These easy cinnamon rolls from scratch are perfect for yeast beginners because they only require 1 rise. Each cinnamon roll is extra soft with the most delicious cinnamon swirl! The rolls freeze beautifully, so this is a great make-ahead recipe, especially for planning ahead for holidays or the next time you need a special breakfast. Choose from a few easy icing flavors to top the warm & gooey rolls.
This recipe is brought to you in partnership with Red Star Yeast.
This easy cinnamon roll recipe is one of the most popular recipes on my website, for good reason.
These are classic, homestyle cinnamon rolls. It took me lots of recipe testing trial-and-error to develop quick cinnamon rolls that maintain all the flavor and texture of traditional overnight cinnamon rolls. But THIS. IS. IT. And I promise, making these easy cinnamon rolls is 100x more satisfying than that feeling you get from popping open a store-bought can of ready-to-bake rolls.
Here’s Why You’ll Love These Easy Cinnamon Rolls
- All the deliciousness of traditional homemade cinnamon rolls, but in half the time
- Soft and fluffy
- Gooey cinnamon sugar swirl
- Only 1 rise time
- Easy enough for yeast beginners
- Great make-ahead, freezer-friendly recipe—making it an excellent addition to your menu of Easter brunch recipes!
Lately, I’ve had even more success with the dough when I let the yeast dissolve in the warm milk/butter mixture, instead of whisking it into the dry ingredients. The rolls turn out even fluffier and softer, and I know you’ll appreciate that, too! The recipe below includes this small change.
Here’s what some readers are saying about this recipe:
Reader Kristine says: “This recipe is perfect in every way. It is simple to execute and requires a very reasonable amount of time. … The best part for me, however, is that they tasted just like my grandmother’s cinnamon rolls. I have her recipe but it requires hours and hours and I rarely have that kind of time. Tasting these warm from the oven brought back a flood of happy memories and made me feel like I was right back in her kitchen. ★★★★★“
Reader Lana says: “I admit, I was very skeptical about my cinnamon rolls rising in 90 minutes. And I was nervous about making cinnamon rolls because I didn’t think that I could make anything close to what my grandma used to make. But I’ve made other recipes from your site and have been successful so I gave it a try. Let me say, the cinnamon rolls are amazing! And easy! ★★★★★“
Just like grandma used to make! Is there a better compliment than that? I doubt it.
Yeast Beginners Rejoice: Only 1 Rise!
Do you love homemade cinnamon rolls, but are nervous to bake with yeast? You’re not alone! But if you’re curious about learning how to bake with yeast, this recipe is a perfect one to start with. No yeast cinnamon rolls are quick and tasty, but the Fluffiness Factor (I should trademark that) is simply unparalleled when it comes to yeast rolls vs. no-yeast rolls.
Unlike these homemade overnight cinnamon rolls that require hours of rise time, plus a 2nd rise after the rolls are shaped, this easy cinnamon rolls recipe requires only 1 rise, for just 60–90 minutes. And, honestly, they’re every bit as delicious. Bakery-style perfection for beginners!
Are You a Yeast Beginner?
This Baking with Yeast Guide is a wonderful starting point for yeast beginners. I answer many common yeast FAQs in easy-to-understand explanations, so you can learn about the basics before beginning.
Key Ingredients to Use for the Dough
Here’s my #1 tip: I recommend using a strong and dependable yeast. Platinum Yeast from Red Star is a premium instant yeast, which cuts down on rise time. Its careful formula contains natural dough strengtheners and makes working with yeast simple. And simple is always good, right? See recipe Note if using active dry yeast instead.
Here’s the rest of the lineup of ingredients for this rich dough:
- Flour: Flour provides the dough structure. All-purpose flour is best for these cinnamon rolls. You could also use bread flour—the rolls will be chewier.
- Sugar: You need white granulated sugar in the dough, both for flavor and to feed the yeast.
- Salt: Flavor.
- Whole milk: Whole milk is ideal for the richest-tasting cinnamon rolls. Buttermilk works just as well without any changes to the recipe. Many readers have successfully substituted nondairy milks. In a pinch, you can use low-fat milk, but avoid using nonfat milk.
- Butter: This is a rich dough, meaning it has fat to help guarantee softness.
- Egg: Like butter, egg promises a softer, richer dough.
These Step-by-Step Photos Will Help
The first step is to mix your dry ingredients together in a big bowl and this includes the flour, sugar, and salt. After that, warm the milk and butter together, and then whisk in the yeast until it has dissolved. Then you know it can start working its magic in your dough!
Pour this mixture over the dry ingredients, add the egg and then mix everything together. You do not need a stand mixer for this recipe, though you could certainly use one if desired.
Transfer dough to your work surface (below, left), and then knead by hand for 3 minutes until a soft dough forms (below, right). If you’re new to yeasted doughs, my how to knead dough post and video can help with this step.
Let the dough rest for 10 minutes as you prepare the filling—this gives the dough’s gluten a chance to settle and relax, which will make rolling out much easier.
3 Ingredient Filling
- Butter: Use super-soft butter for the filling—not too hard, not too melty. If the butter is too hard, it won’t be easy to spread it evenly over the soft dough. If it’s too melty, it will seep into the dough, and we don’t want that either. Butter that’s had time to soften to room temperature should be just right. If you forgot to get it out of the fridge earlier, here’s my trick for how to soften butter quickly.
- Brown Sugar: Using brown sugar in the filling gives these cinnamon rolls an extra-delicious depth of flavor.
- Cinnamon: You can’t have cinnamon rolls without it!
Roll out the dough and then top with softened butter and the brown sugar & cinnamon mixture.
Many readers have asked about using different fillings. Try using this raspberry cake filling instead—it’s delicious! Or if you love lemons, these lemon sweet rolls use this same dough.
Roll up the dough and then use your sharpest knife to cut into 10-12 rolls.
Why Are My Cinnamon Rolls Not Fluffy?
There are a lot of variables that go into the consistency of dough, even down to the weather and humidity. But the most common reason cinnamon rolls don’t turn out fluffy is because the dough didn’t have enough time to rise. In this particular recipe, with only 1 rise, it’s imperative the shaped rolls double in size in step 5 below. See the next photo? You want a pan of puffy-looking rolls even before baking.
Additionally, be sure to add only as much flour as you need to make a workable dough. This is a soft and tacky dough and it’s not supposed to be tough and hard. Too much flour will give you stiff, dense, dry cinnamon rolls.
Arrange your rolls in a lightly greased 9-inch or 10-inch pan. I appreciate that this recipe makes a slightly smaller batch than most other cinnamon roll recipes.
Here are the rolls before and after rising. This is the only rise! They’re ready to bake after they have nearly doubled in size.
Why Do My Cinnamon Rolls Rise Unevenly When Baking?
Sometimes the centers of the cinnamon rolls can pop up whack-a-mole-style while baking. This is caused by either rolling them too tight, or if the pan is too small/crowded. It’s happened to me many times before. But this is really easy to fix! Pull the pan out of the oven and use the back of a spoon to gently press the overly risen parts back down.
You Have Options for the Icing
I use the same luscious cream cheese icing here that I use for raspberry sweet rolls. It takes just a couple quick minutes to make, and you only need cream cheese, a little butter, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla extract. For something even easier, try a vanilla (or even coffee) icing like we use on coffee cake. Simply whisk confectioners’ sugar, vanilla extract, and a little milk or strong coffee together until smooth. The video tutorial in the recipe below shows both icing options.
Spread or drizzle your icing on the warm rolls before serving—both icings seep right into every gooey swirl! The finished rolls pictured above have cream cheese icing, and here is the vanilla icing batch:
These easy cinnamon rolls from scratch are completely irresistible and they take half the time. If you’re looking for that perfect cinnamon roll recipe that doesn’t require 4+ hours, this is the winner.
Success Tips for Making the Best Cinnamon Rolls
- Don’t add more flour than you need. You can add a little more flour to bring the dough into a knead-able consistency, but adding too much will give you dense, dry rolls.
- Don’t kill the yeast. If your butter/milk mixture is too hot, it will kill the yeast and you won’t really notice until you’re far into the recipe… when the rolls won’t rise! Keep the temperature warm to the touch, around 100–110°F (38–43°C). An instant read thermometer is a handy tool for this baking recipe and many others.
- Use your sharpest knife to cut the rolls, so they don’t squish down.
- Use the correct size pan. This recipe makes 10–12 rolls, which fit in a 9- or 10-inch pan. If the pan is too small, they’ll be overcrowded. You can use a 9- or 10-inch pie dish, round cake pan, or square baking pan. If you want larger rolls, check out this recipe for jumbo cinnamon rolls!
- Let the rolls rise in a warm, draft-free environment. Here’s my favorite trick: Preheat your oven to 150°F (66°C), then turn it off. Cover the shaped rolls with aluminum foil and place the pan inside the warm oven. Leave the oven door cracked open for about 30 minutes, then close it and let them finish rising (another 30–60 minutes) in the oven with the door closed. Just don’t forget to take them out of the oven before you preheat it to bake them!
Easy Cinnamon Rolls (from scratch)
- Prep Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours, 5 minutes
- Yield: 10-12 rolls
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These easy cinnamon rolls are perfect for yeast beginners because they only require 1 rise. You have a few options for toppings. The recipe below includes a simple cream cheese icing, but we also love these with the coffee icing or vanilla icing that’s included in the recipe Notes below.
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 and 3/4 cups (344g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (180ml) whole milk
- 3 Tablespoons (43g) unsalted butter
- 2 and 1/4 teaspoons Platinum Yeast from Red Star or any instant yeast (1 standard packet)
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
Filling
- 3 Tablespoons (43g) unsalted butter, extra softened
- 1/3 cup (67g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
Cream Cheese Icing
- 4 ounces (113g) full-fat block cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2/3 cup (80g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Make the dough: Whisk the flour, sugar, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Combine the milk and butter together in a heatproof bowl. Microwave or use the stove and heat until the butter has melted and the mixture is warm to the touch (about 110°F/43°C, no higher). Whisk in the yeast until it has dissolved. Pour mixture into the dry ingredients, add the egg, and stir with a sturdy rubber spatula or wooden spoon OR use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment on medium speed. Mix until a soft dough forms.
- Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface. Using floured hands, knead the dough for 3-5 minutes. You should have a smooth ball of dough. If the dough is super soft or sticky, you can add a little more flour. Place in a lightly greased bowl (I use non-stick spray), cover loosely, and let the dough rest for about 10 minutes as you get the filling ingredients ready.
- Fill the rolls: After 10 minutes, roll the dough out in a 14×8-inch (36×20-cm) rectangle. Spread the softened butter on top. Mix together the cinnamon and brown sugar. Sprinkle it all over the dough. Roll up the dough to make a 14-inch log. Cut into 10–12 even rolls and arrange in a lightly greased 9- or 10-inch round cake pan, pie dish, or square baking pan.
- Rise: Cover the pan with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Allow the rolls to rise in a relatively warm environment for 60–90 minutes or until double in size. (For a tiny reduction in rise time, see my answer to Where Should Dough Rise? in my Baking with Yeast Guide.)
- Bake the rolls: After the rolls have doubled in size, preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Bake for 24–27 minutes, or until lightly browned. If you notice the tops are getting too brown too quickly, loosely tent the pan with aluminum foil and continue baking. If you want to be precise about their doneness, their internal temperature taken with an instant read thermometer should be around 195–200°F (91–93°C) when done. Remove pan from the oven and place pan on a wire rack as you make the icing. (You can also make the icing as the rolls bake.)
- Make the icing: In a medium bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese on high speed until smooth and creamy. Add the butter and beat until smooth and combined, then beat in the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla until combined. Using a knife or icing spatula, spread the icing over the warm rolls and serve immediately.
- Cover leftover frosted or unfrosted rolls tightly and store at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: This dough can be made the night before through step 4. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in the refrigerator overnight. The next morning, remove from the refrigerator and allow to rise in a warm environment, about 1 hour. Continue with step 6.
- Freezing Instructions: Baked rolls can be frozen up to 2–3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and warm up before enjoying. You can also freeze the unbaked rolls and here’s how: bake the rolls in step 6 for only about 10 minutes at 375°F (190°C). Cool completely, then cover tightly and freeze. To serve, take the pan of rolls out of the freezer and put into the refrigerator a few hours before serving. Then, finish baking them for the remaining 15–18 minutes.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Stand Mixer or Glass Mixing Bowl with Silicone Spatula/Wooden Spoon | Rolling Pin | 9- inch Round Cake Pan, 9-inch Pie Dish, or 9-inch Square Baking Pan | Instant Read Thermometer | Cooling Rack | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) for icing | Icing Spatula
- Yeast: I highly recommend instant yeast. If you only have active dry yeast, you can use that instead. Active dry and instant yeast can be used interchangeably in recipes (1:1). Active dry yeast has a moderate rate of rising and instant dry yeast has a faster rate of rising; active dry yeast will take longer to raise the dough.
- Milk: This recipe used to call for 1/2 cup (120ml) milk and 1/4 cup (60ml) water. The rolls taste much richer using all milk, and that is what I recommend. Whole milk or even buttermilk are ideal for this dough. If needed, you can substitute 3/4 cup (180ml) lower-fat or nondairy milk.
- Coffee Icing (or Vanilla Icing): Whisk 1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar, 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, and 2–3 Tablespoons (30–45ml) strong brewed coffee together until smooth. Or swap milk for coffee for regular vanilla icing. Drizzle over warm rolls.
- Reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
Keywords: easy cinnamon rolls from scratch
Can I make these the morning before I want to bake them or is that too much time between?
Hi Chris, they should rise in the refrigerator for 10-12 hours max.
oh my goodness, these were perfect!! my fiancée devoured dang near the whole pan!
would love to know if anyone has tried making the dough then freezing for later use???
★★★★★
SO GOOD – best I’ve ever been able to make
★★★★★
I haven’t tasted them yet, but they are spilling out of the pan! Lol they look great though some are not browned yet and if I leave them in longer they will definitely burn. Where did I go wrong?
★★★★
Hi Karina, feel free to tent the pan with aluminum foil—this will allow you to continue baking the rolls through without over-browning the edges. Hope you enjoyed them!
This was my first time baking homemade cinnamon rolls. They were a hit with my family. Thank you for all of your delicious recipes.
★★★★★
This is an excellent single-rise cinnamon roll recipe, probably the best out there, but you will really benefit from already knowing the general techniques of scratch-baking. Baking in general (especially yeast breads) is more sensitive than cooking. Those who report failure with this recipe must not have much experience with scratch-baking in general. The wrong flours, overmixing, too-hot milk or melted butter, incorrect kneading (too much or too little), insufficient rise or poor rise environment, sloppy dough handling, and not monitoring the baking process could all result in a dense, tough, dry, un-fluffy outcome. Here are some extra tips that bakers use:
– Make sure your very warm mixture of milk/butter in this case, is the temperature of a very warm (but not hot) bath before dissolving the yeast in it. You can also mix 1/2 cup of flour into the yeast/milk/butter mix to really get it started.
– Understand the difference between flours. All-purpose is a good choice for beginners. If you want these rolls a bit softer, substitute maybe 1/2 to 3/4 cup with lower-gluten cake flour. If you want them more “bready”, substitute maybe 3/4 to 1 cup with higher-gluten bread flour. Using all cake flour or all bread flour will result in non-breadlike/cakey or very-chewy cinnamon rolls, respectively. Don’t expect good results from gluten-free, almond, or rice flours, or incorporating too much whole-wheat flour. You need the smooth gluten of plain wheat flours.
– Many bakers will mix perhaps 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of dry ginger powder into the dry ingredients at the beginning of a yeasted recipe. You will never taste it, but it gives the yeast a little boost so that it becomes more active, quicker. Try it! This quantity does not alter the flavor at all.
– Blending the ingredients in the bowl, at first, should be “rough and shaggy”. Forget your Kitchenaid with its dough-hook: once you can gather the shaggy dough together, dump it out on a countertop and knead it, no more than 4-5 miniutes into a smooth elastic ball. Let most of your mixing occur during that kneading. Overkneading a dough is the sure way to get too-dense results; underkneading it, however, will fail to give breads structure, and they could potentially collapse in the oven. Knead time DOES matter with yeast projects!
– Roll, cut, arrange in the pan, and cover for the rise. Covering is important to prevent drying-out. Rising time is not an exact science, as it completely depends on temperature and your yeast. You can rise them in a cold pan and kitchen but you will need 2 hours for that rise, maybe even more (and the bready flavor might be a little richer with a slower rise). You could even rise these in the fridge for several hours. Mine rose the right amount in about 1 hour in a very warm part of the house. They should look puffy, “bloated”, and about doubled in size before baking.
– There is also such a thing as “rising too long” AKA overproofing. The best way to avoid this is keep an eye on them. Once they are about doubled in size, it’s time. Wait too long, and they won’t bake-up right.
– Some bakers use a “hot start” which involves setting the oven about 50-75 degrees hotter than the recipe calls for, for the first 5-10 minutes only (watch it!) and then reducing the heat to the proper temperature after that. In my case, this gave my rolls a bit more “oven spring” and they really came out fluffy!
– Baking time, again, is not an exact science. These come out of the oven once they are browned (and yes, a bit hard and dry) on the tops — but trust me, the texture inside the rolls will be completely different: fluffy and pillowy like dinner rolls, not dry like the tops are. And once you take the rolls out, spread the icing across them within the first 5 minutes, and the fat in the icing will help “lock-in” the moisture. These will have a thin, harder “crust” on top under the icing, but once you rip into them, they are super-soft.
In summary: good results with baking takes practice. There isn’t a darn thing wrong with this recipe! If you tried it and didn’t get good results — try again. Remember: yeast is alive, your dough is alive, and the kind of cinnamon rolls it “grow ups” to become, totally depends on how you handle and treat it before baking.
★★★★★
Your time and comments are so appreciated. I am printing them out to attach to the recipe. What a gem you are to put up these tips.
First time making cinnamon rolls and my family loved them !! They turned out great. I made them overnight and then baked them the next day. Made the house smell of delicious goodness. I’ll be making some more today. Thanks for a great beginner recipe
★★★★
Good tasting recipe, but they turned out super dry.i measured everything perfectly but the batter before baking was super dry and shaggy. Do you know why this happened to me?
Hi Abigail, Yeasted breads will dry out quickly if over-baked. Also make sure to properly measure your flour (don’t scoop). Too much flour in the dough can lead to dry rolls as well.
I’ve made hundreds of doughs over the years. I’ve perfected many recipes using dough. In fact, I just made 2 loaves of bread yesterday. For whatever reason, I could NOT get this dough to rise! And I tossed the first dough batch and did a second one! Nothing! It’s so weird. I used exactly the same ingredients and yeast I did as my dough from my beautiful loaves of bread yesterday. It just did not want to rise for me. Total waste of time and ingredients. Really disappointing.
I live in wy, i had to add at leasr one more cup of flour, said recipe was runny without. Used 2 more bonus steps thats grandma taught me and they were great.
★★★★
Made this a bunch of times, it’s always loved by whoever I make it for. One question though. I have to make 3 dozen on Saturday. But won’t have time to prepare and let them rise in that day. Is it possible to do all of the preparation up to baking the night before and put the uncooked buns in the fridge overnight and bake the next day? Would I still warm the milk as usual? If you can provide me some advice on what I can I I’d greatly appreciate it. Thank you for the amazing recipe.
★★★★★
Hi Brandon! See recipe Notes for overnight instructions 🙂
Oops missed that, thank you.
I followed the recipe to a T. The only thing I did different was use unbleached flour, as that’s what I had on hand. When I gave them time to rise then got big and fluffy, then when I pulled them out of the oven they were hard and dense. What did I do wrong?
Hi T, did they collapse when baked? This usually indicates over-proofing. Give them less time to rise next time, or let them rise in a cooler spot.
Two days ago… These are my first cinnamon rolls. I always heard they took a long time and were tricky to get right. These were easy and reasonable on time. AND… they came out amazingly! My daughter and I added a lil extra filling, but all else according to recipe. WOW! The first TWO batches are gone and I’m making another today. Only wish we had a potluck at church this weekend to share these! Thank you.
This recipe was amazing. So simple but soo delicious. I would literally go as far as to say it’s a cinnabon copy cat. The *only* thing I felt it needed different was a little more salt to balance it out. I actually sprinkled the tiniest amount on a roll I was eating and it made all the difference. The dough is fluffy and delicious.
★★★★★
Made these a couple weeks ago for dinner (don’t judge). They were delicious and reheated well! We used the vanilla icing since we’re not big cream cheese fans and thought it was perfect.
★★★★★
I agree with Naomi. It was not soft nor fluffy. It was like a bakery donut style cinnamon roll. I like mine super soft. They were ok, but nothing to write home about.
I have never made cinnamon rolls from scratch. Not only was this recipe easy but they may be the best cinnamon rolls I have ever had.
★★★★★
I made these this morning and they turned out very well. The dough was fluffy and cinnamon just enough. Great suggestion about tenting if they brown too quickly. This worked well. Also appreciated the thermometer test temperature. Added chopped pecans to mine as love nuts.
Is there a suggestion to make them a bit gooier?
★★★★★
These are easy, and delicious. The second time I made them, I did about 1.5x the filling and icing. I also added orange extract instead of vanilla extract to the icing, and it was a HUGE hit with the family
★★★★★
I followed the recipe exactly as written. It turned out great! I’ll definitely make it again.
★★★★★
I tried this today unfortunately wont be doing it again. Very cakey
Cake-iness would only come from insufficient kneading or using low-gluten flour
This recipe is the bomb.com. We have cinnamon rolls every Sunday morning-and these are our new go-to! Thank you for sharing it!
Buns in the oven … it’s very hot and humid here so even with additional flour my mixture was super sticky! Rose nicely – fingers crossed they come out okay.
I was looking for a cinnamon roll recipe and I found this recipe. I followed the instructions and it turned out great. Thank you very much
★★★★★
Sooo good. I used dairy free alternatives and they still turned out soo fluffy and delicious!
★★★★★
I watched your video and they looked so amazing I followed the instructions but mine Berber roses what did info wrong
Hi Jen, we’re happy to help troubleshoot. Was your yeast fresh, and/or was the milk/butter mixture in step 2 too hot? If it’s too hot, it can kill the yeast and prevent it from working properly. Be sure to also not over knead the dough, which can cause the rolls to become tough and dense. Our Baking with Yeast Guide may also be a helpful resource to review. Thank you for giving these a try!
So good! I added heavy cream in between the buns before baking and they turned out super moist, will definitely be making these again, everyone loved them !!
★★★★★
Very good. Got a kitchenaid mixer and was itching to use it. I mixed the filling butter sugar and cinnamon together and then smeared it on. That keeps the butter from melting into the rolls I think.Think next time will increase the amount and add raises.
My cinnamon rolls got hard after they cooled. What happened
Hi Pauline, it sounds like the rolls were over baked just a bit. You can try reducing the bake time by a few minutes for next time. Thank you for giving these a try!
This was my first time making cinnamon rolls… and my first time ever making anything I had to knead. For some reason, kneading intimidates me! But oh my goodness, these turned out DELICIOUS! And they were so so easy to make. I didn’t have whole milk on hand, but using 2% turned out just fine. I think I will increased the brown sugar/cinnamon mixture next time, probably 1.5 times the brown sugar and 2 times the cinnamon. As usual, Sally did not disappoint with this recipe!
★★★★★