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These Quick Soft Cinnamon Rolls are super fluffy and light, and are made with a simple homemade dough. Smother them with the easiest cream cheese icing and devour them! These homemade cinnamon rolls are just as soft, if not softer than our Easy Soft Dinner Rolls and pulling them apart is absolute heaven!
It’s actually surprisingly easy to make them, and they taste way better than those store-bought cinnamon rolls. For me, Sunday mornings are all about whipping together a warm, gooey batch of homemade soft cinnamon rolls, topped with a generous coating of cream cheese glaze!
These rolls are right up there on the top of my list of favourite sweet treats, alongside my Best Fudgy Brownies and my Chocolate Chip Cookies, and once you give them a try, you’ll know why.
Why this Recipe Works
I won’t hesitate to say that these quick soft cinnamon rolls are life changing! They turn out incredibly soft and fluffy every single time, and yes – they’re made completely from scratch with a fast rise dough thanks to my special oven proofing method.
Once you give them a try, you won’t go back to any other recipe- it’s a promise.
If you love cinnamon-sugar inspired recipes, also check out my Cinnamon Star Bread and Cinnamon Cheesecake Swirled Pumpkin Brownies, which are perfect to feature on your table when you’re hosting.
What Goes into this Recipe
- Yeast: Use instant yeast or quick rise yeast for best results. If you’re looking for a shortcut version that skips yeast altogether, try these easy no-yeast cinnamon rolls instead.
- Butter: Melted butter, for the icing, filling and the yeast.
- Sugar: You’ll need granulated sugar (for the yeast), powdered sugar (for the icing) and brown sugar (for the filling).
- Egg: To lend the cinnamon rolls that structure and lots of richness.
- Flour: Just your regular all purpose flour.
- Cinnamon: Ground cinnamon, for the filling.
- Cream cheese: For that rich, irresistible icing.
- Vanilla: For the sweet aroma.
- Milk: For the icing and a little to help the yeast bloom.
- Cooking oil spray: To grease the bowl.
Note: please see recipe card at the bottom for list of full ingredients and measurements
Substitutions & Variations
- You can use any kind of milk here, but I would recommend using whole milk to get that rich, creamy flavor.
- If you have high protein flour or bread flour, try using it instead of all purpose flour to get even softer cinnamon rolls.
- For a deeper flavor, use dark brown sugar for the cinnamon sugar mixture.
How to Make Quick Soft Cinnamon Rolls
- Warm the Oven: Preheat your oven to 200°F (100°C). This gentle heat will help the dough rise later. Once heated, turn it off but keep the oven warm inside.
- Activate Yeast: In a bowl, whisk together the milk, melted butter, sugar, and yeast. Let the mixture rest for about 10 minutes, until it becomes foamy and fragrant.
- Make the Dough: Add the whisked egg, flour, and salt to the milk mixture. Mix until a soft, sticky dough forms. Turn it onto a floured surface and knead for about 2 minutes, adding flour only as needed.
- Let Dough Rise: Grease a bowl with cooking spray. Place the dough inside, turning it once to coat. Cover with a damp towel and place in the oven. Let rise for 30 minutes, then punch and rest another 30 minutes until doubled.
- Shape: Roll dough on a floured surface into a 19×13-inch rectangle. Brush with butter, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon, and rub the mixture in.
- Roll and Slice: Starting from a long edge, roll the dough tightly into a log and pinch the seam to seal. Trim uneven edges and cut into 12–15 even rolls.
- Second Rise and Bake: Arrange rolls in a greased 9×13-inch baking dish. Cover with a damp towel and let rise for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Uncover and bake for 25 minutes.
- Make the Icing: While baking, beat together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until smooth. Add powdered sugar and beat again until creamy. Spread icing over warm rolls before serving.
Enjoy these quick soft cinnamon rolls on their own as a sweet treat whenever you want to, or make them a part of a breakfast spread when you’re entertaining. I love teaming them up with my Dalgona Whipped Coffee, a hearty Breakfast Casserole with Bacon or Sausage and some easy Egg Muffins.
Recipe FAQ’s
If your cinnamon roll dough isn’t rising enough, it could be because the yeast isn’t active or fresh enough. Make sure you use fresh instant yeast for this recipe for the most soft, light and fluffy rolls.
To test if the yeast is fresh and active, simply check the date on the package or look for bubbles and frothiness when you let it bloom.
You can! If you’re sensitive to dairy, try using a plant based milk like almond milk as a swap, and use coconut oil as a replacement for butter in the recipe. And of course, skip the cream cheese icing and just use some vegan frosting instead.
Watch It Made
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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 9×13-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.
Omg i had such a time with this, but they turned out AMAZING! Im from the UK and I converted it into metric and made a half batch so was nervous how it would turn out. Very sticky dough but in bread baking “wetter is better” is often the mantra.
Even to start with I had misread the recipe about the oven proving and thought it was 100 C and by the time id realized the dough was in there over 10 min, but i took it out and it just let it prove in the kitchen at room temp and it was fine. I think because i had turned the oven off maybe 5min before it was ok and it had got down to a low enough temp not to murder all the yeast.
Lovely flavor and perfect soft dough. Thanks a lot!
So I made this recipe on Christmas and had too many things going on (and although they were still edible), I overcooked them a bit! ?? SO, today I made redemption cinnamon rolls using this same recipe 🙂 the only thing I did differently was cook for 20 minutes at 325 instead of 25 min at 350 because I have a gas oven that cooks hotter than it should. I also rotated hlthe pan halfway through…they look amazing. I cant wait to try!!! ♡ Thank you!!!
This recipe was a home run!!!! Decadent and full of yummy goodness! Just for my tweek; for the filling, I opted for 8 tbls of room temperature butter to spread on the dough before adding the cinnamon and brown sugar. For the brown sugar, I added 1 cup vs 1/2 cup. Either way…this recipe was awesome!!! Thank you so much for sharing ??
Mmm yum! You’re very welcome X
Will adding raisins wreck the recipe?
Nope, I added apples
Came out kind of hard and crisp instead of light and fluffy. Not sure if I did something wrong.
Do you have a gas oven? My first batch was like this so I made again and reduced temp to 325 for 20 mins instead. They look perfect! The key is just to watch them I think!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! It was easy to follow and my family LOVED the cinnamon rolls. This was my first time making any dough from scratch. I used my mixer to mix and knead the dough and they still turned out great. I modified a bit and added raisins. DELICUOUS!
It took me a few tries … not that buns didn’t turn out but I made them so big … grandchildren love them… great recipe!
Thank you so much for this recipe. I made it last night and brought the whole tray to work. And oh my God! So-so good. I loved how these rolls perfectly cinnamony (if there is such a word), not too sweet, sticky enough yet fluffy. And very easy and quick to make. Amazing! I will definitely be trying more recipes from you.
Kamila!!
This is so wonderful to hear. I am glad that you love these just as much as I do. They really are just as you described. Thanks for the comment and for following along with me! xo
Excited to try this recipe. Could I use a Kitchen aid mixer to do the kneading? If so, how many minutes in the mixer do you recommend? Thank you
I would recommend kneading it by hand but in a mixer on low for 2-3 minutes at a time. Thanks for choosing one of my recipes! XO
Oh My Goodness!! I’m deleting every other cinnamon recipe in my albums! These are the best homemade cinnamon rolls I’ve ever made! Nice and soft, great cinnamon flavor! My boys were speechless! THANK YOU!!!
I don’t know how people got sticky dough, because I got a nice firm yet elastic ball of dough, no mess and no sticking to fingers. I even had to use less flour (used about 2 cups). Maybe its because I used just soft, room temperature butter not melted butter, but oh well haha! Still came out delicious and fluffy!
Can confirm that this works well at high altitude! Awesome recipe 🙂
High altitude is tricky. It does work! It may take a little longer to raise but that would be the only difference.