The BEST Homemade Cinnamon Rolls That is Easy to Make!
This is one of the oldest yet most popular recipes on my blog! It’s been up for about eight years, but I figured I’d give it a little update since it’s been shoved into the deep and dark archives of this blog. I am going to make these cinnamon rolls tomorrow with a new video, too! You can look out for that. I made these cinnamon rolls again on Christmas morning for a few neighbors, us, and my parents. I only make them a few times a year, but every time it’s pure magic! They taste almost identical to Cinnabon Cinnamon rolls!
The best part about these cinnamon rolls is that they don’t require a lot of ingredients. I love recipes that you can make with what you most likely already have in the house. I bet you could probably make them without going to the grocery store right now! I can’t wait to continue this cinnamon roll tradition when I have kids of my own. My mom always had cinnamon rolls for us on the first day of school and Christmas morning. It’s the small things in life that bring the most joy. 
I’ve never been a big lover of cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting. I prefer them with buttercream, and that’s why I love these cinnamon rolls so much!
Customize them!
Gluten-free- I have made these cinnamon rolls many times using all-purpose gluten-free flour. They take a few more minutes for the dough to rise, but they turn out just as fluffy.
Add custom spices– You can add nutmeg, cloves, orange zest, and other spices to add a sophisticated taste to your cinnamon rolls. In the fall, you can add pumpkin purée to the frosting.
Make it fruity – You can totally make these cinnamon rolls perfect for summer months by adding blueberries to the filling, lemon zest, and even white chocolate chips!
Make them dairy-free – That’s right! You can use oat milk, almond milk, soy milk, or coconut milk with this recipe! The Earth Balance vegan butter works as a great substitute in the frosting and the dough.
Make then savory- You’re thinking what? Yes, make them savory! Swap out the cinnamon sugar filling and add mozzarella cheese, chives, garlic, sea salt, and olive oil! Perfect for dipping in marinara sauce. You can use this recipe to impress the guest during the Superbowl.
If you’re team extra icing, definitely double up the recipe! It tastes so good that you’ll want to dip your fingers right into the bowl before getting to the actual cinnamon roll. 
I made a few batches of cinnamon rolls using baking sheets and also using casserole dishes to bring over to the neighbor’s house on Christmas morning.
The BEST Homemade Cinnamon Rolls that are EASY to Make!
Ingredients
- 2 Cups Warm Water
- 2 Packages Active Dry Yeast 1/4 ounce packets
- 1 Tsp Salt
- ½ Cup Sugar
- ⅓ Cup Melted Butter for Dough unsalted
- 6 Cups Flour
- 2 Large Eggs
- ¼ Cup Melted Butter for Filling unsalted
- 1 Cup Brown Sugar
- 2 Tbsps Ground Cinnamon
Ingredients for Frosting
- ½ Cup Butter
- 4 Cups Powdered Sugar or more
- 5 Tbsps Milk or more
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
- Pinch of Salt
Instructions
Cinnamon Roll Dough
- Mix yeast and warm water in a large bowl. Once the yeast is dissolved, pour in the sugar and combine well. Mix in ⅓ cup of melted butter and only 3 cups of the flour.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs together, and then add them to the yeast mixing bowl with the yeast. Once the eggs are mixed in, add the remaining flour and salt. If you are having trouble mixing the flour in, add a tablespoon of warm water one at a time.Cover the dough with a sheet of wax paper and a towel on top. Place the dough in a warm area for about 45-minutes to rise. If the dough doesn't rise, the area is not warm enough. I placed mine by the fireplace.
- Preheat Oven to 350 DegreesLay down a pastry cloth. (or use your counter with flour) Sprinkle flour on top and roll out the dough.Once the dough is rolled out, melt ½ stick of butter and brush it onto the dough layer. Spread the brown sugar and cinnamon over the buttered layer. You can add more brown sugar and cinnamon if you feel like it needs it. I like there to be about a 1 cm layer. I add extra cinnamon every time!
- Tightly but gently, roll the dough layer up. Cut the rolls about 1 inch thick. Use floss to cut or gently with a knife. Place the rolls on a greased or non-stick baking sheet 3 inches apart if baking on a cookie pan. Place the rolls an inch apart in baking in a casserole dish.
- Bake 14-16 minutes. Keep an eye on them. All ovens bake differently. The outside should be lightly brown. They’ll continue to bake once they are taken out of the oven, so don’t hesitate to take them out if the middles are gooey and the outsides are brown.
Perfect Cinnamon Roll Frosting (tastes like cinnabon!)
- In a mixing bowl, add melted butter (if you don't want to melt the butter, use an electric mixer), powdered sugar, and stir lightly. Slowly mix in the milk, salt, and vanilla.If it’s too thin, add more powdered sugar. If it’s too thick, add more milk.You can frost the cinnamon rolls when they are warm or when they are cooled down! Both taste delicious.
I cannot wait for you to try these out (& maybe again for some of you!) I’ll make sure to let you know when the video is live tomorrow.
Questions for you!
- Have you ever made cinnamon rolls from scratch?
- What fun twist do you have for these?
- What is one breakfast tradition you had as a kid?
I just wanna say I made these yesterday and they are the best freakin rolls I have ever eaten. They really do taste like Cinnibon! Problem is, I have so much left over and no more people to give them to so I keep eating them! 😡 Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
Awesome recipe. Made them a week ago (half the recipe) and unfortunately ate them all by myself ;D just way too good! 🙂
These look amazing!
I have never craved cinnamon rolls so much in all my life! 😮 they look so good xx
my grandma made these for me and they were so close to being cinnabon.
These look amazing! I can’t wait to try them this weekend. Yum!
This is exactly what I’m goint to cook tomorrow morning 🙂
At what stage do you freeze them? After you have cut all the rolls? Then do you thaw them before cooking?
Definitely after you cut all the rolls. I let them sit out for about three hours and then bake.
Cinnamon rolls are my favourite – and now I can make them at home! Thanks for the recipe, it looks so good! ❤️✨
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Hope you enjoy!!
These are incredible!! made them today (gluten and dairy free) came out perfect, thank you for including the swaps made it so much easier. I made cinnamon rolls a lot for events but had not tried your recipe for them gf/df so it was nice to eat them! I think bacon with maple syrup drizzled over the top would be delightful. one breakfast tradition my mum has been doing for ever is blueberry pancakes on Christmas morning as its my grandmothers birthday that day so we have her favourite meal for breakfast. I also made the blueberry muffins with the flaky streusel, oh they are so good, no wonder my staff nabbed them all when I took them to work.
Hi, Harriet!
I’m so so so happy you loved this recipe! Your instagram photo looked so dreamy! I love that you added the extra frosting 😋
It’s crazy how good bacon is with sweet breakfast foods. I love having bacon with syrup!
I’m happy you finally had the chance to try those muffins! They looked scrumptious and I always appreciate you sending me your recipe pics!
& you can never go wrong with blueberry muffins! Love that tradition ♥️
I have not gotten to make the cinnamon rolls yet but I’m so pumped to have found this recipe. Long time reader and first time commenter. My husband has celiac and my little boy loves cinnamon rolls at school so I think this will be the perfect combo and can’t wait to try it.
Yay! I’m so so so happy to hear that! Please let me know what you think of the recipe! 😊
Cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning was always a tradition in my house growing up. I’ve never made then from scratch but I really want too, and I think that I will with this recipe! My mom also makes almond and pistachio rolls and they are so good! I can’t wait to make this recipe, I am loving all the recipes you have been posting, I hope you’ll do some more cooking with you videos, I love watching them in the morning while enjoying my coffee…also my storyville coffee arrived the other day and I am so excited!
Thanks Asheton! I definitely will soon!!! ♥️ I’ve been loving cooking lately!
hope you enjoy these!!