Super Soft & Fluffy Cinnamon Rolls
I first tried my hand at cinnamon rolls way back in high school, and of course I thought they were spectacular! But only for an hour or two…then they would already start to go stale.
But not this recipe. These are the softest, fluffiest cinnamon rolls I’ve ever made. And what I love is that if you wrap them well, they stay soft for days.
I strongly recommend not skipping the cream cheese frosting. It’s very easy to make and totally worth it. Some might not think 3/4 cup powdered sugar is enough, but I believe it is. Feel free to add a little more if you like a sweeter frosting.
TIPS FOR MAKING THE SOFTEST CINNAMON ROLLS
- MAKE SURE YOUR YEAST IS VERY FRESH You can test the freshness of your yeast by adding it to 1/4 cup tepid water (110F) with a little sugar. Let it stand for 10 minutes and if it doesn’t foam up, it should be discarded and replaced.
- COOL THE MILK MIXTURE WELL BEFORE ADDING TO DRY INGREDIENTS If it is still very warm (over 115F), it will likely kill the yeast and prevent the dough from rising. So let the temperature come down to just cooler than lukewarm before adding it.
- DON’T ADD TOO MUCH FLOUR–EVEN IF THE DOUGH IS VERY STICKY The dough should be sticky so if you are feeling a little messy, you are on the right track!
- GIVE THE DOUGH LOTS OF TIME TO RISE If your house is very cool, it could take as long as 3 hours to rise. If you find it’s taking too long, turn the light on in your oven and let it proof in there with the door closed. This is often an ideal temperature for proofing.
- DON’T SKIP THE FROSTING The frosting will help keep the cinnamon rolls soft and it tastes too good to leave out!
I hope this recipe and these tips help you make the softest, fluffiest cinnamon rolls you ever made!
Super Soft Cinnamon Rolls
An easy recipe for super soft & fluffy cinnamon rolls.
Ingredients
DOUGH
- 360 grams all purpose flour 2½ cups
- 45 grams sugar ¼ cup
- 7 grams instant yeast 2¼ teaspoons
- 3 grams salt ½ teaspoon
- 120 grams whole milk ½ cup
- 48 grams butter 3 tablespoons
- 36 grams vegetable oil 2 tablespoons
- 4 grams vanilla 1 teaspoon
- 1 egg 57 grams
- 60 grams water ¼ cup
FILLING
- 62 grams butter ¼ cup
- 65 grams brown sugar ⅓ cup
- 8 grams cinnamon 1 tablespoon
- pinch salt
CREAM CHEESE GLAZE
- 4 ounces cream cheese ½ cup
- 30 grams butter 2 tablespoons
- 130 grams confectioner's sugar 1 cup
- 2 grams vanilla ½ teaspoon
Instructions
- For the dough, combine in a large bowl the flour, sugar, instant yeast and salt. Heat milk in a small pot over the stove or in the microwave until quite warm. Add butter and stir until melted. Add vegetable oil and vanilla.
- Cool milk mixture to lukewarm if necessary. You should barely be able to feel it when you stick your finger in it. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add milk mixture along with egg and water. Mix by hand or using stand mixer until the mixture forms a very soft, sticky dough. The dough will be very sticky but do not add more flour. The more you knead, the less sticky it will become. Knead until it feels very smooth, about 6-8 minutes. Cover well with plastic wrap and proof for 1½ - 2 hours or until doubled in bulk.
- While dough is rising, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl for the filling. Once the dough has proofed, roll out into a rectangle that measures 15x10 inches. Use a small amount of flour on your work surface to prevent sticking. Spread the soft butter over entire surface of the dough, then sprinkle on the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture. Starting from long edge closest to you, roll dough as tightly as you can. When you reach the end, pinch the seam very well to seal.
- Using a sharp knife or a piece of string, cut the roll into 8-12 buns. Arrange evenly in a buttered parchment lined 14 x 8 inch pan and cover with plastic. Allow to rise in a warm place for another 45-60 minutes or until doubled in size.
- Preheat oven to 375F/190C. Bake rolls for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown and fully cooked in the middles. Set aside to cool while making the frosting.
- For frosting, cream together cream cheese and butter until smooth. You can do this by hand or with an electric mixer. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a couple of tablespoons at a time, creaming well after each addition. Add vanilla and beat until smooth.
- Frost cinnamon rolls while they are still slightly warm but not too hot. The frosting should not melt. Serve immediately or keep well wrapped in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Video
Notes
These cinnamon rolls freeze very well. Do not frost them. They will keep for up to 3 months. Also, if you would like to make these the night before, allow them to proof their second time overnight in the fridge. The next morning they will be ready to bake.
Gracias. Muy suavecitos!!!!
🙌🙌
Best rolls ever….
Thank you I’m so glad you liked them!
Can I use active dry yeast ?
Yes just proof it in the 1/4 cup water called for in the recipe and proceed as normal 🙂
DUDE. YOUR RECIPE OMG. I make cinnamon rolls at home all the time and I tried your recipe and it won. Not only it won me, but it won my sister too and here she is paying me to make cinnamon rolls from your recipe me again. Best recipe ever!! :))
Thank you 🙂
That makes me so happy 🙂 I am glad you and your sis liked the recipe, thanks so much tor the positive feedback. Happy Baking! 🙂
Recipe looks good! It’s very dairy heavy; any ideas how it could be adapted for a vegan diet?
Thank you! I would substitute the milk for cashew milk and a good quality margarine for the butter. For the cream cheese frosting I would puree soaked cashews and add sugar and lemon juice until the right consistency. It quite tastes like cream cheese frosting. I hope this helps : )
If I have only active dry yeast, how much should I use?
You would use the same amount, only you need to proof it in lukewarm water (110F). Use the 1/4 cup water the recipe calls for to do this, then add it into the dough like normal. I hope this helps : )
Found this recipe inna YouTube video and I will never make cinnamon rolls any other way. They are so seamless and delicious and the recipe is so user friendly for beginners as well! Will be making so many more!!
Wow, thanks so much! I am so happy you found your ultimate cinnamon roll recipe. Happy Baking!
Delicious!
Thank you! : )
I made these yesterday and they taste very nice, thank you!
I was a bit worried to make something from an American recipe because I’m in Poland and I know some ingrediends could be different but it turned out just fine.
The glaze is very nice and easy to make, tastes like white chocolate but could be a little too sweet for some people, I had to add a lot less than on your photos.
Only things I need to improve for next time is that my brown sugar was very coarse and is a little crunchy, maybe I could crush it in a blender or mix it with the butter first so it dissolves a little? Do you have any tips? Also my rolls did not rise as big as yours but it’s likely because It was late and I did not leave it to rise for as long.
I will try to make them again for Easter.
I am happy your cinnamon rolls turned out well, if only they had risen more. I think the best way to make your brown sugar finer is to crush it in a processor like you suggested. Thank you so much for your kind comment : )
Paul, since Klaudia said her brown sugar was crunchy and coarse, even after being baked, is it possible she used turbinado sugar instead of regular brown sugar? She said she was in Poland and initially thought ingredients might be different in her country.
Yes, that sounds like the most likely possibility. Turbinado sugar certainly doesn’t pack like brown sugar so I think you’re right 🙂
my 1st time making Cinnamon rolls ever..I followed your recipe and used crushed walnuts and Dried cranberries 😁 next tim e I’m doubling the recipe FRIGGIN AWESOME
Sounds amazing! So happy they worked out for you, walnuts and cranberry sound great 👍 thank you for the positive feedback : )
So amazing
Thanks!
I was so looking forward to tasting these, but sadly mine turned out quite dry 🙁 Because I am lactose intolerant I swapped the whole milk for soy milk (didn’t have cashew) and the butter with margarine. But I don’t think it could have been that. The first rise went well, but the second one took longer because the pieces weren’t rising much. I had to put them on top of my heater after about 30 minutes because nothing was happening. I did had some trouble keeping the dough the same thickness all around – I tried to make it the same measurements as you mentioned in the recipe but in the end my roll was a bit longer and thinner than yours. Could that have been where it went wrong? (I baked the rolls on 190 C for 19 minutes, so nothing extreme happened there)
I’m sorry it wasn’t a great experience for you. I do believe the soy milk may have contributed as the butterfat in whole milk is higher enough to make a difference. If the rolls were thinner like you mentioned, that too can contribute to dryness. Always so unfortunate especially when these are a bit more work than most recipes 🙁
Love this recipe! Tried the standard proofing the first time and they turned out amazing. The second time, we tried proofing overnight in the fridge but didn’t get any additional rise. Any ideas on why that may have happened? Would be nice to have these ready to bake for breakfast if I can make the overnight method more successful.
I’m happy you liked the recipe! Sometimes depending on your yeast, the fridge rise isn’t very obvious. In this case allow it to proof for 45 minutes or so at room temperature the next day before proceeding and quite often it will grow. Oddly enough, you actually get a tastier bread with a slow overnight rise in the fridge 🙂
The perfect reciepe !
It’s soft ans delicious ! My boyfriend loved it !
Thanks you
From France
I’m so happy to hear that! Enjoy!
can i use 2% milk
Yes you can, they will still turn out great : )
Finally, a recipe that works! Thank you for publishing the recipe with metric measurements too. Will definitely be making this again.
You’re so welcome, thank you for the nice feedback : )
I usually never comment on posts but this recipe is SO GOOD!! I have been making cinnamon rolls for a while now but they always felt so dry. This recipe is my new treasure. I made them the night before (and frosted them) and kept in the fridge. Just put it in the oven at 170 F for a while (15-20min) before serving and mm so good! But obviously tastes better fresh outta the oven 🙂 Thank you so much Paul!!
Wow I am so happy you liked the recipe! I’ll bet even with the reheat yours turned out top notch!
omg this recipe is so good i’ve made it like 5 times this month my family loves them!! they’re so soft i love them.
Wow, thanks so much for this positive feedback! I am so happy your family enjoyed them 😀
Fantastic! I made them as shown a little while ago, but was wondering whether I can make these in a bread machine (just the dough part, not the baking). Do you know if this approach works?
I honestly have never used a bread machine, so I don’t have a positive answer. As long as it gets kneaded enough there is no reason why you can’t 😀
The cinnamon rolls turned out great. Super soft and fluffy, just l like the title. They were even good served cold hours later. This will be a new family holiday tradition.
I’m so happy to hear that! Always nice to find that recipe that will be your go-to 😀
For a few years now I’ve been on a quest for a soft and tender homemade cinnamon roll recipe. I’ve tried bread machine recipes, copycat recipes, homemade rol recipes… and I’ve never found what I was looking for. Until now. Oh. My. Word!! We couldn’t wait for them to cool enough to frost them, and we were *not* disappointed. Not too sweet, so soft and tender but not doughy. The edges and tops were a gorgeous golden color that while nicely textured didn’t cross the line into hard like so many others. I already have plans to be making pans of these amazing cinnamon rolls as gifts for family and friends.
Were I to change anything, it would only be due to gluttony – I’d add some finely chopped walnuts and raisins in with the filling, not because these aren’t already the best cinnamon rolls we’ve ever had (our grown son who isn’t big on sweets told me he was “literally speechless” and my husband was really really wishing he could justify having a second one) but because why not? 😉
Thank you a million times for sharing this revipe!
Wow, I am so happy to read this! I love when people make these recipes with such amazing results—especially when it makes people speechless! Thanks so much for the kind review. Enjoy it for years to come! 😀
Paul, thanks a lot for a nice recipe! I´ve been to US recently and I really wanted to try these out…but didn´t get the opportunity during the trip. So I decided to take a genuine American recipe and make them at home. As Klaudia wrote above, it usually feels a bit risky to try American recipes in the middle of Europe. But I can hereby confirm that yours worked very well as shown with the metric units 🙂 I only had to choose different flour, because we don´t have the all-purpose thing – we rather distinguish according to how fine it is and which grain it is from etc.. I used very fine wheat. Wanted to take a photo, but they miraculously disappeared shortly after baking…next time I should rather make double the amount 🙂
Thanks again. Sending wishes from Czech Republic,
Pavla
Wow, thank you for this wonderful feedback. I find especially with breads metric measures are essential for best results. Interesting how the flour there is graded. I’ll bet the quality is superb. So glad you enjoyed the recipe and that the rolls disappeared. Happy Baking!
Soooo good, and thanks to you, easy too! Moist, delicious, and absolutely decadent. My wife is very angry that I made them.
Followed your recipe to the letter, except I used a 9 x 13” dish, so I cut it into 12 rounds. Thank you very much for putting this together sharing.
Amazing! So glad you enjoyed these : )
Thanks for the recipe!!!! My rolls come out of the oven soft, fluffy, perfect. But, the next day they are dense, soft, but dense. Is there any way to preserve the fluffiness?
Not really sure why they are dense. If you wanted to you could add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda to the dough and this might fluff it up a bit. Sometimes breads turn out dense if they are cut into while hot then stored to eat later. I hope this helps : )
These turned out delicious, thank you for the great recipe! I do have a question though. I’ve kneaded the dough for about 20 minutes but it was still quite sticky and to roll my dough up was really difficult as it was so soft. I didn’t want to add extra flour as I thought it might ruin the final texture. Is there any way I could’ve avoided that? Nonetheless, I loved how fluffy they turned out. Thanks for sharing!
So glad you liked the recipe! Did you measure by weight or volume? It sounds like you could have used just a touch more flour. Even though the dough is sticky, it becomes somewhat manageable after 10 minutes of kneading.
Woow its perfect just i made it today very fluffy and delicious i made it mini size for my family thank you for the recipe 🌺🌺
I’m so happy to hear that. Thank you for your positive feedback–Happy Baking!
Love it, but how can I double or even better quadruple this recipe? I have a big family:)
These double, triple or quadruple very well.
I have made hundreds of cinnamon rolls in my lifetime, and am VERY picky about texture/flavor. These are fantastic! I absolutely love how they stay soft but aren’t gummy or sticky. WOW!!! I am super-impressed, along with my husband. When kneading the very sticky dough in my mixer, I was sure I had made a mistake and this was a dud recipe. NOPE!!! I do plan to measure the flour by weight next time because I think I may have needed a touch more, but it was no big deal. I plan to use this dough to make dinner rolls for Thanksgiving, along with cinnamon rolls anytime as “needed”. Thanks for an amazing recipe!
Wow, so happy these turned out so well for you. Using the dough for dinner rolls is a stellar idea. Happy Thanksgiving!
I have been looking for the perfect cinnamon rolls recipe and then I found this. They are amazing!!! Literally waiting for the dough to rise, as I type rn. I drizzle some dulce de leche on top of the cream cheese frosting to give it an extra level of yumminess, give it a try ❤️. Love from Nigeria
Oh wow that sounds incredible! Thanks for the great idea I will have to try. Happy Baking!
The overnight in the fridge idea did not work at all for me. Next time I would make them all on the same day. Also I would double the filling. Finally, the basic dough recipe is definitely a keeper, for other kinds of breads like rolls and maybe even a loaf. I am going to try that- definitely!
When you took them out of the fridge the next day, did you allow them to proof for an hour at room temp? This may have been the issue. Otherwise, I am happy the recipe was useful for you. Hope you can use the dough for other delicious creations!
If I was going to make giant cinnamon rolls would I need to adjust the cook time and temperature?
For larger rolls you may need to add another 5 minutes or so for baking. For proofing, the time should not be affected. I hope this helps!
Hello! Made recipe. Very delicious including frosting. Dough came out soft and tasty. Family loved it!
Thank you
My pleasure! So glad they turned out for you!
These were the most amazing cinnamon rolls I have ever made! These are super soft and yummy! I made a bit more cinnamon filling and frosting although there would have probably been enough frosting with making a bit more. These will be my go to from now on!
Wow, thanks so much! Those ideas sound delish!
These turned out great but I had to add an additional 3/4 cup of flour before it ever got to the same consistency as yours.
That’s great! I am so glad they turned out for you! : )
I always add some lime juice to the frosting, makes the flavour even better
Wow interesting! Must be tangy.
I’m dying to try out this recipe, it looks very promising! Alas it will have to wait a bit because my partner is begging me for some cinnamon rolls with pumpkin in the dough 🥲
Do you have any ideas about how I could alter the recipe to incorporate some pumpkin puree in it? Or would it not work at all? I’m not very experienced with baking and I’m afraid I’ll just end up wasting my materials if I just improvise.
You could try subbing out the butter for pumpkin puree. I have never tried so I don’t know, but that’s how I would do it. Hope this helps 🙂
Ok this recipe is so good that one batch is not enough! I’m planning to make this again to take out in the morning. Is it possible to do all the steps until the last proof and then put it in the fridge, then bake it when I need to?
Thanks! You can refrigerate it after they go into the pan then proof for an hour out of the fridge the next morning 🙂
I did indeed use this dough for Thanksgiving dinner rolls! I mixed the dough as usual and allowed it to rise. After first rise, I formed the dough into balls of ~40g. It made around 16 rolls. Allowed them to rise again until doubled, then baked at 375F for 15 minutes. That was a touch too long, so I would suggest 13-14 minutes. Brush with butter immediately after removing from oven.
Everyone loved them! Thanks again for a fantastic and versatile recipe!
This is worst recipe I’ve tried. Came out like cake batter. Only 2 1/2 cups of flour should have been a clue. I tried twice thinking I did something wrong. Then had my daughter do it. Same thing.
I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you.
Absolutely the best cinnamon roll recipe ever! I’ve used it at least 10 times and they always turn off perfectly!
Awesome!! Thank you so much, I’m very happy you’re enjoying the recipe 🙂