One of our favorite places on the face of the earth is Disney World! Our trip this year got canceled due to Covid-19 so we decided to incorporate a little bit of Disney magic into our home with a homemade version of Gaston’s Tavern Cinnamon Rolls!
Gaston’s Tavern Cinnamon Rolls
This morning, we made Gaston’s Tavern Cinnamon Rolls! Yaaaaawwlllllllll. You haven’t had a cinnamon roll until you’ve had this one!
After having one of these, you realize how artificial the canned ones taste! Not hating on the cans, though.
Those are just fine for 15 minutes in the oven. These take a tee tiny bit longer… like 2 hours longer, but who’s counting?
Talk about literal melt-in-your-mouth bread.
The recipe calls for an absurd amount of butter but just pretend you don’t realize how much is going in. Seriously.
I found the copycat recipe HERE.
The cinnamon roll dough calls for:
- 1 1/2 Cups Milk
- 1/2 Cup Butter
- 6 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour Divided
- 2 Packets Rapid Rise Yeast .25 oz Packets
- 1/2 Cup Sugar
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 Cup water
- 2 Large Eggs
- 1/4 Cup Melted Butter
- Start out by melting the 1/2 cup of butter with the milk.
- Remove from heat once the butter has melted, and allow to cool slightly.
- Next, grab your mixer and add 2 1/2 cups of flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. Mix.
- Then add your water and eggs, as well as the warm butter/milk mixture from earlier. Mix well.
- Now we want the dough to come together. Add the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time. When the dough starts to form a ball, it’s ready!
- Trade out your mixing blade for a dough hook (or kneed by hand if you’re a superhero). Mix with the hook for 5 minutes.
- Grab the dough out of your bowl, sprinkle some flour in the bowl, and plop the dough back in the same bowl to rise. Let rise for 10 minutes.
Next, it’s time to make the filling!
The filling calls for:
- 2 Cups Brown Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Cinnamon
- 1 Cup Butter Softened
8. Put the brown sugar, cinnamon, and softened butter into a bowl. Mix well. I ended up using my hands just to get that spreadable consistency I was looking for.
9. Roll out the dough into a long rectangle. You want it to be much longer than it is wide to achieve the giant size.
10. Spread the filling evenly across the whole surface.
11. Starting at a short end, roll the dough like a jelly roll.
12. Make a cut in the very center of the long roll, and then two cuts about 6 inches from the center on either side.
13. Place both the rolls, swirl down, in a greased 9×13 pan.
14. Don’t waste the remaining dough! I cut the rest of the dough into normal size rolls and put them in another pan to cook afterward.
15. Melt 1/4 cup butter and drizzle over your dough. Allow your rolls to rise for 30 minutes.
16. Preheat your oven to 375 Degrees F. Bake (the large rolls) for 20 minutes. Then cover loosely with foil and bake for another 10 minutes. This will help the inside finish baking without burning the top.
While they rise and bake, it’s time for the cream cheese icing and butterscotch topping!
Cinnamon Roll Cream Cheese Icing:
- 1 8 oz Package of Cream Cheese
- 1/4 Cup Butter
- 2 Cups powdered sugar
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
- 3 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream
Butterscotch Topping:
- 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
- 4 Tablespoons Butter
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
- 1/2 Cup heavy whipping cream
17. In a saucepan, add your cream cheese and 1/4 cup butter. Melt.
18 . Next add the powdered sugar and stir. Once incorporated, add the vanilla and salt. Put aside
19. In a saucepan, add the brown sugar, butter, and cream. Bring to a boil and maintain for 5 minutes stirring frequently. Remove from heat.
20. Add the salt and vanilla. Put aside.
Now grab a giant roll and put it on its own plate like the king it is.
Drizzle copious amounts of cream cheese frosting in one direction, then drizzle with butterscotch in the other direction. Just for presentation pizzazz.
And Viola! Your very own Gaston’s Tavern Giant Cinnamon Roll.
Phewf! (Recipe by: Ashley Crafted)
If you try them, I’d love to know what you think! Happy baking!
