Easy Homemade Cinnamon Buns
These easy homemade cinnamon buns are soft with a chewy texture and sticky bottom and are smothered in cream cheese frosting. Best of all, this recipe uses instant yeast, so there's no need for proofing!
Making these cinnamon buns from scratch is an easy way to brighten up a weekend morning! Enjoy them for breakfast, brunch, or even dessert!
For more weekend breakfast treats, try making my blueberry pancakes from scratch or my flaky biscuits.
Recipe Overview: Easy Homemade Cinnamon Buns
✅ Recipe Name: Easy Homemade Cinnamon Buns
🕒 Ready in: 45 minutes!
👪 Serves: 8
🍽 Calories: 590 calories per serving (estimated)
🥣 Main Ingredients: cinnamon, flour, instant yeast, milk, eggs, sugar, cream cheese.
👌 Difficulty: Easy! No proofing - just knead and bake!
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Why You'll Love These Rolls!
- It's easy to make! This recipe for cinnamon buns from scratch uses instant yeast, so there's no need to worry about over- or underproofing. Just knead, roll, bake, and enjoy!
- The rolls stay soft with a sticky bottom! The secret to the best cinnamon buns is to be generous with the filling. As the rolls bake, the sugar and butter melt into a syrup that keeps the rolls extra moist and soft!
- It's easy to customize! Elevate these simple rolls by adding a layer of preserves on top of the cinnamon sugar filling. I've tried strawberry, blueberry, and apple preserves, and they've all been perfect! In fact, I added ripe bananas to make these banana bread cinnamon rolls.
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Key Ingredients
Flour. Bread flour makes these cinnamon buns sturdy and gives them a chewy texture, while a little all-purpose flour helps to make them pillowy and soft.
Instant yeast. Makes the process quick and easy since this instant yeast dough doesn't require any proofing.
Butter. Tenderizes the dough, making it soft but preserving a chewy texture.
How to Make Homemade Cinnamon Buns
- Step 1: Knead the dough for 5 minutes and let it rest.
- Step 2: Make the cinnamon-sugar filling.
- Step 3: Roll out the dough, spread the filling, and cut into strips.
- Step 4: Roll up the strips and bake!
- Step 3: Make the cream cheese frosting.
- Step 4: Smother your fresh homemade cinnamon buns with frosting and enjoy!
FAQs
No, especially not for this recipe. The cinnamon filling is generous and melts into a syrup that keeps the rolls moist as they bake.
While heavy cream isn't needed for this recipe, it won't ruin it, so you can pour up to a ¾ cup of heavy cream before baking.
Your yeast may have expired. Check the label on the yeast packet to ensure it hasn't gone bad. If you're unsure of the date, test it by adding the amount called for in this recipe to a small bowl along with a ¼ cup of the milk and a teaspoon of the sugar for the recipe. The mixture should bubble a little and give off a strong, "yeasty", fresh-baked bread aroma.
Likely because of using too much flour. For best results, use a kitchen scale and measure in grams for precise portions and only flour the rolling surface as needed to prevent the dough from sticking.
Another common reason for a dense dough is overworking the dough, usually through excess kneading or rolling. Be sure to pay attention as you're kneading the dough and stop your mixer once the dough seems smooth and mostly clings to the dough hook.
Ainseanlea's Top Tips & Substitutions
- Measure by weight. It's more precise, especially when it comes to flour. It's easy to use too much since scooping the flour directly leads to packing. If you insist on measuring by volume, make sure you spoon the flour into the measuring cups, then level. Pack the brown sugar.
- Don't bake until golden brown. This will dry out your homemade cinnamon buns. The rolls are ready when the top of the center roll feels dry without any tack.
- Cut the strips before rolling up the dough. This prevents squishing the rolls and forcing any filling out.
- You can substitute the bread flour for all-purpose flour. You'll end up with soft cinnamon rolls with a much more tender bite, but you'll lose a bit of the chewy texture.
More Yeast Dough Recipes You'll Love!
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The Best Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Add all the ingredients for the brioche dough (the bread flour, all-purpose flour, instant yeast, salt, whole milk, egg, granulated sugar, butter and vanilla paste) to the bowl of a stand mixer affixed with a dough hook. Knead on medium speed for 5-7 minutes until the dough is smooth and mostly sticks to the hook.If kneading by hand, knead until dough is smooth. It will be a little sticky - this is normal.320 grams bread flour, 96 grams all-purpose flour, 225 mL whole milk, 1 large egg, 40 grams granulated sugar, 85 grams unsalted butter, 20 grams instant yeast, 2 teaspoon vanilla, ¾ teaspoon salt
- Allow the dough to rest, covered with a clean towel, for 10 minutes.
- Make the cinnamon filling while the dough rests. Mix the softened butter, brown sugar and ground cinnamon with a spoon until it forms a paste. Set aside.115 grams unsalted butter, 115 grams dark brown sugar, 1 TABLEspoon ground cinnamon
- Turn the dough out onto a dry, lightly floured surface and roll out in a rectangular shape to ¼-inch thickness.I roll my dough out until it measures around 13 inches long and 18 inches wide.
- Using an offset spatula or the back of a spoon, spread the cinnamon filling in an even layer across the rolled out dough then cut the dough into 8 strips, cutting parallel to the shorter edge.
- Roll up each strip, making sure not to stretch the dough in the process then arrange the rolls in a 9-inch baking dish lined with parchment paper.
- Bake the cinnamon rolls for 30 minutes. The cinnamon rolls will not be golden brown. This is fine.
- While cinnamon rolls bake, prepare frosting by beating the softened cream cheese with the granulated sugar on high speed until smooth.115 grams cream cheese, 115 grams granulated sugar
- Add the hot milk and beat again until combined.3 TABLEspoon whole milk
- Once cinnamon rolls are done, smother the cream cheese frosting on top while they are still hot.
- Enjoy warm and refrigerate any leftovers in an airtight container. Microwave for 45-60 seconds before serving again.
Nutrition
Notes
- Use room temperature ingredients unless otherwise stated.
- If you're using a KitchenAid stand mixer, do not leave it unattended when kneading, as it tends to shift around.
- Use a kitchen scale. It's more precise, and prevents you from using too much flour, which would make the cinnamon buns dense. If you insist on measuring by volume, make sure you spoon the flour into the measuring cups, then level. Pack the brown sugar.
- You can substitute the bread flour for all-purpose flour. You'll end up with softer cinnamon rolls, but you'll lose a bit of the chewy texture.
