This recipe yields a pan of buttery soft, gooey cinnamon sweet, and extra fluffy homemade cinnamon rolls topped with tangy cream cheese icing. It’s been a reader favorite recipe for years and I love it so much that I turned this rich dough into apple cinnamon rolls, pecan sticky buns, maple cinnamon rolls, and even a cinnamon roll wreath. You can make the cinnamon rolls within a few hours or get started the night before using the overnight preparation option.
This recipe is brought to you in partnership with Red Star Yeast.
This cinnamon rolls recipe has lived on the site since 2014. After making countless more batches since I published the recipe plus answering readers’ comments and questions, I thought it would be beneficial to update the post with more helpful information and success tips. Homemade cinnamon rolls are a popular breakfast choice, so I want to make sure you have all the resources you need for this classic recipe.
By the way, if you love this dough, be sure to try it as raspberry sweet rolls or strawberry sweet rolls with lemon glaze next. Or for a sprinkle loaded treat, my birthday cake cinnamon rolls use the same dough, too!
Tell Me About These Homemade Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
- Texture: This is one of my richest homemade doughs, so you’re already promised a soft, springy, and fluffy texture. I usually use all-purpose flour, but if you use the optional bread flour, your rolls will be a little chewier. I find that these homemade cinnamon rolls are even fluffier than my easy 1 rise cinnamon rolls (and that’s because there’s the additional rise here!).
- Flavor: The smell of warm cinnamon rolls is oh-so-irresistible and inviting. Once you take that first bite, you’ll enjoy a fresh homemade dough that’s swirled with endless pockets of (Cinnabon style!) sweet and gooey cinnamon.
- Ease: Homemade dough and shaped breads require more precision and effort than making say, a coffee cake. But the dough is pretty straightforward and simple to shape, as long as you have enough flour nearby for your hands, work surface, and rolling pin.
- Time: This dough requires 2 rises. Once you understand the assembly process, the prep moves pretty quickly. Set aside at least 4-5 hours from start to finish or divide between 2 days with the overnight option. Whichever method you choose, keep in mind most of that time is hands off as the dough rises.
If you are craving cinnamon rolls right now, and just can’t wait for dough to rise, try these no yeast cinnamon rolls!
What Readers are Saying:
“I HAD to come and leave this rave review. I just baked and iced these cinnamon rolls ay 9:05 am. It’s now 10:55 am in a household of only 3 people only two are left. This recipe is the best I’ve ever tried. ★★★★★” – Chelsea
“Delicious and easy to follow! This was my first time cooking with yeast and my first time making homemade cinnamon rolls and this was a great recipe to start with. Everyone at brunch was blown away. ★★★★★” – Hannah
“Delicious! I have tried many cinnamon roll recipes, and this is my new favorite. I prefer a roll that is large, more fluffy than dense/gooey, and buttery without being overly sweet. This fit the bill! ★★★★★” – Brice
Are You a Yeast Beginner?
This Baking with Yeast Guide is a wonderful starting point for beginners. I answer many common yeast FAQs in easy-to-understand explanations, so you can learn the basics before beginning.
7 Crucial Ingredients in These Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
Feel free to skip straight to the recipe. But if you’re new to making bread, the following explanations are points that I’ve learned over the years and will be massively helpful.
- 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 2% or 1% milk, but do not use nonfat milk.
- Sugar: You need 2/3 cup of white granulated sugar in the dough. Use 2 Tablespoons in step 1 below (the proofing step), then add the rest in step 2.
- Yeast: You can use active dry or instant yeast. Follow the directions exactly as written regardless of which you choose. You’ll still proof the yeast in warm milk with some sugar even if you use instant yeast. This step ensures that the yeast is active and not expired. Most yeast these days is already active, but it’s a quick 5-10 minute step that prevents you from wasting your time just in case the yeast has expired. If using active dry yeast, the rise times will be a little longer. For the past 10+ years, my go-to brand has been Red Star Yeast. I always recommend Platinum Yeast from Red Star.
- Butter: This is a rich dough, meaning it has fat to help guarantee softness. Use 1/2 cup of softened butter and to help it blend easier, cut it into 4 pieces before adding.
- Eggs: Like butter, eggs promise a softer, richer dough.
- Salt: Dough is bland without salt.
- Flour: Flour is the structure of the dough. You can use either all-purpose flour or bread flour. You’ll notice the rolls are a little chewier if you use bread flour. It’s not a huge difference, so don’t worry if you only have all-purpose flour. (That’s what I usually use!)
Note: You’ll notice that I use more yeast in this recipe compared to my easy cinnamon rolls. Why? These are much fluffier and larger—about twice the size.
Step-by-Step Photos
Here’s what you’re looking for after you let the warm milk, some of the sugar, and yeast sit for about 5-10 minutes. The top will be a little foamy:
After the dough comes together, it will be a little soft and sticky—that’s normal. As explained in step 3 below, knead the dough on a floured counter or keep it in the mixer for kneading. If you’d like a visual of how to knead the dough by hand, you can watch the full video tutorial in my post on how to knead dough.
What If I Don’t Have a Stand Mixer? If you do not own a mixer, you can mix the dough together with a large wooden spoon/silicone spatula. It will take a bit of arm muscle. A hand mixer works, but the sticky dough repeatedly gets stuck in the beaters. Mixing by hand with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula is a better choice.
Let the dough rise until doubled in size:
Punch the risen dough down and roll it out.
Baker’s Tip: If the dough keeps shrinking as you roll it out, stop what you’re doing, cover it lightly, and let it rest for 10 minutes to relax the gluten. When you return to the dough, it should stretch out much easier.
Spread softened butter on top, then sprinkle on a mixture of cinnamon and sugar (brown sugar or white granulated sugar).
Roll it up:
Use a very sharp knife to cut the roll into 12 rolls, each about 1.5 inches. Arrange in your greased baking pan, cover, then let the rolls rise until doubled in size and puffy, usually about 1 hour. The left photo is before rising and the right photo is after rising:
Bake the rolls and then make the tangy cream cheese icing to smother on top. If cream cheese isn’t your favorite, you could top the rolls with vanilla icing, the brown sugar icing from these pumpkin donuts, maple icing from maple cinnamon rolls, or even the caramel icing from apple cinnamon rolls. Lots of options!
5 Success Tips
- Use brown sugar or granulated sugar in the filling: I used to use granulated sugar in the cinnamon sugar filling, but recently switched to brown sugar for extra flavor. Brown sugar doesn’t necessarily make the filling more moist—there’s so much butter, so it’s moist and gooey either way. Use whichever sugar you prefer.
- Best pan to use: I recommend a 9×13-inch glass pan or metal pan. Avoid ceramic pans. If you must use ceramic, keep in mind that the rolls will likely take longer to bake through.
- Evenly baked cinnamon rolls: These are extra big and fluffy cinnamon rolls, so to help guarantee the centers AND tops cook evenly, tent a piece of aluminum foil over the rolls after about 15 minutes in the oven. This will protect the tops from browning too quickly before the centers can cook.
- Don’t have all morning to spend on this dough? Feel free to prep the dough the night before. This is a wonderful way to save time in the morning so you can wake up and eat sooner. See my make-ahead/overnight instructions in the written recipe below.
How to Freeze Homemade Cinnamon Rolls So They Still Taste Fresh
Let me share a tip I’ve learned after working with this dough for several years. You can prep the rolls and freeze them ahead of time so they still taste fresh.
- Here’s how: Bake the rolls in step 9 for only about 10 minutes. Cool completely, then cover and freeze. To serve, take the rolls out of the freezer and place in the refrigerator overnight to thaw. Once thawed, finish baking them for about 15-20 minutes.
I often use this method when I gift cinnamon rolls to others—just copy/paste or write these freezing instructions down. This method is also helpful if you have company over, want to cut down on time, or are entertaining. I like to make these cinnamon rolls ahead when I’m hosting holidays like Easter. See more Easter brunch recipes, like savory quiche and frittata, to complete your menu.
PrintHomemade Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
- Prep Time: 3 hours, 30 minutes (includes rises)
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours (or overnight)
- Yield: 12 rolls
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This recipe yields a pan of buttery soft, gooey cinnamon sweet, and extra fluffy homemade cinnamon rolls topped with tangy cream cheese icing. You can make the cinnamon rolls within a few hours or get started the night before using the overnight preparation option.
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 cup (240ml) whole milk, warmed to about 100°F (38°C)
- 2/3 cup (135g) granulated sugar, divided
- 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons (14g) active dry or instant yeast (2 standard size packets)*
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature and cut into 4 pieces
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 and 1/2 cups (563g) all-purpose flour or bread flour (spooned & leveled), plus more as needed
- 2 teaspoons canola, vegetable, or olive oil for bowl (or use nonstick spray)
Filling
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2/3 cup (135g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
Cream Cheese Icing
- 4 ounces (113g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 Tablespoon (15ml) heavy cream or milk
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Prepare the dough: Whisk the warm milk, 2 Tablespoons sugar, and the yeast together in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook or paddle attachment. Cover and allow mixture to sit for about 5 minutes or until foamy on top. *If you do not own a mixer, you can do this in a large mixing bowl and in the next step, mix the dough together with a large wooden spoon/silicone spatula. It will take a bit of arm muscle. A hand mixer works, but the sticky dough repeatedly gets stuck in the beaters. Mixing by hand with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula is a better choice.*
- On medium speed, beat in the remaining sugar (which should be 1/2 cup/100g) and the softened butter until it is slightly broken up. Add the eggs and salt and beat on medium speed until combined. The butter won’t really be mixing into the mixture, so don’t be alarmed if it stays in pieces. Switch the mixer down to low speed and with it running, add 1 cup of flour at a time, making sure it’s fully incorporated before adding the next. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. After 4 cups have been added, add the last 1/2 cup and beat until the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 3 minutes. Dough will be soft.
- Knead the dough: Keep the dough in the mixer (and switch to the dough hook if you used the paddle) and beat for an additional 5 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5 full minutes. (If you’re new to bread-baking, my How to Knead Dough video tutorial can help here.) If the dough becomes too sticky during the kneading process, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of flour at a time on the dough or on the work surface/in the bowl to make a soft, slightly tacky dough. Do not add more flour than you need because you do not want a dry dough. After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft. Poke it with your finger—if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. You can also do a “windowpane test” to see if your dough has been kneaded long enough: tear off a small (roughly golfball-size) piece of dough and gently stretch it out until it’s thin enough for light to pass through it. Hold it up to a window or light. Does light pass through the stretched dough without the dough tearing first? If so, your dough has been kneaded long enough and is ready to rise. If not, keep kneading until it passes the windowpane test.
- 1st Rise: Lightly grease a large bowl with oil or use nonstick spray. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat all sides in the oil. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rise in a relatively warm environment for 2 hours or until double in size. (I always let it rise on the counter and it takes about 2 hours. For a tiny reduction in rise time, see my answer to Where Should Dough Rise? in my Baking with Yeast Guide.)
- Grease the bottom and sides of a metal or glass 9×13-inch baking dish (glass or metal) or line with parchment paper.
- Roll out the dough: Punch down the dough to release the air. Place dough on a lightly floured work surface and using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll dough into a 12×18-inch rectangle. Make sure the dough is smooth and evenly thick. If the dough keeps shrinking as you roll it out, stop what you’re doing, cover it lightly, and let it rest for 10 minutes to relax the gluten. When you return to the dough, it should stretch out much easier.
- For the filling: Spread the softened butter all over the dough. The softer the butter is, the easier it is to spread in this step. (Microwave it for a few seconds to soften if needed.) In a small bowl, mix the sugar and cinnamon together. Sprinkle evenly over the butter. Tightly roll up the dough to form an 18-inch-long log. If some filling spills out, sprinkle it on top of the roll. With an extra sharp knife, cut into 12 even rolls, about 1.5 inches each. Arrange in the prepared baking pan.
- 2nd Rise: Cover the rolls tightly and allow to rise until puffy, about 1 hour. (Or use the overnight option in the Notes below.)
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C).
- Bake for about 25–28 minutes or until they are lightly browned on top. After about 15 minutes, tent a piece of aluminum foil over the top of the pan to prevent the tops from browning too quickly. Remove pan from the oven and place pan on a wire rack for about 10 minutes as you make the icing.
- 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 medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add the confectioners’ sugar, cream/milk, and vanilla. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then switch to high speed and beat for 1 minute. 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 – Overnight: To prepare the night before serving, prepare the rolls through step 7. Cover the rolls tightly and refrigerate for 8–12 hours. (16 hours max. 8–12 hours is best, but 16 hours is OK if absolutely needed. Do not exceed 16 hours.) The next morning, remove from the refrigerator and allow to rise on the counter for 1–2 hours before continuing with step 9.
- Make Ahead Instructions – Freezing: Baked rolls can be frozen for up to 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 9 for only about 10 minutes. Cool completely, then cover tightly and freeze. To serve, take the rolls out of the freezer and place in the refrigerator overnight to thaw. Once thawed, finish baking them for about 15–20 minutes.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Stand Mixer or Large Glass Mixing Bowl with Silicone Spatula or Wooden Spoon | Rolling Pin | 9×13-inch Glass Baking Pan or Metal Baking Pan | Cooling Rack
- Milk: I recommend using whole milk for the best, richest-tasting dough. You could also use buttermilk. Reduced-fat, low-fat, or nondairy milk works in a pinch. Do not use nonfat milk.
- Yeast: You can use active dry or instant yeast in this recipe. Follow all of the same instructions. If using active dry yeast, the rise times are usually slightly longer. Reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
- Other Icing Options: Instead of cream cheese icing, you can top the warm rolls with vanilla icing, the brown sugar icing from these pumpkin donuts, maple icing from maple cinnamon rolls, or even the caramel icing from apple cinnamon rolls.
- Gluten Free: We have not tested this recipe with gluten-free flour, so we are unsure of the results.
Is it ok to leave the cinnamon buns out for 2 days with the cream cheese icing?
Hi Erica, if storing for longer than a day or two we would use the refrigerator, but use your best judgment and whatever you are comfortable with.
Hello! I have a question for you. What is the purpose of having the dough rise twice?
Hi Monica, two rises ensures a soft and fluffy cinnamon roll. Hope you love them!
if preparing the rolls for next morning do you need to let them rise for 2 hours (in step 4) and after step 7 when you seal them and let them rise overnight in the fridge? or is the the first rise time skipped?
Hi Maia, yes, you still need to allow for the first rise. Prepare the rolls through step 7 and then place them in the fridge overnight. See recipe notes for more overnight details. Hope this helps!
I’ve tried many recipes before but this has to be the best! The cinnamon rolls were so beautifully risen and also just yummy!
I have to put my two
Cents worth in. I have baked for 50+ years and have never had a sweet dough as beautiful as this. It comes out perfect EVERY time Thanks for sharing your recipe I love it.
This looks incredible. If I need to make 16-18 rolls that are a little smaller would you suggest I just cut the roll into 16 or make 1.5 the recipe? Thanks!
Hi Emmie, you can make this recipe as is and cut the roll to make 16 smaller rolls. You can 1.5x the recipe, but the overall size of each roll would be about the same.
What would the baking time be for 16 smaller ones using the recipe as is? Would you still suggest tenting? If so, after how many minutes?
Love these, thank you!
Hello! Last summer I made your cinnamon roll recipe using a homeade biscuick. It only makes 6. They were AMAZING and I can’t find it anymore. Can you please list that on your website again??
Hi Carolina, I’ve never made cinnamon rolls with homemade bisquick before. (Don’t have a recipe like that published either!) You may be thinking of another website.
Hi Sally & team, I am 1 hour into the 1st rise and it looks like the dough has not risen at all. I am worried about this and I am scratching my head as to what went wrong? I have it rising in my oven which is at 100 degrees F. My yeast was active. I just tripled checked all my measurements and the instructions. The only thing I changed was using buttermilk instead of milk, but the instructions said this was fine to do. I will give it another full hour, but I am not hopeful since this dough shows no signs of rising 🙁 Any ideas? This is so strange.
I should have mentioned above that I heated the buttermilk to 90 degrees F and I used the dough hook of my kitchenaid stand mixer and followed the instructions.
Hi Emma, So sorry you’re having trouble with these rolls. This Baking With Yeast Guide may be a great resource for you – specifically the section titled “What if My Dough Isn’t Rising?”. Hope this helps!
Made the chocolate sweet rolls and they were very good. My husband wanted regular cinnamon rolls. Is there a reason this dough is different than the dough for the chocolate sweet rolls? Have you ever used the chocolate sweet roll dough to make cinnamon rolls? Or is this dough a better recipe for cinnamon rolls?
Hi Pamela, We opted for melted butter here to give it a super soft dough with tons of buttery flavor. You can use this dough for cinnamon rolls if you wish.
Could I prepare the dough in my bread maker?
We can’t see why not, Joyce! Enjoy!
I made your quick cinnamon rolls this morning for my in-laws and they absolutely loved them! I am currently making this recipe to compare the two, but I already know they’ll be delicious.
I’ve made several of your recipes because they’re all PERFECT!
Which ones did you like better?
Both were delicious, but I would make the quick recipe again. It’s so much easier and yields pretty much the same results. The quick cinnamon rolls were devoured in ten minutes by everyone. 🙂
Best cinnamon rolls ever! Will definitely make again.
These rolls are amazing!! I have made them several times – both using the overnight and regular method. They turned out perfectly both ways. They are so soft and delicious – truly my absolute favorite cinnamon roll. I made them for Christmas morning the first time I made them and they made the day extra special.
I have made these once and they are delicious. I weigh all my ingredients and used AP flour. The dough is very soft and sticky. Is this normal?
Hi Andrea! A lot of factors go into this dough such as mixing time, speed, weather, yeast, and temperature of water. Feel free to add a little more flour to make a soft, yet workable dough.
This recipe is amazing! I love it for holidays (especially Christmas!), because I can prep the rolls the night before and then a morning person can easily finish the second rise and begin baking in the morning.
They always come out super yummy and soft. The recipe also makes more than enough to have leftovers. Not that leftovers tend to last that long.
OMG this has just become my new favourite cinnamon scrolls. I tried the overnight method and because its quite cold where we are in Australia, i left them covered on the bench top with glad wrap, then placed a tea towel over the top. Was so excited to see that they had risen. Making more for morning tea now
These are stellar!! I looooove the cream cheese icing (so much so that I made 1.5x the recipe – we like them with heavier icing). These beauties baked perfectly at 28 minutes. My dough never really came together to form a “pretty” dough ball, but that was OK! I just added a bit more flour until it began pulling away from the sides. The dough also became soft (as indicated) so I felt confident moving onto the next steps. As all “Sally” recipes, the instructions are impeccably written. These are soft, fluffy and full of flavor. Sally, you can do no wrong in my book. Thanks for another great recipe! 🙂
I am super excited to try these! Can I use 1 % or 2% milk for this recipe? Thank you, I hope you had a great Easter!
Hi Brooke, 2%, 1%, or nondairy milk works in a pinch, but the dough will not be as soft and rich. Hope you enjoy these!
For the 2 hour rising of the dough can you do it overnight instead and have it in the morning by the way I love your recipes .
Hi Eva, see recipe notes for full overnight directions. Hope you enjoy these!
These have been on my baking to do list for some time. Finally got around to making them and they did not disappoint. Wow! Another great recipe and tutorial.
My family loves cinnamon rolls but they are such a laborious undertaking that I rarely make them. But I decided to surprise the family and made them for Easter breakfast! I made them using the overnight instructions and I can’t tell you how much we enjoyed these cinnamon rolls! They are light and fluffy, and delicious! My daughter said they made Cinnabon taste like “trash,” which is a huge compliment because she loves Cinnabon. Thanks for the wonderful recipe.
These are out of this world delicious! The instructions are very easy to follow. I used half bread and half AP flour, and used almond milk. These are really incredible, tastes like they came from a bakery. Will definitely make them again. And yes, they are addictive and tough to have in the house! Thanks for another wonderful recipe.
The texture was perfect (used all my bread flour and topped off with about 80g of all purpose). I used the overnight option and it was great for Easter morning.
Next time I’ll use salted butter in the dough though, as it was slightly bland. Still, this is my go-to recipe!
This was my second or third time making this recipe and they were so excellent! I started them wayyy too late at night, so I used instant yeast and had them roll in the slightly warm oven, like you suggested in your yeast post. They had doubled in about an hour. Placed them in the fridge to rise overnight, but only had about five hours before I got them out and had them finish rising another hour in the warm oven. Baked for a couple extra minutes because the middle still seemed soft. My whole family is loving them this Easter morning with some sausage links and strawberries. We all said “Thank you, Sally!!” as we sat down to eat
* had them rise, not “roll” ♀️
You are not kidding that Red Star Premium Baking Yeast is amazing! I have been having a yeast-confidence crisis lately so decided to give your recommendation a try. What an astounding difference! I’ll never use anything else! And this recipe was a fabulous way to start. So good – had to cut myself off at two and go for a walk! Thank you for these!!
I will rate this after I see how they rise and bake as I’m not sure if it worked.
Is the dough for the cinnamon rolls a bit on the thicker side? I was quite distracted while making this, my hubby was asking me a million questions and I accidentally grabbed a 2/3 measuring cup for the last 1/2 cup of flour. Would that affect the dough considerably or just a little?? The dough did rise but seemed rather dense. Thank you!
Hi Laura, adding an extra couple Tablespoons will be just fine. You may not need as much flour when you roll out and shape the dough then.
Hey, was wondering, can this cream cheese frosting be made ahead of time, like the night before when I use the overnight directions in making these rolls? I want to prepare as much as possible ahead of time to save time.
PS Love ALL the recipes that I have made from your site. Can’t wait to try this one!
Hi Catherine, sure can! Make ahead and store in the fridge overnight. You might want to bring it back to room temperature and mix it up a bit before spreading on the rolls. Hope you enjoy them!
If you freeze the baked rolls, how long do you heat the thawed rolls to heat them up, and at what oven temp?
Hi Nancy, If the rolls are completely baked and then frozen, be sure to thaw them overnight in the refrigerator. Then you can heat them up in a warm oven to your liking before enjoying.
Has anyone ever tried making these into mini cinnamon rolls? I was thinking of cutting the dough in half after rolling out to make a smaller bun and adjusting the bake time.
Hi Lori! We haven’t tried making these into mini rolls but might start by shaping the dough into two 6×18 inch rectangles and try rolling them that way. You won’t get as much of the filling in each roll though!
I would like to know if the recipe for “Homemade Soft Cinnamon Rolls” can be doubled. I have a commercial, counter top Kitchen Aid mixer. If it can be doubled, do you recommend any other adjustments?
Hi Mary! For best results we recommend making this recipe twice rather than doubling it.