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
I was wondering what the best way to store leftover cinnamon rolls? I am making a few batches for my husbands police department and they will need to be available to both day and night shift. Can they be left out on the counter for 24 hours? or do you recommend refridgerating?
We usually keep them up to 2 days on the counter. IF it’s going to be longer than that, you might like to freeze them to keep them fresh.
Love the recipe. Quick question…..have you tried freezing the rolls to use later? Before baking? I made some for a potluck but I want to make some for home and it makes too many at once. Wondering if I can freeze them, maybe allow to thaw and do final rise overnight before baking?
I haven’t tried freezing them (although I do think it would work). Let us know how it goes.
Made these last week – froze the raw buns in the pan and then defrosted in the fridge overnight, took them out to prove for a little more than an hour before baking. Live in the tropics so the ambient temperature is higher – might leave them to prove for up to three hours in a cooler climate. Actually made half sized which were more than enough for everyone and probably made the whole process easier. Delicious enriched dough and the frosting was a big hit! I’m talking people scrapping the Silpat mat clean! Thanks for the recipe Holly.
Thanks for letting us know Jayne! Glad they worked out and everyone enjoyed them. Especially love that they were licking the Silpat mat clean! :)
What is the secret of keeping the brown sugar, butter and cinnamon filling from oozing out of the bottom of the rolls into the bottom of the pan? Thanks!
As the brown sugar melts, there will always be a little bit that seeps out. You’ll want to make sure your rolls are rolled fairly tight.
The icing is too thick . I like mine to be a drizzle . How do u solve that ?
I have only made it as written but mixing in milk a little bit at a time may work in this recipe.
Hi! I’d like to try to make this recipe. Was wondering what size the eggs should be, if it makes a difference?
Thanks.
I use large eggs.
Can you knead the dough in the mixer with the dough hook?
Yes, you can certainly mix the dough with your stand mixer. Enjoy Dora!
I’ve made these several times and love them! I’m planning on making again for brunch I’m hosting and wondered if they could sit overnight and bake in the morning. Would I let them rise then refrigerate or just keep them on the counter?
I have made them before and kept them in the fridge overnight. You can take them out in the morning, they will rise a overnight in the fridge… if they need to rise more, you can leave them on the counter for a little bit before you bake them! Enjoy Erika!
This Mama’s pregnancy cravings are for real. I was sitting here today in a snow storm contemplating driving to the next town over just to get a cinnabon but when I found your recipe, decided it was likely safer for me to just stay home.
I hauled out my bread maker and let it go to work making the dough while my toddler napped the afternoon away.
They were ready to go just after dinner and I can say with 100% certainty…that they satisfied my craving.
Thank you :)
No Mama’s pregnancy cravings should go unanswered! So glad these worked out for you!
What dose the 4-4 1/4 cup mean?
You will need four cups of flour or up to 4 and a quarter cups.
These are amazing! The only thing I did differently was I ate one about 2 minutes right out of the oven… dont reccomend that part. And definitely dont skimp on the frosting! It just completes these and makes them 10 times better than cinnabon!
So glad you loved them Brianna!
Hi there.. thank you for sharing your recipe. I wonder what is the weight of the “1 package active dry yeast”? Thanks a lot…
approximately 7 grams! i back read thanks!!! :) will make it tomorrow!
1 package of active dry yeast is 7 grams, or 2 ¼ tablespoons. Enjoy!
The dough recipe here is PERFECT!!!!! I like my frosting thicker but that’s just me! My husband ate 3 in a row!!!! Thank you
You’re welcome. So glad you and your husband loved the cinnabons!
Thank you for taking the time to share this. I just made a batch and they’re wonderful. My family was wowed by them. This will now be my go-to recipe. Thanks again.
You’re so welcome Bes. It is one of our all-time faves for sure!
How long do I really bake it for because I baked it for 20 minutes and there were soft coming out but half an hour later they got hard as a rock LOL please help
These should bake about 15 minutes per the recipe directions. Did you use regular all purpose flour?
Your recipe calls for 4-4 1/4 cups of flour, but the instructions only calls for 2 cups of flour. Do I only use the 2 cups for the recipe? Is the extra for just kneading the dough?
2 cups is added at the beginning of step 1. At the end of step 1 you stir in the remaining.
Hello,
I love this recipe and have made it successfully a few times. I’m trying to make for work tomorrow and don’t want all of the work in the morning. I can put dough in fridge before the rise? Doesn’t the yeast need warmth to rise? Can I let rise then refrigerate? I’m so afraid of killing the yeast. Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks, Amy
I have made this recipe overnight. While the fridge doesn’t kill the yeast, it won’t rise as much as you’d like overnight and I found I usually have to allow for an hour or two rise time in the morning. Let us know how it goes!
Hey, I was wondering if you used salted butter or unsalted butter for this recipe.
Hi Cecilia, I use salted butter in this recipe. Enjoy!
This is BY FAR the best cinnamon bun I have ever tasted. I would even go as far as saying that it puts Cinnabon to shame. I’m a bread baker usually and the instructions saying to mix flour and yeast had me nervous because it sounded backwards. Far from it. The dough is light and fluffy, the cinnamon mix is perfect, and the cream cheese frosting is precisely how cream cheese is supposed to taste…creamy and sweet without being thick or overly sugary. I have absolutely found my new go-to for a sweet treat!! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!!
So glad you loved it Mia!
5 stars for this recipe! Even I try eggless without any substitute same delicious taste yum
I am so glad you loved them!
I love this recipe and it always comes out AMAZING!!
tip: you can make the cinnamon rolls the day before and let them rise over night then bake them in the morning when you are ready for breakfast and they will be SOOO FLUFFY and perfect.
Great tip Layla, so glad you loved them!
By letting them rise overnight. Do you rise on the counter or the fridge?
I have been making many batches of cinnamon rolls with many different recipes, and I love this one the most. Using BREAD flour instead of All Purpose Flour does make a difference.
The first thing I do is always proof the yeast with half cup of milk plus 1 teaspoon of sugar. The question I have is whether I need to let the dough rise first before rolling out?? In your instruction i Only see the part about letting the it rise after the dough been rolled out.
I also forgot to mention that I use margarine instead of butter, it taste just as good.
Thank you for the recipe.
Thank you for the tip on the bread flour, I’ll have to give it a try! I personally didn’t rise the dough before rolling out (but you certainly can if you’d like).