I can’t think of many things that make your house smell as amazing as homemade cinnamon rolls. This Copy Cat CinnaBon Recipe is no exception! The house will smell heavenly when you bake these!
These are just beautiful rolls that melt in your mouth and warm you from the inside out!
While homemade rolls take a little time, they are worth every single second. Don’t skimp out on the frosting because… it is amazing! Seriously… it’s the best!
These taste exactly like the cinnamon rolls I love to get at the mall! I’ve made them so many times and they turn out soft and perfectly every time!
Mmmm…. perfect for breakfast or dessert… or snack. Ok, makes a good brunch too, and I’m not saying I’ve never eaten them for dinner… but I’m not saying I have either.
Items you’ll need for this recipe:
* Active Dry Yeast * Cinnamon * Vanilla Extract *
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk
- 2 eggs room temperature
- ⅓ cup butter room temperature
- 4 to 4 ¼ cups bread flour (plus extra for rolling)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 0.25 ounce active dry yeast 1 packet, about 2 ¼ teaspoons
Filling
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 3 tablespoons cinnamon
- ⅓ cup butter softened
Frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- ¼ cup butter softened
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Combine 2 cups of the flour and yeast in a large mixing bowl. In a saucepan, combine milk, butter, sugar, and salt over medium heat until temperature reaches 120 to 130°F (butter will be almost melted). Add milk mixture to flour mixture along with eggs and mix with an electric mixer on low for 30 seconds. Stir in as much of the flour as you can. (see note below for bread machine)
- Place dough a floured surface and knead in as much of the remaining flour as possible. Continue to knead the dough until it is very smooth and elastic (this will take about 5-10 minutes). Cover dough with oil or cooking spray and plastic wrap. Let rest covered for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon and set aside.
- Roll the dough into a 18x21-inch rectangle. Spread ⅓ cup butter on the dough and top with the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture.
- Starting with the long side, roll up dough so you have an 21" log. Cut into 12 even rolls. Grease a 9x13 pan and place the rolls in the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and a tea towel or kitchen towel and let rise until nearly doubled, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400°F.
- Bake rolls on the center rack about 15 minutes or until lightly browned.
- While the rolls are baking, combine cream cheese, ¼ cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt with a mixer until fluffy.
- Allow rolls to cool for about 10-15 minutes and spread frosting on warms rolls.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Here are some more recipes you’ll love
* Apple Pie Cinnamon Rolls * Apple Pie Roll Ups * Apple Pie Tacos *
This recipe was slightly adapted from Allrecipes.com
Excellent!!!!
This is a KEEPER!
I have made this recipe two different times the first time I made it I found I thought it needed a little more cinnamon sugar in the middle of it. I used to work at cinnabon and the cinnabon ones seemed a hair gooeyer and it had nothing to do with the baking it just was there I think the cinnamon sugar you could increase if you wanted. the second time I made this I neglected to put my eggs in it still Rose almost the same as it did the first time I made it and they are actually good without the eggs so if you needed to leave the egg out it does not affect the dough terribly I did add a little more sugar and cinnamon when I put the sugar cinnamon down I still did the same amount of butter but I added a little more sugar cinnamon and they are closer to cinnabons flavor. I really love this recipe!!!
Thank you for the tips Cathy! So glad you love the recipe!
Absolutely incredible recipe! I tried it thinking it was my go to but it was different by the time I realized it and I will never go back to my old one. Fantastic recipe and I appreciate you sharing it.
Can I prepare the dough overnight and put it all together in the morning? If so what instruction would I follow in the morning?
Other readers have successfully prepared, shaped, and stored in the refrigerator overnight and baked them in the morning. They will rise a bit in the fridge but may need to rise more in the morning. Check them and if they do need to rise more, you can leave them on the counter for an hour or so to rise.
Can I use almond milk in place of milk? I have made these before and loved them…so did my family. But I’ve stopped using milk and was curious if I could substitute.
I haven’t tried it but can’t see any reason it wouldn’t work.
Every since I learned this recipe I’m making them at least once a week! I love it and it’s simple thank you so much
I only found I started yeast “red” 1lb package. What is the measurement I’m supposed to add?
You will need 2¼ teaspoons.
I’m having a really hard time with the rise. I’m an experienced baker and make yeast breads all of the time. Liquid temp is perfect, rise location is warm and draft free. Just not getting a good rise. Any suggestions?
Hmm, I can’t say for sure why since your location and liquid were the right temperature all I can think of is if you checked that your yeast was active (and not expired)?
I also didn’t get a good rise? Would it have to do with when I add my eggs?
I’m relatively new to baking, so I can’t claim any expertise, but I wonder if better results with rising would be achieved by warming the milk and adding the yeast, then adding the other ingredients.
I tried mixing the yeast with just the milk and still little rise, but the end product was still good, so maybe they do not need to rise?
My house is old and drafty so I have to compensate. This is what I do to get a good rise. I warm up the oven to 250 and turn it off. Then I put the dough in. It may work for you.
I had difficulty with them rising both times I made them. I am using a heating pad. I set the pan or the bowl,whichever place I am at. I cover it with a Saran wrap and a dish towel and I get the rise it needs with the heating pad set on medium. I make a Easter paska and my mother taught me to always use the heating pad to get a good rise out of yeast.
Thanks for the tip Cathy!
Made the cinnabons and they were spot on x
Any tips for prepping these the night before so they can be popped in the oven in the morning?
Other readers have successfully prepared, shaped, and stored in the refrigerator overnight and baked them in the morning? They will rise a bit in the fridge but may need to rise more in the morning. Check them and if they do need to rise more, you can leave them on the counter for an hour or so to rise. Enjoy Amber!
Thank you both for asking and answering this question! I’m making them today for Christmas morning breakfast. I’ll plan to let them sit for an hour on the counter before baking. I have been craving Cinnabon this pregnancy and I am so excited to make and eat these!!
Can I refrigerate or freeze the dough?
I haven’t tried freezing them (although I do think it would work). If you refrigerate, they will rise a bit in the fridge but may need to rise more in the morning. Check them and if they do need to rise more, you can leave them on the counter for an hour or so to rise. Let us know how it goes if you try it!
I saw a comment on here about adding vanilla pudding powder to the dough, and I tried it — it made the dough 100x better!!! Highly suggest for anyone making this recipe to try it! It’s was moist, tender, soft and chewy goodness! I added an extra ~1/2 cup of flour into the dough as I was kneading it as well. I rolled my dough a bit thinner than suggested, so i hade more surface area to cover with softened butter and the cinnamon sugar mixture. I also did a 1/2 cup of light brown sugar and a 1/2 of dark brown sugar instead, and it made it gooey-er, super delicious! I let mine prove for 1 hour on top of the oven while it was preheating which got them to be HUGE. So if you’re having trouble with a longer proving time, put them on top of your oven while you’re preheating it!
I made this a second time with my adjustments and tweaked the baking temp and time to 375 F for ~20 mins, because my first batch came out a little darker on the top than what I like and a little too under done in the centers. It was baked perfect! Next round I make these I’m going to see how well they do when I freeze/refrigerate them.
He much vanilla powder did you add?
This is an excellent recipe! When I was kneading the dough I needed a lot more flour, at least 1-1.5 extra cups, but it still came out great. I also incorporated some tips I’ve gleaned from other recipes to make them more sticky – I melted 1/2 c butter and 1/2 c brown sugar and added this to the pan before putting the buns in, and then put some warm (not hot and not cold!) cream on top of the buns in the pan before putting it in the oven. If you add sugar to the pan though, I would recommend adding slightly less sugar to the bun filling. Anyways, I usually have problems with yeast doughs, but not this time… this recipe is great!
Delicious and came out great. But they aren’t a Cinnabon copy. Similar but not exact. I had a copy cat recipe years ago but it had vanilla pudding powder in the dry ingredients. Unfortunately I lost it. This is a good replacement but I will still search for the other.
Please update recipe to reflect that we should be using unsalted butter. I wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t checked your reply to someone asking in the comments. You might also want to highlight the room temperature for the buns to rise in 45 minutes and note that it will take longer if colder. Also, because there are quite a few people who didn’t get much of a rise at all, you might want to add ‘check expiry date’ beside the yeast ingredient. This recipe is fabulous and a real shame for folks not to get perfect results unnecessarily.
Hi! Just want to ask what difference does it make if we dont heat milk, butter, sugar and salt? Will there be a difference in the outcome?
The warmth from the ingredients helps with the rising.
Excellent receipe!!!!! Made them & my kids were amazed at how good they were.
Just made these cinnamon rolls and they are awesome. This is the 3rd recipe I tried and by far the best. I did use bread flour and light brown sugar, I also cut the log with the dental floss trick, My slices were 3/4″ and it made 20 rolls. I’m already thinking of adding chopped pecans next time!
My family loved these. The only area that I differ with is in the rise time for the rolls. I never believed that 45 minutes would suffice so I was neither surprised nor bothered by the additional time, in my case it was 1.5 to 2 hours. I placed the rolls on my range to the rear with the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit so the warm air from the vent would hit them and all was fine. Thank you. I will make these for Christmas morning , at my family’s insistence.
Hi!
Sorry, but the ingredientes ask for 4 cups of flour, and the recipe only use 2 cups. Is that correct? Or i missread it?
Hi Daniela, In step 1, we start by combining 2 cups of flour with the yeast then the milk mixture. From there you mix in as much flour as you can (4 to 4 ¼ cups). Hope that helps!
No, you start with the 2 cups of floor to get the dough started and then you put in as much of the flour as you can but not going over 4 1/4 and not less then 4.
What things were wrong? They are perfect when I do them.