If you’re looking the best, fluffy homemade cinnamon, look no further. These cinnamon rolls are not only easy to make, they’re also flakey and gooey on the inside making them hard to resist. Don’t forget to top them with the homemade cream cheese icing too!

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

I think we can all agree, there’s just something about homemade cinnamon rolls that makes them far superior to a store bought can of cinnamon rolls.

Homemade cinnamon rolls just hit differently, the smell, the taste, it’s just well.. better.

Over the years, I’ve tried a variety of cinnamon roll recipes, all slightly different, and well friends, this one right here is simply the BEST homemade cinnamon roll recipe you’ll ever find.

These gooey homemade cinnamon rolls have the perfect topping too, a homemade cream cheese icing.

How to Make These Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Tools:

Heat-Safe Mixing Bowl (small and medium)
Dough Whisk
French Rolling Pin
Measuring Cups
Dental Floss (sewing string or a sharp knife)
9×13 Baking Dish
Dish Towel

**This isn’t required but if you’re looking for a way to always have soft butter, I highly recommend this butter crock.

Ingredients:

Cinnamon Roll Dough

4.5 – 5.5 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4.5 tsp of an instant yeast (2 packets)
1 tsp salt
1.5 cups water
6 tbsp unsalted butter
1 egg

Filling

1/4 cup unsalted butter (room temp)
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon

Cream Cheese Frosting

4 oz cream cheese (room temp)
1/4 cup unsalted butter (room temp)
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract

Step-by-step instructions Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Step 1:

In a large bowl, whisk together 2 cups of flour, sugar, yeast, and salt.

Step 2:

In a heat safe mixing bowl, combine 1.5 cups of water and 6 tbsp of unsalted butter (thinly sliced). Heat in the microwave for 30-60 seconds until water is warm to touch but not hot. Your butter will not be completely melted.

Step 3:

Pour dry warm water mixture and egg into the dry ingredients, mix with a wooden spoon or bread mixing stick.

Step 4:

Add in 2 addition cups of flour and continue to mix. Your dough will be thick and sticky.

Step 5:

Add in 1/4 cup of flour and mix. Your dough should start turning shaggy at this point and may be hard to stir. Once it becomes too hard to stir you can start hand kneading your dough.

Step 6:

Your dough should still be sticky, continue to add 1/4 cup of flour at a time and kneading. You’ll continue to add 1/4 cup of flour until your mix is smooth.

Step 7:

Dough test. You will stick your finger into the dough, if it is still sticky, add an additional 1/4 cup of flour. If your finger is not sticky, at this point you will shape it into a ball and let it rest uncovered for 10 minutes.

Step 8:

After 10 minutes, your dough should have started puffing up. It won’t be double in size but it should be bigger than it was.

Step 9:

Prepare your work surface and lightly flour it. It’s time to pat your dough into a rough rectangle shape at this point. Once you have it into a rough rectangle you can use your rolling pin to make it approximately 10 x 15 inches.

Step 10:

Spread your room temperature butter onto your rectangle, make sure to leave about 1/2 inch border all the way around your dough.

Step 11:

Sprinkle your brown sugar evenly onto the butter and dough. Use your hands to make sure it’s even if needed. Then top with your cinnamon.

Step 12:

Next you’re going to roll your dough, start long your long 15 inch edge and roll your dough into a log and tighten your roll as you go. Upon finishing, give your edges a little squeeze to make your log compact.

Step 13:

Cutting your rolls. I recommend using dental floss (unflavored) but if you don’t have that then sewing string can also work. You’ll slide your floss under your log, crossing the string at the top and pulling it down to create a nice smooth cut.

You’ll start by cutting off your two ends of the log. You can still bake these but they’ll have less cinnamon and sugar and be more “dough rolls”

Step 14:

Using your floss, slide it under your dough roll to the middle and create a cut, splitting your dough in half. Once cut in half, you’ll then cute those in half to create 4 smaller logs.

Now that you have 4 logs, you’ll cut each into 3 pieces for a total of 12 cinnamon rolls.

Step 15:

Prep your 9×13 dish by greasing it then place your rolls onto the dish.

Step 16:

Allow your cinnamon rolls to rise. Cover your cinnamon rolls with a towel and allow to rise for 1 hour. If you’re baking these in the winter or colder climate and it’s cooler, you can place your oven on the lowest temperature (ours was 200), once it’s preheated turn off the oven and place your rolls inside to proof there until they have doubled in size and take up your entire dish.

Step 17:

Preheat your oven. If you have proofed your rolls in the oven take them out and now preheat your oven to 350F.

Step 18:

Once your oven is warm and ready, place your cinnamon rolls in for 25-30 minutes to bake until your tops are golden brown. Take out and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes.

Cream Cheese Icing Recipe

Cream Cheese Icing. You’ll need room temp butter and cream cheese, if it is not room temp, your icing will be lumpy.

Step 1:

Place your 4 oz cream cheese and 1/4 cup butter into a bowl, use a fork to mix the two together.

Step 2:

Add in 1 cup of powdered sugar and 2 tsp of vanilla, using your fork, combine all ingredients. Once your mixture starts to turn smoother, use a whisk until you reach a smooth icing texture.

Step 3:

Pour icing over cinnamon rolls

Enjoy your fresh homemade cinnamon rolls!

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Icing

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Author: Tandra Nicole
Total Time: 1 hr 45 minutes
Yield: 12 rolls 1x

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Description

There’s nothing quite like a homemade warm fluffy cinnamon roll topped with the perfect cream cheese icing.

Ingredients

Scale

Cinnamon Roll Dough

4.5–5 cups of all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 packets of Instant Yeast
1 tsp salt
1.5 cups water
6 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into thin slices
1 large egg

Filling

1/4 cup unsalted butter (room temp)
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon

Cream Cheese Icing

4 oz cream cheese (room temp)
1/4 cup unsalted butter (room temp)
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract

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Instructions

**Before starting make sure you have your butter and cream cheese at room temperature.

Cinnamon Roll Dough

In a large mixing bow, whisk together 2 cups of flour, sugar, yeast, and salt.
In a heat-safe bowl, combine the water and butter (cut into thin slices). Heat in microwave for 30-60 seconds until warm but not too hot. Water will be warm to touch but your butter will not be fully melted, this is to be expected.
Pour heated water and butter into dry ingredients, add egg, and mix with a wooden spoon.
Add in 2 more cups of flour and mix. At this point your dough should be thick and sticky.
Add in 1/4 cup of flour and mix again. You’ll continue adding 1/4 cup of flour to your mix until your dough becomes “shaggy” and difficult to stir.
Once your dough has become shaggy, you’ll hand kneed the dough. It may still be sticky, if so, add another 1/4 cup of four and continue to kneed by hand. It should turn into a smooth dough.
Stick your finger into the dough, if you finger is sticky add another 1/4 cup of flour, if you finger is clean, you can shape your dough into a ball and let it rest for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, the dough should have risen. It won’t have doubled but it should look larger.
Lightly flour your work surface and pat your dough into a rectangle.
Use your rolling pin to shape your dough into roughly a 10 x 15 inch rectangle.
Spread your room temperature butter into a thin and even layer, you’ll want to leave about 1/2 inch border all around your dough.
Sprinkle your brown sugar and spread it even with your hands over the butter. Then top your mixture with cinnamon.
Start at the 15 in side of your dough and roll it up into a log and squeeze the ends in to push your log tightly together.
Next we will cut our rolls. If you have unflavored dental floss, this will give you the best results. However, you could also use thin sewing string as a second option. Lastly you can use a sharp knife by pushing back and forth to cut your rolls but not a straight push down as this will smash your rolls.
If you are using floss or string, slide it under the roll and cross the string over the top. Pull the strings tight to create a cut through your dough.
First, cut off the two ends. You can use these but they’ll mainly be just dough and not a perfect cinnamon roll shape.
Once you have your ends cut off, slide the floss to the center of your log and split it in two. Then cut these two in half so that you now have 4 logs.
Cut each of the 4 logs into 3 pieces for a total of 12 cinnamon rolls.
Prep your 9×13 dish with grease and then place cinnamon rolls into the dish.
Cover with towel and allow to rise for 1 hour. You’ll want your rolls to fill up the pan. If rolls are not rising, see note 1.
Preheat oven to 350F for baking. Once oven is heated, place inside for 25-20 minutes, until rolls are golden brown. Remove and allow to rest for 10-15 minutes.

Cream Cheese Icing

Place room temp cream cheese icing and room temp butter into a mixing bowl (see Note 2 if not room temp). Mash with a fork until they combine.
Add powdered sugar and vanilla extract, use fork to combine. Once the texture starts to transition to a smoother texture, switch to a whisk and continue to mix until you reach desired consistency of icing.
Pour over cinnamon rolls and enjoy!

Notes

Cinnamon Rolls Rising: If your cinnamon rolls aren’t rising because you live in an area with colder temperatures. Set your oven to the lowest temperature, mine is 200F, once oven reaches temp, turn off, and place rolls inside. Watch rolls rise until they have doubled in size and take up your entire pan. **Remove from oven before preheating for baking.
Icing Lumpy: If your butter and cream cheese are not at room temp you icing may come out is lumpy. Our kitchen is on the cooler side and even being room temp it was still slightly lumpy. The taste will be the same but the texture will be different.
If you’d like to make the cinnamon rolls before, stop once you place them into the baking dish, cover them with plastic wrap and place into the refrigerator. Before you bake the next day, they will need to rest at room temperature while covered for roughly 30-45 minutes. Then bake as normal.

Category: Dessert
Method: Baking

Tips

To store your cinnamon rolls, place into an air tight container, or cover with plastic wrap, and store at room temperature for 2-3 days.

A trick I learned from my grandma, if you want them to remain soft, place a slice or two of bread in with your cinnamon rolls to prevent them from drying out.

Enjoy!

I hope you enjoy this recipe this holiday season as much as our family does. Instagram If you’re looking for more fall recipes you can check out my Cranberry Orange Bread which is delicious.