The Reason Your Cinnamon Rolls Keep Coming Out Too Hard

Cinnamon rolls are the kind of comforting, stick-to-your-ribs baked good that inspire warm feelings just by thinking about them. A good cinnamon roll is fluffy, tender, and preferably oversized, wrapped around an indulgent filling of buttery brown sugar and drizzled with a sweet glaze. The perfect accompaniment to a hot cup of coffee or a cold glass of milk, perfectly baked cinnamon rolls are near-impossible to turn down.

Unfortunately, baking cinnamon rolls at home has its share of pitfalls. Cinnamon rolls rely on a yeasted dough, which can be tricky for novice bakers. If not careful, the dough can either fail to rise or rise poorly. As a result, homemade rolls often turn out hard and dense instead of soft and fluffy. Want to make cinnamon rolls at home with the assurance that they'll turn out perfectly? Here's all you need to know to ensure fluffy cinnamon rolls every time.

When cinnamon rolls turn out too hard and dense, the yeasted dough didn't rise adequately, according to Miss Vickie's Pressure Cooker Times. If the dough used in a cinnamon roll recipe hasn't doubled in size before being rolled around the sweet filling, too few air bubbles will form. The rolls won't have a light and fluffy texture without enough air bubbles. There are a few more reasons your yeasted dough doesn't seem to be rising, including yeast that's too old or expired, a room temperature that's not sufficiently warm, or the liquid you bloomed the yeast in being too hot.

According to Mashed, other reasons cinnamon rolls might turn out too hard include packing them in the pan too tightly, which causes them to go doughy and dense in the center, including too much flour. Taste of Home suggests mixing the dough slowly, steadily sprinkling in the flour as the mixer runs. If you continue adding flour beyond the point of the dough absorbing it, you'll end up with hard, dry cinnamon rolls. But with time, practice, and attention, soft, fluffy cinnamon rolls are sure to become a staple in your weekend breakfast repertoire.