Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls

You’ll love these copycat Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls made from scratch. Soft and fluffy, filled with cinnamon sugar and covered in buttery cream cheese frosting, they taste just like the real thing.

Big, fluffy Cinnamon Rolls made from scratch 🙌🏻

Just like Cinnabon’s famous Cinnamon Rolls, these gorgeous cinnamon buns are filled with buttery brown sugar cinnamon and covered in gooey cream cheese frosting.

A truly sumptuous way to start the day.

Whenever we travel to America, we always make sure to stop by Cinnabon for one of their big, buttery cinnamon rolls. One mouthful and I’m in cinnamon-covered heaven. It’s almost worth travelling halfway around the world for one.

Since there’s no Cinnabon here in Australia, I have to make my own when I need to get my Cinnamon Roll fix.

And now you can too 👇🏻

This recipe gives you soft and fluffy Cinnamon Rolls that are filled with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. But let’s be real. It’s all about that drippy cream cheese frosting.

Poured over hot cinnamon rolls fresh from the oven, the cream cheese frosting melts into every nook and cranny – making these Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls extra creamy-licious.

This is also a very similar dough to what we use in my favourite Hot Cross Bun recipe.

I know making bread, including Cinnamon Rolls, can be a bit daunting, but trust me, it’s worth the effort. There is nothing quite like fresh homemade bread straight from the oven.

Especially when it’s filled with buttery cinnamon and topped with creamy frosting 😍

Before you make these gorgeous rolls, take a quick read of my tips to make sure your Cinnamon Rolls turn out perfect 👌🏻

Secrets for amazing cinnamon rolls

Softened butter not melted
Use softened butter for the filling not melted butter. I’ve tried both. When baked, butter that has already been melted just seems to disappear, where as softened butter melts as it bakes which give you that lovely wet filling that Cinnabon is famous for.

Use brown sugar in the filling
I tried both caster (or granulated) sugar and brown sugar. Brown is better by far because it slightly caramelises and makes a much more flavourful filling.

Don’t roll the dough too wide
It can be tempting to roll the dough too wide which will give you smaller buns. For these big and beautiful copycat Cinnabons, you want to roll a large rectangle and roll from the short end so you have more layers in each roll.

Frost the rolls while they’re still hot
This cream cheese frosting is best when poured over the cinnamon rolls while they are still warm. It goes delightfully drippy ❤️

And enjoy them while they’re warm!

Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Hungry for more? Join me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter for more amazing recipe ideas.

Let’s Bake

Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls

Yield Makes 12 rolls 1x

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

4.8 from 35 reviews

Prep: 180 minutesCook: 25 minutesTotal: 3 hours 25 minutes

Deliciously soft and tender Cinnamon Rolls covered in cream cheese frosting.

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Ingredients

Cinnamon rolls

• 120 ml (1/2 cup) warm water
• 2 and 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
• 120 ml (1/2 cup) full fat or whole milk
• 60 grams (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
• 50 grams (1/4 cup) caster sugar  or granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 490 grams (3 and 1/2 cups) plain flour or all purpose flour, plus extra for dusting

Cinnamon sugar filling

• 60 grams (1/4 cup) butter, softened
• 90 grams (1/2 cup) brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Cream cheese frosting

• 60 grams (1/4 cup) butter, room temperature
• 125 grams (1/2 cup) full fat cream cheese, room temperature
• 190 grams (1 and 1/2 cups) icing or powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon whole or full fat milk

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Instructions

1. Set aside a 9 x 13 inch quarter sheet pan. Add warm water to a small bowl and sprinkle yeast over the top and set aside. 
2.  Add milk and butter to a small saucepan and pop on a low heat, to warm the milk and melt the butter. Once the butter is melted, remove the milk from the heat.
3. If the milk is hot to the touch, leave to cool for a minute or two. You want the milk to be warm but you should be able to stick your finger in there without it burning. Also check that your yeast has reacted and started to bubble a little on the edges.
4. Add sugar and salt to a large mixing bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add eggs and milk mixture. Slowly start to mix together using a dough hook. Add flour.
5. Then add yeast mixture, water and all, and continue to mix. Continue to mix for another few minutes until a nice soft dough forms. Once the dough comes together, remove it from the bowl and place it on a lightly floured bench.
6. Knead the dough by hand for 2 minutes or so until it is soft and smooth. Add a little flour to the bench if it’s a little sticky but not too much as we want the dough to be nice and light.
7. Then bring your dough into a ball and place in a large mixing bowl that has been greased well with butter or a little vegetable oil. Cover with cling wrap and leave to rise for at least 1 hour – it should double in size.
8. Next, gently push the air out of your dough using your fist. Take the dough out of the bowl and knead gently for a minute before rolling the dough out into a large rectangle, roughly 10 x 16 inches.
9. Smear softened butter all over the dough using a butter knife going right to the edges. Combine sugar and cinnamon and generously sprinkle all over the butter.
10. Roll up your dough, from the short end, then cut into 12 rolls using a serrated knife. Place rolls in sheet pan leaving space between each roll to rise. Cover with cling wrap and leave to rest for at least 30 minutes.
11. Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes or until golden brown on top. Meanwhile, make the cream cheese frosting.
12. Add butter and cream cheese to a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add sugar, vanilla and milk. Beat until smooth. When cinnamon rolls are ready, smear over cream cheese frosting while they’re still warm.

Notes

Recipe notes: The rolls are best served on the day they are made.

Pan size: If you don’t have a quarter sheet pan, you can use two 9 inch pie plates and just place 6 rolls in each.

Watch How To Make It

Nutrition Information

Serving Size: 1 roll Calories: 428 Sugar: 28.1 g Sodium: 151.6 mg Fat: 17.7 g Carbohydrates: 60.5 g Protein: 7.5 g Cholesterol: 75.5 mg

Nutrition information is a guide only.

Author: Jessica HolmesCategory: DessertCuisine: American

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Jessica Holmes

Hi, I’m Jess, the creator of Sweetest Menu and the author of Something Sweet. A self-taught baker and published recipe writer who can’t stop making easy and delicious baking recipes.