Sub-zero temperatures call for a strong remedy. While at night this means hot cocoa, I wanted something different for a Sunday morning pick-me-up, so I turned to this tried-and-true recipe for Perfectly Pillowy Cinnamon Rolls from King Arthur Baking Company (of course).

There are a ton of recipes out there for cinnamon rolls. So what makes this one so special, so worth writing about? In short, the texture. It’s no lie to call them “pillowy.” They’re incrediby soft, and they keep that softness for days–which is fantastic because it does take a little bit of effort to pull them together. It’s not hard, but you need to have some time on your hands.

The key to these rolls’ softness is a Japanese technique called tangzhong. This basically means that you whisk together a small amount of flour and milk, then cook it briefly on the stovetop before piling on the other ingredients from the recipe and mixing. It doesn’t take much time or talent, and it has a huge impact. The most fun part of this recipe comes after the rise, when you get to poke the rolls and see if they bounce back (they shouldn’t). I don’t know why I get such a kick out of this, but I do.

For cutting the rolls, here’s a trick that I picked up back in my food magazine editing days: Use dental floss for a sharp cut (the unflavored kind). It’s much better than using a knife.

The final step before you can dig into these is figuring out how you want to frost them. IMO, a regular powdered sugar-based icing blended with some softened cream cheese is the way to go. The cream cheese cuts some of the sweetness of the icing (which is usually too much for my tastes), and I think the consistency is better. (BTW, Spanish has a great word to describe something that’s excessively sweet: empalagoso. It comes in really handy.)

You can’t go wrong with these on the breakfast table. No wonder King Arthur named them the 2021 Recipe of the Year.