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When Joanna Gaines launched her Magnolia Table frozen baked goods in September, I was pumped to try all six. Most were tasty, but the cinnamon rolls were disappointing — they had an artificial flavor, and the icing was runnier than I’d hoped.

I knew Gaines had a homemade cinnamon roll recipe, and I couldn’t help wonder how it compared to the frozen version.

It’s no secret that homemade cinnamon rolls can be time-consuming and a bit challenging to bake, and Gaines’s rolls are no exception. According to the recipe she shared on the Magnolia website, the rolls require 17 ingredients to make the dough, filling, and icing, and they take over three hours to make because of the proving and baking process.

Despite the challenge, I decided to take on the rolls anyway. I had to know if her homemade cinnamon rolls were worth the effort.

To make Gaines’ cinnamon rolls, I first prepared the dough, the most time-consuming aspect of the recipe, as it requires two rises. It first rises for 90 minutes in a round ball, and the rolls rise again for 25 minutes after they’ve been filled and shaped.

The rolls call for:

• ¼ cup of warm water (110°F)
• 1 tablespoon of active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar
• 4 cups of all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 teaspoon of kosher salt
• 1 cup of warm whole milk (110°F)
• ½ cup of canola oil
• 2 large eggs
• Cooking spray

I didn’t have cooking spray on hand, so I substituted butter when the recipe called for it.

I was pretty nervous about this step, as my baking experience is usually limited to unboxing a pre-made mix, but it turned out to be simpler than I thought.

I combined warm water I heated over a skillet, yeast, and sugar, and let them rise for five minutes. After that, the mixture puffed up and started to bubble slightly, indicating it was ready.

I heated the milk in a small pot, which I then mixed with oil and eggs in my stand mixer using the dough hook attachment. After they combined, I added the yeast mixture slowly.

Soon, the ingredients thickened and became dough. I could tell it was finished when it had a thick, sticky consistency.

I removed the dough from the mixer and shaped it into a round ball.

Gaines says to put the dough into a bowl that has been coated with cooking spray, but because I didn’t have any on hand, I used butter instead.

The dough needs to prove for 90 minutes in a warm place, so I covered the bowl with a dish towel and tucked it into my oven.

Of course, no cinnamon roll is complete without its filling, and Gaines’ recipe was very simple. It included:

• 2 sticks of softened butter
• 2 cups of brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons of cinnamon

I let my butter sit out for a few hours before starting to bake, so it was nice and soft by the time I made the filling.

Gaines suggests using a hand mixer to combine the ingredients for the filling, but I only had a stand mixer available. I just used that with the whisk attachment.

Gaines’ recipe said the filling would be ready when it was “fully combined and smooth.”

My mixture came together in just a few minutes, and while it was definitely smooth, it was thicker than I had anticipated. It almost had an ice cream-like texture.

After the filling was finished, I checked on my dough. To my delight, the yeast had worked. It had doubled in size.

After removing it from my makeshift proving drawer, I punched it down to release the gases; a “The Great British Baking Show” moment I’d long anticipated, and it was just as satisfying.

I was also relieved to find that butter worked perfectly in place of cooking spray; the dough slipped right out of the bowl.

I’m not much of a baker, but my husband is, so I had a rolling pin and baking ruler on hand. I used both to roll out the dough on a floured surface, shaping it into a rough rectangle that ended up a bit too dense at the edges. I folded the ends under to fix the proportions, but I should’ve rolled them inward so the edges weren’t so thick.

Once the rectangle was ready, it was time to spread my cinnamon sugar filling onto the dough.

I imagined the mixture would spread as easily as icing, but it stuck together as it was quite thick. I was worried about pressing too hard to spread it because I didn’t want to rip my dough.

I ended up scattering small dollops of the filling all over the dough, and pressing it in with my fingers and a rubber spatula. It took a few minutes, but eventually all of the dough was coated with the filling.

By this point, my kitchen was starting to smell like an Auntie Anne’s in a great way.

Once the filling was on the dough, I rolled it lengthwise to create the cinnamon roll shape, keeping the seam on the bottom before slicing.

That’s when I realized I had made a mistake — the dough was uneven, making the ends thinner than the center.

Using a bench scraper, I cut 1½-inch rolls and scrapped a few from the ends that were too thin. Still, I was proud to have rolled the dough without much stress.

After coating the dish in butter, Gaines suggests placing the rolls in four rows of three, but my rolls fit better in two rows of six.

Once they were in the dish, I squealed, thrilled to see my creation looking very much like cinnamon rolls.

After they were assembled, I let them rise covered with a dish towel on my counter for 25 minutes before placing them in the oven for 35 minutes at 350 degrees.

No cinnamon roll is complete without icing, and as a cream cheese icing enthusiast, I was pumped for that aspect of Gaines’ recipe.

To make the icing, I needed:

• 8 ounces of room temperature cream cheese
• 4 tablespoons of room temperature unsalted butter
• 2 cups of powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons of whole milk

I only had vanilla essence at home, so I used that instead of the extract.

I mixed the ingredients for the icing in my stand mixer using the paddle attachment, as instructed by Gaines.

I had a mixture that looked like icing fairly soon, but Gaines’ recipe said to make sure it didn’t have any lumps of powdered sugar in it. Sadly for me, I mixed for close to 15 minutes and still had lumps.

I was concerned I was overwhipping the icing, so I eventually stopped, knowing there were still a few lumps but hoping the warm cinnamon rolls would melt them.

Gaines’ recipe says the cinnamon rolls are typically ready between 35 to 40 minutes or when the rolls are “a deep golden color.”

I checked my rolls at 35 minutes, and they looked perfect, even if a few were smooshed together. The tops were golden brown and slightly firm to the touch.

My mouth watered as I inhaled their heavenly scent.

The rolls cooled for 10 minutes before I covered them in the cream cheese icing, generously covering each roll.

I didn’t see any lumps in the icing as I spread it on top of the rolls, which made me feel a little better.

Once they were all assembled, the cinnamon rolls looked pretty darn delicious.

After more than three hours of baking, it was time to try a warm roll. I cut myself a corner piece, making sure I grabbed a slice with plenty of icing.

When I took a bite of the decadent roll, it melted in my mouth. It was buttery and cinnamon-forward, with a soft and gooey texture.

The icing was sweet and inviting, but it was the one aspect of the rolls that didn’t taste quite right. I’m not sure if it was the vanilla swap, the potential lumps leftover from the powdered sugar, or potential overwhipping, but it had an almost tangy or overly buttery quality that wasn’t quite right.

Still, I loved the rolls, as did my built-in taste tester, my husband. There was nothing about them that tasted artificial, and I was really proud of myself for getting the texture of the rolls just right.

Gaines’s delicious homemade rolls were completely worth the time it took to make them. Although they were time-consuming to make, the stand mixer made the process a lot easier.

I’d like to try the recipe again with cooking spray and vanilla extract to see if it makes a difference in the icing, as well as ensure I get all the lumps out completely.

Still, even if the icing didn’t taste perfect, I’d choose Gaines’s homemade cinnamon rolls over the frozen version every time.