Homemade Soft Yeast Cinnamon Rolls Recipe From Scratch

There's a reason people line up at bakeries for cinnamon rolls instead of making them at home. Most recipes produce dense, dry bricks that taste vaguely of cinnamon but lack that signature pull-apart softness.

Prep Time30

Cook Time25

2 15

Total Time3 10

Course: Bread, Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: bakery recipe, bread recipe, breakfast recipe, brunch recipe, copycat, sweet rolls, sweet snack

Servings: Servings

Calories: 331kcal

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Kitchen Essentials

Aluminum Cake Pan

Rolling Pin

Ingredients

DOUGH

¾ Cup Whole Milk 180 grams
2 ¼ Teaspoons Active Dry Yeast one ¼-ounce
¼ Cup Granulated Sugar 50 grams
4 Tablespoons Salted Butter (57 grams) melted and cooled
1 Large Egg at room temperature
1 Large Egg Yolk at room temperature
3 Cups Bread Flour (360 grams) plus more as needed
¾ Teaspoon Salt
Extra-virgin olive oil or cooking spray for greasing the bowl

FILLING

4 Tablespoons Salted Butter (57 grams) softened
⅔ Cup Dark Brown Sugar (142 grams) packed
1 ½ Tablespoons Ground Cinnamon

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

4 Ounces Cream Cheese (112 grams) softened
¾ Cup Powdered Sugar 85 grams
3 Tablespoons Salted Butter softened
½ Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Instructions

Activate the yeast. Warm the milk to about 100 degrees F. It should feel like bathwater, warm to the touch but not hot enough to make you flinch.
¾ Cup Whole Milk, 2 ¼ Teaspoons Active Dry Yeast
In a large bowl or stand mixer, combine the warmed milk, yeast, and sugar. Whisk gently and let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes until it looks foamy and smells slightly yeasty. If nothing happens after 10 minutes, your yeast is dead and you need to start over with fresh yeast.
¼ Cup Granulated Sugar
Combine the wet ingredients. Whisk in the melted butter, egg, and egg yolk. The mixture should look smooth and pale yellow. Make sure your butter is cooled slightly so it doesn't scramble the eggs.
4 Tablespoons Salted Butter, 1 Large Egg, 1 Large Egg Yolk
Add the flour and salt. Dump in the bread flour and salt. Mix with a dough hook on low speed or stir with a wooden spoon until a shaggy, sticky dough forms. It will look rough and messy at this stage, and that's exactly what you want.
3 Cups Bread Flour, ¾ Teaspoon Salt
Knead until smooth. Knead for 5 to 8 minutes on medium-low speed in a stand mixer, or by hand on a floured surface. The dough should go from sticky and rough to smooth and elastic. If it's so sticky that it's coating your hands or the bowl, add 1 tablespoon of flour at a time until it's manageable. You're aiming for a dough that's soft and slightly tacky but doesn't stick to your fingers when you touch it. To test if it's ready, stretch a small piece between your fingers. If you can stretch it thin enough that light shines through without it tearing, you're done kneading.
First rise. Lightly grease a large bowl with olive oil or cooking spray. Place the dough inside, turn it to coat, and cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap. Let it rise in a warm spot for 1 to 1.5 hours, or until it's doubled in size. This step is forgiving. If you need to let it rise longer because life got in the way, it's fine. The dough will just develop more flavor.
Extra-virgin olive oil or cooking spray
Prep the filling. In a small bowl, mix the softened butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon until combined. It should look like thick, gritty paste.
4 Tablespoons Salted Butter, ⅔ Cup Dark Brown Sugar, 1 ½ Tablespoons Ground Cinnamon
Roll out the dough. Punch the risen dough down to release the air. On a floured surface, roll it into a large rectangle, roughly 12x15 inches. The dough should be about a quarter-inch thick. If it's fighting you and shrinking back, let it rest for 5 minutes to relax the gluten.
Spread the filling. Use your fingers or a spatula to spread the 4 tablespoons of softened butter evenly over the dough, leaving a tiny border at the edges. Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture evenly over the butter, then press it into the butter with your hands so it sticks.
Roll and cut. Starting from the long edge, roll the dough into a tight log. Pinch the seam to seal it. Use a serrated knife, dough scraper, or butcher's twine to cut the log into 12 even rolls. If you use a knife, saw gently instead of pressing down so you don't squash the rolls.
Second rise. Place the rolls in a greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover and let them rise for 30 to 45 minutes while you preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. If you want to bake them fresh in the morning, cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, take them out with extra time to come to room temperature and finish the second rise before baking.
Bake. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the tops are lightly golden brown. The centers should reach around 180 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer. They'll finish baking from residual heat while cooling. If the tops start browning too fast, tent the pan with foil for the last few minutes.
Make the frosting. While the rolls bake, beat the softened cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla together until smooth and fluffy. It should look like thick whipped cream.
4 Ounces Cream Cheese, ¾ Cup Powdered Sugar, 3 Tablespoons Salted Butter, ½ Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Frost while warm. Let the rolls cool for 5 to 10 minutes, then spread the frosting generously over them while they're still warm. The heat will melt the frosting just enough that it seeps into the spirals without sliding off completely.

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Notes

Tips from the Pros

Professional bakers have a few tricks that make the difference between good rolls and rolls people talk about for weeks.

Weigh your flour. Volume measurements are wildly inconsistent. One person's cup of flour can weigh 120 grams while another's weighs 150 grams. Use a kitchen scale and measure 360 grams of bread flour to get the exact hydration ratio this recipe needs.
Use room temperature eggs. Cold eggs can shock the dough and slow down yeast activity. Let your eggs sit on the counter for 30 minutes before you start, or place them in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes.
Don't skip the windowpane test. This is the only reliable way to know if your dough is kneaded enough. Stretch a small piece between your fingers. If it tears immediately, keep kneading. If it stretches thin enough to see light through it without ripping, you're done.
Roll tightly, but not aggressively. A tight roll keeps the filling inside and creates defined spirals, but if you roll so tight that the dough is straining, it will spring back and your rolls will be dense. Aim for firm but relaxed.
Use dental floss or butcher's twine to cut rolls. Slide the floss under the log, cross the ends over the top, and pull tight. It slices through without squashing the dough, so your rolls stay round instead of flattened.
Frost while the rolls are still warm. Cold frosting on cold rolls just sits on top. Warm frosting on warm rolls melts into the layers and creates that bakery-style glaze that soaks into every bite.

These small details take you from homemade to bakery-level without adding any real difficulty.

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