Who doesn’t love fresh from the oven Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting?! My family LOVES them and I’ve been making them for over 30 years. Soft, gooey cinnamon rolls are the perfect treat to bake for any occasion. Topped with cream cheese frosting, they rival any bakery rolls. Since they’re homemade, they take some planning, so allow about 3.5 hours from start to finish. There’s even an option to prep one day and bake the next. I have improved the recipe over time, but it’s still a family classic. Gooey cinnamon filling with a lightly sweet, tender dough get topped with cream cheese frosting while they’re still warm from the oven! Make these yummy cinnamon rolls for your your loved ones and they will absolutely go crazy for them. They will be requested for special breakfasts, brunches, and desserts. Sometimes I even add mini chocolate chips to the cinnamon filling for a chocolate chip cinnamon roll – Kevin’s favorite!
Don’t be intimidated by yeast doughs! They are very easy to work with, but you do need to plan ahead because the rising time is the time-consuming part. Including baking time, these beauties take about 3.5 hours start to finish. This recipe has an option to bake the rolls the next day. Just make sure the dough comes completely to room temperature before baking, otherwise you can end up with raw dough on the inside – not good or edible!
On mornings when I plan to bake these, I prepare them and refrigerate them the day or night before, then get up extra early to let the dough sit out and come to room temperature. I’m usually getting up at some point to use the bathroom anyway. Then I go back to bed!
Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting are worth the effort. These are a great treat to make and give as gifts. Use disposable square or round pans with clear plastic lids available at most grocery stores.
Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Cinnamon Roll Dough
- ⅓ cup warm water (between 110-115℉)
- 2½ teaspoons active dry yeast or quick rise yeast
- 1 cup milk
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup sugar or honey
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 4¼-5 cups all purpose flour
Cinnamon Filling
- 4-5 tablespoons softened butter
- 1¼ cups packed brown sugar
- 2½ tablespoons ground cinnamon
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 tablespoons butter, softened
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons milk, as needed
Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Rolls
- ½ cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
Cinnamon Roll Dough
- Add warm water to small bowl. Add yeast and mix together with a small whisk. Cover and let get foamy, about 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, add milk to small saucepan and heat just until it bubbles around the edges.
- Remove from heat and add butter, salt, sugar or honey and whisk to melt.
- Pour mixture into large bowl and let cool to room temperature.
- Once cooled, add beaten eggs, yeast mixture, and 4 cups of the flour.
- Use wooden spoon or dough hook to blend.
- Add a handful of remaining flour to work surface. Turn out dough onto flour and knead in additional flour a quarter cup at a time until dough is no longer sticky.
- To knead dough, gather into a ball, then with the heel of your hand, push dough away from you. Gather edge farthest away from you and fold it over toward you. Repeat the process, turning dough as you go until ti it no longer sticky and very pliable.
- Gather dough into ball and add to buttered bowl at least double the size of the dough. Butter surface of the dough.
- Cover and let rise until doubled, about an hour.
- After dough has doubled, turn out onto floured surface and shape into a rectangle.
- Use a rolling in to create a rectangle about 20"x16".
Cinnamon Filling
- Spread surface of dough rectangle with softened butter.
- Mix brown sugar and cinnamon together in small bowl. Sprinkle over buttered surface of the dough leaving about a half inch space on wide edge farthest from you.
- Press gently but firmly on brown sugar/cinnamon mixture to help adhere to dough.
- Tightly roll dough away from you evenly all the way across. Once completely rolled, moisten fingers with water to help seal the far edge.
- Find and mark the center of the dough with a bench scraper or knife, then mark in 12 equal sections before cutting into pieces. Or you can use a piece of unflavored dental floss to cut pieces apart.
- Place cut pieces in a buttered 9×13 metal pan or two deep pie plates.
- Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about an hour.
- At this point, you can refrigerate and bake the next day. Follow instructions below for Baking the Next Day.
To Bake
- Heat oven to 350℉. Remove lid from risen rolls. Bake room temperature cinnamon rolls for about 25 minutes or until light golden brown. If needed, gently place sheet of aluminum foil over top of rolls without sealing to prevent from browning too quickly. To check for doneness, use knife to push rolls apart and check the inner most roll where it meets another cinnamon roll of near the bottom portion of the pan. It should be baked through. Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting.
Baking the Next Day
- Remove rolls from refrigerator at least 2 hours in advance of baking. This will allow rolls to come to complete room temperature for best baking results. Continue to the To Bake section above.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- In large bowl, beat butter, cream cheese, and powdered sugar. Add vanilla, and milk, if needed, to create smooth frosting.
Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Rolls
- For chocolate chip cinnamon rolls, sprinkle mini semi sweet chocolate chips over brown sugar/cinnamon mixture on dough before rolling. Proceed as above.
