Cinnamon Rolls Lab364 recipes
← Cinnamon Rolls Lab

What goes into cinnamon rolls

The main ingredient list of all 364 recipes, with names merged so one choice counts once: unsalted and salted butter are butter, light and dark brown sugar are brown sugar, kosher and table salt are salt. Different flours stay apart. Frosting, glaze and other extras are counted on their own at the end.

In short

  • For sugar, 83% use white sugar alone, 8% white and brown sugar together, and 4% brown sugar alone.
  • Of the recipes with yeast, 47% call for instant or rapid-rise yeast, 32% active dry yeast, and 13% fresh yeast.
  • For the liquid, 60% use milk alone, 19% milk and water together, and 10% water alone.
  • For eggs, 75% use whole eggs alone, 14% no egg, and 5% egg yolks alone.
  • 30% add spice and 9% fruit; 65% add none of these.

The main choices

Each block sorts every recipe into one group by a single decision. Amounts are the median among recipes in that group, scaled to 500 g of flour, the size of a typical pan. The recipe named under each group is the one in it closest to the typical pan on every ingredient.

White, brown or a syrup

Each recipe counted once, by the sweeteners in its main ingredient list.

White sugar includes powdered sugar, in 3% of recipes. "With honey or maple syrup" means any liquid sweetener (honey, maple syrup and corn syrup), with or without dry sugar. Coarse and cinnamon sugar are usually sprinkled on top, so they do not count here.

Instant or active dry yeast

Among the 355 recipes with yeast, by the type the ingredient list names.

Rapid-rise, quick-rise and bread machine yeast count as instant.

Water, milk or something richer

Each recipe counted once, by the liquids in its main ingredient list.

Evaporated milk counts as milk.

Whole eggs, yolks or whites

Each recipe counted once, by the parts of the egg it uses.

A large egg is about 50 g out of the shell, a yolk about 18 g, a white about 32 g.

Which flour

Each recipe counted once, by the flours it combines.

Add-ins

Share of recipes that add at least one of each. A recipe can add several, so the shares do not sum to 100%. 65% add none of these.

  • Spice30%

    cinnamon 23% · cardamom 4% · nutmeg 3%

  • Fruit9%

    pumpkin 6% · apples 1% · raisins 1%

How often each ingredient appears

Share of the 364 recipes that list it at least once, for every ingredient in 5% or more of them. The median amount is among recipes that use it and give a weighable amount, scaled to 500 g of flour; for a flour, it is that flour's share of all the flour in the recipe.

  1. Yeast97%

    355 recipes · median 9 g

  2. Butter93%

    342 recipes · median 78 g

  3. Granulated sugar93%

    341 recipes · median 65 g

  4. Salt93%

    341 recipes · median 5 g

  5. All-purpose flour89%

    326 recipes · median: all of the flour

  6. Milk84%

    309 recipes · median 236 g

  7. Eggs79%

    288 recipes · median 64 g (about 1.5 large eggs)

  8. Water32%

    118 recipes · median 126 g

  9. Cinnamon23%

    86 recipes · median 6 g

  10. Vanilla17%

    64 recipes · median 6 g

  11. Brown sugar13%

    48 recipes · median 76 g

  12. Bread flour11%

    41 recipes · median: all of the flour

  13. Egg yolks9%

    35 recipes · median 24 g

  14. Pumpkin6%

    22 recipes · median 163 g

  15. Vegetable oil5%

    21 recipes · median 59 g

Toppings and extras

84% of recipes (306 of 364) list something beyond the main recipe: a frosting, glaze, filling, crumb topping, a boiling bath or a sprinkle on top. None of it is counted above. The most common extra ingredients, as a share of all recipes:

  • Butter74% (271)
  • Cinnamon74% (270)
  • Powdered sugar67% (247)
  • Brown sugar59% (216)
  • Vanilla48% (175)
  • Cream cheese45% (164)
  • Milk33% (121)
  • Granulated sugar24% (88)
  • Salt23% (87)
  • Cream12% (44)

How the ingredients are counted

A recipe uses an ingredient when any line of its main ingredient list names it. Names are merged by the words in them, so “1 cup unsalted butter, softened” and “salted butter” are both butter, and a line that offers a choice (“walnuts or pecans”) counts as the first one named. Canola, vegetable and other neutral oils are one oil; coconut and olive oil are listed on their own.

Lines only for greasing the pan are left out (3 of them). Lines for brushing, sprinkling or serving, and lines that belong to a frosting, glaze, filling or topping, count as extras.

Amounts come from the grams on each recipe page: printed by the source, or converted from cups and spoons with standard densities. Scaling them to 500 g of flour lets a small recipe and a double batch line up. Percentages are rounded down.