Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls + Video
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Cinnabon cinnamon rolls can be made easily at home with this copycat recipe! Soft sweet rolls with thick cinnamon-sugar filling and ooey-gooey cream cheese frosting that you’ll remember long after the Cinnabons are gone!
Although there is probably a Cinnabon in every mall and airport across the country, I wasn’t introduced to the heavenly bakery until I moved to Arizona.
I guess I always thought, “So what? It’s a cinnamon roll”.
Boy, did I underestimate how delicious they are!!
It wasn’t long after that day at the mall when Chad and I fell in love. Was it the cinnamon roll? Who knows, but it sure didn’t hurt!
Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls
A soft, sweet yeast-risen roll with thick brown sugar and cinnamon filling, and the most scrumptious cream cheese frosting you will ever eat.
We are so excited to have recreated a Cinnabon cinnamon roll recipe to share with you!!
If you enjoy the flavors of sweet cinnamon and sugar, we also have recipes for Cinnabon Cinnamon Stix, cinnamon sugar donuts, French toast, and homemade cinnamon swirl bread, too!
A fabulously soft, sweetened bread made with egg and buttermilk is the base for Cinnabons classic treat, and its also the base for ours.
We make our filling with butter, cinnamon, brown sugar, and a little cornstarch to thicken up the filling (so it doesn’t all ooze out, thanks to a great tip from a recipe message board).
The Cinnabon cinnamon roll icing is, of course, the star of the show! A vanilla cream cheese frosting with a hint of lemon to really make it stand out.
It’s enough to make your thoughts linger long after you have devoured your first cinnamon roll.
Kitchen Tools You Will Need for Cinnamon Rolls
How to Make Cinnabon Cinnabon Rolls Without a Stand Mixer
No stand mixer? No worries! You can mix the dough by hand if you do not have a stand mixer.
- Add water, yeast, and sugar to a large bowl. Once the yeast blooms stir in the buttermilk, eggs, and butter.
- Mix with a spoon and add the salt and flour. Stir until you can no longer stir with a spoon.
- Turn dough out onto the floured countertop and knead for 3-5 minutes until the dough is no longer sticky.
- Proceed with remaining instructions as shown in the Cinnabon cinnamon rolls recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Make Ahead Instructions
The easiest way to prep this recipe is to do most of the work the day before you want to serve the rolls.
Then all you have to do is pop them in the fridge and bake them fresh the next morning. They are our absolute favorite.
OVERNIGHT PREPARATION:
- Prepare the cinnamon roll dough and cinnamon sugar filling and assemble according to the Cinnabon cinnamon rolls recipe below.
- Place the unbaked cinnamon rolls into the baking pans and place them in the refrigerator. The dough will slowly rise overnight.
- The next morning, remove the pans of Cinnabons from the refrigerator and bake.
NOTE: They may need a few extra minutes in the oven to account for the cold dough, so be sure they are cooked thoroughly before you pull them out. - Prepare the cream cheese icing and apply the frosting according to the copycat instructions.
After much back and forth with the family, we have finally decided on what to have for Christmas breakfast, and it’s going to be these outrageous sweet cinnamon rolls.
They really are the best holiday brunch treat!
If you want the ooey-gooey goodness of Cinnabon rolls, but you don’t want to go out for them, make them with this Cinnabon copycat recipe!!
Enjoy!
With love, from our simple kitchen to yours.
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Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls + Video
Ingredients
Rolls
- 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1 cup water warm, 110-120°F
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup buttermilk
- 2 large eggs
- 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 6 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
Filling
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, 1 stick, softened
- 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, 1/2 stick, softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Pour water and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook (see cooks note if you do not have a stand mixer), sprinkle yeast over top, and stir. Allow yeast to bloom for 5-10 minutes. Once it is nice and foamy, it is ready. *It should look like the ‘head’ of a beer poured too quickly and smell yeasty.
- In the meantime: melt 6 tablespoons of butter in a microwave-safe bowl.
- Once the yeast mixture is aromatic and looks like the head of a beer, add buttermilk, eggs, and butter to the bowl of the stand mixer. Mix on low and add 4 cups of flour, one cup at a time. Add salt. Once the flour is mixed in, add remaining flour slowly until dough becomes a ball. Mine takes 5 ½ cups total. Knead dough on medium-high for 5 minutes. Add more flour a tablespoon at a time as needed, if bread is too sticky to come together. The dough should be tacky when you pull it out of the mixer, not sticky.
- Lightly dust countertop with flour. Turn dough out onto the countertop. Knead a few turns, shape dough into a ball.
- Add 1 tablespoon butter to bowl and heat in microwave until melted. Place dough into bowl upside down, flip the dough over and cover loosely with plastic wrap and drape bowl with a towel. Set bowl in a warm place in your kitchen. Allow dough to rise for 60-90 minutes until nearly doubled in size.
- Meanwhile combine light brown sugar, cinnamon, and corn starch in a medium bowl. Stir with a fork until well combined. Set aside.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough a few turns, then using a rolling pin, roll out into an 18” tall x 24” wide rectangle. Spread softened butter around dough leaving the bottom 1” border uncoated.
- Sprinkle the buttered dough with brown sugar mixture, leaving the bottom 1” uncoated. Use your rolling pin to gently press sugar mixture into the dough (so it doesn’t fall out as you roll it).
- Starting at the top, tightly roll dough toward you, using the last 1” to seal roll. Cut dough roll in half and then cut those halves in half, giving you 4 pieces. Cut each of those pieces into 1/3rd. You will have 12 pieces.
- Grease (2) 9”x13” baking dishes. Place rolls in pans evenly spaced out, 2 rows of 3 rolls in each. Make sure to put the end pieces upside down. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and drape a towel over pans. Set pans in a warm place and allow rolls to rise another 60-90 minutes until rolls have doubled in size.
- Preheat oven 350°F.
- Bake for approximately 20 minutes until golden brown and cooked through. Halfway through baking time rotate the pans.
- In the meantime prepare frosting; add cream cheese and butter in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer (or stand mixer) until light and fluffy. Add remaining ingredients. Beat until mixture is light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Set aside.
- Remove rolls from oven. Spread ¼ of frosting over each pan of rolls. Allow to cool slightly and repeat. Serve and enjoy!
Video
Donna’s Notes
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe’s nutritional value will vary depending on the ingredients used, measuring methods, and portion sizes.
Originally published November 2013, updated and republished June 2023
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Hi, I have justa baked a batch of these rolls and I have poured frosting on them but we are not going to eat them until tomorrow. Should I keep them in the refrigerator or is it OK if I leave them on the counter?
These turned out really good even though I messed up the recipe in several places (I was tired). I ran out of AP flour and had to use 2 cups of whole wheat. Even with the whole wheat flour, even then the dough was sticky. I was short on time so I only did a 30 minute rise in a warm oven. The kids loved them and my fiance ate 2. Would definately make again.
Thanks, Amber! We are so happy everyone enjoyed them!
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Has anyone tried this recipe using gluten free flour?
Hi Donna,
Your recipes are always awesome! I hate to be so dense, but I never can find your recipe videos.
Thanks for your help,
Sharon
Where is the video for the Cinnabon rolls, they look amazing. Thank you
Hi Donna Coffman! The video is at the top of the page, enjoy!
OMG! These are fabulous! We discovered we didn't care for the lemon in the frosting, so have left that out after first batch. Yum yum yum. Thank you so much for all you do for us amateur bakers!!
These have ruined me! That is a good thing though. Cinnabon used to be my favorite cinnamon roll but these outshine Cinnabon any day of the week. We especially like these on Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I will make them anytime I get a craving for a good cinnamon roll because going to Cinnabon is no longer an option. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Can the recipe be cut in half?
Great recipe for a beginner! Only issue I had was that it seemed to be too much flour. I only used 5 cups and turned out great. My stand mixer couldn’t handle that much dough so I did have to knead by hand.
Substitute gluten free flour for all purpose flour? How does it taste, rise, look? Any other changes?
WOW! I used lemon juice and whole milk instead of buttermilk and you couldn't tell any difference. I also doubled the frosting recipe. I made these for the first time this evening and my husband and I both had to close our eyes and smile on first bite. The best. We're always looking for little traditions, and this recipe will be our Christmas morning treat. I read someone having the rolls dry out, about 10 min. in I turned the heat way way down. It may also help to put a pan/dish of a little water at the bottom of the oven to steam them and keep them moist.
There is no video on this page!!
These came out so good, the whole family loved them. We don’t have a cinnabon near us, so it’s nice to have something like this to throw together every once in a while.
I’ve made these probably a dozen times over the last several years, and I have to say, it never goes wrong. perfectly predictable results every single time. they are our Christmas breakfast every year and often get made on rainy weekend days. They are about a 5 hour ordeal for me, but I hand mix the dough. Thanks so much for sharing this one. Many families connected to mine have enjoyed them and also use your recipe now
Hi Sam,
That is awesome! We are so happy everyone enjoys them. They are a lot of work but so worth it! Have a great day!
TSRI Team Member,
Holli
These sound so delicious! I tried watching the video but only get audio, no video. Will you please help? Thanks!
Well The Directions are For 1× 2× 3× So There is a Few choice’s in the size you can make. 1×usually gives you a decent amount for one or two people to share.