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Who needs buns of steel when you could have buns of cinnamon? These are the World’s Best Homemade Cinnamon Rolls and once you try them you’ll never go back.
This post is going to be full of pictures, and not much else because who needs stories about Mom bribing us with cinnamon rolls to get us to eat the potato soup which later turned into a tradition? No one, because everyone really just wants the recipe so let’s get on with the world’s best cinnamon rolls. Boom!
Table of Contents
- Ingredients for Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
- Tips for the Best Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
- How to Make Cinnamon Roll Filling Gooey
- How to Make Soft Cinnamon Rolls
- How to Cut Cinnamon Rolls
- What Can You Substitute For Buttermilk?
- How Many Times Do Cinnamon Rolls Need to Rise?
- How Long Will Cinnamon Rolls Keep?
- Can You Freeze Frosted Cinnamon Rolls?
- More Sweet Breakfast Options:
- World’s Best Homemade Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
Ingredients for Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
This ingredients list might look long at first glance, but several of the items overlap between the three different components and most of the items will be things you already have at home. Here is what you will need:
For the Dough
- Warm Water: helps activate the yeast, should be between 105° and 115°F
- Heavy Cream: adds to the squishiness of the rolls, whole can be substituted
- Instant Yeast: I prefer instant yeast over active dry yeast and would recommend not substituting it.
- Sugar: feeds the yeast to active it
- Buttermilk: adds to the fluffiness of the rolls
- Sea Salt: enhances all the flavors in the cinnamon rolls
- Eggs: provides structure to the rolls and helps binds all the ingredients
- Canola Oil: adds a little more fat while helping the cinnamon rolls stay tender
- Butter: adds richness to the dough
- All Purpose Flour: provides the structure for rolls
- Soy Lecithin: and emulsifying agent that helps fat and water stay together that helps create the most perfect rolls, can be omitted if needed but it really makes a difference!
For the Filling
- Unsalted Butter: don’t melt it, leave it at room temperature
- Brown Sugar: adds richness and pairs well with cinnamon
- White Sugar: adds additional sweetness
- Cinnamon: adds that signature warm flavor to cinnamon rolls
- Cornstarch: helps keep the filling thick and extra gooey
For the Frosting
- Cream Cheese: adds a delicious tang to the frosting
- Unsalted Butter: adds richness to the cream cheese icing
- Vanilla Extract: adds flavor
- Corn Syrup: helps the frosting looks glossy
- Powdered Sugar: adds the sweetness and structure to the frosting
The measurements for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.
Tips for the Best Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
Alright, first a few tips. Make sure you know and understand what is the difference between instant yeast and dry active yeast.
Number 1: Instant yeast (or bread machine yeast) is best. Don’t substitute. And let it “proof”. That means let it get all foamy. You see, instant yeast works faster, but I’ll let you click our link above to read more about the difference.
Number 2: These babies want to give you fat pants, and that’s ok, so let’s go ahead and add a little heavy cream into the rolls. It will make them squishy, just like our thighs after eating these. You can use whole milk as a substitute if you need to.
Number 3: Soy Lecithin can be skipped if you must but I promise it creates the perfect roll.
And yes, the soy lecithin is like honey but totally gets added straight to the flour. I don’t know why, and I don’t really care as long as these keep turning out bomb.com.
How to Make Cinnamon Roll Filling Gooey
Number 4: I don’t melt the butter. My mom didn’t, so I don’t. I actually think it makes for a better filling too. When it’s at room temperature, you can smear it by hand or spatula all over the rolled dough. Press the cinnamon sugar filling into the dough as much as possible which is best done by working fast with the softened butter, even using a spatula if needed to ensure all the butter goes on the dough and isn’t stuck between your fingers.
Number 5: Yes, I do use brown sugar and white sugar, Maeser taught me and he is king of the cinnamon rolls so just do it all Nike style. We have tested recipes for a little over 6 years and while there are some I just plain don’t like, there are others that I think are fantastic. I add cornstarch. It really does make a difference.
How to Make Soft Cinnamon Rolls
Number 6: One thing I’ve learned is to not go tooooo thin when rolling out the dough because the layers end up too weak to hold in the filling and you end up not sinking your teeth into a big ol’ soft bite. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to about 1/4″ thick. I wouldn’t go any thinner than that.
Number 7: Now, this next part is totally up to you. I like our rolls soft, so while you have to be careful not to under bake I prefer to put them close together in a baking pan versus way spread apart so that the sides stay soft. Then I gently press the outer layers down a little so I create a more rounded top and can see all of the cinnamon goodness.
Which makes them turn out like this! Aren’t they beautiful? They really are The World’s Best Cinnamon Rolls!
Number 8: In testing I learned that all brown sugar recipes didn’t get that gooey cinnamon thing going on as well even when flour or cornstarch was added. When we pulled them out of the pan there was never any gooeyness left behind which became a sign to us that the recipe wasn’t just right. These rolls leave a little something in the pan, aka awesomeness.
See how beautiful and soft they turn out? And really, if the saying is true that you are what you eat then you will be beautiful for eating these. #Fatpants and all. 😉
How to Cut Cinnamon Rolls
My preferred method is to use dental floss or thread to cut cinnamon rolls. If you use dental floss, make sure that you use flavorless floss. You don’t want a little lingering minty flavor on your rolls!
Slide the floss carefully under the rolled up dough about 1-1.5 inches from the end of the roll, bring both ends of the floss up, cross them in an X over the top of the roll, switch both ends of the floss to the other hand and cross the floss through the dough roll. Using floss helps the cinnamon rolls stay round and not smashed.
If you don’t want to use floss, a sharp knife can also be used to cut the cinnamon rolls. Be very gentle when slicing through the dough, you don’t want to smash it!
What Can You Substitute For Buttermilk?
For each cup of buttermilk, use 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar and add enough milk to make 1 cup.
How Many Times Do Cinnamon Rolls Need to Rise?
Cinnamon roll dough will need to rise twice. Once the dough is made, it will rise for 1-2 hours. Then you form the cinnamon rolls and they will need to rise for another 1-2 hours. Each dough rise is critical to get the fluffiest cinnamon rolls.
How Long Will Cinnamon Rolls Keep?
Cinnamon rolls will keep for 2 days at room temperature.
They should be wrapped in plastic or foil so they don’t dry out.
Cinnamon rolls will keep for an additional week in the refrigerator.
Can You Freeze Frosted Cinnamon Rolls?
You can freeze cinnamon rolls unfrosted, thaw them and warm them and add frosting before eating. Or, you can freeze cinnamon rolls already iced.
Just freeze them and then wrap tightly in foil or plastic wrap and keep frozen till ready to eat. Uncover and thaw before serving.
Homemade cinnamon rolls are what dreams are made of and what fill my fat pants! Good gracious this is the best cinnamon roll recipe in the whole world and that cream cheese frosting is perfection!
More Sweet Breakfast Options:
- Buttermilk Pancakes
- Apple Pie Slow Cooker Oatmeal
- Dutch Baby Pancakes
- Orange Sweet Rolls
- Classic French Toast
- Waffles
- Cinnamon Rolls
- Blueberry French Toast Bake
- Homemade Yogurt
- Cinnamon Roll Pigs in a Blanket
- Peach Coffee Cake
- Liege Waffles
- Slow Cooker Overnight Steel Cut Oats
- All our BREAKFAST RECIPES!
World’s Best Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Warm Water
- 1/2 Cup Heavy Cream, *may substitute whole milk
- 4 1/2 teaspoons Instant Yeast
- 1 Cup Sugar, divided, plus 2 teaspoons
- 1/2 Cup Buttermilk, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons Sea Salt, fine grain
- 1/3 Cup Canola Oil
- 1/3 Cup Butter, melted, we like Land O Lakes
- 2 Large Eggs, lightly whisked
- 7-8 Cups All Purpose Flour, We use Lehi Roller Mills or Gold Medal
- 2 Dime Sized Circles Soy Lecithin, see note
For the Filling
- 10 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, softened
- 1 1/2 Cups Light Brown Sugar, packed, plus 2 Tablespoons
- 1/3 Cup White Sugar
- 4 1/2 Tablespoons Ground Cinnamon
- 3 1/2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
For the Frosting
- 6 Ounces Cream Cheese, at room temperature
- 4 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, softened
- 1 1/2 Tablespoon Corn Syrup, light karo syrup
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 2- 2 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar
Instructions
- In a glass measuring cup, add the water and cream.1 Cup Warm Water, 1/2 Cup Heavy Cream
- Heat in the microwave until warm, about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Make sure it’s warm and not hot.
- Add the yeast and 2 teaspoons of sugar.4 1/2 teaspoons Instant Yeast, 1 Cup Sugar
- Allow to foam for 5-10 minutes.
- In another measuring cup, add the buttermilk and warm as well. Making sure it’s luke warm, add it to the yeast mixture.1/2 Cup Buttermilk
- In the bowl of a standing mixer, add the remaining sugar, salt, oil, butter and eggs, whisking to combine.2 teaspoons Sea Salt, 1/3 Cup Canola Oil, 1/3 Cup Butter, 2 Large Eggs, 1 Cup Sugar
- Add to the yeast mixture in a standing mixer.
- Stir with a dough hook to combine.
- Add the flour over the top and the soy lecithin.7-8 Cups All Purpose Flour, 2 Dime Sized Circles Soy Lecithin
- Mix until the dough begins to form a ball then mix for 3 minutes, adding an additional 1/4 cup flour if you were too light handed with the first measurement and it needs more. I never do, but everyone measures differently.
- Remove the dough hook and place a towel over the bowl to rise for 1-2 hours in a warm spot.
- Very lightly flour the counter and roll the dough into a large, even rectangle.
- Spread the soft butter all the way to the edges.10 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
- In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar, sugar and cinnamon with the corn starch.1 1/2 Cups Light Brown Sugar, 1/3 Cup White Sugar, 4 1/2 Tablespoons Ground Cinnamon, 3 1/2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
- Sprinkle liberally over the butter, all the way to the edges.
- Roll into a tight log and using floss, slice the rolls by sliding it under the dough, bring it up and make an “x”, pull it tight to cut through and set it in the lightly greased cookie sheet.
- Repeat until all of the rolls are in the pan and then drape with a towel to rise for 1-2 hours.
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 20-22 minutes, watching the tops because as soon as they are golden the rolls are done and you DO NOT want to over bake.
- Remove from the oven, cool for 2 minutes and top with frosting while hot.
- Sneak into another room to enjoy one all alone before the husband and kids find you.
For the Frosting
- In a bowl, with a handheld mixer, whip the cream cheese and butter together until softened.6 Ounces Cream Cheese, 4 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
- Add the corn syrup (karo syrup) and vanilla a beat again.1 1/2 Tablespoon Corn Syrup, 1 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- Finally, slowly beat in the powdered sugar until desired consistency.2- 2 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I have made these rolls three times with the most recent time being this Monday. They are so good. The dough is so soft. My mom and mother in law made me bake the ends that I cut off and that had less sugar filling and they were amazing! I think I may halve the sugar in the filling next time to see how they come out. This is a beautiful dough to work with! Thank you for this amazing recipe!
Hurray Vanessa! Thank you so much for the feedback! So glad you and your loved ones have been enjoying them!
Can I make them the day before and cook them the next day?
Yes absolutely! Stick the rolls in the fridge before their second rise, then pull them out and let them come to room temperature and rise before you bake them. Enjoy!
I love these rolls! I have made them a couple times with great results! I have one problem that seems to happen with any cinnamon roll recipe I use, so I know it must be a technique I need to develop. It seems the gooey filling leaks out and carmelizes on the bottom of the pan. Once cooled it’s crunchy and hard. I put the rolls close together to try to hold it in but seems some always escapes. Any suggestions?
It is normal for cinnamon rolls to leak a little. I would just make sure you getting a nice tight roll on your dough.
I love how clear your directions are ! I was wondering if I wanted to make them ahead of time could you keep the rolls before their second rise in the fridge or if you needed to make several days early in the freezer? Then take them out let them rise and bake per your instructions? I’ve done that with other cinnamon roll recipes but wanted to hear your suggestion please. Thanks
You absolutely can do that! You can keep them in the fridge overnight or freeze days ahead. 🙂
Do you think Sunflower Lecithin would work just as well as the soy??
Hi Nicci, Unfortunately we haven’t worked with sunflower lecithin so we aren’t sure on the results.
Hi do you happen to have a picture of the inside texture? I’m really excited about trying this recipe… just curious about that part.
Reading all these rave reviews makes me want to make these asap! I’ve never made cinnamon rolls before. They intimate me. :/ But I need to try this one! Is there a big difference if I skip the Soy Lecithin? It’s not available in my area but is available by Amazon. Let me know! 🙂 Thanks!
You can definitely leave it out, but it’s much better with it as it makes the rolls extra squishy. We bought our last one off of amazon and have had it for years. It makes the most amazing pizza dough and bread too!
I would say this recipe isn’t for a first time cinnamon roll baker. While I have no doubt that an experienced baker could pull this off, for a newbie there’s not enough detail on what to expect as far as results, appearance, etc to know if you are doing it right. I’ll try again with some less complicated recipes and then come back to this one after I know what to expect.
I’m so sorry Sherry! If you have specific points in the process that you would want more clarity, please let me know and I can try to add more assistance in the recipe instruction or maybe a video would be more helpful.
These are absolutely the BEST cinnamon rolls I’ve ever made! I ended up with 20 rolls and they’re almost gone! I didn’t have any soy lecithin on hand, but I can’t wait to try the next batch with it. Thank you for posting this recipe!
Oh yay!! That’s wonderful news and we can’t wait to hear how you like them with that final ingredient.
I like to put a little mashed potatoes in my dough to keep it tender. Would that work with thus recipe?
I followed the recipe exactly and the rolls never cooked in the center. I tried baking longer with a lower temp, still a droopy undercooked mess in the middle. The tops ended up getting too brown too. The parts that were baked tasted like generic grocery store or cafeteria cinnamon roll. The frosting is also very generic tasting. I feel betrayed, I don’t understand how this recipe has so many great reviews. Because everyone must have different tastes and I used a different brand yeast than normal, I give it 3 stars. But if just by what I think about them, they’re maybe a weak 2 star.
Hi Sebastian, any bread would bake up unless there was a step or ingredients measured incorrectly. It’s just not possible that using the exact instructions and ingredients it wouldn’t bake up. Is it possible too much liquid was added or the rolls were made far too big? We would love to help you troubleshoot anytime. Using high quality yeast also insures that it will rise and bake properly. When the dough was rising both times did it get a proper rise or ever over rise? Hope we can help!
The rolls compared to other recipes, in my opinion, were probably a bit over risen. I did eventually get the dough cooked, but it took way longer than 22 minutes. Everything looked the same as the pics and behaved the way the recipe said, other than rising a bit too much. I do believe the yeast was my variable that ruined this recipe for me, but I also didn’t care for way the rolls tasted. Obviously lots of people love this recipe, I just don’t prefer it.
I’m sorry. Best of luck finding one you prefer more. 🙂
Don’t be sorry! It’s a fine recipe loved by many. I had fun making them up til the doughy/yeast debacle and my neighbors loved them.
What does one do if the dough over rises? I will go back to the other yeast I was using, but I was curious if that’s something you can fix if it does occur.
Oh boy, we’ve had an over risen issue on regular bread a few times, you can try to reshape it, but most often it’s too late. 🙁 Yeast is such a funny thing to work with.
Gotcha. Ok, thanks. I’ll try out some of your other recipes sometime, with my usual yeast if called for.
Take care.
You too!! Happy Wednesday to you!
So my neighbor evidently ate all 8 of the rolls I gave him, I had to give him more so his daughters could have some. He said they were so great he woke up in the middle of the night to eat more.
I’m obviously going to have to update my rating!
hahaha! I love it! Thanks for sharing!