The Best Homemade Cinnamon Rolls you’ve been craving are right here! This soft, fluffy cinnamon roll recipe with the perfect blend of cinnamon and sugar, is topped with the most luscious cream cheese frosting. They’re so dreamy!
When we say the BEST Homemade Cinnamon Rolls, we don’t say it lightly. This cinnamon roll recipe beats Cinnabon (gasp!) any day of the week. They’re like little pillows of perfection, with a cream cheese frosting you could eat by the spoon. We can still remember special weekend mornings, waking up to the smell of our mom’s freshly baked cinnamon rolls. Whip up a batch of these scrumptious rolls for your family this weekend!
Can You Make Cinnamon Rolls Ahead of Time?
This cinnamon roll recipe is the perfect thing to make the night or day before, freeing up plenty of time for lazy morning snuggling and relaxing. There are two times you can refrigerate the dough:
- After it is kneaded and before the first rise.
- After the dough has risen and is shaped.
Cover the shaped dough and keep in the fridge for up to a day. When you’re ready to bake, unwrap slightly and let it rise until doubled. Then bake, frost, and enjoy!
Can Homemade Cinnamon Rolls be Frozen?
Absolutely! Again, there are a couple of ways you can do this:
- Freeze them in the pan, unrisen and unbaked. When you’re ready to sink your teeth into sweet, yummy goodness, remove from the freezer and allow them to rise before baking.
- You can freeze them after they’re baked but before they’re frosted. Remove, allow to thaw and give them a nice thick coat of creamy frosting.
How to Reheat Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
It’s so easy to reheat this delicious cinnamon roll recipe. To reheat from frozen, thaw them on the counter until room temperature. You can pop the whole batch into the oven for about 20 minutes until heated all the way through. Or, you can microwave individual rolls for about 45 seconds, then stick them in the oven for a couple of minutes for fresh baked crust.
The Best Frosting for Cinnamon Rolls
Arguably, the best part of this cinnamon roll recipe is the creamy cream cheese frosting. Sweet but not too sweet, with a rich cream cheese flavor that complements the fluffy rolls to perfection. And if you frost them while they’re still warm, the luscious icing melts down into the sweet crevices. We always use our famous Cream Cheese Frosting for this recipe (see recipe card below). It is simply scrumptious!
More Recipes with Cream Cheese Frosting
While we’re on the subject, try a few of our most favorite frosting covered treats. You’re welcome.
- Pumpkin Sandwich Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Carrot Cake Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Coconut Cream Cake with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting
- Lemon Buttermilk Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
- Pumpkin Roll
- Nothing Bundt Cakes White Chocolate Raspberry Copy Cat
Homemade Cinnamon With Pecans or Raisins
Why mess with perfection? Fluffy rolls and decadent frosting is perfect on its own, but if you’re like a few relatives we know, you can absolutely add nuts or raisins to this recipe. After you roll out the dough, sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture and add pecans, raisins, or any other ingredient you like, then roll it up and slice.
How to Slice Cinnamon Roll Dough
Once you roll up your dough into a “tube” shape you will want to slice off each individual roll (this is actually my favorite part). Don’t do this with a knife if you can help it! It will make it so your dough un-rolls and it will most-likely be uneven. The easiest thing to do is to get about 2 feet of dental floss and place it under the rolled dough, 1 inch from the end. Bring the floss up around the dough and cross it over the top, cutting through the dough and filling. Repeat at 1-inch intervals. WAY easier than using a knife.
More Delicious Cinnamon Roll Recipes
Plus, if you love a little more to your rolls, try a few of these mouthwatering recipes:
- Lion House Cinnamon Rolls
- Peaches and Cream Cinnamon Rolls
- Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls
- Biscoff Cinnamon Rolls
- Strawberry Cinnamon Twists
How to Make The BEST Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Cinnamon Filling:
- 1/3 cup butter
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 1/2 pounds powdered sugar
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine water, yeast, and sugar. Set aside for 10 minutes.
- Heat milk in microwave for 2 minutes. Set aside.
- In a large bowl or heavy mixer combine milk, softened butter, salt and sugar. Mix together until butter is melted.
- Add eggs one at a time and 3 cups flour. Mix for 2 minutes. Add yeast mixture and 2 cups flour. Mix well.
- Let dough sit for 10 minutes. (If using a standing mixer...now is the time to change to a dough hook!) Continue to mix while slowly adding remaining 2 1/2 cups flour. Dough will start pulling away from the sides of the bowl, but is still quite sticky. Beat 3 more minutes.
- Coat another large bowl with 2 tablespoons oil. Take dough out of mixing bowl and place in oiled bowl, turning over once to coat each side. Place clean towel over bowl and let raise in a warm spot for 45 minutes.
- After 45 minutes, put dough out onto floured surface. Knead by hand, adding a little flour if needed. DO NOT USE TOO MUCH FLOUR! You want dough to remain very soft!
- With rolling pin, roll dough into a rectangle shape about the size of a jelly roll pan (11x15 inch) and 1/4-1/2 inch thick.
- Melt 1/3 cup butter in microwave for 30 seconds or until just melted. Spread over dough.
- Sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar and 3/4 cup brown sugar over butter. Sprinkle cinnamon on top of sugars. Top with nuts if desired.
- Roll up starting with the long side; pinch seam to seal. Cut into 1 inch rolls (see notes above on how to do this) and place on greased cookie sheet or in 2 9x13 glass baking pans.
- Cover and let rise another 45 minutes.
- Bake at 325 degrees for 16-20 minutes or until lightly browned (Do NOT over-bake). Cool for 10 minutes before frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth.
- Slowly add powdered sugar, mixing constantly, until desired consistency is reached. (you may not need ALL of the powdered sugar)
- Spread over warm cinnamon rolls.
Jessica says
I have made this recipe several times for various occasions. Every time I make these I get all kinds of praise for how delicious the rolls are. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Whenever I need to convince someone to help us with something (moving, installing a fence, etc.) I’m always sure to mention I’m making cinnamon rolls, and they’re immediately on board to help! I’m already known by those in my life as “the one that bakes”, but I’ve had troubles in the past with cinnamon rolls that stay soft. This recipe, however, has always come out perfectly. This is the best cinnamon roll recipe I have ever made, and definitely the best I have ever tasted. 1000% recommend.
*Side note: I can’t consume cow’s milk, so I’ve always subbed in unsweetened cashew milk (cashew milk because it has a much less potent flavor than almond milk), and it always works out great- and it doesn’t appear to hurt the yeast at all either. Also, I have never put the nuts in… not my thing.
Tracy says
These were the best! The instructions are so easy to follow and my whole family helped make them! The kids are already asking for them again!
Diana Reis says
I was looking for something special to make for Christmas morning and these are just the thing. Bookmarked for later! Thank you!
Emily says
I’m definitely all about pecans with this recipe. Seriously–so light and fluffy. Perfect for holiday breakfast!
Cathleen says
I rarely make cinnamon rolls because I feel like they take so long to make. But when they look this good, I think you have me convinced! Thank you so much for this recipe, I will definitely give it a go for the holidays!
Shelley says
Oh my goodness – these look just absolutely outstanding! Such a perfect treat for Christmas morning! Thank you for all the wonderful little hints and tips so they turn out perfectly!
Tammy says
With this recipe, can you use your bread machine for the mixing and first rise and then take the dough out of the bread machine and continue with your instructions?
Erica Walker says
Hi Tammy- This recipe actually makes quite a lot so unless you have a very large bread machine I don’t know if this recipe would work well. Bread machine recipes are usually just the right amount to make equivalent to one loaf of bread, which this is much more than that. You CAN, however, use our “How To Make Bread In A Bread Machine” recipe and use that dough for cinnamon rolls (we have done that before). It just makes enough for a small batch of cinnamon rolls. Hope this makes sense!
Meghana says
Hi Erica,
Thank you for this amazing recipe! I tried making this recipe after a terrible first attempt at cinnamon rolls. I only made half because I didn’t have faith in my baking skills, but WOW! These ARE better than cinnabon.
I used up the last of the active dry yeast I had on hand for this last batch, but want to make more. I could only find Bread machine rapid rise yeast this time, and the instructions say that I can just mix it in with the dry ingredients. Does that seem right? Would I need to add the 1 cup of warm water to the dough when mixing to compensate for not dissolving the yeast first?
I tried finding an answer online with no luck. I would really appreciate any suggestions. Thanks so much!! 🙂
Favorite Family Recipes says
I haven’t tried substituting instant yeast for the active dry yeast in this recipe but typically 1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons) = 1 2/3 teaspoons instant yeast. And yes, you still add the water. It can be hotter, like 120-130 degrees. Good luck!
Angie says
Thank you for the best cinnamon roll recipe ever!! I too have been going through recipe after recipe looking for that one special recipe. I can honestly say this is it!! I have even deleted any cinnamon roll recipes I had saved. Thank you again for sharing.
Favorite Family Recipes says
We are so flattered!! Thank you so much!
Amy says
I have never made Cinnamon Rolls before but I just made these on Christmas eve and put one 9×11 pan in the fridge for Christmas Morning and one in the freezer for New Years. I took the pan out of the fridge about 45 minutes before they were to go into the oven. They had done some rising in the fridge and continued to do so on the counter. Baked them up and cut the frosting recipe in half. We used to live in Bremerton, WA and there is a wonderful bakery in Poulsbo, WA called Sluy’s that we always loved to get the Cinnamon Rolls from. My husband said these are better (huge compliment). Thanks for a great cinnamon roll recipe.
Amanda says
Hi, I’m confused by the yield. If you’re cutting it along the long edge of 15″ and you’re cutting them 1″ each, how do you get 24 rolls? Thanks!
Favorite Family Recipes says
We gave the size of the jelly roll pan just for reference on the proportions of the sides. If you roll the dough out thin you should be able to get 24 roll.
Carrie says
I’m confused, your ingredient list says to use rapid rise yeast, but your link to Amazon is for active yeast. So which do you use?
Favorite Family Recipes says
The two yeasts can be used interchangeably in recipes, but active dry yeast needs to be dissolved in water before using while instant yeast can be mixed right into the dough.
Nicole says
Can you use almond milk? We are a no milk household.
Erica Walker says
We haven’t used almond milk before in this recipe so I can’t say for sure. If you have had success with almond milk in other backing recipes I would say give it a try! If you do, be sure to come back and let us know how it turns out!
Amber says
The Best By far!! Kudos 🙂
Erica Walker says
So glad you liked them! Thanks Amber!
Emily says
I’ve been on a mission to find my “go to” for cinnamon rolls. So I went to Pinterest and have been trying them one by one. I think this is the winner. I love the soft dough. I used all purpose flour and will try bread flour to see if I can tell a difference. But thanks for posting. It’s a great recipe.
Erica says
Hi Emily- thank you so much for your comment!!! What a huge compliment! So happy to hear you enjoyed these cinnamon rolls so much. Thank you for the 5-stars!
Sydney says
Hello! I’m preparing the cinnamon rolls the night before they are needed and baking them in the morning! Just to make sure I understand this right; I can put the cut up rolls into a baking dish, cover them, refrigerate them, then the next morning I take them out and let them rise and they should bake just fine?
Thanks
Erica Walker says
Yep, that is right. Depending on how cold you keep your fridge they should’t rise until you take them out. They may rise some, and in that case you can just pop them straight in the oven! Hope this helps!
Alicia says
Would these work with gluten free flour?
Favorite Family Recipes says
We haven’t tried this specific recipe with gluten free flour, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t!
Naomi says
I was wondering how long they would need to rise again after freesing them in the pan (unbaked) 🙂
Emily Walker says
I would freeze them before they rise. Then let them rise when you thaw them out. It rising process can depend on the temperature of your house and time of day you are doing it, but my guess would be 2 hours- 1 to thaw and 1 to rise.
H says
This filling recipe is soooooo not enough to cover to everything. Double it or even triple it.
Hannah Littlepage says
My husband and I had Ann Sather cinnamon rolls in Chicago last weekend. This recipe is as good or better! The texture of the dough is delightful! The cream cheese frosting was good, but I just noticed I used 1 cup and 1/2 instead of 1 pound and a half of powdered sugar. User error here, so I am sure it would be that much better with correct measurements. Any tips of rolling the dough out? My rolls were very large. Thank you for sharing!
Favorite Family Recipes says
I am glad you enjoyed this recipe! I’m not sure why your rolls turned out so large, but I would just make sure that you let it rise for only 45 minutes! That way it doesn’t rise too much and become too large. Hope that helps!
Tina says
Is that actually 1 1/2 pounds of powdered sugar, how many cups would that be?
Favorite Family Recipes says
1 1/2 pounds of powdered sugar is the equivalent to about 6 cups. Hope this helps!
Kayla says
1.5 cups is 24 oz. That is three cups, one cup is 8 ounces.
Favorite Family Recipes says
Sorry I should have clarified.. because powdered sugar is so light 1 cup is about 4 1/2 ounces. You are correct, if we were measuring water or even regular sugar it would be 8 ounces. Hope this helps!
Linda Irby says
I’m making them right now. Been baking all night. Made a 13 layer cake and thought how nice it would be for my mom, who is visiting and my son to wake up to fresh homemade cinnamon rolls!!!!
I’ve made them before and this resembles the recipe I used them. I froze half of them after I rolled, cut and put them in glass Pyrex. Then when they were frozen I put them into double freezer bags and would use the rest as needed. (****Let thaw and rise, then bake as usual. ) My son loved that!! I’ll send 6 home with my Mom, she’s raising my nephew and he’s a 17 year old eating machine he’s going to LOVE these.
I’m sure I’ll be getting more requests for them!!!
Thanks for sharing the recipe!!!
Favorite Family Recipes says
Your mom and son are very lucky to have you! When I have been baking all night the last thing I want to do it bake more– so props to you! I bet they loved waking up to hot, fresh cinnamon rolls!
Cindy Huffine says
I have tried several cinnamon roll recipes and this by far is my favorite! They are so soft and delicious.
I got 36 from one recipe. Also when rolling them out I cut the dough in half. Made it easier to handle.
Erica says
So glad you like it! Thank you for sharing how many this yielded for you. 🙂
Faith says
How many calories are in each cinnamon roll?
Favorite Family Recipes says
We don’t have the nutrition information available for our recipes yet– if you plug this recipe into an online nutrition calculator you should be able to find it. Hope this helps!
Kathy Gillman says
Sounds great. This sounds like it will made a lot of cinnamon rolls. Can you tell me the yeild? Also, with this much ingredients do you do step 8 twice? Can I just cut everything in half if I don’t want that many?
Favorite Family Recipes says
It should make 24 cinnamon rolls. You can half the recipe if you don’t want that many!
Kathy Gillman says
Thank you! Can’t wait to give this a try.
Cheyenne Schaefer says
These were my first time making these. They were not bad and I definitely have room for improvement. They are very sweet tasting, light and fluffy
Beverly says
These are the best cinnamon rolls ever..Everyone loves them..This is my go to recipe..
Favorite Family Recipes says
I am so glad you like them!!
Sondra Recksiedler says
The ingredients lists 7.5 cups of flour but instructions only use 4.5 cups of flour. How much is actually used
Favorite Family Recipes says
In instruction #5 you add 3 cups of flour and then 2 additional cups of flour, and then in instruction #6 you add the other 2 1/2 cups of flour.
Kim Lallatin says
Can I bake these using a convection oven? Would I adjust temperature or time?
Erica Walker says
We haven’t made this in a convection oven before so it is hard to say. Typically with convection ovens you want to reduce the temperature by 25-degrees when baking. Again, I haven’t made these in a convection oven so I can’t say for sure about the time. If you try it, let us know how it turns out!
Desiree Kingsley says
Can I use active dry yeast instead of the quick ride?
Renee says
I just realized I used a regular yeast not a quick rising yeast.
How long do you recommend to let rise instead of 45 minutes and 45 minutes ?
Thank you
Favorite Family Recipes says
I would add 10-15 minutes to the rise time both times!
Mikelene says
This look great. However, Step number 5 sates that you should add the eggs one at a time but eggs are not listed in the ingredients list
Favorite Family Recipes says
Oh no! Thanks for catching that! It is two eggs. I will fix it right now!
Jennifer says
Can this be made with regular yeast? What would the time adjustments be?
Favorite Family Recipes says
I haven’t used active dry yeast with this recipe, so I’m not sure. However, when I do switch yeast types in other recipes, I like to use this guide: https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/swap-different-types-of-yeast-article
Hope this helps!