Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Delicious, gooey, & sweet homemade cinnamon rolls with step-by-step photos, detailed instructions, and all my top tips/tricks for perfect cinnamon rolls every single time.

Create the ultimate breakfast/brunch by serving these cinnamon rolls alongside these breakfast potatoes and this strawberry smoothie!

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

If you ask my toddler what his favorite thing to eat is, he won’t even hesitate without a resounding response, “CINNAMON ROLLS!” He loves them! He can out-eat just about anyone and he can never have enough frosting on his rolls. Unfortunately, I’ve never been the best cinnamon roll maker, so at the beginning of the year when our church time changed from 11am to 1pm, we set a goal to use Sunday morning as our time to test as many cinnamon roll recipes as possible and perfect cinnamon rolls from scratch together. Making cinnamon rolls with him every Sunday morning for the past several month has honestly been one of my favorite things we’ve ever done together. And in the process I’d say my skills have drastically improved (hey, I’m pretty good at making cinnamon rolls now! haha!) and we’ve mashed up so many recipes to come up with what we’ve both decided are the best cinnamon rolls ever.

One thing I found incredibly helpful as I worked to improve my cinnamon roll making skills were step by step photos and VERY detailed instructions. So below you’ll find just that! I hope you get a chance to try these and if you do, let me know what you think in the comment section!

How to make Homemade Cinnamon Rolls:

Step One: warm milk to 100 degrees F and proof yeast

• I like to use a thermometer for exactness. Warm the milk to exactly 100 degrees and remove it from the stovetop.
• Proof yeast: To make sure active dry yeast is alive and active, we start by proofing it. Here’s how we’ll do it for this recipe: add yeast and sugar on top of the warm milk and let it stand for 5-10 minutes. Do not stir the yeast/sugar into the milk.

Step Two: combine melted butter, vanilla extract, and an egg yolk

• While the yeast is doing it’s work, melt 4 tablespoons of butter and let that cool back to room temperature — you don’t want hot butter or it will scramble/cook the egg
• Once the butter has cooled, whisk in an egg yolk (reserve or discard the whites), and pure vanilla extract

Step Three: add egg/butter mixture to yeast/milk mixture

• This bottom left photo shows how your yeast/milk mixture should look. The active yeast has worked on the sugar and a bubbly foam will start to form on the surface of the milk (this is from carbon dioxide being released). That foam is PROOF that the yeast is active; once you see that, you know you’re good to go!
• If you don’t see foamy yeast, your yeast might be dead or the milk was too hot and killed the yeast. If you don’t get the foamy yeast you’ll need to start again or you’ll end up with dense unrisen cinnamon rolls.
• Now you can whisk in the butter/egg mixture into the yeast/milk mixture (bottom right photo)

Step Four: whisk together dry ingredients, add in wet, and mix

• Meanwhile, add all the dry ingredients to a stand mixer. Whisk together and then create a well in the center of the dry ingredients.
• Add the wet ingredients (milk/yeast/butter/egg mixture) to the well you created in the dry ingredients
• Mix on low speed with the dough hook until thick and slightly sticky (~2 minutes), scraping down the sides with a spatula as needed.
• Knead on medium speed until the dough gathers around the hook, (~5-6 minutes).
• If the dough is not gathering around the hook you can add up to 2 more tablespoons flour. (The dough will be slightly sticky and tacky; resist the urge to add too much additional flour as this will take away from the softness of the dough)

Step Four: let the dough rise

• Gently form the dough into a ball and place in a well-greased, large bowl. Cover and allow to rise in a warm temperature
• PRO TIP: I heat my oven to 170 degrees F and then turn it off, add the covered dough, and keep the oven open just a crack. This helps the dough rise in the perfect warm environment.
• Let rise until doubled; about 45 minutes to 1 hour (depending on the temperature it’s rising at)

Step Five: roll out the dough, add cinnamon sugar, form into a log

• Lightly flour a clean surface and roll out the dough. You should get an even rectangle: 15 inches by 12 inches (with the 15 inch side facing you). Avoid over-working the dough; roll gently and take your time here.
• Spread the butter/cinnamon/brown sugar over the dough. While most cinnamon roll recipes pour over melted/soft butter and then add the cinnamon/sugar on top, I’ve found that making a “frosting” of the 3 helps to keep everything in these homemade cinnamon rolls and makes it easy to spread.
• Starting on the long end, roll up the dough tightly in jelly roll style. You’ll have an even sized cylinder.
• Cut the cylinder of dough into 12 even slices (use your measuring tape for perfect accuracy!)

Step Six: place cut rolls in a 9 x 13 inch pan

• To avoid any strange metallic flavor that can sometimes come off on cinnamon rolls, I recommend using a ceramic or glass baking dish.
• Grease the dish well and then add in the cut homemade cinnamon rolls — add them cut side DOWN.

Step Seven: 2nd rise and the “secret ingredient”

• Cover the rolls and allow them to rise (again in a warm environment for best results) for 20-30 minutes or until nearly double. 
• Once the the rolls have risen, pour warmed heavy cream evenly over the rolls. This is the “secret ingredient” that makes the cinnamon rolls gooey, delicious, flavorful, and slightly caramelizes all the edges. This tip comes from Tastes of Lizzy T and we don’t make our cinnamon rolls without it now 🙂

Step Eight: bake the cinnamon rolls and make the glaze

• While the cinnamon rolls are making, quickly beat together the glaze.
• Allow these homemade cinnamon rolls to cool 10-15 minutes out of the oven and then spread the glaze evenly over the rolls.
• Enjoy while warm and gooey!

Cinnamon Roll FAQS

More delicious breakfast/dessert ideas:

• French Toast (with a 4-ingredient caramel syrup!)
• Acai Bowl (4 flavors!)
• Healthy No Bake Cookies
• Cinnamon Roll Cheesecakes (reader favorite!)

5 from 1 vote

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Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Prep Time

30 mins

Cook Time

18 mins

Dough Rising

1 hr 15 mins

Total Time

48 mins

 

Delicious, gooey, & sweet homemade cinnamon rolls with step-by-step photos, detailed instructions, and all my top tips/tricks for perfect cinnamon rolls every single time.

Course: Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Servings: 12 large cinnamon rolls

Calories: 339 kcal

Author: Chelsea

Ingredients

For the Dough:

• 1 cup whole milk (I wouldn't recommend a lower fat)
• 2 and 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast (not instant)
• 1/3 cup + 1/2 teaspoon white granulated sugar
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
• 1/2 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 and 3/4 cups all-purpose white flour, plus 2 extra tablespoons if needed and some to flour work surface!
• 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the Filling:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed (I like dark, but light works great too)
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup heavy cream, slightly warmed

For the Frosting/Glaze

• 4 ounces full fat cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste OR 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Pinch of ground cinnamon
• Pinch of fine sea salt

Instructions

Make the Dough:

1. Preheat your oven 170 degrees F. Heat the milk in a medium pot over low heat until it reaches 100 degrees F. Remove pot from the heat and sprinkle in the yeast over top of the milk evenly. Then sprinkle the 1/2 teaspoon sugar overtop of the yeast. Do not stir. Set aside yeast/milk mixture until foamy, which should take about 5 to 10 minutes. (If the mixture doesn't foam; you may need new yeast or you could have killed the yeast with too hot of milk. Start over with new yeast or cooler milk or your rolls won't rise).

2. Meanwhile, in another bowl, melt the butter and let return to room temperature. In that small bowl, whisk in the vanilla extract and egg yolk once the butter is at room temperature. Whisk this butter/egg mixture into the milk/yeast mixture until smooth.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the flour, the remaining 1/3 cup sugar, the salt and the cinnamon. Once combined, make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in the yeast mixture into the center. Mix on low speed with the dough hook until thick and slightly sticky, about 2-3 minutes (scrape down the sides with a spatula). Increase the speed to medium speed and knead until the dough gathers around the hook, 5-6 minutes. If the dough is not gathering around the hook you can add up to 2 more tablespoons flour. (The dough will be slightly sticky and tacky; resist the urge to add too much additional flour as this will take away from the softness of the dough)

4. Remove the dough and shape into a ball (again it will be a little sticky!). Grease (with cooking spray or butter) the mixer bowl and return the dough to the bowl, turning to coat with the oil/butter. Cover with plastic wrap or a towel and let rise until doubled. I turn off the oven, place the bowl on the middle rack, and then slightly crack the oven. This will allow a rise in about 40 minutes to an hour. Alternatively, it will take about 1 hour 15-20 minutes to rise.

5. Lightly flour a clean work surface and roll out the dough to a 12 inch by 15 inch rectangle (with the 15 inch side facing you).

For the Filling:

1. In a large bowl, combine the 1/2 cup softened butter with the brown sugar and cinnamon. Beat until you have a thick (frosting-like) mixture. (I then use this same bowl for the glaze!)

2. Use a butter knife or spatula to smooth the cinnamon sugar filling over the entire dough rectangle. Starting on the long side (closest to you), tightly roll up the dough in jelly roll style.

3. Cut that cylinder of dough into 12 equal slices and place cut size down in a well greased (with cooking spray or butter) 9 x 13 ceramic or glass pan (avoid metal pans if possible)

4. Cover the pan and allow the rolls to rise until nearly doubled again in a warm environment for best results) for 20-30 minutes or until nearly double. (I like to turn the oven on again to 170 degrees F and once preheated, turn it off, place the covered rolls in the oven, and slightly crack the oven door).

5. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Warm the heavy cream for 15-20 seconds in the microwave (you don't want it hot, just not cold/straight from the fridge).

6. Pour the heavy cream over the risen rolls and allow it to soak down, in, and around the rolls.

7. Bake cinnamon rolls at 375 degrees F for 17-22 minutes, until the rolls are lightly golden brown at the edges and the center of the rolls are cooked through.

For the Frosting/Glaze:

1. While the rolls are cooling, prepare the frosting/glaze. In a large bowl (I use the same used for the filling) combine the room temperature cream cheese and butter. Beat until smooth and creamy about 2-3 minutes. Add in the powdered sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Beat until smooth.

2. Allow cinnamon rolls to cool at room temperature for 10-15 minutes and then spread the glaze evenly over the rolls. Enjoy warm!