Easy Cinnamon Rolls in just one hour your whole family will love with buttery soft dough, classic cinnamon sugar, and cream cheese frosting.
We love Cinnamon Roll flavors on the site including our crazy popular Easy Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake which is what you should be making for Breakfast every time you have guests over, and our Ultimate Glazed Cinnamon Roll Pound Cake (this is a showstopper!).
Making a holiday breakfast for a crowd is a breeze with these Easy Cinnamon Rolls. This recipe is easy enough to make for a small family brunch or for a Christmas morning breakfast for your entire extended family, and you can still enjoy the morning opening gifts and relaxing on the couch while the whole house smells amazing.
When making these cinnamon rolls, icing is a huge part of the serving process. If you are baking them to serve immediately, wait just five minutes then ice them so that the icing only partially melts onto the cinnamon rolls. If you are going to keep these cinnamon rolls for eating over a few days then wait for them to cool completely before icing.
What is your favorite part of the cinnamon rolls? Ours is the outside layer while others love the delicious center bite!
More Brunch Recipes for a Crowd
Breakfast Casserole
Easy French Toast Bake
Gooey Monkey Bread
Honey Bun Cake
These are a made from scratch cinnamon roll recipe, with all the flavor of a warm, gooeyness you love, without all the work. Impress your family with these tasty, easy cinnamon rolls.
When to Ice your Cinnamon Rolls
Warm Glaze: When you add a warm icing or a room temperature icing to warm cinnamon rolls you’ll end up with a melted, glossy icing on top of the rolls. This also means it will be a thinner layer. Only glaze while warm if you have a baking dish that can contain what melts from the rolls.
Room Temperature Glaze: For gift giving we prefer a room temperature glaze. This allows the gift recipient to warm the rolls and have enough icing that when it melts they’ll still have a bountiful amount of glaze.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Over kneading is the main cause of Cinnamon Rolls falling after baking. Use a stand mixer to do all the work and prevent over kneading.
Cinnamon Rolls are done when the center roll is fully baked. Test with a knife and if the dough is sticky and raw looking, continue cooking for 5-10 minutes.
You can make Easy Cinnamon Roll dough ahead of time and keep in the fridge for 24 hours.
They may not have had enough time to rise. These rolls are done in just about an hour, but if you have time, let them rise longer.
How to Gift Cinnamon Rolls:
If you are gifting this recipe, here are some tips:
- Bake your rolls in the gifting pan (disposable aluminum or a nice baking dish, this could be part of your gift, is a great option).
- Make sure you wait for the rolls to cool completely before icing.
- Make sure to give the rolls to the recipient when they will be within 2 hours of refrigerating.
- If you want this to be shelf stable make a non-cream cheese icing for the rolls.
- Include a note to your recipient with a link to the recipe so they can recreate the gift.
Other Delicious Breakfast Recipes
Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls (Copycat)
Cheesy Bacon Breakfast Burrito
Eggs Benedict
French Toast
Tools Used in the Making of Easy Cinnamon Rolls
Saucepan: Easy for sauces, cleans well and inexpensive. It is a good quality, budget friendly pan, or you can splurge on this one.
Stand Mixer: Let your stand mixer do all the work, the dough and the icing are done in this.
Sheet Pan: Use two of these pans and do 9 rolls to a pan.
How to Store Easy Cinnamon Rolls
- Serve: Serve these rolls warm out of the oven or at room temperature. To re-warm them gently place them in a microwave on 50% power for 30-40 seconds.
- Store: Once you’ve let the rolls cool down, you can store at room temperature for 3-4 days or in the refrigerator for up to a week. Cover the baking dish tightly, or put it in another airtight container.
- Freeze: To freeze, move the rolls to an airtight container. It will keep well for up to 3 months.
Ingredients
CINNAMON ROLLS:
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1/2 cup butter , room temperature
- 6 1/2 cups flour , divided
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 packets instant , rapid rise yeast
- 2 large eggs
FOR THE FILLING:
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter , room temperature
CREAM CHEESE ICING
- 12 ounces cream cheese , (1 ½ packages) softened
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter , room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 5 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons whole milk
Instructions
CINNAMON ROLLS:
- In a small saucepan, heat the milk and butter to 110 degrees (warm to touch).
- Add the yeast and milk to a stand mixer and whisk and let sit for one minute.
- Add 6 cups of the flour, sugar, salt and eggs to the stand mixer.
- PRO TIP: COVER YOUR MIXER WITH A CLEAN DISH TOWEL.
- Attach the dough hook and turn the mixer on speed 3-4 (low to medium).
- Let it go for 5-7 minutes, you want the dough to become a ball that doesn’t stick to the walls of the bowl.
- If you find sticking, add flour ¼ cup at a time until it pulls away (no more than another cup).
- Take the dough out, grease the stand mixer bowl and put it back in.
- Cover the dough with your dish towel you used to keep the flour in the stand mixer.
- Let sit for 10 minutes while you set the oven to preheat to 350 degrees and you make the filling.
- In a medium sized bowl mix the sugar and cinnamon.
- Using a large even surface, add ½ cup of flour and roll it out onto the surface to coat the rolling pin and the surface.
- Roll out the dough into a large rectangle about a ½ inch thick (if your space is limited do this in two halves).
- Spread the butter over the dough (I use my hands) and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the butter.
- Roll the dough tightly to form a long log and using a piece of thread slice off pieces. The dough will make 18 large cinnamon rolls.
- Place the rolls into buttered baking pans or jelly rolls.
- Place the rolls into a warm place for 20 minutes (I have a second oven, so I heat it to warm when I start the recipe, then turn it off and open the door for a couple of seconds then close the door. The residual warmth is perfect for these rolls).
CREAM CHEESE ICING:
- In your stand mixer whisk all the ingredients together.
TO FINISH THE CINNAMON ROLLS:
- Bake the rolls for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.
- Spread the cream cheese frosting over the rolls and serve warm or at room temperature.
Video
Nutrition
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Photos used in a previous version of this post.
Has anyone tried making these with gluten-free flour? If so, how did they come out?
This will now be my GO TO Cinnamon Roll recipe. They are so easy and so yummy!! I invited my son & daughter’s families over for dinner and my son (he’s 52) ate two of them before the main meal ??????. Thankfully I made 3 pans in take out pans so each family, very happily, took a full pan home with them. Thank you for this recipe ??.
I’m looking forward to making this recipe! What weight is the packet of yeast please?
The packets are .75 ozs each.
Enjoy!
What size pan is did people use for this recipe. 18 servings, are they mini buns?
They are full sized buns. I use a quarter sheet pan and do 9 in each pan. Enjoy!
can you freeze the dough so you only have to make half of them at a time does it keep that way?
Yes but allow the dough to thaw in the refrigerator before using. Enjoy!
I just LOVE your cinnamon rolls’ recipe! Thanks for sharing gift giving tips. Great idea!
Thanks!
Wow this was so simple and bold with flavor! Love this so much, perfect for breakfast
I love your idea of using a disposable tin and giving these as a gift because everyone loves cinnamon rolls.
Thanks! You’re right, who wouldn’t want cinnamon rolls as a gift??
Oh I love cinnamon rolls! I need to try these!
They are so good and easy!
If it wasn’t for your recipe I would not have tried. It was clear and easy to follow
Let me tell you my tale, I started out wanting Cinnamon Rolls in a bad way…Searched for recipes on Pinterest your picture looked so light and fluffy. Just what I wanted. Not being good at yeast dough, read recipe thru and decided I Can do this!
It was snowing today with at least a foot of snow on the ground all ready . I am in a wheel chair with no way to get to the store. Got my bowl out set up my mixer, started gathering ingredients. NO..no only have regular yeast, used same amount as instant and proofed it using 1/2 cup warm water and only 1 1/2 cups milk, now for the butter didn’t have enough butter so used 2Tblsp butter and 2Tblsp solid coconut oil and added 1 tsp vanilla (alright it was imitation) pretty much followed instructions as written for the dough from there on.
Now for the filling, geeeze no sugar but have brown sugar…brown sugar it is and I did have enough butter for the filling. Finished the recipe, in the oven. Ready to take out… ohhh the aroma is heavenly if they taste as good as they smell. Ate one when they cooled down enough to handle no icing. ‘ O ‘ mmmmmmy, must have another… no no they’re for company and need to be frosted. Put them away out of sight. Frosted. Company calls, not going to make it, will try tomorrow. 2nd one gone… well had to see if they were as good, frosted… ya know for company’s sake…
My thought, a good recipe should be adaptable and still come out good. Your recipe proved this and more
I promise I will make this again using ingredients called for, but I all ready know they’re gonna be scrumptious
Thank You for Sharing LDJ
I loved your story! So glad you decided to taste it, for company’s sake….totally fantastic idea!
Loved your story Linda, so o made them with brown sugar for the filling too! Yummmmyyy!?
Thanks Sabrina for stepping up my cooking and baking game!
You’re welcome, Britt!
Do you have to use a stand mixer for this recipe to work ? I just found this recipe and would love to try but I don’t have a stand mixer. Thanks!
It would be a lot more work so it might take the “easy” part out of the title, lol! Also, you’d have to knead the dough by hand. If you decide to try, I’d love to know how it turns out if you decide to try.
Any possibility of freezing the dough to cook later?
You can freeze it after it’s been rolled and cut. Once your ready to bake it, ensure it’s thawed out entirely in the refrigerator (overnight) and then proof it twice as long before baking. Enjoy!
Cinnamon rolls are a classic treat, but I love that your recipe takes only one hour. I will make these more often!
Thanks Catalina!
These Cinnamon Rolls look heavenly and ready in 1 hour is just perfect! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
You’re welcome Deb! Enjoy!!
I want to eat these for breakfast!
They’re so good!!
Oh heck yes! My kids LOVE cinnamon rolls, so I’m definitely trying these!
I hope you all enjoy them, Amanda!
Hi Sabrina, love the idea of making something with a mixer. In your write up you indicated even for a smaller family. Can you cut this recipe in half 18 isn’t lots but for 2 or 4 people it’s unfortunately too many. Or could you mix it all up bake half and freeze half before baking.
Thanks
Sandra
I’ve never tried it but I would recommend freezing it once it’s rolled and cut. When you’re ready to use it, thaw it in the refrigerator overnight and proof it twice as long before baking since it’ll be colder just coming from the fridge. I hope this helps!
Just curious if you have ever tried this recipe without eggs (family member has an egg allergy). If not is there a substitute you might suggest. I know there are store bought cinnamon rolls that don’t contain eggs.
I’ve never tried making it without eggs so I don’t really have a recommendation for a substitute. Sorry.
Hi, wanting to try this for Easter but how do I put it somewhere warm without a second oven?
Do you have a warming drawer at the bottom of your oven?