Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

A homemade cinnamon roll with cream cheese icing on a plate with a fork.

This homemade cinnamon rolls recipe is the one you'll use again and again! They bake up super fluffy, and stay soft for days. Top these cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing - they're so easy to make and will melt in your mouth with every indulgent bite! You can double the recipe, and use half for cinnamon rolls and the other half for Homemade Crescent Dinner Rolls!

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Prep Time: 3

Cook Time: 20

Total Time: 3 20

Servings: cinnamon rolls

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

Dough Ingredients:

1 ½ cups warm water around 95°F
½ cup warm whole milk around 95°F
1 Tablespoon instant yeast*
½ cup granulated sugar
1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt
½ cup boxed potato flakes
2 large eggs room temperature
½ cup butter flavored shortening
¼ cup unsalted butter softened
6 cups bread flour
⅔ cup heavy cream optional

Filling Ingredients:

¼ cup salted butter melted
¾ cups dark brown sugar
4 Tablespoons ground cinnamon

Cream Cheese Icing

3 ounces cream cheese softened
1 cup unsalted butter softened
4 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2-3 Tablespoons milk

Instructions

Prepare the dough

To the bowl of a stand mixer, add the ingredients for the cinnamon roll dough: the water, milk, instant yeast, sugar, salt, dry potato flakes, eggs, shortening, butter, and half the flour. Mix with the dough hook attachment, on low speed until combined and smooth, about 1 minute.
While on low speed, gradually add the remaining flour, about 1/2 cup at a time. You may or may not need the entire amount of flour. You can stop the mixer and check the dough by lightly tapping on it with your fingertip - it should feel soft, slightly tacky, but not wet. *When in doubt, it’s always best to go lighter on the flour. You can always add more flour later, but you can’t take flour away. Too much flour in your dough will give you dry, dense rolls.
Knead the dough on low speed for 10-15 minutes, or until it's smooth and cohesive. It should be mostly cleaning the sides of the bowl. If you take a piece of dough, you should be able to stretch it a few inches apart without it tearing.

Bulk Fermentation

Spray a large bowl with nonstick baking spray. Remove the dough from the mixer and place it the bowl. Cover it with a clean kitchen towel and let it rise until doubled in size, about 60-90 minutes.

Prepare the filling

In separate bowl combine the brown sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.

Divide and pre-shape

Turn the risen dough out onto a floured work surface. Divide it into two equal pieces, about 795g each. Pre-shape each piece of dough by tucking the sides under and pinching the dough together on the bottom side. This will make it easier to roll out into a rectangle. Place both pieces on the floured countertop.
Melt ¼ cup salted butter in microwave safe dish and set aside.

Roll out and shape the cinnamon rolls

Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll it out to a rectangle, about 12 inches by 18 inches.
Spread half of the melted butter over the dough, leaving an inch border on the top long edge of the rectangle. Sprinkle half the brown sugar mixture on top of the melted butter, continuing to leave the inch border at the top edge. Leaving this border will help in sealing the dough shut when rolled up.
Start with the long side closest to you, and working from left to right, roll up the dough into a log. Try to tighten and pull the dough as you go - it will create more cinnamon swirls in your rolls. When you get to the end, pull the dough up and over the roll. Pinch the seam shut.
Using a piece of dental floss or baker’s twine, make a light indentation where your cuts will be. One rollout will give you 9 large cinnamon rolls. This will be your guide to know where to cut and to help make them all the same size.
When ready to make your cuts, slide the floss under one end of the dough, bring the ends of the floss up, cross them over and tug to cut through the dough, making a 2-inch-wide roll. Continue to cut to get 9 equal sized cinnamon rolls. Roll out, fill, and divide the second piece of dough.

Final Proof

Spray a baking sheet with nonstick baking spray. Place cinnamon rolls on the baking sheet about 1 inch apart. (You should be able to fit 18 cinnamon rolls on one baking sheet when arranged as I have pictured.) Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let the cinnamon rolls proof for about 45-60 minutes. They should be puffy and nearly double in size. See recipe notes for more proofing tips. Preheat your oven towards the end of the final proof.

Bake

*Optional: You can pour the heavy cream over the cinnamon rolls just before baking. This gives them an extra soft texture and makes the filling nice and gooey! But again, this is optional and they're still amazing without the heavy cream.
Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 23-28 minutes or until edges are just golden brown. The inside of the cinnamon rolls should reach a temperature of at least 195°F. Place the pan on a wire cooling rack.

Frost with cream cheese icing

With an electric mixer, combine the ingredients for the cream cheese frosting: the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, powdered sugar, and milk. Mix on medium low speed until smooth, creamy, and spreadable.
Spread the cream cheese frosting over the cinnamon rolls. I prefer to frost them while they're still warm, about 20 minutes out of the oven - this way the frosting will slightly melt into the cinnamon rolls. You can also let them cool completely before icing. Enjoy them freshly baked and slightly warm for the best, fluffy, delicious cinnamon roll you've ever had! Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

Video

Notes

This recipe has been updated from its original version. The original version called for 2 cups (474ml/g) of warm water and 1/4 cup (28g) of powdered milk. I updated the recipe because I found that using regular milk was more available for bakers, and it yields the same results.
*You can replace the instant yeast with active dry yeast – be sure to proof it first. Proof it by adding the active dry yeast to the water with 1 Tablespoon of the sugar. Let it sit for up to 15 minutes to foam up. If it doesn’t foam, replace yeast with a fresh package.
Freeze unbaked cinnamon rolls: You can freeze the cinnamon rolls to bake later. After rolling up and placing the rolls on a nonstick cookie sheet, put the entire pan in the freezer and allow the rolls to freeze for 24 hours. Once frozen, remove the sheet pan and you can pop them off, place them in a ziplock bag, and store in the freezer for later use. When baking frozen rolls, remove them from the freezer bag and place on a baking sheet. Allow them to rise at room temperature and bake as usual. This could take 3-5 hours, depending on how warm your kitchen is.
Overnight cinnamon rolls: Make overnight cinnamon rolls by rolling them out, place on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator overnight. They tend to rise quickly, even in the refrigerator, so I suggest only refrigerating for 8 hours.
Make the dough the night before: You can make the dough the night before and refrigerate - roll them up in the morning and let rise to double in size, about 45 minutes before baking.
This is the same dough for my Homemade Crescent Dinner Rolls. You can double this recipe and make both dinner rolls and cinnamon rolls with the same dough.
To make mini cinnamon rolls, divide dough into one third the regular weight/size and roll out as directed. For example, instead of rolling out a 25-27 oz dough ball, roll out a 8-9 oz dough ball, but divide it into nine cinnamon rolls. This will give you the mini size. Roll the dough out more long and narrow than the regular sized cinnamon rolls. Rise time may be slightly less. Decrease bake time by 2 minutes.
Substitutions: You can swap out butter for the butter flavored shortening. You can also swap out 1/3 cup cooked potato for every 1/2 cup of the potato flakes. You can use all-purpose flour instead of bread flour - you may need a little bit extra to make it less sticky.

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