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This easy cinnamon roll recipe is smothered with homemade cream cheese frosting. They’re super soft, gooey, and quick—made in just one hour!
Whether you make them for breakfast or brunch, this recipe will be well-loved, just like our Mini Cinnamon Rolls and Nutella Cinnamon Rolls.
Made in 1 Hour!
My entire family is OBSESSED with Homemade Cinnamon Rolls. My mom has been making them for as long as I can remember.
Our classic recipe takes a little more time, so we wanted to master an easy cinnamon roll recipe that was more simple and could be made in an hour and we love them just as much!
Here are all the reasons why we love them:
- Quick. With less rise time, they’re made in just an hour!
- Delicious. The rolls are soft and so yummy and are great for holidays like Easter, Christmas and New Years.
- Frosting. We added cream cheese to the cinnamon roll icing for extra thickness and a little tang, and it’s absolutely perfect!
IngredientS
- warm water – If the water is too cold the yeast will not bloom properly. If the water is too hot it could kill the yeast.
- buttermilk – or make your own buttermilk. Must be at room temperature so that the yeast can work its magic.
- unsalted butter
- sugar
- rapid rise yeast – or an equal amount of instant yeast or active dry yeast. Be sure the yeast is fresh, old yeast doesn’t work as well and you wont get light and fluffy cinnamon rolls.
- large eggs
- salt
- bread flour – All-purpose flour also works well for this recipe, but bread flour works best. To make your own, add 1½ teaspoons of vital wheat gluten to a 1 cup measuring cup then fill the cup the rest of the way up with all-purpose flour. Sift the contents.
- granulated sugar
- light brown sugar – or dark brown sugar
- unsalted butter – melted
- ground cinnamon
- powdered sugar
- cream cheese – softened
- milk – or half-and-half
- vanilla extract
How to Make Easy Cinnamon Rolls
- MIX. In a large bowl (or bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook) stir together water, buttermilk, sugar, melted butter, and yeast. Allow to sit for 15 minutes.
- REST. Add in salt, eggs, and flour (for flour, be sure to spoon in and top off and start with 4½ cups – you want the dough to be sticky). Mix for 5 minutes and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
- FILLING. Prepare your filling by mixing together melted butter, brown sugar, sugar, and cinnamon. Set aside the cinnamon sugar mixture.
- ROLL OUT. On a floured surface, roll dough into a 12 x 16-inch rectangle using a rolling pin. Spread your filling over the top and roll it up.
- BAKE. Cut into 12 large rolls (or 18 smaller rolls). Place rolls in a large, greased baking dish or jelly roll pan. Bake at 375°F for 17-20 minutes.
- FROSTING. While baking, mix together the frosting ingredients in a small bowl. Spread a layer on top of the cinnamon rolls while they’re warm, and then spread another layer of frosting once they have cooled.
Variations
- Sprinkle raisins, chopped nuts (like walnuts or pecans) or even chopped bacon onto the brown sugar mixture before you roll the dough to be cut.
- Use a simple powdered sugar glaze on top.
- Use your favorite frosting. Maple and vanilla frosting both taste great.
Recipe Tips
- No proofing. You’ll notice the reason that this one hour cinnamon rolls recipe takes a fraction of the time is that the dough doesn’t need hours to rise. The dough rises a bit in the oven and they come out fluffy and delicious.
- Best way to cut the dough. You can use a serrated bread knife to gently saw through the dough, but even that can cause the slices to squish and pinch together.
- The best way to cut the dough is to use a long piece of unflavored dental floss or sewing thread. Gently place the floss under the spot you wish to cut. Bring the floss up, cross it over the top then pull the ends so it slices right through the dough.
Storing Info
- STORE. Place cinnamon buns on a plate and cover tightly with plastic wrap or foil, or place in an airtight container. They should keep at room temperature for 2-3 days.
- FREEZE. Freeze rolls unfrosted or frosted. Wrap the pan, or individual rolls, with plastic wrap and again with aluminum foil and put in the freezer. Let them thaw overnight and warm them in the oven for a few minutes.
- To freeze unbaked: shape the rolls and freeze them before you bake them. Be sure to wrap them tightly and they should be able last for 6-8 weeks in the freezer. Allow several hours for them to thaw before you put them in the oven to bake.
For more of our favorite sweet rolls, try:
Easy Cinnamon Roll Recipe
This easy cinnamon roll recipe is smothered with homemade cream cheese frosting and best of all, ready in only ONE hour!
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 cup warm water (110-115 degrees F)
- ¾ cup buttermilk, room temperature
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons rapid rise yeast
- 2 large eggs
- ½ tablespoon salt
- 5-5½ cups bread flour
Filling
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup packed light brown sugar
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
Frosting
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 3-4 tablespoons milk (or half-and-half), as needed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or large bowl, mix water, buttermilk, melted butter, sugar, and yeast. Allow to sit for 15 minutes.
- Add eggs and salt, then mix in flour one cup at a time. Once all flour has been added, mix for an additional 5 minutes, then allow to rest for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare your filling. Mix granulated sugar, brown sugar, melted butter, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a large baking dish or jelly roll pan (or a 9-x-13-inch baking dish if you are fine with your rolls touching).
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 12×16-inch rectangle. Spread filling over the surface of the dough, leaving a ½-inch border all around. Roll the dough into a log starting at the long edge, making sure the seam is on the bottom.
- Use a long piece of unflavored dental floss or sewing thread to cut the roll into 12 large rolls or 18 smaller rolls. Gently place the floss under the spot you wish to cut, then bring the floss up, cross it over the top, and pull the ends so it slices right through the dough.
- Place rolls cut side up in the prepared pan. Bake for 17–20 minutes.
- While the rolls are baking, mix all frosting ingredients in a large bowl, starting with 3 tablespoons of milk and adding more as needed to reach a spreadable consistency.
- When rolls come out of the oven, immediately spread a layer of frosting on warm rolls. Add another layer of frosting once cooled.
Video
Notes
Variations. Sprinkle raisins or chopped nuts, like walnuts or pecans, over the filling before you roll the dough.
Bread flour. All-purpose flour can work in this recipe, but bread flour works best. To make your own, add 1½ teaspoons of vital wheat gluten to a 1 cup measuring cup then fill the cup the rest of the way up with all-purpose flour. Sift the contents.
Prep ahead of time. Form cinnamon rolls, but don’t bake. Cover pan and refrigerate overnight or wrap tightly and freeze for 6-8 weeks. Allow rolls to come to room temperature before baking.
Store cooled rolls, covered, at room temperature for 2-3 days. You can also freeze baked rolls. Wrap the pan, or individual rolls, with plastic wrap and again with aluminum foil and put in the freezer for 2-3 months.
Nutrition
Serving: 1roll, Calories: 609kcal, Carbohydrates: 106g, Protein: 10g, Fat: 17g, Saturated Fat: 10g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 4g, Trans Fat: 0.5g, Cholesterol: 69mg, Sodium: 357mg, Potassium: 145mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 62g, Vitamin A: 554IU, Vitamin C: 0.1mg, Calcium: 79mg, Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe adapted from Your Homebased Mom.
First, I should say that this roll dough works excellently and as advertised. It has a perfect taste and needs minimal rise time, so it is done within the time specified. The first time I made these, I was slightly put off by the grainy interior. This time, I modified. I used a very soft butter and 2oz of softened cream cheese and whipped these pretty good before adding the sugars and cinnamon in lieu of melting the butter and mixing with other ingredients for the filling. The result was a creamy spread that I used to fill in within an inch of dough border. The rolls took slightly longer to cook, but that could also be because I had them in my stoneware pan. Ultimately, biting into this revised version was magically gooey and soft with no hint of graininess of the sugars.
YAY!! SO happy you liked them. Reading “magically gooey” made me want to make these this morning… I just might. 😉
Hi! This might be a dumb question, but wonder if these need to be refrigerated? I am thinking about making them for co-workers, but it would mean them sitting out for 6-7 hours. . .
These have never lasted for day when we’ve made them but we usually just cover with Saran wrap for several hours and they’re fine. 😉
Definitely making these! You said you made a couple of changes such as the butter and sugar. Does your recipe already reflect those changes or do I need to change the amounts? I gained almost 10 lbs the winter before last from eating cinnamon rolls just about every day (kinda went crazy lol). I have since lost those lbs and I’m afraid of loving these a little too much…but, I can’t not make these, they look too good to pass up! Thank you in advance for answering my question, and thank you for sharing the recipe 🙂
All the changes are made in the recipe already. Trust me – you’ll love these!! 😀
These were amazing on the first try. I make cinnamon rolls for our Thanksgiving Breakfast and I just found my new recipe. The only thing I changed was that I cooked mine in a lasagna pan and they baked into each other, so good!! Thank you!
Yay!! So glad they were a hit!! Aren’t they amazing?!
Is the “375” temperature in farenheit or celcius?
Ok, 375 Celcius would be 707F. I think it must be 375F!
Yes, 375 degrees Fahrenheit 🙂
Just tried these this morning, and all in all, I was so impressed! The rolls were light, fluffy, and soft, and they really did take just an hour. I found, though, that the filling was really grainy. Other cinnamon rolls recipes I’ve made spread softened butter on the rolled-out dough and then sprinkle the sugar-cinnamon mixture on top. I’m wondering if the filling needs more butter to smooth it out and get rid of the sugary texture, or if I did something wrong!
I would like to know for the cinnamon rolls, how much brown sugar and how much sugar must you use because I can’t see
It’s 2/3 cups of each kind of sugar for the filling. 😉
These were SOFT and DELICIOUS. I made them this morning for brunch. It took me about 2 hours as I was reading the recipe and following everything to a “T”. I didn’t have cream cheese for the frosting so I substituted for a small amount of milk and coffee (from another recipe I found) and it was scrumptious. This recipe serves 12 HUGE rolls. I made them into a slightly smaller size, and I got 18 out of the recipe. And even those were so big that most people who came through the buffet cut them in half. Some asked me for the recipe. I’ll definitely be making these again.
SO glad they were a hit!! We love soft and delicious Cinnamon Rolls around this house and LOVE this recipe. 😀
Hi there,
Looking very much forward to trying the one-hour cinnamon rolls.
Please let me know if you use dry yeast or fresh – TB measure with yeast is strange to me – and I take it that TB is tablespoon, right?
Alle the best,
from Jette – Danish cinnamon monster
Being a very Lazy Cook, this looks amazing! Thanks. Will have to try it this coming winter. Need to do the some measurement conversions first.