Cinnabons Cinnamon Rolls – a cinnabon copycat recipe, about the closest you’ll get to the real thing. Super easy to make.
Who doesn’t love the cinnabons at the malls? Just walking by their stores and smelling these cinnabons baking, drives me up the walls. It’s very hard to keep on walking and not stop and spend $5 on a cinnabon.
Not to worry my friends! I have found the precious cinnabon recipe. I came across this book, More Top Secret Recipes: More Fabulous Kitchen Clones of America’s Favorite Brand-Name Foods
, and inside it I found the copycat recipe for cinnabons. This book is great, it has a lot of copycat recipes of popular food items and this recipe for cinnabons was one of them.
I have to admit I was a bit skeptical at first, but as I was making them they were looking like the real thing. I have to tell you, they are about as close to the real thing as you’re going to get.
CINNAMON ROLLS
The cinnamon rolls are out of this world, and they cost a whole lot less. They’re huge, and they taste exactly the same. I felt like I hit the jackpot.
Although they’re not as big as the ones you buy because I wanted to make a dozen with this recipe, so I cut each roll so that’ it’s 1 1/2 inch in height whereas the original ones are 2 1/2 inches.
As these cinnabons were baking, the house smelled amazing, just like it does at the mall when you walk by the cinnabon store. I was so excited. And of course, you cannot have cinnabons without the yummy cream cheese icing.
You will want to try these. I’m so glad I came across this book, I’ll definitely have to try some other recipes from there. I hope you try them and let me know if you liked them as much as I did. Oh and by the way, if you can’t eat them all in one day they last quite a while in the fridge, even 5 days later, just microwave them for 30 seconds and they taste like you just pulled them out of the oven.
I have made this recipe many times over the years and have used both butter and margarine. I believe Cinnabons are originally made with margarine, so if you want to have a true copycat recipe use margarine. Honestly they taste the same to me so it’s your choice, butter or margarine.
MAKE AHEAD CINNAMON ROLLS
These cinnamon rolls are great because they could be made ahead. Prepare everything as stated in the recipe up until step 10 where you place the rolls in the baking pan. Simply cover them up tightly with plastic wrap and store them in the fridge overnight.
The rolls should continue to rise in the fridge but if by morning they have not doubled in size, turn your oven on to 200 F degrees until it warms up, then turn it off. Place the pan in the oven for about 30 to 45 minutes until the rolls double in size. Then you can bake them as instructed.
CAN YOU FREEZE CINNAMON ROLLS
Absolutely! Prepare everything as stated in the recipe up until step 10 where you place the rolls in the baking pan. Wrap the pan in two layers of plastic wrap. Freeze for 8 hours up to 6 weeks. The night before you want to bake the rolls, thaw them out in the refrigerator, still wrapped. They will thaw overnight. Finish the rest of the steps to bake them.
CRAVING MORE CINNAMON ROLL RECIPES? TRY THESE
- Finnish Cardamom Rolls
- Strawberry Rolls with Cream Cheese Icing
- Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls
- Apple and Pecan Cinnamon Rolls
Cinnabons Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast or instant yeast
- 1 cup milk lukewarm
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup butter unsalted, softened, or margarine
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
Filling
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 3 tbsp cinnamon
- 1/3 cup butter unsalted, softened, or margarine
Cream cheese icing
- 6 tbsp butter unsalted, softened, or margarine
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar also known as icing sugar, or confectioner's sugar
- 1/4 cup cream cheese at room temperature
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp salt
Instructions
- For the rolls, dissolve the yeast in the warm milk with a tsp of sugar (you can take a tsp out of the 1/2 cup of sugar) in a large bowl. Let it sit for about 5 minutes. If the yeast is good, it will start to froth up.
- To the bowl of your mixer add the sugar, butter or margarine, salt, eggs, and flour and mix until well incorporated.
- Pour the milk/yeast mixture over the flour mixture and using the dough hook, mix well until well incorporated.
- Place the dough into an oiled bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
- Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.
- Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray or butter.
- Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface, until it is approximately 16 inches long by 12 inches wide. It should be approximately 1/4 inch in thickness.
- Spread the 1/3 cup of butter evenly over the dough, then sprinkle with the sugar evenly over the surface of the dough.
- Working carefully, from the long edge, roll the dough down to the bottom edge.
- Cut the dough into 1 1/2 inch slices, and place in a lightly greased baking pan. You can also use floss to cut into slices, as seen in the video. Place the cut rolls in the prepared pan. Cover with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let them rise for another 30 minutes, or until doubled in size.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Place the baking pan in the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cooking time can vary greatly!
- While the rolls are baking make the icing by mixing all the icing ingredients and beat well with an electric mixer until fluffy and smooth.
- When the rolls are done, spread generously with icing.
Video
Notes
- Prep time does not include time to let the dough rise.
- Always check the expiration date on your yeast and make sure it hasn't expired. All your yeast products whether it’s in a jar or a package should be stamped with a “Best if Used by” date. Always make sure you check this date, even when you purchase the yeast, who knows it could have been on the shelf past its expiry date.
- To keep your yeast fresh and longer lasting, unopened yeast packages or jars should be stored in a cool or dry place such as your cupboard. However, you can also store your yeast in the fridge or freezer. If you do store it in the freezer and need to use yeast for your baking, make sure you take out the amount you need and let it sit at room temperature for at least half hour before using.
- Once your yeast package or jar has been opened, you must refrigerate the yeast or freeze it in an airtight container.
- One thing to remember about your yeast, is that it is a living organism and over time it will lose activity, even if you’ve never opened the jar or package. So if you don’t bake often, buy the smaller yeast packages rather than a big jar of yeast.
- Make sure your milk is not too hot or it could kill the yeast which will cause your dough not to rise at all. The ideal temperature for the milk should be between 105 F degrees and 110 F for proofing. While 95 F degrees is the best temperature for yeast to multiply, that's not warm enough for proofing active dry yeast.
- If after dissolving the yeast in the warm milk, the yeast didn't start to froth up, do not continue with the rolls, your dough will not rise.
- TIP: To speed up the dough rising process, heat your oven to 200 F degrees. Turn off the oven and place your dough as specified in step 4 in the oven with the door closed. This will ensure a warm environment for your dough and the dough will rise fairly quickly, assuming the yeast was good.
- You could prepare this the day before up until step 10. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge overnight. The rolls should continue to rise in the fridge but if by morning they have not doubled in size, turn your oven on to 200 F degrees until it warms up, then turn it off. Place the pan in the oven for about 30 to 45 minutes until the rolls double in size. Then you can bake them as instructed.
- To freeze unbaked rolls, complete everything up to and including step 10, then wrap the pan in two layers of plastic wrap. Freeze for 8 hours up to 6 weeks. The night before you want to bake the rolls, thaw them out in the refrigerator, still wrapped. They will thaw overnight. Finish the rest of the steps to bake them.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
Nutrition
HOW TO MAKE NO KNEAD 1 HOUR CINNAMON ROLLS:
From the Jo Cooks recipe archive originally posted September 29, 2012.
If I don’t have a stand mixer, how long would I need to knead the dough before rolling out? Excited to try these!
Knead the dough until it’s nice and smooth and elastic!
Can these be made in a muffin tin?
Should I change the temperature or baking time? Thank you
You can reduce the baking time slightly to make sure they don’t overcook, and add 5 minutes at a time until they look perfect 🙂
These are so good! I have never made anything like this before that requires rising. These taste better than cinnabon!!! So delicious and easy!
It seems like the butter is way too much! I had huge difficulty cutting the scrolls and the butter cinnamon sugar mix made the whole thing very wet and hard to work with. In the oven a puddle of brown sugar started to deep out and burn the base before the scrolls even had a chance to cook
I have a feeling your butter was too soft. It should be spreadable but not melted. Cut them with floss like we did in the video! It makes the process a whole lot easier.
hello there I need to make half of this recipe which pan size should I use also please tell me if I shoul half the quantity of filling as well. Plz do reply. Regards
If you halve the recipe, halve all the ingredients. An 11×7 pan should be okay. Any baking dish that 6 rolls would fit in with room to rise.
Does is make a difference if you use salted butter instead of unsalted? Thanks!
The only difference is that your buns will come out a bit salty!
I’ve been making these for years and get so many compliments! They are amazing. I do have a question though. My recent batches have been somewhat dry. Ususlly we eat them the next day or so. Is there anything I can do to keep it moist? Again, I’ve had plenty of batches turn out perfectly but I’m not sure what’s happened lately. Thanks!
Cover the the pan super well with some plastic wrap until you plan on eating them, that should keep the moisture in.
Super easy and delicious recipe. My active yeast didn’t froth so I tried again with a new jar and it took 10 mins. Maybe it depends on the brand? I use Fleishmann’s.
These are the best Cinnamon rolls ever. Easy to make and delicious to eat and share
Soooooo I’ve made the recipe like 10 times and have only gotten the yeast to froth once. I’ve heated to 110, added the sugar and mix the yeast well. What in the world am I doing wrong? Have tried both instant and active. Also my kitchen is always cold so I warmed the oven and left it on so the stove would stay warm… Ideas..?
110F rather than Celsius, and only 1 tsp of sugar I’m assuming? If so, then that means your yeast is dead and you’ll have to get a new jar. We store ours in the freezer so that it’ll last longer! Leave it for a good 10 minutes in the warm water and sugar and it should froth up well.
Yep, I have also been making these for years and agree. If its’ not a fresh jar of yeast (within a couple months), it’s not active enough. Even if the yeast still makes regular bread no problem, it needs to be quite new to froth in the milk.
I always drip a couple drops on my wrist. If it hurts even a little bit, it’s too hot. If it’s nice and pleasantly hot, then it’s perfect. (I find 110°F on the high side). Our external body is in the 90s°, so slightly higher is what we want. I never add the yeast until it’s a pleasant warm temp. If it’s nice for me, it’s nice for the yeast.
I would also avoid leaving the oven on. My lowest temp for my oven is 170°. I open the door and let it drop down, just for a few minutes, before putting my dough/rolls in – then I shut the door to make sure the temp doesn’t drop any farther.