Cinnabon Copycat Cinnamon Rolls

Let’s learn how to make Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls at home and even better! The dough is super soft like a pillow and it’s filled with an ooey gooey cinnamon brown sugar filling that is too good. Finish it off with cream cheese frosting on top for the best dessert ever!

How to Make the Dough

If you ever made any bread or pastries from scratch, this recipe will be easy! There is a lot of down time involved but great delicious things take time.

Here’s what you will need:

• All purpose flour
• Whole milk
• Yeast
• Sugar
• Salt
• Butter
• Eggs

Start out with adding the warm milk to a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle the yeast on top. If using active dry yeast, whisk the warm milk with the yeast and cover for 10 minutes. The yeast is active if it froths and thickens up. If you use instant yeast, you don’t need to cover it for 10 minutes. Then add the sugar, melted butter, and eggs. Whisk all together until smooth.

Then add the all purpose flour and salt to the wet ingredients. Combine together using a hook attachment and stand mixer or a wooden spoon/rubber spatula. Knead the dough for about 6 minutes until it becomes smooth and elastic.

The dough shouldn’t be too sticky or too dry. It’ll be fluffy, soft, and moist. If it’s too try, add a tablespoon of milk at a time. If it’s way too sticky, add a tablespoon of flour at a time.

Transfer to an oiled bowl and cover it with a towel or cling wrap. Set in a warm place for about an hour or until doubled in size.

Flour a working surface and transfer the dough so it doesn’t stick. Roll it out into a large rectangle, about 14 inches x 24 inches.

Take ½ cup of butter and spread it on top of the dough. It HAS to be unsalted and room temperature! If it is not room temperature/softened, you won’t be able to spread it.

Mix together light brown sugar and cinnamon. Dark brown sugar also works and I’ve used it before but I prefer light brown sugar. This recipe uses 3 tablespoons of cinnamon because it is cinnamon rolls after all! But if that is too strong for you, knock it down to 2 ½ tablespoons.

Roll it up tightly and cut into about 1 to 1.5 inch slices (depending how thick you like them) to end up with 12 individual rolls. Transfer to a greased 9 x 13 bowl. Cover AGAIN and let it proof for about 30 minutes this time.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Pour the heavy cream around the rolls in the pan and pop in the oven to bake for about 21 to 22 minutes or until golden brown. I learned about this heavy cream trick from an article on Today.com and it makes all the difference. I used to only brush them with heavy cream on top to keep them moist and golden on top until I read about this secret trick that Cinnabon might be doing too.

Take out of the oven and allow them to cool for about 10 minutes.

How to Make the Cream Cheese Frosting

The best way to enjoy cinnamon rolls in my honest opinion is only with cream cheese frosting! It adds a nice tanginess to cut from the sweetness for the perfect combination.

Here’s what you will need:

• Cream cheese
• Unsalted butter
• Powdered sugar
• Vanilla extract
• Heavy cream

The most important tip for making the frosting is that all your ingredients have to be at room temperature, specifically the cream cheese and unsalted butter. Add all the ingredients to a mixing bowl and beat together using paddle attachment and stand mixer or use a hand beater. It should be fluffy and smooth.

After the cinnamon rolls are out of the oven and have cooled for a few minutes, spread the frosting on top and enjoy warm!

Tips & Notes

Tips & Notes For the Dough

• Make sure the whole milk is warm, about 105°F to 110°F. If it’s too hot, the yeast will die. If it’s not warm enough, the yeast won’t activate as well.
• You can use active dry yeast or instant yeast. They can be used interchangeably. The only difference is active dry yeast has to sit in the warm milk for 10 minutes to proof while instant yeast can get mixed with everything, no waiting.
• If the dough turns out too sticky or too dry, add a tablespoon of flour or a tablespoon of milk respectively. The dough should be soft, elastic, and sticking to the sides of the bowl a bit.
• For the filling, if you’d like a more mild cinnamon taste, only add 2.5 or 2 tablespoons instead of 3 tablespoons.

Tips & Notes For the Frosting

• Make sure the cream cheese and butter are at room temperature/softened or else the frosting will be clumpy.
• Only use unsalted butter!
• The heavy cream is completely optional but just like it to thin out the frosting a bit!
• You can add less sugar in the frosting if you’d like but I think the sweetness is not over or under in this recipe.
• This recipe makes extra frosting but I like to have some on the side in case anyone wants some more on their cinnamon roll.

If you tried this recipe and loved it, drop by down below and let me know how you liked it with a rating and comment! Feel free to also leave a question there about this recipe and I’ll get right back to it.

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