These soft cinnamon rolls are super fat, fluffy, and incredibly moist, then SLATHERED in a soft, less-sweet version of my easy cream cheese frosting. The secret is pouring heavy cream over the rolls right before they go into the oven. When I say these are the best cinnamon rolls you've ever tasted, I mean it!
Because we're using instant yeast, this cinnamon roll recipe is actually incredibly easy. Most of the time is spent just letting the dough mix or rise. You can make them all in one day, or shape them the night before and bake them the next morning. The dough is built on my master sweet dough recipe, the same dough I use for soft and buttery dinner rolls and homemade sticky buns. And if you have a sourdough starter, try my sourdough discard cinnamon rolls for an even more tender version with a creamy tang.
Quick Glance at the Recipe: Soft Cinnamon Rolls
- Recipe Name: Soft Cinnamon Rolls
- Why You'll Love It: Big, fluffy, ooey gooey cinnamon rolls that stay soft from the outside edges all the way to the center.
- Time and Difficulty: 20 minutes of hands-on time, two 90 minute rises, and 25 to 30 minutes in the oven. Easy, since the mixer does the kneading.
- Main Ingredients: Bread flour, instant yeast, butter, eggs, brown sugar, cinnamon, heavy cream, and cream cheese.
- Method: Knead a soft sweet dough, let it rise, roll it up with cinnamon filling, cut, rise again, pour cream over the rolls, bake, and frost.
- Texture and Flavor: Pillowy and soft with a gooey cinnamon caramel bottom and a tangy, not-too-sweet cream cheese frosting.
- Quick Tip: Bake until the center of a roll reaches 195 to 200º F. Don't go by color alone.
Jump to:
- Quick Glance at the Recipe: Soft Cinnamon Rolls
- What Makes These Soft Cinnamon Rolls Different ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Soft Cinnamon Roll Ingredients
- How To Make Soft Cinnamon Rolls Step-By-Step
- Common Soft Cinnamon Roll Problems To Avoid
- Final Thoughts
- Make This Recipe Your Own
- Soft Cinnamon Roll FAQs
- More Bread Recipes To Try
- Leave Me A Review⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Recipe
What Makes These Soft Cinnamon Rolls Different ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I even have readers who make these every Christmas morning. Here's what makes them so soft.
- Heavy cream in the pan. Pouring cream over the rolls right before baking keeps them from drying out and makes a creamy caramel sauce at the bottom of the pan. Don't skip it!
- Bread flour. More gluten means taller, fluffier rolls with nice defined swirls.
- Corn syrup for moisture. It's an invert sugar, so it ATTRACTS moisture and keeps the rolls soft for days.
- Instant yeast. No proofing, no dissolving. Everything goes in the mixer and you let it go.
- Make them the night before. Shape the rolls, pop them in the fridge, and bake them in the morning.
Soft Cinnamon Roll Ingredients
You only need a few pantry staples for these, plus heavy cream for the pan. I always recommend weighing your ingredients with a digital kitchen scale for the most accurate results, especially the flour.
- Bread flour: The secret to a super fluffy and soft cinnamon roll. I actually LOVE Caputo bread flour. I started using it after a trip to Italy where I noticed the baked goods didn't upset my stomach as much. Any bread flour works, and if you don't have bread flour you can use all purpose flour. Your rolls will still be yummy!
- Instant yeast: Honestly, I don't know why anyone uses active dry yeast anymore. With instant yeast you just add it to your ingredients and mix. If all you have is active dry yeast, add it to your warm milk with a Tablespoon of sugar and let it foam before adding it to the rest of the dough.
- Milk: Warm, so it gets the yeast going.
- Butter: Softened. It goes into the dough, the filling, and the frosting.
- Eggs: Large, at room temperature. They make this a rich, tender sweet dough.
- Granulated sugar and salt: For the dough.
- Corn syrup: I know corn syrup gets a bad rap, but hear me out. It's an invert sugar, so it attracts moisture and keeps your rolls softer for longer. Honey or maple syrup do the same thing and add a nice flavor. It's optional.
- Brown sugar and cinnamon: For the filling. Brown sugar melts into that gooey caramel layer.
- Heavy cream: For pouring over the rolls before baking, plus a splash in the frosting. If you want the best gooey homemade cinnamon rolls, don't skip this!
- Cream cheese: Softened, for the frosting.
- Powdered sugar and vanilla extract: Just enough powdered sugar to make a soft frosting that isn't too sweet.
How To Make Soft Cinnamon Rolls Step-By-Step
Bring your eggs and butter to room temperature and warm your milk to about 90º F. Line a 13" x 18" sheet pan with parchment paper. You'll preheat the oven to 350º F while the rolls are on their second rise.
- Mix your warm milk, yeast, and half the flour in the bowl of your stand mixer with the dough hook attached.
- Add the butter, sugar, salt, eggs, and the rest of the flour and mix on low until combined.
- Add the corn syrup if you're using it and mix until it's fully combined.
- Knead on medium for 10 to 20 minutes until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl and forms a smooth ball.
PRO TIP: This is a very soft dough, so it's going to look like a sticky mess at first. That's normal! The dough is sticky because it isn't kneaded enough yet. As you keep kneading, the gluten develops and the dough turns smooth. Don't add more flour, just keep mixing.
- Do the windowpane test. A small piece of dough should stretch thin enough to see light through it without tearing.
- Let the dough rise for 90 minutes in a warm spot until it doubles in size. My trick: preheat your oven to 170º F for 5 minutes, turn it off, put a bowl of warm water in the back, and set the covered dough inside.
- Roll the dough out into a rectangle about 18" wide and 8" tall on a lightly floured surface with a rolling pin. If it keeps springing back, let it rest for 5 minutes.
- Mix the butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon until smooth to make your filling.
- Spread the filling in an even layer, leaving about 1" bare along one long edge.
- Roll the dough up into a snug spiral (not too tight, or the centers pop up into cones) and brush a little water on the bare edge to seal it.
PRO TIP: If your filling leaks out of the bottom of your rolls, your butter was too melted, the filling was too wet, or you used too much of it. Soften the butter until it's almost melted, not liquid, and spread a thin, even layer all the way to the edges.
- Cut the log into 12 rolls with unflavored dental floss. Slide the floss under the log, cross the ends, and pull. Floss keeps your rolls nice and round instead of squishing them. I use a ruler to mark out 1.5" slices so they're all the same size.
- Let the rolls rise again for about 90 minutes, spaced out in your pan, until they double in size and the sides are puffy and touching. Or cover them and pop them in the fridge overnight.
- Pour the heavy cream over the rolls right before they go in the oven.
- Bake at 350º F for 25 to 30 minutes until a thermometer in the center of a roll reads 195 to 200º F, then move the pan to a cooling rack. Don't just go by looks, because the tops can be golden while the center is still raw.
PRO TIP: The cream is the secret to these! It absorbs into the dough so the outside rolls are just as soft and pillowy as the center of the cinnamon roll, and everyone knows that's the best part. It also mixes with the butter and sugar that ooze out of the rolls to make a creamy caramel sauce in the bottom of the pan, and it steams the rolls so they stay soft instead of getting crispy.
- Make your cream cheese frosting. Beat the cream cheese until smooth, beat in the butter and cream, then mix in the powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla.
- Frost the rolls while they're still warm so the frosting melts into all the nooks and crannies. A piping bag makes it easy to cover every roll without dragging the soft tops.
Common Soft Cinnamon Roll Problems To Avoid
- Adding extra flour to sticky dough: Sticky dough just needs more kneading. Extra flour makes dry, tough rolls. Weigh your flour instead of using cups so you start with the right amount.
- Filling leaking out: Butter that's too melted, a wet filling, or too much filling will run out the bottom and burn. Keep the layer thin and even.
- Dense, heavy rolls: The dough didn't double. A cold kitchen slows everything down, so watch the size of the dough, not the clock.
- Overproofed rolls: If the second rise goes way past doubled, the rolls can deflate in the oven.
- Uneven roll sizes: Some rolls finish baking before others. Measure and mark even slices with a ruler before you cut.
- Dry rolls: Skipping the heavy cream or overbaking. Pull them as soon as they hit 195 to 200º F.
- Rolling the dough too tight: A tightly rolled log makes the centers push up into cone shapes as they bake. Roll it up snug, not tight.
Final Thoughts
I really think this is the best cinnamon rolls recipe you will ever try. The dough does most of the work in the mixer, and that little bit of cream in the pan turns every single roll into a soft, gooey, center-of-the-pan roll. Trust me, I ate four while filming the video and gave myself a stomach ache! If you love working with enriched dough, my brioche bread recipe is the next step (and the leftovers make incredible French toast). Or try my easy homemade bagel recipe, or my homemade panettone recipe for Christmas morning.
Make This Recipe Your Own
- Pumpkin cinnamon rolls: Add pumpkin spice to the dough and use a pumpkin filling instead of the brown sugar filling, made with canned or homemade pumpkin puree.
- Add nuts: Sprinkle chopped walnuts or pecans over the cinnamon filling before you roll up the dough.
- Fruit fillings: Swap the cinnamon filling for fruit. Try my strawberry cinnamon rolls, or use my apple pie filling or berry cake filling.
- Sticky buns: Same dough, with a gooey caramel glaze.
- Sourdough discard: Use up your discard with the sourdough version linked above.
- Sweeter frosting: If you like a sweeter, thicker frosting, use my classic cream cheese frosting instead.
- Smaller pan: A 9" x 13" pan works too. The rolls sit closer together, so they may need a few extra minutes.
Soft Cinnamon Roll FAQs
Can I make cinnamon rolls the night before?
Yes. Shape and cut the rolls, place them in your pan, cover them tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate them overnight. In the morning, let them sit in a warm spot until they're puffy and doubled, about 1.5 to 2 hours, then pour on the cream and bake.
Can I freeze cinnamon roll dough?
Yes. Let the shaped rolls rise until almost doubled, wrap them tightly, and freeze them for up to 3 months. Thaw them in the fridge overnight, then let them rest at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours before baking.
What is the difference between bread flour and all purpose flour for cinnamon rolls?
Bread flour has more protein, so it develops more gluten and gives you taller, fluffier rolls with more defined layers. All purpose flour works fine too, and makes a slightly softer, more delicate roll.
Can I bake cinnamon rolls in a smaller pan?
Yes. A 9" x 13" or 15" x 10" pan works. The rolls will be closer together, so go by the internal temperature (195 to 200º F) instead of the bake time, and tent the pan loosely with foil if the tops brown too quickly.
Can I make cinnamon rolls without a stand mixer?
Yes, you can knead the dough by hand. It's a bit messy and gives you an arm workout, but that's how people did it before we had mixers! Once the dough comes together in the bowl, dump it out onto your counter. Press the dough into the counter with the heel of your hand, pushing slightly forward, then fold it back onto itself, rotate it, and push again. Keep going until the dough loses its tackiness and the surface is smooth, about 10 to 15 minutes. It's pretty much impossible to overdo it.
More Bread Recipes To Try
Leave Me A Review
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If you tried this Soft Cinnamon Rolls recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the comments. I love hearing from you!
Recipe
Equipment
- One sheet pan (13"x18") or similar sized pan
- Piping bag for frosting
- Digital Kitchen Scale
- Food thermometer optional
Ingredients
Cinnamon Roll Dough
- 8 ounces milk 90º F
- 10 grams dried instant yeast
- 28 ounces bread flour or all purpose flour
- 8 ounces butter softened
- 4 ounces sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 ounce corn syrup optional
- 8 ounces heavy cream (for soaking the rolls)
Cinnamon Filling
- 8 ounces unsalted butter softened to almost melted
- 8 ounces brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons cinnamon
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 4 ounces unsalted butter softened
- 4 ounces powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon heavy whipping cream or less if you like a thicker consistency
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Before you begin: Bring your eggs and butter to room temperature and warm the milk to 90º F. Line a 13" x 18" sheet pan with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350º F while the rolls are on their second rise.
For the dough
- Place the warm milk, yeast, and half of the flour into the bowl of your stand mixer with the dough hook attached and mix until combined.
- Add in the softened butter, sugar, salt, eggs, and the rest of the flour and mix until combined.
- Add the corn syrup (if using) and mix until fully combined.
- Increase the speed to medium. Continue mixing for 10 to 20 minutes, or until the dough begins to clean the sides of the bowl and forms a smooth ball. This is a very soft dough, so don't worry if it seems like a sticky mess at first, just keep mixing.
- Pull off a small piece of dough and gently stretch it between your fingers. It should stretch thin enough to be nearly translucent without tearing. If it tears or still feels sticky, keep mixing.
- Shape the dough into a smooth ball and place it into a greased bowl. Cover with a tea towel and let rise for 90 minutes in a warm place. To create a reliably warm proofing environment, preheat your oven to 170º F for 5 minutes, then turn it off. Place a bowl of warm water in the back of the oven, put the covered dough inside, and shut the door.
To shape the rolls
- Once your dough has proofed, roll it out on a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle, roughly 18 inches wide and 8 inches tall. If the dough keeps springing back, cover it and let it rest for 5 minutes. Resting relaxes the gluten and makes rolling much easier.
- Mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter (softened until almost melted) until smooth.
- Spread the cinnamon filling mixture onto the dough in an even layer. Leave about 1 inch without any filling on one side. This bare edge will help the log seal when you roll it.
- Roll up the dough length-wise into a snug spiral, then continue rolling until you reach the edge. Don't roll it too tight, or the centers will push up into cone shapes as they bake. Brush a little water along the bare edge so it seals the loose end of the dough.
- The easiest way to cut cinnamon rolls is with unflavored dental floss. Use a ruler to mark the log into 12 equal pieces, about 1.5" each. Slide the floss under the roll, cross the ends over each other, and pull through to cut.
- Place the cinnamon rolls into your pan lined with parchment paper, equally spaced apart. Cover loosely with a tea towel and place in a warm spot to rise until the rolls have doubled in size, about 90 minutes. For the overnight method, cover tightly and refrigerate instead of doing the second proof at room temperature.
To bake
- Before baking, pour your cream over the cinnamon rolls. This will make them extra soft and gooey after baking!
- Bake your rolls at 350º F for 25 to 30 minutes, until they reach an internal temperature of 195º to 200º F. Once the rolls are done baking, remove them from the oven and place them onto a cooling rack while you make the cinnamon roll frosting.
For the cream cheese frosting
- In a medium bowl, cream your room-temperature cream cheese until it is smooth and lump free. Add your softened butter and cream and mix until smooth, then add the powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla and mix until smooth and fully combined.
- Spoon the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a round tip, or snip a small opening at the corner of a zip-top bag. Pipe the frosting over the warm cinnamon rolls in a back-and-forth motion, covering each roll from edge to edge. The frosting will melt slightly into the warm layers for that gooey bakery finish.
Lisa Morgan says
THESE ARE FANTASTIC! I am a Cottage baker specializing in Cinnamon Rolls and tried this recipe to try and increase the softness of the dough and have them stay softer longer. I have heard Corn Syrup can do that and searched out a recipe to try. Well I made these today and just tasted one. They are great! Used your tip of proofing in the warm oven and that worked great.
Thanks for a terrific recipe. These are going on the stand tomorrow 🙂
Liz Marek says
Thank you! So glad the warm oven tip helped.
Ana says
I don’t have a stand mixer. Can I make this by hand? If so, how long would I mix by hand for. Thank you!
Liz Marek says
Yes! Once the dough comes together in the bowl, dump it out and knead by hand: press it into the counter with the heel of your hand, fold it back over itself, rotate, and repeat. It takes about 10 to 15 minutes until the dough is smooth and no longer tacky. Great arm workout, and it's pretty much impossible to overdo it!
Alexandra says
I make these every Christmas 🎄 and they’re the softest, easiest, best cinnamon rolls. Pulling them out of the fridge Xmas morning is the best. And the house smells amazing. Thank you for this 10/10 recipe.
Lu says
These are the most delicious cinnamon rolls I have ever had. Soft, full of flavor, and a favorite of all those who tried them.
Tonya Krinn says
I have been searching for the perfect Cinnamon roll recipe and really want to try this! Can all twelve rolls be baked in a 15x10 lasagna pan or will they be to crowded? Also if they start to brown too quickly can they be covered with parchment paper?
Thank you
Liz Marek says
Yes, a smaller pan works. The rolls will just sit closer together, so go by the internal temperature (195º to 200ºF) rather than the time. If the tops brown too quickly, tent them loosely with foil. If you have more questions, come ask me in the Sugar Geeks community: https://community.raptive.com/sugargeeks
Olivia says
I've made this several times and it's always a huge success! Thanks!
Debbie says
I loved this recipe! However, my cinnamon sugar mix came out lighter in color. It does say granulated sugar in the recipe, but noticed the picture of ingredients shows brown sugar. Is the “granulated sugar” suppose to be brown sugar?
Elizabeth Marek says
Yes it is brown sugar
Zak Ledford says
Made these cinnamon rolls multiple times now, always told that they are the best they’ve ever had.
Ella Callun says
Hi Liz, I know the corn syrup is used to help browning, add moisture and inhibit sugar crystallization. (PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong.) , but is there a substitute for corn syrup I can use , I dont currently have corn syrup right now.
Elizabeth Marek says
You could use maple syrup, or honey
Robin says
I normally am not a fan of cinnamon rolls. I have been wanting to make these since you first posted the recipe. I finally made them today and want to eat the entire pan, not share with my family. Thanks Liz!! I have loved all of your recipes that I have tried. I love these cinnamon rolls because they aren't super sweet, just sweet enough. The heavy cream baked on top is amazingly delicious!!
Tiffany says
Omg! Liz these are so good. Very soft. a family hit… making them again today 2 weeks later
Keyla Santizo-Ruiz says
Seriously the best cinnamon Rolls ever!
How can I make them pumpkin cinnamon rolls?
Elizabeth Marek says
Oh that sounds yummy!! I would add some pumpkin spice to the dough and use pumpkin filling in the center instead of the brown sugar
Lisa says
Hi your measurements in ounces asks for 3 eggs but in grams u ask for 2 .. is this the way it’s supposed to be. I feel there’s a lot of liquid fat and eggs for the amount of flour .. 28 ounces is 3.5 cups .. just want your feedback since ur the expert.
Elizabeth Marek says
Yes that is the correct amount. So sorry about the grams, I will fix it. Thanks for letting me know.
Samina says
The most amazing recipe have ever come across..thank you sugar geek...I still following your recipe of lemon cake.. amazing...
Rosa says
What is the difference between using all purpose flour and bread flour?
Elizabeth Marek says
Bread flour has more protein/gluten so you get a fluffier bread