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
Wow! We made these for Christmas today and I’m so inlove. The recipe is straightforward and they came out perfectly!
I worked at Cinnabon for a few years. The only thing I’m seeing here that isn’t exact is the icing recipe. It actually has vanilla AND lemon extract in it.
Ohhh thank you for the tip Michael, I will definitely give it a try!
do you have to proof the yeast? I followed to the letter and just tossed it in and they did not rise at at all and were hard as rocks…
Oh no Tino, how disappointing! I do not proof the yeast in this recipe, it rises in the dough. Did you test your yeast before using it (and check the date)?
I am not a baker or anything like that but I can’t help but wonder about the amount of yeast called for here. I have made this recipe twice with the same problem. When I make pizza dough, my recipe calls for a tablespoon of yeast to raise 2 cups of flour and this recipe is basically calling for 2 teaspoons to raise 4 cups of flour.
Two teaspoons is plenty. Reasons you may have trouble getting a rise:
-yeast is dead or dying. To test, activate yeast in warm water for 5-10 minutes. If it doesn’t totally froth up, then yeast is no good.
-dough not kneaded properly. If good gluten isn’t developed, you’ll get a poor rise.
-environment too chilly. If it’s cold in your kitchen, try setting the dough to rise in a warm place like on top of your fridge, or near a heater.
These are the best I have ever made! I made them with regular flour but I will make them with bread flour next time.
Wow, these cinnamon rolls are phenomenal! Soft, cinnamony goodness explodes on your tongue. The cream cheese frosting is spot on, fluffy & not too sweet. Will most definitely make these rolls again & again. Adding these roll to our Christmas morning traditions. So yummy!
Hi I’m confused you left the part out with the eggs ??? Where do I put the eggs?????
Eggs are used in step 1.
Can you make these the night before, refrigerate, and then bring to room temp, and bake in the morning? Any process changes you’d recommend to try it?
I haven’t tried it yet but 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 early ensuring you leave enough time for them to rise if needed. If they do need to rise more, you can leave them on the counter for an hour or so.
These are incredible. We tried what someone else in the comments said and baked for 23 minutes at 350 F and they were absolutely perfect!
My whole family loved these cinnamon rolls!! Five stars! <3 I do recommend cooking them for a few more minutes though.
Made these with my husband for the 2nd time- and I don’t even have words to describe how incredibly amazing they are. We’re both from the US but we live in a different country now that doesn’t have cinnabun- but this saves us cuz it tastes identical!!!!! thank you!
Great recipe, my buns turned out amazing. Only thing is, my oven runs a little hot sometimes, so I had to adjust the baking time, they were done in about 13 minutes.
Ok If you really want to get amazing Cinnabom Like buns, they left out the main SECRET and that’s Vietnamese Cinnamon, This is very important because this cinnamon is so much better than the kind you can get in the grocery store. I like the sticks because it lasts longer, but the ground works too :)
Oh and if you compare the store-bought to Vietnamese the store-bought smells like soap. Just saying.
Thank you for that tip Bradley! Here is a link for Vietnamese Cinnamon.
It’s Not Vietnamese cinnamon. It is from Indonesia and it’s called Makara. It is the only place in the world it is found.
Under the canopy of the tropical forests in Indonesia, the cassia tree produces the sweet, luscious flavor that is exclusively known in Cinnabon
***important*** The reason the cinnamon is important is that unlike regular cinnamon when you put it in water floats to the top.
Macara actually will begin to absorb the water and become a paste which is exactly the paste that you see in a Cinnabon cinnamon . This is key and this is unlike regular cinnamon
I’m another one who didn’t get a rise in the dough. I wonder if maybe adding the yeast to the warm milk butter mixture and letting it work before adding to the flour would help?
Did you use a thermometer to check the temperature before you poured it in? If the temperature is too high, it will kill the yeast and you will not get a rise. I made it a number of times and it rose properly. Also, I cover mine with cling wrap and a cloth. I put the bowl it in a warm, dark place away from a lot of commotion to rise.
Hi holly. Would love to try your recipe but I don’t have bread flour. Can I use all purpose?thnx
Hi April, you can use all-purpose flour in a pinch. They won’t be as light and chewy but they will still be delicious…especially with the yummy cream cheese frosting!
You may need add a bit more flour if using all purpose, I made mine with all purpose and ended up having to add a few extra tablespoons to get the right consistency .
Well, this the second time I tried this recipe. The first time they just never raised, so I thought I mixed them wrong or temp of milk was not right. I mixed them the way I usually do bread; yeast with warm milk, allow to set, add sugar, allow to set, add liquids , then dry ingredients, still never raised, but I just continued on with the times stated. They turned out good, the temp was not right for my oven. Next time I would bake them at 350, they got too brown in top and still a bit doughy in the middle.
I agree the temperature is too high. I also did 350 fror 23 minutes and it came out much better.
amazing! Have made this recipe about 5 times in 3 weeks-sent to mother in law (a MAJOR baker) she loved them! thank you!
Absolutely scrumptious!! One I alone is so decadent I hope I will have enough self control not to eat the entire pan!! It truly reminded me of Cinnabon and will always come back to this one when making cinnamon rolls from now on!
These are really good. But I think I’m going to use 3/4 tsp of salt to the dough next time, seems like it needs more salt. I did use unsalted butter. And I’m going to double the brown sugar mix, double the icing. Yum. And add pecans and raisins. They won’t be Cinnabon any more but they’ll be Great.
I’m so sorry people can’t read well enough and ask all these questions over and over and over. Bloggers have more patience than any saint. Thanks for all your work.
So happy that you love the Cinnabon recipe Nancy! Your version sounds amazing! And you are very welcome ❤️❤️
I worked at cinnabun for a while we would always mix cinnamon and white sugar and used margarine instead butter
What cinnaBON did you work at? We never used white sugar. It was brown sugar and Makara cinnamon.
Excellent