Homemade cinnamon rolls are soft, fluffy, and topped with cream cheese icing. Follow the step-by-step instructions for the BEST cinnamon rolls from scratch. One of our most loved recipes.
We love making cinnamon rolls from scratch. I mean there’s nothing quite like a freshly baked pan of homemade cinnamon rolls! My secret ingredient to soft and fluffy cinnamon rolls is using potato flakes. You’ll add 1-2 cups per recipe. That amount comes out of the flour total.
Try making my Homemade Pizza Dough, Cast Iron Pizza, Cast Iron Cinnamon Rolls, and Sourdough Bread.
I’ve worked on perfecting my cinnamon roll recipe for several years. They start with a homemade brioche dough, rolled up with melted butter, brown sugar, sugar, and a generous dusting of cinnamon. Prep ahead of time, refrigerate overnight and bake the next morning. Or, prepare them, cover with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for up to a few weeks.
How to make Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
Step 1: In a large mixing bowl of a stand mixer dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Add the warm milk, sugar, and eggs. Add the dough hook attachment, and stir in the flour and salt. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl occasionally with a rubber spatula. Cut the butter into small pieces and incorporate into the dough. Scrape the bowl a few times. Beat the dough until it becomes smooth, about 5-7 minutes.
Step 2: Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead for 5-6 minutes, making a smooth dough. This dough is going to be sticky when you turn it out. After kneading, shape into a round ball and place back into the greased mixing bowl. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and drape with a clean kitchen towel. Place in a warm area and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead the dough for a few minutes. Turn back into the greased bowl (spray with cooking spray again if needed) and let rise again until doubled, 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Step 3: Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and roll out with a rolling pin. Making it into a rectangle shape, about ½-3/4-inch thick. Spread the melted butter evenly with a pastry brush. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over the melted butter.
Step 4: Roll up, starting at the long end fairly tight. Brush the edge of the dough with melted butter and press to seal. Cut the dough into 2-inch rolls.
Step 5: Place the cinnamon rolls evenly into greased baking pans or a half sheet pan lined with parchment paper and sprayed with cooking spray. Cover the pan loosely with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen cloth and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
These are some of the most delicious cinnamon rolls I’ve ever made! Cinnamon rolls just need time to rise. You can even prep the dough the night before and roll into cinnamon rolls in the morning.
I often use a high-sided half sheet pan from Nordic Ware. It’s made in the USA and holds 12 cinnamon rolls perfectly.
For more great baking recipes be sure and try my Sourdough Bread, Oatmeal Bread, Oatmeal Cream Pies, Raspberry Oatmeal Bars, Cast Iron Cinnamon Rolls, and Jelly Doughnuts.
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Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Cinnamon Roll Dough
- 2 ¼ teaspoons (1 packet) active dry yeast
- ¼ cup lukewarm water
- 1 ½ cups milk warm (scalded and cooled to warm)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 5 ½ to 6 cups all-purpose or bread flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
Cinnamon Roll Filling
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ground cinnamon
Cinnamon Roll Icing
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2-4 tablespoons whole milk
Instructions
Cinnamon Roll Dough
- In a large mixing bowl of a stand mixer dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Add the warm milk, sugar, and eggs.
- Add the dough hook attachment, and stir in the flour and salt. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl occasionally with a rubber spatula. Cut the butter into small pieces and incorporate into the dough. Scrape the bowl a few times. Beat the dough until it becomes smooth, about 5-7 minutes.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 5-6 minutes, making a smooth dough. This dough is going to be sticky when you turn it out. After kneading, shape into a round ball and place back into the greased mixing bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or reusable plastic shower cap and drape with a clean kitchen towel. Place in a warm area and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead the dough for a few minutes. Turn back into the greased bowl (spray with cooking spray or use a pastry brush to brush on vegetable shortening again if needed). Cover with plastic wrap or reusable plastic shower cap and let rise again until doubled, 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Refrigerate the dough for 2-4 hours or overnight.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine granulated sugar, brown sugar and ground cinnamon. Adjust the cinnamon to your liking. Cover with plastic wrap to stay fresh and set aside.
- Turn the chilled dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and roll out with a rolling pin. Making it into a rectangle shape, about ½-3/4-inch thick.
- Spread the melted butter evenly with a pastry brush. Spread evenly with cinnamon sugar mixture over the melted butter. Use your hand to evenly spread it out.
- Gently roll up, starting at the long end fairly tight. Brush the edge of the dough with melted butter and press to seal. Cut the dough into 2-inch rolls.
- Place the cinnamon rolls evenly into greased baking pans or a half sheet pan lined with parchment paper and sprayed with cooking spray. Cover the pan loosely with plastic wrap or a half sheet pan plastic cover and refrigerate for 2-4 hours or overnight.
- *At this point, you can freeze cinnamon rolls if desired.
Cinnamon Roll Icing
- Whisk together your icing. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside. You want it to be fairly thick.
- To make the icing; mix the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, softened cream cheese, and milk in a bowl with a whisk or heavy duty spoon. Adjust the milk amount as needed based on how thick or thin you prefer your icing.
Cinnamon Rolls
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Remove cinnamon rolls from the refrigerator and use a pastry brush to gently brush with an egg wash, heavy cream or half & half. Place the baking pan in the preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
- Let cool on a baking rack for 10 minutes before spooning the icing over top the cinnamon rolls.
- Enjoy cinnamon rolls immediately. Refrigerate any leftovers in an airtight container.
Video
Recipe Notes
Or you can use 1 large egg, beaten with a few tablespoons of whole milk You can substitute instant yeast and let the dough rise only once, if you prefer. Though we highly recommend (and personally prefer) using active dry yeast and letting the dough rise twice. Then rolling into cinnamon rolls. I prefer to refrigerate prepared cinnamon rolls for 2-4 hours. Sometimes they leak juices a bit if you refrigerate too long. Cinnamon rolls can also be made ahead of time, rolled into cinnamon rolls, covered and frozen. You can bake right out of the freezer or let them thaw slightly.
Nutrition
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Peggy says
I’ve only made this once so far, but to me this is the best recipe!
Jessica Robinson says
So happy to hear that!
Holly Moore says
would it be OK to go ahead and slice them into rolls before refrigerating them overnight?
Jessica Robinson says
Prep the dough ahead, refrigerate overnight and roll into cinnamon rolls the next morning. If you roll them into cinnamon rolls, we only recommend about 4 hours or so in the fridge as the cinnamon tends to start to leak and become watery.
kk says
can i use evaporatorated milk? or dilute it
Jessica Robinson says
Do you mean for the dough? Or for brushing cinnamon rolls before baking?
Peggy says
I know I already said how easy these were to make, but oh my gosh!!
This will be my go to recipe from now on!!
Thank you so much for posting this.💖
Jessica Robinson says
Oh I’m so very happy to hear that!! It’s one of my personal favorites to make.
Peggy says
I made these for the first time. I found making these were super easy.
It does take time, but I think it will be worth it!
I sell baked goods for a pet rescue to pay on the vet bill.
will see how my buyers like these.
Jessica Robinson says
Peggy,
I’m so glad to hear that you’re enjoying the recipe!!
I bake cinnamon rolls at night and once mostly cooled, package into 6-inch clear clamshells for retail sale. That makes it super helpful to transport them and have individual cinnamon rolls. Or we have a white, folding pastry with a clear lid (all one piece) box that fits four cinnamon rolls.
Penny W. says
GUUUURL! Stop it with these cinnamon rolls! I finally made them & I kept thinking “These better be worth it”. They were one million percent worth it! In the past 35 years I have compared every cinnamon roll I ate, either made or bought, to the famous but long gone TJ Cinnamon’s rolls. You know what? These are even better. And, they are huge. One roll would be enough for two people but I am not going to give up one morsel to anyone 🤣 one question though- what would you recommend doing to make them a little smaller in diameter and/or rolling the rectangle biggerThank you for my new go to cinnamon roll recipe!
Jessica Robinson says
Thrilled to hear you love this cinnamon rolls recipe!
Steffi says
How much cinnamon do you use in the filling?
Jessica Robinson says
Measure with love- usually 2 heaping tablespoons
Phyllis says
What did I miss …. thought a Cup of Potato Flakes was in recipe! ??? thanks ….
Jessica Robinson says
While you don’t need them to successfully make cinnamon rolls or a yeast bread – I LOVE adding them and do it all the time now.
We write the recipe so someone doesn’t need to use them if they don’t have them. But, it’s noted in the “notes” section of the recipe card on my website.
You’ll substitute 1-2 cups potato flakes per recipe, subtract that from the flour amount.
Talea Sanchez says
l believe your prep time is wrong? from what it says at the top until the last part where you have to put them in the fridge again for 2 more hours
Jessica Robinson says
Talea
Prep time is correct. You’ll see it says 15 minutes to prep the dough and 2 hours for proofing. Yes, refrigeration is additional. Some choose to skip refrigeration, though we feel it’s an important step to keep them together nicely.
Beverly Moore says
I can’t wait to try these. thank you so much for sharing your recipe.
Jessica Robinson says
IN the body of the post. Near the top
Brian says
I made these for church last Sunday. I have never been able to make cinnamon rolls that would turn out without being dry and just blah. And I love to cook and bake. C-Rolls have just been my thorn. So frustrating. Until now. I came across your post. Pursued the endeavor. Fabulous outcome! Rave reviews!! I only had 3 left and they were taken after service. Thanks for sharing your recipe. I followed it frame by frame, step by step. This is a keeper. 😇
brenda voss says
do you have a recipe using your sour dough for cinnamon buns.just made your sour dough mix and everything looks good
Jessica Robinson says
I don’t currently, but could certainly consider doing that for an upcoming recipe. Thank you so much for looking at all of my recipes.
Sue says
I have only made homemade cinnamon rolls one other time and it was a fail. Well, I seen your recipe and wanted to try again since they looked sooo good! Wow!! They turned out amazing! This is my go to recipe now! Thank You!
Jessica Robinson says
Sue,
So happy to hear you enjoyed my cinnamon rolls recipe!
Rona Harrier says
Hi I am currently making your cinnamon roll recipe. Unfortunately, I screwed up. and forgot to put the butter in. I did get through the whole process and then I needed the butter into the dough. I hope it works, but they look delicious and if need be if you have any other suggestions like can I leave the butter out lol since I almost did it would be great to know thank you.
Jessica Robinson says
Rona,
Butter is a necessary ingredient, though you should be able to knead it in after if needed.
Claudia stornettac says
Never fails to impress the family I have a great recipe for cinnamon rolls been using it for years Never had any problems but one day I came across your apple fritter recipe purely a accident wasn’t looking for a fitter recipe but after reading it made fritters that night and fried them the next morning family went crazy! So when I noticed this one for cinnamon rolls I didn’t even question it its now my go to the only change I make sometimes not always is I add about 5tbs of butter into the pan and let it melt then 1/2 brown sugar once it is all combined I put my rolls on top for the final proof when it’s done you turn it out onto a slightly larger (I use cutting board)dish and all that butter and brown sugar has made a caramel no need for icing but that never stopped me lol
Jessica Robinson says
Hello Claudia,
Thank you so much for taking the time to write and let us know you loved the recipe! Happy to hear you found us by accident and found recipes you love!
Lisa Hatfield Torres says
This recipe is the BEST! Oh my gosh, it is now one of my favorites. A winner!
Jessica Robinson says
I mean, who doesn’t LOVE homemade cinnamon rolls?!
Michelle says
Could you use instant yeast with this recipe? ty
Jessica Robinson says
You could, but I wouldn’t. You’re not gonna get that light and fluffy cinnamon roll without traditional active dry yeast and 2 rises. But, if you want to rush them and use instant yeast, be my guest.