Cinnamon roll dough calculator
Pillowy tangzhong cinnamon roll dough that stays soft for days — filling ratios included.
8 × 100 g · 74% hydration
Type how much flour you have — the portion weight recalculates.
Cinnamon rolls on King Arthur’s “Perfectly Pillowy” dough — their 2021 Recipe of the Year: a milk-only tangzhong dough that stays cloud-soft for days. The calculator covers the dough; the filling ratios are below.
How it works
A tangzhong milk dough
All the liquid is milk — 82% of the flour weight — with 7% of the flour cooked into a tangzhong with part of that milk. Butter runs 18%, sugar a moderate 11.5% (the sweetness lives in the filling), salt 1.9% and instant yeast 1.9% for a 60–90 minute bulk and a 30–60 minute proof.
The filling
Per the source, in baker’s terms: brown sugar at 33% of the flour weight with a generous spoon of cinnamon, a little flour to bind, and melted butter to moisten. Spread on the rolled-out dough, roll snug, and slice — 8 rolls of about 100 g each from the default batch.
Baking soft
Pack the slices with space to touch as they proof, and bake at ~190 °C for 15–19 minutes only until barely golden — pale is pillowy; brown is dry. Ice or glaze while warm if you swing that way.
FAQ
How is this different from Cinnabon-style rolls?
The mall style (Joshua Weissman’s copycat is the reference) is eggier and sweeter — two eggs plus a yolk in the dough and nearly 40% brown sugar in the filling. The KA dough here has no egg at all; the tangzhong does the softness work instead.
Can I proof them overnight?
Yes — shape, pan, cover and refrigerate; bake in the morning from cold with a few extra minutes. The tangzhong dough tolerates the cold proof unusually well.
Why did my rolls bake up firm?
Overbaked, almost certainly — this dough reads done while still pale. Pull them at the first hint of gold and let carryover finish the centers.