Cinnamon Roll Bites

4.54 from 47 votes

Do you love the soft & gooey center of the cinnamon roll? Cinnamon roll bites are baked in cinnamon syrup and heavy cream to create a bunch of "middles".

Prep Time25

Cook Time29

Rise Time1 10

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Keyword: breakfast recipe, cinnamon roll bake, cinnamon roll breakfast

Servings:

Calories: 410kcal

Author: Julie Clark

Ingredients

For the dough:

1/2 cup warm milk about 115 degrees F, 4 ounces
1 1/2 teaspoons instant dry yeast* I like Red Star Platinum Baking Yeast
1 large egg at room temperature
1/4 cup salted butter Melted, but make sure it isn't over 110º Fahrenheit. Just softened is fine. (2 ounces)
1/4 cup granulated sugar 50 grams
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour divided, 293 grams

To shake the dough balls:

1/4 cup melted salted butter 2 ounces
1/2 cup brown sugar 55 grams
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon

For the syrup:

1/2 cup salted butter melted, 4 ounces
1/2 cup brown sugar 55 grams
2 teaspoons cinnamon

To pour over the top:

1/2 cup heavy cream** 4 ounces

For the powdered sugar glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar 130 grams
4 tablespoons heavy cream 2 ounces
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Make the dough:

Pour the warm milk in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast overtop.
Add the eggs, butter and sugar. Mix until combined.
Add in salt and flour. 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. Knead for 5-7 minutes or until the dough is elastic and smooth. **The dough should be tacky and will still be sticking to the sides of the bowl. That's ok!
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 almost 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.
Split off about 64 ¾” dough pieces. Roll into balls.
Toss dough balls in melted butter.
Place 1/2 cup brown sugar and cinnamon in a plastic bag. Shake the dough balls in the bag with the sugar to coat them.
Place them in a greased 10” cast iron skillet. Set aside.

Make the syrup:

In a small bowl, mix together the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon.
Then pour butter/brown sugar/cinnamon mixture over the top of the dough balls. Let this rise for about 20 minutes.

Heavy cream:

Pour 1/2 cup heavy cream over the rolls. Or, for extra gooey rolls, wait until half way through baking to pour the cream on the rolls. This allows some of the cream to stay in the pan rather than get soaked into the dough. Either way works and we like both ways.

Bake the rolls:

Bake at 350ºF for 27-29 minutes or until the cinnamon roll bites are baked through.

Make the glaze:

In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, heavy cream and vanilla extract.
Drizzle the glaze over the warm rolls.
Serve immediately.
Store any leftovers in an airtight container and warm them in the microwave to serve again.

Notes

*Different yeast calls for slightly different proofing methods. We follow Red Star Platinum’s temperature guidelines. Please check your yeast packet to see what temperature the milk should be at.

**If you don’t have cream, use half and half, coffee creamer, evaporated milk, whole milk or coconut cream. Any of these will work. Even 2% milk will work, but we prefer a higher fat milk.

Refer to the article above for more tips and tricks.

The calories shown are based on the recipe serving 12, with 1 serving being 1/12 of the cinnamon roll bites. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate. **We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information. The information in the nutrition box are calculated through a program and there is room for error. If you need an accurate count, I recommend running the ingredients through your favorite nutrition calculator.**

Nutrition