Cinnabuns

Two blue plates stacked with a thick cinnamon roll on top with orange juice in background.

If you love Cinnabuns, you'll love this homemade recipe for cinnamon buns that are ooey-gooey and topped with a decadent cream cheese frosting. This recipe comes together in a little over 2 hours time and is perfect to enjoy any day of the week or for a special holiday.

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Diet Kosher

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 20

Resting Time 1 30

Total Time 2 15

Servings

Calories 427kcal

Author Katie

Equipment

1 KitchenAid Stand Mixer
Measuring Cups
Mesauring Spoons
Mixing Bowls
1 Silpat Mat
1 Rolling Pin
1 9" x 13" pan

Ingredients

Cinnabun Dough

1 cup Lukewarm Milk
2 Eggs room temperature
5 tablespoons Unsalted Butter softened
4-½ cups All-Purpose Flour
1-¾ teaspoons Salt
¼ cup White Granulated Sugar
2-½ teaspoons ActiveDry Yeast

Cinnabun Filling

5 tablespoons Unsalted Butter softened
½ cup Brown Sugar packed
3 tablespoons Cinnamon

Cinnabun Icing

3 ounces Cream Cheese softened
4 tablespoons Unsalted Butter softened
1 cup Confectioners' Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Instructions

Cinnabun Dough

Mix together all the ingredients for the dough; flour, milk, eggs, unsalted butter, salt, granulate sugar, and yeast using a KitchenAid Stand Mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. (See notes below on other methods.) Start on the low setting and gradually increase over the course of 2-3 minutes until your ingredients have formed a smooth soft dough ball. It should stick together and make a "smacking" sound as it hits the bowl.
Remove the dough from the bowl and grease with non-stick cooking spray. Form the dough into a ball and place back in the bowl. Coat one side of plastic wrap with cooking spray and seal the bowl. Let rest for 1-2 hours (depending on the temperature of your kitchen) until it has doubled in size.

Filling and Shaping

Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together and set to the side.
Gently punch the dough, then transfer to a lightly greased countertop. Using a rolling pin dusted with flour, roll the dough roughly into a 16" x 20" rectangle (it doesn't have to be perfect).
Spread the ⅓ cup of softened butter on top of the dough. Then evenly sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar mixture.
Starting with the short end of the dough, roll the dough into a log making sure it is evenly rolled. Then, using a bench knife or sharp knife, cut into 9-12 pieces.
Spray a 9" x 13" pan with non-stick cooking spray. Place the 9-12 pieces in the pan and cover with greased plastic wrap. Let the cinnabuns rise until they're almost doubled, about 30 minutes.
During the last 15 minutes of resting preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Once the buns have rested you can uncover them, and bake for 20 minutes or until golden and center is cooked through. While the buns are baking make the icing.

Cinnabun Icing

Using a KitchenAid Stand Mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or mix by hand or hand-held mixer), beat the cream cheese, room temperature butter, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla together until smooth.

Frost the Cinnabuns

Once you remove the buns from the oven spread the icing on top of each bun while they are still warm. Enjoy!

Notes

Yeast - 2-½ teaspoons instant yeast or active dry yeast equals one ¼-ounce packet Yeast.
How to tell if Yeast is good - If you aren't sure if your yeast is good you can add the yeast to ¼ cup of the warm milk as well as a pinch of the sugar from the dough ingredients list. Let it rest for 5-10 minutes until it begins to bloom and froth. If it does not bloom and become frothy you will need to start over with new yeast.
Yeast storage - Once I open a jar of yeast I store it in the refrigerator. This ensures it stays fresh longer.
Dough Mixing - If you do not have a KitchenAid Stand Mixer you have two options on mixing.
- By Hand - You can mix the dough by hand until it's smooth and no residual ingredients can be found. This may take in upwards of 10-15 minutes by mixing by hand.
- Bread Machine - Read your manual for setting and time and mix until you have smooth soft dough.
Smaller Servings - If you wish to have smaller portions you can cut the rolls into 16-24 pieces to either serve more people or have less calories per serving.
Dairy Free - I have not tested this recipe using dairy free products; however, you could use dairy free milk such as almond or coconut milk and a dairy free spreadable butter.
Sugar - This recipe has been tested countless times and over the years I've continued to reduce the sugar.
- Sweeter -If you want a super sweet cinnabun feel free to use ½ cup granulated sugar in the dough, 1 cup of brown sugar in the filling, and 1-½ cups confectioners' sugar in the frosting. This is how the original recipe was written.
- Less Sugar - To reduce the sugar in this recipe you can use ⅓ to ¼ cup brown sugar for the filling (make sure to reduce the amount of cinnamon by half) and ½ cup of confectioners' sugar in the frosting. I would not recommend reducing the amount of sugar in the dough itself. As it has already been cut in half.
Make Ahead - You can make the dough and buns the night before. When it's time for the buns to rest and go in the oven you simply wrap and place in the refrigerator. Take out 1-2 hours prior to baking so that they can come to room temperature and double in size. You can also place them in the freezer for a future easy breakfast using the same method.
Halve the Recipe - I cannot recommend halving the recipe but I can recommend making half the batch and then freezing the other batch (prior to baking).
Storage - Once you are done with the Cinnabuns and if you have any left you can store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Make sure you refrigerate them since the frosting contains cream cheese and butte.
Reheating Cinnabuns - If you want to reheat the cinnabuns I recommend baking in an oven at 300 degrees for 5-10 minutes or until warm and not burnt.
Calories - Calories are a rough estimation and calculated based on 12 cinnamon rolls. If you make larger rolls then the calories will increase.

Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour.

Nutrition