The best homemade cinnamon rolls ever! If you love gooey cinnamon buns, here’s the secret ingredient. Everyone raves about these homemade yeast rolls. You may also love our orange rolls!
Cinnamon rolls are one of the BEST breakfasts. You can make quick and easy cinnamon rolls or you can make cinnamon roll pancakes or bread pudding, but one of the most delicious way to serve cinnamon rolls is with this Homemade Cinnamon Roll recipe.
Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
It’s been almost 5 years coming. The girls didn’t want me to do it, but we’re finally sharing our secret ingredient cinnamon rolls. The from-scratch breakfast sweet rolls that everyone craves. Gooey homemade cinnamon rolls. Our best recipe that we’ve been serving friends and family on holidays and any other day for over 12 years.
We’ll get to the secret ingredient, but let’s start right into how to make these sweet rolls, because I know you don’t want to waste any time. The exact directions and rising times are in the recipe box below, but here are some hints for making cinnamon rolls.
How do you make cinnamon rolls?
When I originally set out to make the best cinnamon roll recipe, I started with this bread dough. Over that year as I tweaked the recipe, I made the dough just a tad bit sweeter. The ingredients are very basic. I like to use Red Star Platinum yeast which is an instant yeast. This means you don’t have to let the yeast “proof”. If you don’t use instant yeast, be sure to allow the yeast to proof in the warm milk until it is frothy. This will take an extra 5 minutes or so.
Be sure that your milk is warm to activate the yeast, but not too hot so that it kills the yeast (about 105-110 degrees Fahrenheit). You’ll also want to warm the butter so it is soft and mixes in easily.
Bring the eggs to room temperature also by placing them in a glass of warm water before adding them to the mix. If the ingredients are not cold, they’ll help the yeast to do what it needs to do quickly and give a beautiful rise to your cinnamon rolls.
After you have the ingredients added, it’s time to mix the dough. In the video I use a stand mixer to mix the dough. If you have bread machine you can use the dough setting to make this extremely easy. Or, go the old-fashioned route and get those hands working by kneading the bread without a mixer. Any way works. If you decide to knead with your hands, be careful not to add too much flour. The dough is supposed to be tacky, which is what keeps these homemade cinnamon rolls soft.
**Pro Tip: Again…it’s important to note that the dough will be tacky and soft. It shouldn’t completely stick all over your hands, but if you touch it should feel tacky and not dry and floury. Don’t be tempted to keep adding flour!**
Cinnamon Roll Filling
We use three ingredients in our homemade cinnamon rolls filling: softened (almost melted) butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. You can add a touch of vanilla extract if you’d like. We find it’s not necessary, but feel free to do so. Mix this all together while the cinnamon rolls are rising. This only takes a few minutes!
How to Roll Cinnamon Rolls
After you let the dough rise in a greased covered bowl until it is double in size, you’re ready to roll the cinnamon rolls. Use a pastry mat sprinkled with flour to keep the dough from sticking.
Remember…the dough will be tacky and this is the point where it is ok to add flour on the pastry mat and on top of the dough itself for easy rolling. You’ll find this dough is very easy to roll out. If it is too much of an arm workout, you’ve most likely added too much flour.
After you’ve rolled the dough, spread the cinnamon filling on top and roll-up jelly-roll style. Cut into as many rolls as you’d like. We like to do 12 rolls for a 9×13 pan (which end up deliciously large!) or if we need to feed a bigger crowd, 15 rolls in a 10×15 baking pan.
Gooey Cinnamon Rolls: Cinnabon Copycat Recipe
Before I had this homemade cinnamon rolls recipe, I was addicted to Cinnabon cinnamon rolls. They were large, soft, and gooey. I’m all about the gooey. I searched and searched (mostly recipe books because recipe websites were not a huge thing back then) and finally found a key idea.
Add heavy cream to the cinnamon buns before baking. THIS is the secret ingredient and what makes the rolls rich and gooey. Cinnabon copycat recipe? That’s not what I was going for, but I think we pretty much got it.
Here’s how you do it. After the cinnamon rolls are rolled into their pretty swirls and you’ve allowed them to rise in the pan…right before they are ready to bake, warm heavy cream in a small bowl.
Why warm the cream? Because your rolls have risen in warmth and you don’t want to add refrigerator-cold cream to your cinnamon rolls. Adding warm (not hot!) heavy cream will keep the rolls rising as they should during baking. Pour the heavy cream overtop all of the rolls and watch that rich cream soak in and around the cinnamon roll dough.
Can you make the cinnamon rolls without heavy cream? Yes.
Will they be good? Yes.
Will they be as gooey? No.
I find that the heavy cream helps the filling of the cinnamon rolls to be smoother and not as grainy. So just try it, K?
Cinnamon Roll Frosting
After the homemade cinnamon rolls have baked and look like cinnamon heaven, it’s time to frost them. You can use a simple powdered sugar glaze or a store-bought fluffy white frosting if you’d like. But we prefer our cream cheese icing.
This frosting contains butter, powdered sugar, cream cheese and extract (either vanilla or maple). You could even throw in a touch of cinnamon to make a cinnamon glaze. We’ve done it all!
You can add the icing while the rolls are warm and allow it to soak in, or if you’d like a pretty frosted look, spread the cream cheese icing on when the rolls are at room temperature.
And that my friends, is one of our BEST family recipes. My girls were hesitant to share our family secret ingredient for homemade cinnamon rolls, but so many of you have asked, they reluctantly agreed because they love you and want to see you happy. 🙂
Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
We often make the cinnamon rolls and get them to the point of the second rise (when they are rolled out, cut up and put in the pan). Cover and refrigerate until morning.
The morning you want to bake them, pull them out of the refrigerate and allow them to rise. Plan about at least an hour for this so you aren’t waiting too long! Then let them do their second rise. Pour on the cream and let them bake.
Can you freeze cinnamon roll dough before baking?
Yes! Make the cinnamon rolls and get them to the point of the second rise (when they are rolled out, cut up and put in the pan). Place them on a pan (not touching) and put them in the freezer for about 1 hour. Then place the rolls in a zippered bag.
When you’re ready to bake the rolls, plan ahead and put the rolls in the fridge to defrost overnight. Then pull them out of the refrigerate and allow them to rise the morning you want to bake them. Plan about at least an hour for this so you aren’t waiting too long! Allow them to do their second rise, then bake as normal.
What You Need to Make Cinnamon Rolls
- Stand Mixer: Ok, you don’t 100% need this, but it does make life easier.
- Red Star Yeast: My favorite yeast! It’s so forgiving and I have perfect baked goods, every time.
- Saigon Cinnamon: The best flavored cinnamon.
- Pastry Mat: This makes clean-up a breeze.
- Dough Cutter: I JUST got one of these. What have I done without it all these years? Works as a scraper too, to get stuck-on dough off surfaces.
- Baking Pan 9×13 or 10×15, depending on what you need.
Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
For the Dough:
- 1 cup warm milk (about 115 degrees F)**
- 2 1/2 teaspoons instant dry yeast (I like Red Star Platinum Baking Yeast)
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1/3 cup butter melted
- 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
For the Filling:
- 1/2 cup butter almost melted
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
- 1/2 cup heavy cream (for pouring over the risen rolls)
For the Frosting:
- 6 ounces cream cheese (softened)
- 1/3 cup butter (softened)
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 tablespoon maple extract (or vanilla)
Instructions
- Pour the warm milk in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast overtop.
- Add the eggs, butter, salt and sugar.
- Add the flour and mix using the beater blade just until the ingredients are barely combined. Allow the mixture to rest for 5 minutes so the flour has time to soak up the liquids.
- Scrape the dough off the beater blade and remove it. Attach the dough hook.
- Beat the dough on medium speed for 5-7 minutes or until the dough is elastic and smooth. **The dough will be tacky and will still be sticking to the sides of the bowl. That's ok! Don't be tempted to add more flour at this point.
- Spray a large bowl with cooking spray.
- Use a rubber spatula to remove the dough from the mixer bowl and place it in the greased large bowl.
- Cover the bowl with a towel or wax paper.
- Set the bowl in a warm place and allow the dough to rise until double. I like to turn on the oven to the lowest setting for 1-2 minutes. Then turn off the oven and place the dough to rise in there. It normally takes about 30 minutes for the dough to rise. Do not allow the dough to rise too much or your cinnamon rolls will be airy.
- While the dough is rising, prepare the cinnamon filling. In a medium bowl, combine the soft butter, brown sugar and cinnamon, mixing until well combined. Set aside.
- Sprinkle a pastry mat generously with flour. Turn out the dough onto the pastry mat and sprinkle the top of the dough with additional flour.
- Flour a rolling pin and roll the dough to about a 12x15" rectangle.
- Use a rubber spatula to smooth the cinnamon filling over the whole dough rectangle.
- Starting on the long end, roll the dough up tightly jelly roll style.
- Cut into 12 slices and place in a greased 9x13 baking pan.*
- Cover the pan and allow the rolls to rise for 20 minutes or until nearly double.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Warm the heavy cream until the chill is off. Don't make it hot...you just don't want it cold. It should be warm to the touch.
- Once the rolls have risen, pour the heavy cream over the top of the rolls, allowing it to soak down in and around the rolls.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 17-19 minutes, until the rolls are lightly golden brown and the center rolls are cooked through.
- While the rolls are cooling, prepare the cream cheese frosting.
- In a large bowl, combine the softened cream cheese and butter using a hand mixer. Blend well.
- Add in your favorite extract and the powdered sugar. Beat until combined.
- Spread the frosting over the cooled rolls.
- Store in an airtight container.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Leann says
June 12, 2019 at 11:32 amHow long do you think you could keep these refrigerated before baking them? I want to make them at home where I have my mixer and counter space, put them in round pans, and then keep them chilled for a camping trip. I could freeze them until we leave on Thursday but they would defrost in the cooler by the second day anyway. I would make these on a Wednesday afternoon I think and want to bake on Saturday morning. Thanks!
Julie Clark says
June 12, 2019 at 4:49 pmHi there! We’ve kept them refrigerated only overnight. I think they will keep for longer, but it will affect the rising. They might rise too much…or not rise much on the 2nd rise the morning you want to bake them.
Andreza Pacheco says
June 13, 2019 at 4:34 pmHello!! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. It was my first time making cinnamon rools and it worked great! I was so happy!! I couldnt believe it. We don’t have those here in Brazil and my friends were amazed to try it for the first time through your recipe. You’ve touch me and them with this great taste. Obrigada!
Joy says
June 13, 2019 at 6:25 pmI first made these for friends in Europe who weren’t too familiar with cinnamon rolls beyond knowing they exist, and I was asked if I could make them. (American = can make American -type goods I suppose?? Lol!) I picked this one based upon reviews, and I’m so glad I did! They caught on like wildfire, and I’ve now made this recipe at least seven times in four months, and they are requested more often than that. I’ve made the recipe strictly as written and also varied it with dark brown sugar (personal favorite), self-rising flour (puffed way up in the oven), less cream/ didn’t let it soak (do not do that!! They are far drier.), and half the cream cheese frosting recipe (1/2 is plenty enough for the complete roll recipe). It’s a win every time, and I’ve been told by more than one that they literally found themselves wondering if it’d be okay to lick their plate clean. I’m excited to introduce them to a few more new people tomorrow!
Bridgette J Baar says
June 14, 2019 at 9:24 pmThis is a beautiful recipe. I am grateful to this individual who is gracious to share this tasty treat. A 12″ piece of heavy fishing line works amazing to cut the rolls.
Thank you again for this recipe!
Mama of 5 says
June 16, 2019 at 3:57 pmJust made these for Father’s Day 2019. My 4 kids LOVED them and of course so did Dad. 1st time I have ever made cinnamon rolls and you and your girls just made my family so happy. Btw it made extra frosting but it was so perfect it is being put on tonight’s cake as well. Thank you
Janell M Mortensen says
June 16, 2019 at 8:49 pmThese are absolutely delicious! I tried two other recipies before this, and they were so disappointing. These are soft and packed with flavor.
Zoe says
June 17, 2019 at 10:06 pmMade this wonderful recipe two times in a last month….my family loves it. By far the best cinnamon rolls I ever had or made. It was hard for me to make them right because in the country I am from we don’t have them…no one knows how to make them …but my hubby is from Australia and he just loves them ..so I tried a LOT of recipes and it was just ok…but never great… I saw this one and I was just filling optimistic when I read “secret ingredient”…and my oh my….now we know how cinnamon rolls should taste and hubby said these are by far the best he ever had…Thank you so much for sharing
Heidi says
June 18, 2019 at 1:25 pmThank you for such a clearly written, delicious recipe! These cinnamon rolls really are the best. They really don’t take too much time, especially since I was able to prepare the frosting and cinnamon filling while the dough was rising. I’m not the most skilled baker, but have used this recipe twice and they have been phenomenal both times!!
La Gorda says
June 20, 2019 at 12:19 amAre these cinnamon rolls soft and fluffy or are they like a bun texture?
Nissa Van Riper says
June 22, 2019 at 2:47 amI’m not really a baker. Maybe this should be obvious but–how much do you roll it out? To a certain size? Or thickness?
I chickened out making these for Christmas morning (or maybe there was just already too much work for one mama to do) but I’m going to dive in and make them for my husband’s birthday!
Julie Clark says
June 22, 2019 at 6:52 amThe recipe states about 12×15″. This is just an average. We never measure. If it is thinner, there will be more swirls if cinnamon in the roll. If it is thicker, the bread part of the sweet roll will obviously be thicker.
Nissa Van Riper says
June 23, 2019 at 5:33 amThanks for your reply. Right after I sent the comment I read back through the recipe and found the instruction. I tried to delete my comment but couldn’t figure out how. :/
You are so quick with your replies! That’s cool.
Thanks again!
Dewiross says
June 22, 2019 at 5:10 amThank you for sharing this recipe! My family loves it.
Kate says
June 22, 2019 at 7:35 pmHi, I’ve made this recipe 3 times. The first time it came out absolutely perfect but the last two times the dough has not been tacky and therefore the dough is very dry when cooked. I’ve followed the recipe exactly so I’m not sure why the dough is different every time. Could it have to do with the temperature of my house? I had the fireplace on so it’s quite warm. I can’t think of any other reason the dough wouldn’t work when I triple check that I’m following the recipe. Would love your feedback and I want to make these again. Thank you
Julie Clark says
June 22, 2019 at 8:50 pmIt definitely has to do with the temperature and humidity. I would add 1/2 cup less flour, then add it as you need it. Working with yeast can be really tricky!
Kate says
June 25, 2019 at 11:32 pmGreat thanks so much 🙂
Nissa Van Riper says
June 23, 2019 at 5:30 amThese looked beautiful going into the pan, rising and coming out of the oven. Then the problems began. There was almost an inch of liquid in the bottom of the pan so the rolls only cooked on the top. The bottom half of the pan was still stretchy and gooey. I covered with foil and baked ANOTHER 17 mintues and it didn’t get better. We cut the tops off and the bottom of the pan is like…cinnamon dough soup. There is easily a cup of liquid in there sloshing around.
We ate the tops, which leads to my second comment–oh my gosh are these things sweet. Even my husband who is the sweet tooth in the family did not finish his (top half of a) roll. On his birthday. That’s saying something.
I seem to be in the minority here as there are no other comments that say either of these things so I have to allow that maybe something just went wrong for me? I’m a bit of a perfectionist so all my quantities were right on, and my instruction following was thorough. So…?
Trying to decide if the basic idea here is worthy of trying to figure out how to make the recipe work (cook through/less liquid in the pan) and also be less sweet. I’m determined to find a cinnamon roll recipe for Christmas morning.
Note: I used my unwaxed, unflavored dental floss to cut the pastry roll and it was aces. Clean cuts, very satisfying process. (Biodegradable silk floss (amazon) if anyone is interested.)
Julie Clark says
June 24, 2019 at 9:24 amHmmmm I’m not sure what happened and why you had so much liquid at the bottom. That’s really strange!
Savannah Broom says
July 8, 2019 at 10:27 pmHi! These are amazing! I’m having to make a big bath. 42 to be exact. If i make these up tonight like you do with the overnight version of these would they stay good until i get ready to bake them Wednesday morning?
Julie Clark says
July 13, 2019 at 1:10 pmWe’ve only done them overnight. They might rise a little more and be “fluffier” but it would probably work!
Julie Clark says
June 24, 2019 at 9:24 amI do love your dental floss idea though! 🙂
Maisha says
June 28, 2019 at 12:11 pmThese are AMAZING!!!!!
Rachel says
June 28, 2019 at 2:40 pmI followed this recipe to a T and if did not work at all! 😭 The first dough came out extremely dry so i threw it out and tried again same results so i added a little milk and this dough is a little better but i have no idea what went wrong.
Michelle Gist says
June 30, 2019 at 8:11 amWoohoo! Thanks so much for providing metric measurements as well! The country where I am living doesn’t even mark off measurements on the butter cubes, so this makes life easier!
Tabitha Witt says
June 30, 2019 at 3:55 pmI made these yesterday for our upcoming 4th of July trip in the mountains. They are baked already, so my question is can I freeze them without the icing until we leave and than when we get ready to eat them, thaw and frost them?
Julie Clark says
July 1, 2019 at 12:28 pmSure!
Erika Y. says
July 1, 2019 at 8:33 pmHello. I made these and they were awesome. I have question, how long shoud I really knead the dough? I have a recipe that says bread dough or cinnamon roll dough should be kneaded for about 12-14 mins at low speed. To check, use the window pane test. For ypur recipe, it’s about 7 mins. Would it make a difference if knead/beat through mixer longer? Will it make my dough tough or just stick with 7 mins? Thank you so much!
Julie Clark says
July 2, 2019 at 12:56 pmI think you can beat it longer and do the window pane test. It should be fine!
Tony says
July 2, 2019 at 4:43 amWasn’t sure if I had gotten in over my head,but followed the recipe and wife ,daughter and greatgrad kids loved them , thank you .
Cynthia says
July 3, 2019 at 12:35 amHave you tried any non-dairy alternatives to heavy cream for the soaking? My roommate and I love the idea of these, but we’re both lactose intolerant. We are willing to deal with the consequences of cream cheese frosting, as there are no alternatives. And milk can be substituted with non-dairy versions most of the time. But I’m not sure if something like coconut cream or full fat coconut milk would give the same effect as heavy cream here.
Julie Clark says
July 4, 2019 at 9:25 pmI’ve not, but I’m betting full fat coconut milk or cream would work!
Tammy says
July 4, 2019 at 10:32 amOk I know this is a dumb question, but the Butter is it salted or unsalted? (I wish all recipes were specific to this) this will be my first time making it and will let u know how it goes. Also, High Altitude? Any additions or subscriptions?
Julie Clark says
July 4, 2019 at 9:23 pmI’m not sure about high altitude. But we used salted butter. you can use unsalted if you’d like though!
Rhonda Henderson says
July 5, 2019 at 7:55 pmYUUUUMMMMM!!!! I made these for an early-morning meeting at the office and they were a humongous hit! I didn’t have a stand mixer (all mixing and kneading done by hand, which turned out not to be that hard, and the dough was not tacky at all [possibly because I freeze my flour in zip-top bags so that it doesn’t absorb humidity from the air].) I made up the rolls yesterday afternoon, then covered and placed in the fridge. No second-rise, but I only heated the oven to 350 so they’d have a bit longer to bake. I LOVE the gooey sludge that the addition of the cream creates and the frosting is to die for. Suffice it to say this recipe will go to the top of my “keep” list. Thank you, thank you!
Anh says
July 7, 2019 at 12:20 pmThank you for sharing you family ‘s secret!! I plan to make these and put them in the fridge over night. The morning after, do I take them out of the fridge and wait 20 mins for second rise before putting them in the oven ?
And also in your instructions said put butter and egg right after putting milk and yeast, but in your article said that we should wait 5-10 mins till the yeast frost, so should we wait 5 mins before adding butter and eggs ?
Thank you,
Anh
Julie Clark says
July 8, 2019 at 11:06 amIt really depends on the type of yeast to use. We usually let the yeast froth a bit to know it is activated.
And yes, take the rolls out of the fridge and let them rise before baking. 🙂
Ann says
July 7, 2019 at 3:53 pmVery good and the dough did not need too much kneading. I needed to proof a bit longer than instructed but I used the regular Red Star quick rise yeast. I think I may increase the cinnamon and sugar filling next time. The heavy cream is an amazing addition! Thank you.
Tammy says
July 11, 2019 at 12:08 amLove these cinnamon rolls. I have NEVER made them before and besides taking some time to make they are so worth it. Lol they didnt last a day and I’m already having to make another batch. My son wanted to learn how to make them. Hopefully these turn out as well as the other ones. I did make them smaller this time because they were huge the first round.