Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Anyone can make these super soft homemade cinnamon rolls from scratch with the best brioche yeast dough and cream cheese frosting. I've made this sweet recipe more than enough times to share all my tips and tricks so that you'll have perfect results too. This is the best recipe you'll find.

Why this recipe works so well:

• These rolls are just as sweet and decadent as my famous Granny's Monkey Bread Recipe, but dare I say better? This recipe takes time because the dough, filling, and frosting are made from scratch, but is worth it.
• Make them any time of year, but they are especially good on Christmas morning.
• The bottom of the pan is coated with a creamy sweet layer that gets infused into the bottom of the roll.
• My homemade cinnamon rolls can be prepared the night before and then baked in the morning.

How to make cinnamon rolls:

These scratch made cinnamon rolls are a multi-step recipe. Not challenging to make, but there are a lot of steps. Here is a summary and full instructions are in the recipe card below.

Start by making the cinnamon roll dough:

1. Mix: The soft sweet brioche dough is created by mixing warm milk with a bit of sugar and yeast. Then three whole room temperature eggs get mixed in. This many eggs is what makes the roll so soft! Finally you'll mix in the flour and then some butter.
2. Knead: Once all of the ingredients have been incorporated, knead the dough for 5-10 minutes until it's smooth and stretchy. I use my stand mixer with the dough hook however you can also knead by hand.
3. Rest: Cover and refrigerate for a couple hours.

Meanwhile you will prepare the pan, the filling, and make cream cheese frosting for cinnamon rolls.

Prepare cinnamon roll icing:

This cream cheese frosting is thicker than a simple glaze.

• Beat cream cheese and butter and butter until light and fluffy.
• Mix in powdered sugar, vanilla, and heavy cream.

Prepare filling and baking dish:

• Filling: Combine sugars, cinnamon, butter and salt. Set aside.
• Bottom of pan: A combination of melted butter, heavy cream, and brown sugar are placed in the bottom of the pan underneath the cinnamon rolls.

How to roll and slice cinnamon rolls:

1. Form rectangle: Set your dough down on a clean surface covered with a bit of flour. Work the flour into the dough so it is no longer sticky. Roll the dough into a rectangle that is about 12 inches tall and 18 inches wide.
2. Top with filling: Cover the dough with the filling mixture. Just leave a bit at the edge closest to you so that the dough can seal to itself.
3. Roll: Start at the end farthest from you and tightly start rolling the dough towards you. Once it's in a log, use your hands to shape and roll as needed to get it into the most uniform log shape.
4. Slice: Use a sharp serrated edge knife and cut slices that are 1 to 1 ½ inches thick.
5. Arrange: Place the cut rolls in your prepared pan with the pretty swirl side facing up.

At this point you'll cover the pan and let the rolls rise for about 45 minutes. If you're making overnight cinnamon rolls, you won't let this second rise happen just yet.

Overnight cinnamon rolls:

To make overnight cinnamon rolls, simply follow the recipe all the way up to the point where the rolls are cut and placed into your baking dish.

Then, instead of letting them do their final rise in a warm area just before baking, you'll cover and refrigerate overnight instead.

Then, to bake the next morning, you'll simply remove them from the refrigerator and allow the rolls to come to room temperature before baking. They will have risen slowly in the refrigerator overnight and will finish the process as they come to room temperature.

Recipe tips for best results:

Baking tips:

1. Dough rise: If your house temperature is 70°F or warmer, they will rise perfectly on the counter. If your house is colder, you may need to preheat your oven to the lowest possible temperature and as soon as it's warm, turn it off and open the door. Once the inside of the oven feels warmer than your kitchen (but not hot enough to melt the plastic wrap), place the covered rolls in the slightly warmed oven and allow them to rise in there.
2. Oven rack: Place the cinnamon rolls in the center of your oven. If they are too high, the tops will get too browned while the bottoms are under cooked.
3. Check doneness: Use a thermometer to ensure the center of the dough reaches 190° F. You can't trust how done they look and must verify the doneness using an accurate thermometer for best results.

Frosting:

Please note that this recipe makes a lot of frosting. My family likes it when I only use about half on the cinnamon rolls and then set the rest out for dipping.

• Be sure your cream cheese and butter are both softened and mix them extremely well together before adding the remaining ingredients.
• You can vary the sweetness with the amount of sugar you add. You can also make this a thinner frosting by using milk instead of heavy cream.

Storage:

Ensure they are fully cooled and store in airtight container. These cinnamon rolls can be left out at room temperature, but they will last much longer if refrigerated or frozen.

Cinnamon Rolls

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls are the absolute best! Scratch made ooey gooey brioche dough wrapped in a cinnamon filling and topped with cream cheese icing. YUM.

5 from 7 votes

Print Pin Rate SaveSaved!

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Resting Time: 2 hours 45 minutes

Total Time: 3 hours 55 minutes

Hover to scale: 12 servings

Chef: Krissy Allori

Ingredients

For the brioche dough:

• ▢ 1 cup whole milk (warm (about 110 degrees F))
• ▢ ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ▢ ¼ ounce active dry yeast (one packet)
• ▢ 3 large eggs (slightly beaten)
• ▢ 3 ¼ cups all purpose flour ((additional flour might be needed, see instructions))
• ▢ 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ ½ cup unsalted butter (softened)
• ▢ vegetable oil spray

For the pan:

• ▢ ¼ cup butter (melted)
• ▢ ¼ cup heavy cream
• ▢ 5 tablespoons brown sugar

For the filling:

• ▢ 1 cup brown sugar (packed)
• ▢ 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• ▢ 2 ½ tablespoons cinnamon (or pumpkin pie spice)
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ ¾ cup butter (very soft)

Cream cheese frosting for cinnamon rolls:

• ▢ 8 ounces cream cheese (softened)
• ▢ ¼ cup unsalted butter (softened)
• ▢ 1 cup powdered sugar
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ ¼ cup heavy cream

Instructions

To make the brioche dough:

• Heat milk in small pot over low heat until it reaches about 105-110 degrees F. Remove from heat. Stir in sugar and sprinkle yeast on top. In about 5 minutes or so, your yeast should start to look slightly foamy. If there's no reaction at all, your yeast might be bad.
• Mix the eggs into the milk mixture.
• Add flour and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer. With the paddle attachment on and the mixer running on medium low speed, slowly add the milk/egg mixture until everything is combined. With the mixer still running, add butter one tablespoon at a time until fully mixed. Scrape bowl to ensure everything is well incorporated. Remove paddle and attach dough hook. Use dough hook to knead the dough on medium speed for about 5-10 minutes. The dough should start to look very smooth and stretchy. If dough is still wet and not pulling away from the sides of the bowl, continue to add flour (1 tablespoon at a time) until the dough comes together into one smooth and sticky ball.
• Use vegetable oil spray to coat the bottom of a new bowl. Transfer dough to bowl. Dough should be very sticky, so use a silicon scraper to get it all out of the stand mixer bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Coat bottom of pan:

• Combine melted butter, heavy cream, and brown sugar in the base and up the sides of an 11x17 baking dish. Set aside. Alternatively, you can use an extra large oven safe skillet like I did to melt the butter over low heat. Then add the heavy cream and sugar, mix, and set aside.

Prepare the filling:

• While the dough is chilling, mix together the sugars, cinnamon (or my preferred pumpkin pie spice), and salt. Mix in very soft butter. Mixture should look like a thick paste.

Prepare the cream cheese frosting:

• Also while the dough is chilling, make the frosting. Combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the whisk or paddle attachment, blend on high speed until fully mixed, light, and fluffy.
• Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and heavy cream. Mix on low. Once incorporated, increase the mixing speed and beat to combine until light and fluffy.

To prepare cinnamon rolls:

• Remove dough from refrigerator. It should have risen while chilling. Spread a thin layer of flour onto a clean working surface. Transfer dough to floured surface, an knead a few times. Use enough flour to prevent dough from sticking.
• Roll dough into a large rectangle that's about 12 inches by 18 inches and uniform thickness. Dough will be very elastic, so you might have to get creative and use both a rolling pin and your hands to stretch. It will want to pull back, but keep at it.
• Dump filling mixture on top of dough and use fingers to spread across entire surface.
  
• Roll the dough into a log. Starting at the long edge, roll all the way to the end and finish with the seal side down. At this point I like to use my hands to shape the log into a more uniform shape (sometimes parts are skinnier than others).
  
• To slice the rolls, use a sharp serrated edge knife and cut slices that are about 1-1 ½ inches thick. The filling will stick to the knife, so before each cut, coat the knife with flour.
• Place the rolls in your prepared pan.
  
• Cover pan with plastic wrap and allow to rise for about 45 minutes.
  

To bake the cinnamon rolls:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Cook in preheated oven until golden brown on top and the internal temperature of the dough reaches 190°F (this is important because they may look done but could still be doughy in the center). Total cooking time may range from 20-25 minutes or so depending on your oven, but be sure to trust the thermometer over recommended cooking time.
  
• Remove cooked rolls from oven and add frosting when the rolls are still warm to the touch.
  
• Serve warm and enjoy!

Notes

1. Dough rise: If your house temperature is 70°F or warmer, they will rise perfectly on the counter. If your house is colder, you may need to preheat your oven to the lowest possible temperature and as soon as it's warm, turn it off and open the door. Once the inside of the oven feels warmer than your kitchen (but not hot enough to melt the plastic wrap), place the covered rolls in the slightly warmed oven and allow them to rise in there.
2. Oven rack: Place the cinnamon rolls in the center of your oven. If they are too high, the tops will get too browned while the bottoms are under cooked.
3. Check doneness: Use a thermometer to ensure the center of the dough reaches 190° F. You can't trust how done they look and must verify the doneness using an accurate thermometer for best results.

NUTRITION INFORMATION

Calories: 479kcal | Carbohydrates: 67g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 97mg | Sodium: 428mg | Potassium: 129mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 39g | Vitamin A: 715IU | Calcium: 81mg | Iron: 2.1mg

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This recipe was originally published in July 2019 and has been updated with helpful information and recipe tips. Don't worry - the recipe hasn't changed!