Soft and tender Small Batch Cinnamon Rolls covered in cream cheese frosting. This easy recipe will show you how to make just six perfect cinnamon rolls. And you don’t even need a stand mixer or dough hook to make the dough.
Hello heaven 👋🏻
Meet my Small Batch Cinnamon Rolls, complete with lashings of cream cheese frosting. This simple recipe makes just six perfect cinnamon buns filled with sweet cinnamon sugar. The best part? You don’t even need an electric mixer.
If you’ve never attempted to bake bread or work with yeast at home, this easy recipe is the perfect place to start.
why you will love this recipe
- It makes just 6 cinnamon rolls
- You don’t need an electric mixer to make the dough
- They’re soft, sweet and brimming with cinnamon
- There’s cream cheese frosting involved
recipe testing
My husband and I have been known to hunt down a Cinnabon whenever we can on our travels. And my copycat Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls are one of my most popular recipes.
So when a reader reached out to me and requested a cinnamon roll recipe for our new Small Batch series, I couldn’t wait to oblige. As a family of three, I understand firsthand that 12 rolls can be too many. And let’s be real, baked goods like these really are best on the day they are made.
So I took my tried and true Cinnamon Roll recipe and scaled it down to make just six soft and fluffy buns filled with cinnamon sugar. I adjusted the recipe to ensure the rolls are nice and light, even without using a stand mixer or a dough hook.
I increased the quantity of cream cheese frosting, because it really does take these rolls to a whole new level of deliciousness. A little more cinnamon and a little less butter, and voila, the perfect Small Batch Cinnamon Roll recipe.
Let’s break it down
- Make your dough.
- Let it rise.
- Roll it out.
- Smear with butter.
- Cover in cinnamon sugar.
- Roll it up.
- Slice into six rolls.
- Let them rest.
- Bake.
- Smother with cream cheese frosting.
how to make the dough
This lovely soft dough is made using instant dried yeast. But it’s not hard or scary, I promise! You don’t need any fancy equipment. Let’s break it down into a few easy steps.
- Start by blooming your yeast: Add warm water to a small bowl and sprinkle yeast over the top and set it aside to do it’s thing. After a few minutes, you can check if the yeast has reacted. It should start to bubble around the edges and go a little frothy. This is how you know your yeast is alive and ready.
- Warm milk and butter: Add milk and butter to a heatproof bowl. Heat in the microwave, stirring every 15-20 seconds, just until the butter is completely melted and the milk is warm. If it’s a bit hot, leave it to cool slightly for a minute or two.
- Begin making your dough: In a large mixing bowl, add sugar, salt and egg. Then add your milk and butter mixture and stir with a spatula or wooden spoon just to combine. Add flour and yeast mixture (water and all) and mix until it comes together to form a soft dough. It’ll be sticky – this is ok.
- Knead dough by hand: Lightly flour your bench and your hands. Turn the dough out onto your bench and start to knead. Sprinkle with flour, where needed, to prevent it from sticking. But try not to add any more flour than absolutely necessary so your dough stays tender. Continue to knead for 1 minute or until you have a soft, smooth dough. Shape into a ball.
- Leave to proof: Lightly spray a medium-sized mixing bowl with oil. Gently place your dough in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Leave it at room temperature to rise for about 1 hour or until it has doubled in size.
how to roll and shape the dough
Now comes the fun part! It’s time to roll out your dough, smear it with butter, sprinkle over heaps of cinnamon sugar and roll it up!
- Roll out your dough: Lightly flour your bench and your rolling pin. Take the dough out of your bowl and knead gently just to release the air. Then, roll out the dough into a long rectangle, approximately 6.5 inches x 15 inches. Trim the edges if you like.
- Add butter and cinnamon sugar: Gently smear softened butter all over dough using a butter knife (or just your fingers) going right to the edges. Combine sugar and cinnamon and generously sprinkle all over the butter.
- Roll it up: Tightly roll up your dough, from the short end, then cut into 6 rolls using a serrated knife. Place rolls into an 8-inch round cake pan, leaving space between each roll to rise. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to rest for 30 minutes.
time to bake
- Time to bake: Bake your rolls in your preheated oven for approximately 25 minutes or until golden brown on top.
- Make cream cheese frosting: Add butter and cream cheese to a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Or if your cream cheese is soft enough, you can just use a spatula to give it a good mix. Add sugar and vanilla and mix until smooth.
- Frost rolls: Smear two-thirds of the cream cheese frosting over the buns while they’re still warm. Then, dollop a little extra frosting on each bun when you are ready to serve.
my secrets for perfect cinnamon rolls
- Roll from the SHORT end. It’s mean less rolls but more layers. And try to roll them tight.
- Use softened butter. While many recipes opt for melted butter, I find softened butter works better and ensures the filling doesn’t leak out the bottom of the buns.
- Choose brown sugar. Instead of caster sugar, I opt for brown sugar in the filling to really enhance the buttery cinnamon flavours.
- Frost twice. I frost my rolls once while they are warm from the oven (it’ll melt and become a glaze) and then I add a little extra when serving.
frequently asked questions
I’ve only tested this recipe using instant dried yeast, so I recommend sticking with that for best results. You can find yeast conversions online if you want to try another type of yeast.
I’ve purposefully created this recipe to make only 6 buns. If you want a larger batch, try my regular Cinnamon Roll recipe.
Yes, you can freeze these rolls. But they are best eaten on the day they are made. And better yet, fresh out of the oven.
more small batch recipes
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Let’s Bake
Small Batch Cinnamon Rolls
Six soft and tender Cinnamon Rolls made from scratch.
Ingredients
Cinnamon rolls
- 60 ml (1/4 cup) warm water
- 1 teaspoon instant dried yeast
- 60 ml (1/4 cup) full fat or whole milk
- 30 grams (2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 35 grams (2 tablespoons) caster sugar or granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 245 grams (1 and 3/4 cup) plain flour or all purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
Cinnamon sugar filling
- 30 grams (2 tablespoons) butter, softened
- 45 grams (1/4 cup) brown sugar
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
Cream cheese frosting
- 15 grams (1 tablespoon) butter, softened
- 150 grams (3/4 cup) full fat cream cheese, room temperature
- 60 grams (1/2 cup) icing sugar or powdered sugar, sifted
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Set aside an 8-inch round cake pan. Add warm water to a small bowl and sprinkle yeast over the top and set aside to let it bloom.
- Add milk and butter to a heatproof bowl. Heat in the microwave until butter is completely melted and milk is warm, stirring every 15-20 seconds. If the milk mixture is hot to the touch, leave to cool for a minute or two. Check that your yeast has started to bubble a little on the edges, and go a little frothy.
- In a large mixing bowl, add sugar, salt and egg. Then add milk mixture and stir with a spatula or wooden spoon just to combine.
- Add flour and yeast mixture (water and all) and mix until it comes together to form a soft dough. It’ll be sticky – this is ok.
- Lightly flour your bench and your hands. Turn the dough out onto your bench and start to knead. Sprinkle with flour, where needed, to prevent it from sticking. Continue to knead for 1 minute or until you have a soft, smooth dough. Shape into a ball.
- Lightly spray a medium-sized mixing bowl with oil. Gently place your dough in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Leave it at room temperature to rise for about 1 hour or until it has doubled in size.
- Take the dough out of the bowl and knead gently just to release the air. Roll the dough out into a long rectangle, approximately 6.5 inches x 15 inches. Trim the edges if you like.
- Gently smear softened butter all over dough using a butter knife (or your fingers) going right to the edges. Combine sugar and cinnamon and generously sprinkle all over the butter.
- Tightly roll up your dough, from the short end, then cut into 6 rolls using a serrated knife. Place rolls in prepared cake pan leaving space between each roll to rise. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to rest for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until golden brown on top. Meanwhile, make the cream cheese frosting.
- 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 and vanilla and mix until smooth. If your cream cheese is soft enough, you can mix the frosting by hand using a spatula or wooden spoon
- Smear two-thirds of the cream cheese frosting over the buns while they’re still warm. Then, dollop a little extra frosting on each bun when you are ready to serve.
Notes
Cream cheese: You can use spreadable cream cheese or the brick style for this recipe. I do recommend using full fat version.
Cinnamon rolls are best enjoyed on the day they are made.
LINDA says
HI; We love ORANGE ROLLS. They are my favorite. How can I substitute the filling? I need Zest and orange juice. Please help. I love these orange rolls. They must be fluffy.
Regards,
Linda
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Linda, orange rolls sound amazing. You could try substituting the brown sugar in the filling or caster sugar or granulated sugar, and using fresh orange zest instead of the cinnamon. Then you could make a glaze icing using icing sugar (or powdered sugar) and fresh orange juice, or a cream cheese icing with more orange juice and zest. I’ll have to put ‘orange rolls’ on my to-make list!
Linda says
Absolutely delicious! They come together so quickly and easily, and 6 is just perfect for us. Thank you! This recipe is a keeper.
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
Hooray! So glad you loved them Linda!
Osleidys says
Perfect recipe! Easy, extra moist, delicious! Thank you Jessica.
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed it!
Clare says
I loved these. So easy to make and turned out well. Definitely something to eat the day you make them.
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! So glad you enjoyed them Clare!
Lucy says
These were fabulous. I’m a bit wary of baking with yeast but these were a winner. Light, fluffy and delicious.
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! So glad you enjoyed them Lucy!
Anne Marie says
These were really delicious! Perfect amount for 2 people to indulge 🙂 only thing I will change next time is add much more filling (cinnamon + brown sugar).
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
That’s great to hear Anne Marie!
Shannon Baker says
Easy, moist, just as good on day 2 as day 1.. most homemade cinnamon buns are dry on day 2, not these- added chopped apples, came out great
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
Yes! Love that Shannon!
Jayne says
Hi can I make these the night before and bake them in the morning. I love your recipes,by the way, they are enjoyed by a lot of happy folks here in Northern Ireland.
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Jayne, great question. I actually haven’t tried refrigerating the dough, but I would recommend refrigerating them overnight after they’ve been rolled and filled. Then, when you are ready to bake, let them come back to room temperature and proof for a second time before baking. I hope you enjoy them!
Josey says
I would add to your recipe to use a bench scraper to get the sticky dough out of the mixer bowl for beginners like me haha (so much easier than the first time I made them to get it out with my hands) this is the second time I’ve used your recipe… they are mouth watering! ♥️
Can I leave them on the counter even with cream cheese frosting on top or do they have to be put in the fridge?
Thanks!
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so glad you enjoyed them Josey! And good tip re: bench scraper. I usually leave them out for the day and then freeze any leftovers. I find baked goods like cake and bread tend to go a bit dry in the fridge.
Lauren says
These were amazing and as soon as I ate one I instantly regretted making the small batch version! Do you think the cinnamon/sugar filling could be increased successfully and if so by how much? Thanks for all of your great recipes 🙂
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so glad you enjoyed them Lauren! Yes I think you could add more cinnamon sugar if you like. Maybe increase it to 60 grams (1/3 cup) brown sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon. I don’t recommend increasing the butter though, as it may melt and leak out of the bottom of your rolls if you add too much. Hope that helps!
Josh says
These were great!
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed them.