed with partially melted butter. Only partially melting the butter creates a paste-like consistency that allows more of the cinnamon sugar-filling to stick to it and stay in place when working with the rolls.
To make the cinnamon sugar filling dark brown sugar, corn starch, ground cinnamon, and salt are mixed together. After all the cozy, sweet flavor is rolled into pinwheels and placed on a rimmed baking sheet you can pour heavy cream over the top of them. It’s an optional step but it does ensure that the cinnamon rolls come out deliciously gooey!
Finish these county cinnamon rolls off by covering them in a generous layer of smooth, yummy cream cheese icing! This is made with salted butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, heavy cream, vanilla bean paste, and salt.
How To Make Potato Cinnamon Rolls
A full recipe card with step-by-step photos and ingredient quantities for this yummy old-fashioned cinnamon roll recipe can be found at the end of the post. Leave a comment if you have any questions about this recipe!
- Mix all of the dry ingredients for the cinnamon roll dough together in a large bowl.
- Add in whole milk, large eggs, additional large egg yolks, and then mix using a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment.
- Cover the dough and allow it to rest.
- Knead the dough at medium-high speed until it becomes smooth and elastic. At the end of kneading, the dough should be tacky and pliable.
- Brush vegetable oil onto a 9X13-inch pan and then turn the dough out onto it, rotating the dough so that it becomes oiled on all sides.
- Cover the pan of dough and then allow it to rise in a warm area of your home until it has doubled in size.
- Punch the dough down in the center and then turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.
- Shape the dough into a rectangular shape and roll it out.
- Brush melted butter all over the surface of the dough.
- Prepare the filling by mixing dark brown sugar, corn starch, ground cinnamon, and salt together.
- Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over the dough that’s been brushed with melted butter. Using a rolling pin, roll over the cinnamon sugar filling to press it into the dough.
- Cut the cinnamon roll dough into strips and then roll up each strip to create a pinwheel.
- Transfer the county cinnamon rolls onto a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet.
- Pour heavy cream over the top of the cinnamon rolls and then cover to allow them to rise a second time. While the rolls are rising, preheat the oven.
- Bake the homemade cinnamon rolls in the oven on the lowest rack until they become golden brown. Afterward, transfer them to a wire rack to cool.
- Prepare the icing by creaming the cream cheese in a medium bowl and then adding in melted butter, powdered sugar, heavy cream, vanilla bean paste, and salt. Mix the icing until it becomes smooth.
- Spread the icing over the top of the warm rolls by using a rubber spatula or spoon. Serve and enjoy!
- Potato Flakes – Using potato flakes over baked potato is easier while also providing more consistent results when making these cinnamon rolls.
- Rectangular Pan For Proofing – Allowing the dough to perform its initial rise in a rectangular pan helps the dough take on that shape and makes it easier to roll out into a rectangle than trying to force a ball into a rectangle.
- Icing – If you’re not a fan of a cream cheese topping you can simply omit the cream cheese from the frosting recipe to create a vanilla icing with no other changes.
- Avoid Over-Proofing – Be sure to preheat the oven as the rolls are on their second rise. This will ensure that the oven is ready when the rolls are which will prevent having to wait for the oven as that would cause the rolls to over-proof.
- Pastry Mat – I prefer using my pastry mat to roll the dough out onto. It’s a nonstick surface that allows the dough to roll out onto easily without adding flour.
- Pastry Wheel Cutter – Using a pastry wheel cutter makes for clean, neat cuts when slicing the dough into strips to roll into cinnamon rolls. If you don’t have a pastry cutter you can use a pizza wheel cutter instead.
How To Store Cinnamon Rolls Made With Potato
Since these homemade cinnamon buns are made with a cream cheese icing it’s best to store them in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. To enjoy them warm, you can pop them in the microwave one at a time for 15 to 20 seconds.
How To Serve Amish Potato Cinnamon Rolls
Serve up a warm batch of these Amish Potato Cinnamon Rolls for breakfast or bring them to share with friends at brunch! If you’re hosting the morning meal, tuck these sweet treats among other pastries or homemade muffins as well as a savory breakfast dish such as my Sausage Breakfast Strata!
I’ve also been known to bake up homemade cinnamon rolls for dessert! Their sweet taste and gooey texture easily satisfy everyone’s sweet tooth after dinner! Wash them down with a cup of your favorite coffee or tea or enjoy them with a tall glass of ice-cold milk.
You might also enjoy this Amish Cinnamon Bread recipe – all the same flavors of these delightful cinnamon rolls in half the time!
Did You Make This Recipe?
If you’ve tried this recipe, please let leave a review in the comments below. I love hearing from you! Don’t forget to tag me – @sugarandsoulco – on Instagram and Pinterest with your photos, or join our Sugar & Soul Show-offs Community and share them there.
Amish Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Dough
- 4¼ cups bread flour 553g, spooned and leveled, plus extra if the dough is sticky
- ¾ cup instant mashed potato flakes 60g, plain variety
- ¼ cup powdered milk 35g
- ¼ cup granulated sugar 56g
- 2¼ teaspoons instant yeast (one packet)
- 1 teaspoon bread salt or salt
- 1¾ cups whole milk 420ml, room temperature
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 additional large egg yolks room temperature
- 6 tablespoons salted butter 84g, softened
- 1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil for coating the proofing pan
Filling
- 1 cup dark brown sugar 215g, packed
- ½ cup salted butter 113g, softened
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Topping
- ¾ cup heavy cream
Icing
- ¼ cup salted butter melted
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- 2 cup powdered sugar
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ tablespoon vanilla bean paste
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Dough
- In a large bowl or stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, mix together 4¼ cups bread flour, ¾ cup instant mashed potato flakes, ¼ cup powdered milk, ¼ cup granulated sugar, 2¼ teaspoons instant yeast, and 1 teaspoon bread salt.
- Add in 1¾ cups whole milk, 2 large eggs, and 2 additional large egg yolks and mix for 15 seconds.
- Mix in the melted 6 tablespoons salted butter until thoroughly combined and the mixture resembles sticky dough.
- Cover the dough and let it rest in the bowl for 20 minutes.
- After resting, knead for about 8 minutes at medium-high speed (speed 6 on a stand mixer) until smooth and elastic. Resist the urge to add additional flour until the end.
- When the dough is ready, it should feel tacky (but not sticky) and pliable. Add additional flour 1 tablespoon at a time, if needed, mixing for about 30 seconds after each addition.
- Brush 1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil on a 9×13-inch pan and turn your dough out into it (you can spray with a nonstick spray instead). Rotate the dough so it’s oiled on all sides, then cover it with cling wrap and let it rise somewhere warm. It should double in size within 45 to 60 minutes in a warm home or 75 to 90 minutes in air conditioning. Note that the dough will expand out in the pan instead of up a lot like it would in a bowl. Using a pan helps it form a square shape, which makes it easier to roll.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down in the center, then transfer it to a lightly floured surface.
- Roll it out into a 16×18-inch rectangle measuring; it doesn’t have to be exact. This Pastry Mat and Pastry Wheel Cutter are really helpful for the roll and cutting process!
- Line a large 12×17-inch rimmed baking pan with parchment paper. Set to the side.
Filling
- Partially melt ½ cup salted butter in the microwave for 15 seconds, then use a pastry brush to stir and brush the butter all over the surface of the dough. Yes, we are partially melting already room temperature butter because this allows us to do a quick partial melt and stir the butter into a creamy paste-like consistency for brushing. You don't want to use all melted butter for this step because it's too thin and won't hold the filling in as well.
- In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup dark brown sugar, 2 tablespoons corn starch, 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon salt with a fork until mixed.
- Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over the butter, and leave a ½ to 1-inch border at one of the shorter ends. Then, use a rolling pin to roll over and press the sugar into the dough.
- Use a pizza or pastry cutter to cut the dough into 12 strips about 1⅓-inch wide, with the cuts starting from the shorter (16-inch) side of the dough.
- Roll up each strip of dough to create a pinwheel, starting with the fully sugared end, making sure it's fairly tight, then securing with the exposed buttered end without sugar on it. You can brush more butter onto the outside of the roll if needed to secure the end.
- Place the rolls on the parchment-lined baking pan with a little space between.
- Pour ¾ cup heavy cream over the top of the cinnamon rolls right before covering for their second rise, about 1 tablespoon over each roll. (You can skip this step if desired and carry on with the recipe with no additional changes).
- Cover the rolls with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 20 to 30 minutes before baking, they won't quite double in size. Preheat the oven to 350ºF while the rolls do their second rise; this ensures the rolls can go straight into the oven when they are and will not overproof because they're waiting for the oven.
- Bake the rolls on the lowest rack of the oven for 18 to 22 minutes or until golden brown. When done, the center of the rolls should read 190°F on an instant-read thermometer. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool.
Icing
- Prepare the icing by creaming 4 ounces cream cheese in a medium bowl.
- Then add the melted ¼ cup salted butter, 2 cup powdered sugar, ½ cup heavy cream, ½ tablespoon vanilla bean paste, and ⅛ teaspoon salt until smooth. You can add a little extra heavy cream if you want it thinner, but the heat from the rolls helps it soften and soak in.
- Use a rubber spatula or spoon to spread the icing over the top of the warm rolls. This is a lot of icing, but it should absorb down into the swirls of the rolls, making them extra gooey.
Notes
- Keep a close eye on the proofing and baking of these rolls; if they are over-proofed, they can puff up so much that they squeeze some of the cream/butter out over the rim of the pan while baking.
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
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Loved how squishy these rolls were and they stayed that way for days! The icing is so thick and creamy!