These homemade soft cinnamon rolls are perfectly fluffy, tender, and deliciously doughy, with a sweet cinnamon filling and a melt-in-your-mouth texture. They’re the ultimate cozy breakfast treat or dessert that the whole family will love.
Ingredients Needed to Make this Homemade Soft Cinnamon Rolls Recipe:
- Active dry yeast: Dry active yeast aids in the rising of the dough and produces a fluffy texture for the cinnamon rolls as they are baked.
- Milk: I suggest using either 2% or whole milk and having it lukewarm (not hot).
- Granulated sugar: Adding sweetness to the cinnamon rolls and activating the yeast, this is the purpose of this.
- Unsalted butter: For the dough, filling, and frosting recipes, I recommend using unsalted butter so that you can control the amount of sodium.
- Eggs In my recipe, I use two whole eggs and an extra egg yolk to create a rich dough. The additional yolk ensures a nice, full-bodied texture.
- Flour: This recipe calls for all-purpose flour.
- Brown sugar I prefer to use light brown sugar in my recipe, but dark is also an option.
- Cinnamon
- Cream cheese I advocate full-fat cream cheese for a more robust flavor.
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla extract
How to Make Homemade Soft Cinnamon Rolls
Proof the Yeast: Dissolve yeast in warm milk and 1 tablespoon of sugar from the recipe. Let sit for 10 minutes or until foamy on top. If no foam appears, the yeast is dead and cannot be used for the cinnamon rolls; they won’t rise properly.
Make and knead the dough: Mix in the remaining sugar, butter, and eggs until blended. Begin by adding 3 cups of flour and then gradually add in the rest, kneading until you have a workable dough. Do not over-flour the dough as it should still be slightly sticky, yet not too sticky to handle.
First Rise: Form dough into a ball and place it in a greased bowl. Allow rising in a warm spot until it is doubled in size, which should take about an hour. Pro tip: Preheat oven to 170 degrees, then turn it off to create a warm environment for rising!
Roll out dough and prepare Filling: Roll dough into a 12×24-inch rectangle. Spread the dough with melted butter. Mix cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl, then sprinkle evenly over the buttered dough.
Shape rolls: Roll the dough up very tightly into a long log. Cut into 12 or 16 cinnamon rolls. 12 for a large 9×13 pan or 16 for two round 8″ baking pans (8 rolls in each). Grease your pan of choice extremely well and place cut cinnamon rolls into the prepared pan.
Second rise: Allow them to rise once more in a warm location until they become light and airy, approximately thirty minutes.
Bake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and bake the cinnamon rolls until they are lightly golden on top, which should take around 20-25 minutes.
Frosting: Mix cream cheese and butter until smooth, and free of lumps. Gradually add in powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt and blend until creamy. Spread the frosting over the warm rolls.
Cinnamon Rolls
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Cinnamon Rolls
Homemade Soft Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Method
- Dissolve yeast in warm milk with 1 tablespoon of sugar and let sit for 10 minutes until foamy. Mix in the remaining sugar, butter, and eggs.
- Add flour gradually, kneading until a soft, slightly sticky dough forms.
- Place dough in a greased bowl and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour, until doubled in size.
- Roll dough into a 12×24-inch rectangle. Spread the dough with melted butter. Mix cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl, then sprinkle evenly over the buttered dough.
- Roll tightly into a log, cut into 12–16 rolls, and place in a greased baking pan. Let rise again for 30 minutes.
- Bake at 350°F for 20–25 minutes until golden.
- For the frosting, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt, then spread over warm cinnamon rolls.
