The Best Maple Pecan Cinnamon Rolls-a Bakery Recipe (2024)

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time25 minutes mins

Rise time2 hours hrs

Cinnamon Roll Dough Ingredients

• 400 grams (3 cups) All-Purpose Flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons Instant Clearjel (for a softer dough. It's a bakery ingredient you can use at home, see Notes section)
• 1 Tablespoon(s) Instant Yeast (I use SAF Instant Yeast)
• 1 large Egg(s)
• ½ teaspoon Salt
• 3 Tablespoons Sugar
• 3 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
• 1 cup(s) Hot Water (around 120 degrees)

Cinnamon Roll Filling Ingredients

• 227 grams (1 cup(s) packed) Light Brown Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon + 1 ½ teaspoons Cinnamon (I use McCormick brand)
• 1 ½ teaspoons Instant Clearjel (for gooier cinnamon rolls. It's a bakery ingredient you can use at home, see Notes section)
• 1 ½ teaspoons All-Purpose Flour
• ½ stick (2 ounces) Salted Butter (softened but not melted)

Other Ingredients

• ½ cup chopped Pecans (I use a nut chopper to chop them into small even pieces.)
• ¼ stick (1 oz) salted butter, melted
• ¼ cup to ½ cup flour, for dusting (only use what you need)

Maple Glaze Ingredients

• ½ stick (2 ounces) Salted Butter
• 169 grams (1 ½ cups) Powdered Sugar
• 1 teaspoon(s) Maple Extract
• ¾ teaspoon(s) Vanilla Extract
• 1 ½ Tablespoons Very Hot Water

Day One: Make Cinnamon Rolls Dough

• In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the Flour, Instant Clearjel, and Instant Yeast together until well blended. Set aside.

• In a separate large bowl, stir the egg(s), salt, sugar, and oil together until well blended.

• Make sure your water is hot, around 120 degrees. (If you don't have a culinary thermometer, this temperature should feel uncomfortable to the touch but not painful). Pour the hot water on top of the egg mixture, but don't stir it together yet. (We want to allow our flour and instant yeast to activate when being mixed with the hot water).

• Immediately add the flour mixture on top of the hot water, and use a sturdy spatula to stir all of the ingredients together until a dough is formed and the ingredients are well blended. The dough will get firmer, stickier, and more difficult to stir as it thickens.

• There's no kneading of this dough, as we don't want to incorporate any additional flour, but we want to stir it until it gets stretchy. Leave the dough in the bowl, and continue to scrape the sides and stir the dough with your heavy-duty spatula for around 2-3 minutes, or until the dough is stretchy and uniform. It will be a very sticky dough.

• Allow the dough to rise at room temperature until double in size, around one hour.

• Loosely wrap the bowl in plastic wrap, and place the risen dough in the fridge overnight, for at least 4 hours but no more than 24 hours.

Day One: Prepare Filling Ingredients

• Stir together the brown sugar and cinnamon. Use your fingers to break apart any large brown sugar pieces, and to make sure the cinnamon is thoroughly mixed in. Wrap this mixture or place it in an air-tight container until Day Two.

• Whisk the Instant Clearjel and Flour together until well blended. Wrap or place in an air-tight container until Day Two.

• If you'd like, you may take your salted butter out of the fridge so that it is softened and ready to roll in the morning.

Day Two: Prepare Pan

• The 1 oz of melted butter for brushing will be used three times. First, brush the cake pan(s) generously with melted butter on the bottom, sides, and inner corners. 6 cinnamon rolls fit in a 9x13x2 pan, and 12 cinnamon rolls fit in an 11x15x2 pan.

Day Two: Roll Out Cinnamon Rolls

• Generously dust your counter with about ¼ cup of flour.

• Scrape the risen refrigerated cinnamon roll dough on top of the dusted flour. Use your fingers to scrape out any stuck to the bowl and add it to the dough. The dough will be sticky. Avoid pressing the dough into itself or turning it into a ball--this will overwork the dough. We want to roll it out with very little shaping of the dough. Instead, just lightly dust any sticky portions of the dough, and press any sticky edges into the floured counter. Lightly press the dough into a rectangular shape before rolling (I recommend watching the classic cinnamon roll recipe video for a step by step video).

• Roll out the dough into an 9-inch horizontal by 16-inch vertical rectangle. (A 1x batch will be tall and skinny. A 2x batch will be wider than it is tall as seen in the recipe video). Using extra flour only as needed, dust any parts of the dough with flour that sticks to the table or rolling pin.

• If your butter is firm, microwave it for a few seconds until softened but not melted. Mix your softened butter thoroughly with the prepared Instant Clearjel mixture. Immediately spread it onto the rolled-out dough. We mix this right before spreading so that it doesn't have time to thicken before spreading. Spread it evenly all the way to the very edge of the dough.

• Pour the prepared Brown Sugar/Cinnamon mixture on top of the butter and spread it evenly all the way to the very edge of the dough. Evenly sprinkle the chopped pecans all over the cinnamon mixture.

  See Also

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• Roll up the cinnamon dough tightly, curving the edges in slightly as you roll (watch the recipe video). This helps maintain a nice roll on the edges and prevents the cinnamon mixture from escaping. When you are left with one inch of dough, pull it up and pinch it tightly against the rolled dough, creating a pinched seam.

• Dust the seam with flour, and turn your dough so it is seam side down against the floured counter. Shape the roll of dough with your hands if needed so that it is even in thickness. Score the dough with a bench scraper, pastry divider, or knife into 6 rolls, then cut the rolls with a bench scraper or sharp knife.

• Place the cinnamon rolls into your prepared pan, with little room between each roll and ½ inch from the edge of the pan. Lightly press down on each roll so that the edges of each roll barely touch each other, and improve their round form if needed. (The cinnamon rolls will rise into whatever shape they are in now. So if you have some oval or misshapen rolls, use your hands to form the edges into a circle before they rise.)

• Brush the cinnamon rolls with melted salted butter, then allow to rise at room temperature until double in size, around one hour.

Day Two: Bake the Cinnamon Rolls

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

• Bake the risen cinnamon rolls in the preheated 350-degree oven on the middle or top rack for 12 minutes, then turn the oven down to 325 degrees. Bake for an additional 6-8 minutes for six cinnamon rolls in a 9x13 pan, or an additional 12-16 minutes for twelve cinnamon rolls in an 11x15 pan. The cinnamon rolls are done when they are golden brown, and the dough bounces back when you tap it lightly with your finger. Check several areas of the rolls for doneness.

Make Maple Glaze

• While the rolls bake, make the glaze. Melt the butter in the microwave in a large microwave safe bowl. Whisk in the maple extract, pure vanilla extract and powdered sugar. As you whisk, the glaze will get very thick. Slowly add the very hot water and whisk the glaze until it is smooth with no lumps. The glaze will thicken as it cools, so if it is too thick to drizzle when the cinnamon rolls are done, microwave the glaze in 20-30 second increments until it reaches a drizzling consistency.

• Brush the cinnamon rolls one last time with melted butter. Using a small whisk, drizzle the glaze onto each hot cinnamon roll.

• These cinnamon rolls are best served warm and have the best soft texture when eaten the same day they are baked. Enjoy!