These Cinnamon Rolls with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting are the best you’ll ever have! Pillowy rolls are layered with thick cinnamon swirls and topped with thick brown butter cream cheese frosting.
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Homemade cinnamon rolls are truly a labor of love. Although they aren’t difficult to make, they do require a number of steps in order to yield that pillowy, doughy, cinnamon studded, cream cheese frosting lathered perfection. I mean this in the most loving way, but homemade cinnamon rolls should not be made with short cuts.
The following recipe is the one that I make every Christmas morning, special occasion, or when my cinnamon roll craving cannot be curbed! Read on to learn how to make them yourself!
How To Make Cinnamon Rolls
To make the perfect cinnamon roll, there is no other way other than making them with yeast. Baking with yeast is truly rather simple, it just takes a couple more steps to ensure the best results!
What Is Yeast?
Yeast is a single-celled living organism that serves as a leavening agent in baking. If you’ve baked with yeast, you know it’s reminiscent of sand almost. One small packet of dry yeast contains more than 200 billion healthy yeast cells!
Yeast feeds on sugar to obtain energy in order to grow. It’s this growth that allows the dough to rise: the gases released from the consumption of the yeast’s food allows the dough to inflate.
The other ingredients that are in this cinnamon roll recipe include:
- Milk
- Butter
- Sugar
- Flour
- Egg
- Brown Sugar
- Cinnamon
- Salt
Steps To Make Cinnamon Rolls
- Combine warm milk, melted butter, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Let stand until lightly bubbling, about 6-8 minutes.
- Add lightly beaten egg, remaining sugar, and 1 cup flour to bowl. Stir to combine, an allow to sit for 10 minutes.
- Add 2 1/2 cups of flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt to liquid mixture, and using the dough hook attachment on your stand mixer, mix the dough until a soft dough ball forms.
- Add dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes until dough is soft and pliable. Spray a large bowl and add dough. Cover with a kitchen towel and place in a warm spot in your kitchen. Allow to rise until doubled in size. Punch dough down, and allow to rise a second time. Punch dough down again, and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
- On a floured surface, roll dough out to about 16 by 10 inches. Place the long edge closest to you.
- Spread 8 tablespoons (1 stick) of room temperature butter over the dough. Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the buttered dough.
- Starting from the edge closest to you, begin rolling the dough like a jelly roll until you have one long log.
- Use a knife to score the dough into 12-15 uniform slices. Place cut side up in a greased 9 x 13 baking dish. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 20-30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake rolls for 25 minutes until lightly golden brown.
The Only Frosting To Make For Cinnamon Rolls
Any true cinnamon roll lover will know that the frosting on a cinnamon roll is as important as the roll itself. Th frosting on these cinnamon rolls is the only frosting recipe I use! It includes:
- Brown butter
- Cream cheese
- Powdered Sugar
- Vanilla
- Salt
Any time someone has tried this frosting, their reaction proves just how remarkable it really is. There are a lot of eyes rolling in to the back of head, “mmm’ing” and “yum’ ing”, and general speechlessness that it’s easy to conclude that this is the best damn frosting recipe out there!
What To Serve With Cinnamon Rolls
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Cinnamon Rolls with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk (whole, 2%, or almond), heated between 100 and 110 degrees
- 1 stick + 3 Tbsp butter, divided
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 package quick rise yeast ( 2 1/4 tsp)
- 3 3/4 cups flour, divided
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 tsp salt, divided
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp cinnamon
For the brown butter cream cheese frosting:
- 1/2 stick butter
- 4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- Milk, as needed to thin the frosting
- Sea salt, to top
Instructions
For the cinnamon rolls:
- Combine warm milk, 3 tablespoons melted butter, 1 tablespoon sugar, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Let stand until lightly bubbling, about 6-8 minutes.
- Add lightly beaten egg, remaining sugar, and 1 cup flour to bowl. Stir using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until lightly combine. Allow to sit for 10 minutes.
- Add 2 1/2 cups of flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt to liquid mixture, and using the dough hook attachment on your stand mixer, mix the dough until a soft dough ball forms.
- Add dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes until dough is soft and pliable. Spray a large bowl and add dough. Cover with a kitchen towel and place in a warm spot in your kitchen. Allow to rise until doubled in size. This should take between 45 minutes to an hour, depending how warm your home is. Punch dough down, and allow to rise a second time. Punch dough down again, and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
- On a floured surface, roll dough out to about 16 by 10 inches. Place the long edge closest to you.
- Spread 8 tablespoons (1 stick) of room temperature butter over the dough. Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the buttered dough.
- Starting from the edge closest to you, begin rolling the dough like a jelly roll until you have one long log.
- Use a knife to score the dough into 12-15 uniform slices. Place cut side up in a greased 9 x 13 baking dish. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 20-30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake rolls for 25 minutes until lightly golden brown.
For the brown butter cream cheese frosting:
- As the rolls bake, prepare the frosting. Add the butter to a small saucepan set over medium heat. As the butter melts, swirl the pan. The butter will begin to darken, and after about 8 minutes it will start to get foamy. As this foam goes away, you'll notice a nutty aroma and see dark brown specks on the bottom of the pan. Remove from the heat immediately, and transfer to a bowl to cool completely before moving on the net step. You'll want the butter to firm up (i.e. not be liquid), so if you're in a pinch feel free to place the bowl in the refrigerator to resolidify!
- In a medium bowl combine all ingredients except milk. Using a hand mixer, whip the frosting until light and fluffy. If needed, use milk to thin frosting out slightly.
- Once rolls have been removed from the oven, bread the cream cheese frosting over the warm rolls. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt, and allow to cool slightly before cutting and serving.
Resources
https://redstaryeast.com/science-of-yeast/
I will be trying the cinnamon rolls but I’ve never used yeast! How long does it take to double before you punch it down? 5 min? Overnight? Thank you!
Hi Kristi! What a great question – I went back in the recipe and updated a recommended time between 45 minutes and an hour. It really depends on the temperature in your home and the strength of your yeast. But typically, it should be nice and puffy (i.e. doubled in size!) after about an hour. I hope you enjoy this recipe – it’s genuinely one of my favorite treats!
Is there a way to let these rise in fridge overnight?
Hi Nancy, absolutely! While I haven’t tested this myself, I would bet that prepping these the night in advance and allowing them to rise in the refrigerator would work great. I hope you enjoy these – they are a family tradition and a favorite in my home!
In your commentary you list “brown butter” as an ingredient for the frosting but in the recipe you have “1/2 stick butter” and no directions to make it brown… is that correct? They sound delicious and I’m intrigued by the frosting!
Hi Laura! Thank you for the note! I just revised the recipe to be more clear and actually explain how to make the brown butter 😉 I hope you enjoy these – they are genuinely a favorite in my house!