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These cinnamon rolls are pillowy soft, ooey-gooey, and honestly better than Cinnabon cinnamon rolls! Topped with a rich and creamy cream cheese frosting, my Cinnabon copycats beat the mall version every time.
Serve these Cinnabon copycat cinnamon rolls with a mug of hot chocolate or a cup of flavorful cinnamon ginger tea!
Cinnabon has a special place in my stomach.
When I was pregnant with Greyson my husband was the one with the cravings. We would drive an hour and a half to the nearest Cinnabon (which was in a mall in Potomac, VA, when we lived in Maryland at the time) and stock up on those gooey, fat, giant, fresh cinnamon rolls. Honestly, there were no stares since I was heavily pregnant and eventually the Cinnabon employees knew us by name. So needless to say, I am well versed in the goodness of Cinnabon cinnamon rolls.
And in order to never be outdone by a food chain, I've done a lot of very delicious cinnamon roll recipe testing.
I love this recipe so much. Cinnamon rolls are a mainstay for Christmas Day mornings at my house, weekend breakfasts, nibble on them during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and the National Dog Show (who else was rooting for Thor the bulldog?!), you get the idea.
It's the perfect bakery-level treat that anybody can make: they're uber-soft, with plenty of sweet cinnamon flavor, and that fabulous cream cheese frosting is just so, so good. Absolutely irresistible.
Why These are Better than Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls
- They're made with an easy and very enriched dough full of butter, milk, and eggs to get that fluffy, pillow-soft cinnamon roll. It's not fussy and rolls up like a dream and stays soft and fluffy even on the edges. I also added vanilla extract to the dough to give it a well-rounded flavor.
- This recipe makes not one but two pans, so you have --count 'em: 30!-- cinnamon rolls. So they're perfect for all your relatives to munch on during the holidays, or to eat up a whole pan now and freeze up a pan for later. Because at the moment, do you really have anything better to do than make cinnamon rolls?
- The dreamiest frosting, period! You can make it as thick or as thin as you like and pssst, if you add a little lemon juice you can get a cheesecake flavor and it's game-changing.
How to Make Cinnamon Rolls from Scratch
Luckily, cinnamon rolls are made with really common ingredients that most people have: milk, flour, salt, sugar, eggs, dry active yeast, butter, cinnamon, brown sugar, cream cheese and powdered sugar for the frosting, and vanilla extract. So they're pretty easy to whip up without having to take another grocery trip.
First, make your dough.
For the dough to work, we need some nice active yeast. Proof the yeast in warm milk (no more than 115 degrees F / 46 degrees C) and add it to your stand mixer with the wet ingredients, then add the dry and mix together, first with a silicone spatula then with a dough hook on my stand mixer.
Can you make this without a stand mixer? Absolutely, I've done it plenty of times before. I prefer my stand mixer because I'm not here for an arm workout today. I'm here for some fat cinnamon rolls.
Once your dough is soft and smooth, put it in a large well-oiled bowl and cover in plastic wrap so it can rise in a warm place because afterwards it's going to be rolled out and sugared down.
But during the first rise...
Make your cinnamon sugar filling
It's easy and super simple: brown sugar, granulated sugar, and cinnamon with a hearty spread of softened butter. You can mix all the ingredients together, but I find it easier to first smear the softened butter all over the dough once we roll it out then generously sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the butter.
You may think it's too much, but trust me, there's never enough cinnamon sugar in a cinnamon roll.
Now that that's done...
Roll out your dough and shape the cinnamon rolls
Once the dough has risen and is big and fluffy, punch it down and split it in half. We're making two pans, remember?
Grease two 9 x 13 oven-safe baking dishes with butter, this will help keep the cinnamon rolls from sticking to the pan.
Roll the dough out into a rectangle, until the dough is about 22 inches long and 15 inches wide. It doesn't have to be those exact measurements so long as the dough is about ¼ inch thin and is longer than it is wide.
Smear the butter over the dough, leaving about a ½ inch border at the edges bare, then cover with the cinnamon sugar mixture and begin rolling the dough. Roll the wide part, so the cinnamon rolls are as long as the longer length part you rolled out is.
Make sense?
Once the dough is rolled tightly, use a piece of dental floss, wrap it around the middle of the log and pull the floss like you made a knot to cut it. This makes sure your cinnamon rolls don't end up pinched by a knife's edge. Keep cutting each piece in half with the dental floss, making each roll about 2-3 inches tall so they're nice and big like at Cinnabon, and remove the ends of the log that don't have any cinnamon sugar in them.
Repeat with the other half of the dough!
Place cut side up in the buttered baking dishes, leaving space between each roll so they have room to spread, then cover with plastic wrap to let rise for a second time to make those rolls nice and fluffy.
Make Cinnabon Cream Cheese Frosting
If you don't think these could get any better, a sweet and decadent cream cheese frosting that's easy at pie to make levels these cinnamon rolls up to pure perfection. Beat the room temperature cream cheese until it's completely smooth using the paddle attachment on your stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer. You need to ensure there are zero lumps in the cream cheese before adding the sugar, butter, and vanilla extract so that it's nice and smooth.
Tip: If your cream cheese still has a few lumps, warm it up in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir frequently with a heat-safe spatula or spoon until the lumps are gone. The cream cheese will firm back up as it cools.
Mix all the ingredients together and set aside until ready to use.
Bake and Eat!
Bake the rolls for no more than 20 minutes in the oven, and frost them while they're still warm. You'll know
There's something so indulgent about how the frosting warms up and seeps into the nooks and crannies of the cinnamon rolls.
Serve nice and warm. These are perfect for times when your relatives come to visit, or when you have a lot of guests at your Christmas party. Who's going to say no to a fresh cinnamon roll out of the oven with a mug of hot chocolate? Nobody, that's who.
How to Make Perfect Cinnamon Rolls Ahead of Time
I love to make cinnamon rolls overnight. I prefer to go through the first rise, create the rolls, and keep them in the fridge for the second rise overnight.
Simply take the unrisen rolls in their buttered dish and cover with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge and let rest in there overnight.
The next morning, pull out the pan of rolls and let come to room temperature and finish their rise on the countertop for about 2-3 hours give or take depending on how warm your house is, and bake according to the recipe.
How to Freeze Cinnamon Rolls
Freezing unbaked cinnamon rolls: These are best frozen in those disposable aluminum pans so that you can just put the rolls in the pan and freeze. After you have cut the cinnamon roll log into pieces, put the rolls into the disposable pans, wrap the pans tightly in plastic wrap and foil, then freeze them before the second rise. They'll last for about 1 month in the freezer.
To bake them, bring them to room temperature overnight and go through their second rise. Bake according to the recipe once risen.
To freeze baked cinnamon rolls (frosted or unfrosted), place the cooled cinnamon rolls in freezer-safe zip top bags.
To bake them, thaw the rolls overnight in the fridge and warm them up in the oven or microwave until warm.
Recommended Tools
- A strong stand mixer. I use the Kitchen-Aid lift-bowl mixer. The tilt-head tends to jump around on the counter top when making bread dough, so I keep my tilt-head for lighter mixing.
- A 9x13 dish to bake the cinnabons in.
- A rolling pin to roll out the dough evenly.
Looking for More Dessert Recipes? Check these out:
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Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls Copycat
Ingredients
Cinnamon Rolls
- 6 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 cups whole milk, scalded
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 4 ½ teaspoon 2 packets dry active yeast
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, for yeast
- 8 cups all-purpose flour, may need one additional cup
- 2 large eggs
Cinnamon Sugar Filling
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temp
- 1 ½ cups brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup ground cinnamon
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 pack, 8 oz cream cheese, softened to room temp
- 1 stick, 8 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened to room temp
- 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, optional
Instructions
- To Make Cinnamon Rolls
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add scalded milk, unsalted butter, granulated sugar, and kosher salt and mix together on low speed using the paddle attachment. Let the mixture cool to a lukewarm temperature.
- In a microwaveable measuring cup or bowl, warm the 1 cup of whole milk to 110-115 degrees F or 43-48 degrees C (no hotter or you'll kill your yeast), stir in the teaspoon of granulated sugar, and add your yeast to the bowl. Set aside. As the yeast proofs for ten minutes, it will bubble and foam up and smell strongly of yeast. That's how you know it's alive and ready to use.
- Once the butter/milk mixture is cooled to lukewarm temperatures, add 2 cups of the all-purpose flour and the proofed yeast then mix well on low speed. Beat in the eggs until well combined.
- Add the remaining flour, 1 cup at a time, stirring on low with the dough hook with each addition. Knead with the dough hook for 7-8 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and not sticky when you press it lightly with your finger. If your dough seems very sticky while it's kneading add in another cup of flour, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough begins to pull away from the bowl and doesn't look wet.
- Place the dough into a large, oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let double in size in a warm environment for up to one hour.
- Mix the ground cinnamon, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together in a medium-sized bowl. Set aside.
- After the dough has risen, remove from the bowl and divide it in two.
- Working with one half at a time, roll the dough into a large rectangular shape that's ¼ inch thick and about 20 inches in length.
- Spread half of the softened butter over the dough, leaving a ½ inch border around the edges. Cover the butter evenly with half of the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
- Roll the dough tightly letting the long part of the rectangle be the length of the cinnamon roll log. Cut the rolls about 2-3 inches thick using dental floss or thread (or a very sharp chef's knife).
- Repeat last 3 steps with the other half of the dough.
- Place the cinnamon rolls in two well-buttered 9 x 13 baking pans, leaving two inches or so of space between the rolls so they have room to rise. Cover the baking dishes with plastic wrap and let the rolls rise until double in size, for about 30-45 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Bake the cinnamon rolls for 25-30 minutes or until cinnamon rolls are golden brown on top and sound somewhat hollow when tapped with a butter knife.
- Remove pans from oven and let rolls cool enough to touch.
To make cream cheese frosting:
- Beat the room temperature cream cheese until smooth with no lumps in a stand mixer bowl or medium sized bowl on medium speed using an electric hand or stand mixer.
- Once smooth, add the softened unsalted butter and mix until well combined.
- Gradually add the powdered sugar while mixing. Add in vanilla and lemon juice, if using. Beat for 5-7 minutes, or until the cream cheese frosting is light and fluffy.
- Frost both pans of warm cinnamon rolls generously.
- Cover the rolls with plastic wrap and keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.
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