There’s something truly special about the aroma of homemade cinnamon rolls wafting through the kitchen, signaling that a delicious treat is on the horizon. Today, we are excited to share our favorite cinnamon roll recipe with a decadent cream cheese frosting that will elevate your baking game to new heights. This recipe is the one my mother made us growing up. Bruce has notched it up with the addition of cream cheese frosting.

Hand with a sweather holding a plate with a frosted cinnamon roll and a pan of cinnamon rolls

Preparing the Dough: To kick off your adventure, you’ll need to prepare the dough. In a large mixing bowl, combine bread flour, sugar, and instant yeast. This combination forms the perfect base for fluffy and tender rolls. Next, warm some milk and melt butter, then add them to the dry ingredients. Mix until a soft dough forms, then knead it on a lightly floured surface until it becomes smooth and elastic. Let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size – patience is key here!

Creating the Cinnamon Sugar Filling: While the dough is rising, it’s time to prepare the heavenly cinnamon sugar filling. In a bowl, mix together brown sugar and cinnamon until well combined. This aromatic blend will infuse each bite of your cinnamon rolls with irresistible flavor. Once the dough has doubled in size, roll it out into a rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Spread softened butter generously over the surface, then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly on top.

Rolling and Cutting: Now comes the fun part – rolling up the dough into luscious spirals of cinnamon goodness. Starting from one long edge, carefully roll the dough into a tight cylinder. Once rolled, use bench scraper to cut the cylinder into individual rolls. Place these rolls in a buttered baking dish, leaving a little space between each one to allow room for rising.

Letting Them Rise: Cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and let the cinnamon rolls rise once again until they’re puffy and doubled in size. This second rise is essential for achieving those light and airy rolls that we all crave.

Baking to Perfection: Once the rolls have risen, it’s time to bake them to golden perfection. Preheat your oven to the perfect temperature, then pop those rolls in and let them work their magic. In just a matter of minutes, your kitchen will be filled with the irresistible scent of freshly baked cinnamon rolls.

Cream Cheese Frosting: While the rolls are cooling slightly, whip up a batch of cream cheese frosting. In a bowl, beat together cream cheese, softened butter, powdered sugar, and a splash of vanilla extract until smooth and creamy.

Indulge and Enjoy: Now that your cinnamon rolls are baked to perfection and adorned with creamy frosting, it’s time to indulge. Grab a warm roll, sink your teeth into its soft layers, and savor the irresistible combination of cinnamon, sugar, and cream cheese.

Ingredients for Cinnamon Rolls:

Warm Milk: Warm milk helps activate the yeast, allowing the dough to rise properly and giving the cinnamon rolls a light, fluffy texture.
Instant Dry Yeast: Yeast is the leavening agent responsible for causing the dough to rise, resulting in soft and airy cinnamon rolls.
Eggs: Eggs provide structure and moisture to the dough, contributing to its texture and richness.
Salted Butter (melted and cooled): Butter adds flavor and richness to the dough while also providing moisture, resulting in tender cinnamon rolls.
All-Purpose Flour: Flour is the main ingredient in the dough, providing structure and texture to the cinnamon rolls.
Salt: Salt enhances the flavor of the dough and helps to regulate yeast activity.
Granulated Sugar: Sugar not only sweetens the dough but also provides food for the yeast, aiding in the fermentation process and contributing to the rise of the dough.

striped wet towel over bowl of cinnamon roll dough

Ingredients for Filling:

Butter (softened but not melted): Butter adds richness and flavor to the filling, ensuring a luscious, gooey center in the cinnamon rolls.
Brown Sugar: Brown sugar adds sweetness and moisture to the filling, creating a caramel-like consistency when baked.
Cinnamon: Cinnamon provides the signature warm and aromatic flavor that makes cinnamon rolls irresistible.
Heavy Cream: Heavy cream adds richness and helps bind the filling ingredients together, resulting in a decadent and creamy texture.

Ingredients for Cream Cheese Frosting:

Cream Cheese (softened): Cream cheese forms the base of the frosting, providing a tangy and creamy flavor that complements the sweetness of the cinnamon rolls.
Butter (softened): Butter adds richness and a smooth consistency to the frosting, ensuring it spreads easily.
Powdered Sugar: Powdered sugar sweetens the frosting and helps thicken it to the desired consistency.
Vanilla Extract: Vanilla extract enhances the flavor of the frosting with its warm and aromatic notes.
Heavy Cream or Half and Half: Heavy cream or half and half are added to adjust the consistency of the frosting, making it smooth and spreadable.

Instructions

For the Dough:

Add milk to a bowl and warm in microwave. It should be warm to the touch, not hot. If it is hot it can kill the yeast.
Whisk the yeast into the warm milk and let stand for 3-4 minutes.
Melt 9 tablespoons of butter in a heat safe measuring cup with a spout, allow to cool.
Mix flour, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
Whisk eggs and butter into milk mixture.
Pour wet ingredients over the dry and blend until the dough comes together. A firm rubber spatula or plastic bench scraper works well.
Turn dough out onto lightly floured counter and gently knead until the dough is firm but still a little sticky. This should take about 3-4 minutes.
Lightly coat a large bowl with vegetable oil. Place the dough into the oiled bowl and cover with a moist dish towel. Set the bowl in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size about 1 hour.

Prepare filling:

Prepare the filling by mixing the brown sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

Time to Roll:

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a rectangle. You want the dough to be about 3/8 inch thick. Just eyeball this.
Spread the softened butter onto the dough. I like to use my hands.
Sprinkle the brown sugar mixture over the butter. Make sure that coverage is even, but not all the way on one edge.
Starting on the long end, roll the dough up firmly, tucking the ends in as you go.
Cut into 12 slices and place in a greased 9×13 baking pan. Cover the pan with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with oil and allow the rolls to rise for 1 hour or until nearly double.

hands adding butter to dough for cinnamon rolls

hand adding cinnamon and brown sugar to dough

Allow rolls to rise again:

Cover the pan with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with oil.
Place rolls in a warm dark area for an hour to allow to double in size.

cutting cinnamon rolls with a bench scraper

cinnamon rolls raised and covered with cream

Bake rolls:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Warm the heavy cream until the chill is off-just sit it out on countertop for at least 30 minutes.
Once the rolls have risen, pour the heavy cream over the top of the rolls, allowing it to soak down in and around the rolls.
Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until the rolls are lightly golden brown and the center rolls are cooked through.
Rotate the rolls at 10 minutes. If they are getting too browned, cover loosely with foil for the remaining baking time.
To ensure rolls are baked check that internal temprature is at least 190 F.

Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting

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Prep Time: 2 20

Cook Time: 25

Total Time: 2 45

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cinnamon rolls, cream cheese, frosting

Servings: rolls

Calories: 935kcal

Author: Bruce and Dina

Equipment

bowl
Whisk
Large bowl
Pyrex measuring cup with a spout
Rubber spatula
bench scraper