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These Soft Cinnamon Rolls made with a simple homemade dough are super fluffy and light. Coat them in a perfect cream cheese glaze and let the baking begin!
You know you’re onto a winning Cinnamon Roll recipe, when the inside of the rolls are just as soft, if not softer than our Easy Soft Dinner Rolls. Pulling these sticky, sweet rolls apart is absolute heaven. Surprisingly easy to make and better than any store bought cinnamon rolls!
CINNAMON ROLLS
Nothing says Sunday morning quite like a warm, gooey batch of homemade soft cinnamon rolls, topped with a generous coating of cream cheese glaze! This is the only cinnamon roll recipe you will ever need.
Right up there as one of our favourite sweet treats, alongside our Best Fudgy Brownies and our Chocolate Chip Cookies, these gooey, soft cinnamon rolls are life changing. Once you’ve tried them, you’ll never go back! Incredibly soft and fluffy, and yes – completely from scratch with a fast rise dough thanks to my special oven proofing method.
HOW TO MAKE CINNAMON ROLLS
START WITH THE YEAST
Combine the warm milk together with the melted butter, sugar and yeast in a large bowl. Allow to stand for 10 minutes, until frothy to activate the yeast.
MAKE YOUR ROLLS
To make the rolls, add the whisked egg to the milk mixture. Add in exactly 3 1/2 cups of flour and salt, and mix until a soft dough forms (the dough will be sticky). Knead until smooth and stretchy (about 2 minutes kneading).
Your cinnamon roll dough should be tacky to the touch, but not so sticky that it’s messy. If you add too little flour, the dough will be gluey and eventually result in dense rolls. If you add too much flour, the dough will be tough, resulting in dry rolls.
FAST RISE TIP
Lightly coat a large bowl with cooking oil spray and transfer the ball of dough into the bowl, turning once to coat in the oil.
Cover with a damp towel and transfer the bowl of dough to a PREHEATED oven! Allow to rise for 30 minutes. To check if dough is ready, gently press two fingers into dough. If an indentation remains, the dough has not risen enough. Punch dough down; cover and let rest for an additional 30 minutes or until doubled in size.
ROLL
Roll out your dough onto a lightly floured surface, into a 19×13–inch rectangle. Brush the melted butter over the dough and sprinkle evenly with brown sugar and cinnamon. Gently rub the cinnamon mixture into the butter. Beginning at one long side, roll up dough tightly like a jelly-roll; then gently pinch the seam down to seal. Trim the ends for even slices, and cut dough into 12 or 15 slices.
SECOND RISE
After that, arrange the rolls in a lightly greased 9×13-inch baking dish. Cover with the damp towel and allow to rise for a further 30 minutes or until doubled in size.
Bake for 25 minutes, or until lightly golden. Cool slightly before glazing.
CREAM CHEESE GLAZE
Prepare icing while rolls are baking. Beat together the cream cheese, butter and vanilla, until smooth and creamy. Beat in the powdered sugar until lump free. Spread icing over rolls. Serve warm and enjoy!
HOW TO STORE CINNAMON ROLLS
The key to keeping your cinnamon rolls moist is to store them airtight. Wrap your cinnamon rolls individually in plastic wrap or foil and place them in a freezer bag. If you want to keep them in the pan, you can wrap the pan tightly as well. We recommend two layers to ensure they are airtight.
CAN YOU REFRIGERATE CINNAMON ROLL DOUGH?
Yes, your cinnamon roll dough can be refrigerated either after it’s kneaded and before the first rise or after the dough has risen and has been shaped. You should cover the dough tightly and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
Just LOOK at the fluff levels on this roll!
BAKING WITH YEAST
I get it, ‘yeast’ can be a scary word for those of us who aren’t confident bakers, however, you shouldn’t let it intimidate you! I’ve managed to create this Soft Cinnamon Roll recipe with a fast prep time while still using yeast, so you’re not losing the fluffiness of a good cinnamon roll. Nothing beats yeast.
MORE BAKING RECIPES
Easy Soft Dinner Rolls (NO MIXER + EGG FREE)
Hot Cross Buns
Cinnamon Star Bread
Mini Caprese Deep Dish Pizzas
Watch us make Soft Cinnamon Rolls right here!
PLEASE NOTE: THE VIDEO BELOW DOES NOT SHOW THE EGG ADDED INTO THE DOUGH DUE TO A FILMING ERROR. THIS IS AN IMPORTANT INGREDIENT AND MUST BE ADDED FOR SOFT CINNAMON ROLLS.
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Soft Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
YEAST:
- 1 cup milk warmed to the touch, NOT HOT - temp at 110°F or 45°C
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 5 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2-1/2 teaspoons quick-rise yeast or look for instant or rapid-rise yeast
ROLLS:
- 1 large egg lightly whisked
- 3 1/2 cups all purpose or plain flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 spray cooking oil spray
FILLING:
- 3/4 cup brown sugar loosely packed
- 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons butter melted
ICING:
- 4 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 2 tablespoon butter melted
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Heat oven to 200°F (100°C).
FOR THE YEAST:
- Combine the warm milk together with the melted butter, sugar and yeast in a large bowl. Allow to stand for 10 minutes, until frothy.
FOR THE ROLLS:
- Add the whisked egg to the milk mixture. Add in EXACTLY 3 1/2 cups flour and salt, and mix until a soft dough forms (the dough will be sticky). Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 2 minutes kneading), occasionally rolling into the flour on your bench top to prevent the dough sticking to your fingers.
- Lightly coat a large bowl with cooking oil spray and transfer the ball of dough to the bowl, turning once to coat in the oil. Cover with a damp towel. TURN OVEN OFF and transfer bowl of dough to the warm oven. Allow to rise for 30 minutes. (To check if dough is ready, gently press two fingers into dough. If an indentation remains, dough has not risen enough.) Punch dough down; cover and let rest for an additional 30 minutes or until doubled in size.
- Roll out dough onto a lightly floured surface, into a 19-inch x 13–inch rectangle. Brush the melted butter over the dough and sprinkle evenly with brown sugar and cinnamon. Gently rub the cinnamon mixture into the butter. Beginning at one long side, roll up dough tightly like a jelly-roll; then gently pinch the seam down to seal. Trim the ends for even slices, and cut dough into 12 or 15 slices.
- Arrange the rolls in a lightly greased 9x13-inch baking dish. Cover with the damp towel and allow to rise for a further 30 minutes or until doubled in size.
- While rising, preheat oven to 175°C | 350°F.
- Uncover rolls; bake for 25 minutes, or until lightly golden. Cool slightly before glazing.
FOR THE ICING:
- Prepare icing while rolls are baking. Beat together the cream cheese, butter and vanilla, until smooth and creamy. Beat in the powdered sugar until lump free. Spread icing over rolls. Serve warm.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I have been trying to make great cinnamon rolls, this was my 4th recipe attempt and worked amazingly! I used powdered milk instead of normal and it still worked amazingly. Fluffy and incredible!
I made this for my daughter inlaw’s Birthday her favourite and turned out amazing thank you will make again
Just a quick question, were we supposed to put the bowl of dough in the oven after we preheated it at 200°?
Hi, I’m sorry – I swear I posted a question and I have read through every single comment still left with a question.. by the way your recipes are amazing, I am culinary trained myself but ended up making a career change but now have a boyfriend with no taste buds and your recipes are bringing good food back into my life lol. Anyway, I usually only use metric recipes as US standard can be very finicky especially when it comes to flour. Does anyone have the measurement for the flour in grams? Is it the standard 3 1/2 cup of flour = about 438 grams? Thank you so much in advance and hope you’re having a great start to the week!
My go to recipe for Chelsea Buns aka Cinnamon buns.The recipe delivers and my family gets to enjoy these delicious soft fluffy bundles of yumminess.10/10
I made these cinnamon rolls in April 2020 and wrote on my printout that these were amazing!. I added almost double the butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar for the filling at that time. I am glad to see that the filling portion was increased on the website.
I have a batch in the oven baking now and can’t wait to eat them. They are super simple to make, despite what seems like a lot of instructions. But detail is important and I appreciate it.
I can’t stress enough the importance of using a thermometer when warming the milk. I add the 1 cup of milk to a 2-cup glass measuring cup and microwave about 1 minute, which gets me close to the 110 degrees F on my thermometer. Nothing worse than killing the yeast and not getting a good rise.
I tried the recipe out and it turned out better than any other recipe I have tried. However, I am at 8,000 feet elevation and feel that I would need to change something to have the rolls come out like you show.
Perfect cinnamon rolls. I am always on the search for a better cinnamon roll recipe, but I cannot conceive of a better recipe than this. Easy to follow, and the recipe produces a soft, delicious cinnamon roll. I did change one thing: I proof the yeast in the milk, then add the rest of the ingredients. Thanks for sharing!
OMG! I tried this for the first time and it came out well! Thank you so much for this recipe
So soft and so delicious!!!