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4.75 from 8 votes
This clone of a Cinnabon cinnamon roll recipe is one that you're going to want to keep on hand forever. Pull it out to impress guests, around the holidays, or whenever the mood strikes. It's so gooey, sweet, soft, and practically melts in your mouth!
If you've ever walked past a Cinnabon store and couldn't resist the enticing aroma of freshly baked cinnamon rolls, you're in for a delightful treat.
This copycat recipe is here to bring that mouthwatering experience right to your kitchen. Our recipe card includes detailed instructions on making them by hand and with a bread machine. We LOVE our bread machine, especially for prepping dough and making Bread Machine Bagels.
These cinnamon rolls are famous for their soft, tender dough and an irresistible filling made of brown sugar and cinnamon. What sets them apart is the whipped cream cheese frosting that gets generously slathered on top, adding a perfect balance of sweetness to the warmth of the cinnamon rolls.
Whether you're a fan of the original Cinnabon or simply crave the comforting flavors of warm, gooey cinnamon rolls, this bread machine cinnamon roll recipe will satisfy your sweet tooth.
Share them with your loved ones or savor them all to yourself; these homemade cinnamon rolls are the perfect indulgence for breakfast, brunch, or dessert.
For more cinnamon roll recipes, check out my Cookies and Cream Cinnamon Rolls, Small Batch Cinnamon Rolls, and Cinnamon Roll Apple Cobbler.
Jump to:
- 🍯 Why This Recipe Works
- 🥘Ingredients
- 🔪 Instructions for Clone of a Cinnabon
- 🍴 Recipe Tips
- ⏲️Make Ahead Instructions
- 👩🏻🍳 Storage
- 🍳 Reheating
- 💭 Recipe FAQs
- ❤️ More Delicious Cinnamon Roll Recipes
- 📖 Recipe
- 💬 Comments
🍯 Why This Recipe Works
- By hand or by machine. You can make this Copycat Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll recipe by hand or in a bread maker depending on what you feel like using!
- Simple ingredients. We don't need anything too fancy to whip up a batch of the most delicious cinnamon rolls you've ever eaten. Most of the ingredients can be found in the pantry.
- You can make them in advance. Check out the tips and tricks below for making these rolls in advance. They're perfect for an easy Christmas morning breakfast, just place them on the counter and bake them when ready.
🥘Ingredients
Ingredient Notes:
Warm milk- You will need some warm milk that is 110 degrees F. Warm water could be used instead, but milk adds more flavor to the dough.
Butter- Adding butter to the dough will make it richer in taste and a lot more flavorful.
Yeast- You will need some instant or active yeast. Bread machine yeast works great (even if you aren't using a bread machine).
Filling- You will need brown sugar, cinnamon, butter, and salt for a thick and flavorful filling.
Heavy cream- This is added separately and just before baking, but adding warmed heavy cream over the rolls will give them a gooier center when baked.
Cream cheese frosting- We make our own whipped cream cheese frosting using cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt.
For specific ingredients and measurements, please see the recipe card below.
🔪 Instructions for Clone of a Cinnabon
Step 1: In a large mixing bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the bread hook attachments, combine the warm milk with the yeast and let rest for 5 minutes.
Step 2: Add in the eggs, melted butter, salt, and sugar. Mix until combined.
Step 3: Slowly add in the flour, working in 1 cup of flour at a time until it’s all been combined. You may or may not need all of the flour.
Step 4: Mix the flour until the dough is barely combined and looks shaggy. Let rest for 5 minutes. Scrape the dough off the sides of the bowl and dough hooks (or wooden spoon).
Step 5: Turn the dough out onto a floured surface.
Step 6: Knead the dough for 5-7 minutes or until it’s elastic and smooth. You can knead the dough with your dough hooks in the bowl on medium speed if desired, but note that it’s easier to overwork the dough this way.
Step 7: Spray a large mixing bowl with nonstick cooking spray, and then place the ball of kneaded dough inside.
Step 8: Cover with greased plastic wrap and allow to rest in a warm spot until doubled in size.
Step 9: In a small bowl, combine your brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
Step 10: Roll the dough out into a thin rectangle about 14x18 inches and ¼ inch thick.
Spread your softened butter or margarine evenly over the top of the dough.
Step 11: Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the dough and then spread it out with your hand to get it to cover the entire surface of the dough.
Starting from one long side of the log and working your way towards the other, form a tightly rolled log.
Step 12: Slice off both of the ends of the log and then slice the log of rolled dough into 9 or 12 evenly sized pieces, depending on how many rolls you want from this batch.
Step 13: Place the cut rolls into a greased 9x13 baking dish.
Step 14: Cover with a greased piece of plastic wrap and place into a warm location to rise until doubled in size.
Step 15: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
Step 16: Warm your heavy cream until it’s slightly warmer than room temperature and gently pour it over the top of the rolls, trying to get as much coverage as possible. Pour slowly so it doesn't go over the sides of the baking dish. You may not need all of it.
Step 17: Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until the cinnamon rolls are golden brown.
When the cinnamon rolls are removed from the oven, begin making the frosting.
Step 18: In the bowl of the stand mixer or in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer and beaters, add all of the frosting ingredients together and beat on high for 8-10 minutes. Don't skimp on the time!
Step 19: Spread your whipped cream cheese frosting over the tops of the warm cinnamon rolls.
Step 20: Spread the frosting around to cover the tops of all of the rolls. You may have some frosting left over. This is okay (just place it in the fridge for later!)
Wait a minute or two for the rolls to cool down, and then dig in and enjoy!
🍴 Recipe Tips
To prevent darkening
Okay, so the cinnamon rolls will begin to brown around the 14-minute mark when baking if you don't want them as dark as my pictures show, make sure to keep an eye on the rolls as they bake.
When they reach the desired color, take a piece of foil and gently lay it over the top of the rolls as they finish baking. You don't need to tuck, bend, or do anything fancy just lay a sheet over the top and you're good to go.
Be careful though as the oven is hot, and they go from gold to brown in the blink of an eye.
A more authentic taste
For more "Cinnabon-like" cinnamon rolls, make sure to use margarine in the dough filling as that is what they use. Cinnabon also uses a different variety of cinnamon that you can't find in stores.
So if you want a more authentic flavor, order some MakaraCinnamon and use it. Otherwise, this is about as close as you can get to what's in grocery stores.
🍞 How to Knead Bread Dough
Kneading your dough with an electric mixer using dough hooks is simple and easy, but my favorite method is to do it by hand because you're far less likely to overwork the dough when doing it this way.
Knead the dough by hand by placing it onto a floured surface and using two hands to roll it out into an oval, pull back half, so it's sandwiched together, and repeat.
Smoosh the dough as you roll it back out into an oval, and bring it back. Every few times, rotate the dough about 90 degrees so that you can get all of the dough worked into the process.
When the dough is smooth and elastic, it's finished. This takes about 10 minutes by hand, faster if you're quick, but there are a few good ways to tell when you are finished.
- The dough should not tear easily. This means that if you stretch a chunk of the dough between your fingers, it doesn't tear apart like paper and creates jagged edges.
- The dough should be elastic. You should be able to poke the ball of kneaded dough with your finger and watch the dough quickly try to bounce back and fill in the hole you made.
🥖 How Long to Proof Dough
The time needed to proof dough truly varies from person to person. It depends upon the weather, climate, wind drafts, temperature of ingredients, age of the yeast, and more.
On average, it can take anywhere between 1 hour to 3 hours for the dough to proof properly, but some people can see it happen in as little as 30 minutes.
The goal is not waiting to a specific time but instead looking for a specific response from the dough. We want the dough to be doubled in size, and whether that takes one hour or more, we shouldn't jump straight into the next step before completing this one.
You should expect that it will take about 1 hour for your dough to double in size and proof, but here are some tips for getting it there.
- Cover the bowl of dough with greased plastic wrap. This helps to prevent the dough from drying out and helps to trap the heat. The cooking spray on the plastic wrap helps to prevent it from sticking to the dough.
- Store it in a warm location. I like to preheat my oven to 200 degrees F for 2 minutes and then turn it off. Then I place the bowl in the oven and let it rise until doubled.
Other locations to place your dough include:
- Inside your closed microwave
- Inside a closed oven with just the oven light turned on
- On a hot and sunny day, your kitchen's countertop can work well too
⏲️Make Ahead Instructions
You can prepare these cinnamon rolls up to the second rise and cover the top with plastic wrap before placing the rolls into the fridge overnight for a slow 8 hour rise or freezing them for up to three months.
For overnight fridge rises, simply place the pan on the counter for an hour as the oven preheats and bake as directed. Do not let the rolls rise in the fridge for more than 12 hours.
For freezing unbaked rolls, once frozen solid, you can place them into an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge or for several hours in a pan on the counter until doubled. Bake as directed.
With either method, make sure to let the pan of cinnamon rolls sit on the counter for at least 30 minutes to one hour before baking. I like to set my baking dish out as the oven preheats.
This is especially important if you are using a glass baking dish- you don't want it to explode in the oven from going from a cold environment to a hot one too quickly.
👩🏻🍳 Storage
If your cinnamon rolls have been frosted with the cream cheese frosting then I highly recommend keeping them stored in an airtight container in the fridge for food safety reasons. They can last up to 5 days this way, but we all know cinnamon rolls taste best when fresh!
🍳 Reheating
If you want them to feel fresh and warm again 30-45 seconds in the microwave should do the trick!
💭 Recipe FAQs
What is bread machine yeast?
Bread machine yeast is an active yeast sold in stores in little glass jars in the baking aisle. Sometimes it's a cheaper option than buying the packets individually but it's exactly the same thing as what's in the active yeast packets, and you can use either.
Why is there heavy cream added to the pan?
The heavy cream is an optional ingredient and step, but it helps to give the cinnamon rolls that golden brown color and the gooey centers. It helps to keep the moisture in the pan so that the rolls turn out a little gooier in the centers. But once again, totally optional. I make it both ways and they're great with and without.
Can I use bread flour?
Yes, you can! Bread flour may even give you a little fluffier of a bread roll when it's done too. All-purpose flour is great because it's so easy to get your hands on, but bread flour is awesome when it comes to baking bread.
Why do I have to whip the frosting for so long?
Okay, maybe you can skip a few minutes- but the goal is to get it light and fluffy. You know Cinnabon has those little containers of whipped frosting to buy and that they cover their rolls in it too, so why wouldn't we try to get ours to as close of a match as possible?
❤️ More Delicious Cinnamon Roll Recipes
- 20+ Homemade Cinnamon Roll Recipes
- Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread
- Cinnamon Roll Apple Cobbler
- Small Batch Cinnamon Rolls
If you tried this Clone of a Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll Recipe, please leave a ⭐️star ratingand share your feedback in the 📝comments section below. I would truly appreciate it!
📖 Recipe
Print Recipe
4.75 from 8 votes
Clone of a Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll Recipe
You won't want to venture to the mall again after eating these copycat cinnamon rolls! They're ooey gooey, melt in your mouth delicious and packed with the cinnamon flavor and tendernedd that you expect and crave.
Prep Time 20 minutes mins
Cook Time 15 minutes mins
Rise Times, Divided 2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins
Total Time 3 hours hrs 5 minutes mins
Servings: 12 rolls
Calories: 549kcal
Cost Recipe $6.89 / Serving $0.57
Equipment
Stand Mixer *optional
Bread Machine *optional
Ingredients
- 2 large Eggs, room temp ($0.30)
- 1 cup Warm milk (about 110 degrees F) ($0.20)
- ⅓ cup Butter, melted ($0.66)
- 4 ½ cups All-Purpose Flour ($0.59)
- 1 teaspoon Salt ($0.01)
- ½ cup Granulated Sugar ($0.18)
- 2 ½ teaspoon Active Instant Yeast ($0.38)
Cinnamon Roll Filling
- 1 cup Brown Sugar ($0.44)
- ⅓ cup Margarine, softened ($0.66)
- 3 Tablespoons Ground Cinnamon, Plus more ($0.72)
- ¼ teaspoon Salt ($0.01)
- ½ cup Warm Heavy Cream ($0.75)
Cream Cheese frosting
- 4 ounces Cream cheesesoftened ($0.93)
- ¼ cup Butter ($0.50)
- 1 ½ cup Powdered Sugar ($0.54)
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla extract ($0.01)
- ¼ teaspoon Salt ($0.01)
US Customary - Metric
Instructions
Proof The Yeast
In a large mixing bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the bread hook attachments, combine the warm milk with the yeast and let rest for 5 minutes.
Make the Dough
Add in the eggs, melted butter, salt, and sugar. Mix until combined.
Slowly add in the flour, working in 1 cup of flour at a time until it’s all been combined. You may or may not need all of the flour.
Mix the flour until the dough is barely combined and looks shaggy. Let rest for 5 minutes.
Knead Dough
Scrape the dough off the sides of the bowl and dough hooks (or wooden spoon).
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface.
Knead the dough for 5-7 minutes or until it’s elastic and smooth. You can knead the dough with your dough hooks in the bowl on medium speed if desired, but note that it’s easier to overwork the dough this way.
Rise Until Doubled
Spray a large mixing bowl with nonstick cooking spray, and then place the ball of kneaded dough inside. Cover with greased plastic wrap and allow to rest in a warm spot until doubled in size.
Assembly
In a small bowl, combine your brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
Roll the dough out into a thin rectangle about 14x18 inches and ¼ inch thick.
Spread your softened butter or margarine evenly over the top of the dough.
Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the dough and then spread it out with your hand to get it to cover the entire surface of the dough.
Starting from one long side of the log and working your way towards the other, form a tightly rolled log.
Slice off both of the ends of the log and then slice the log of rolled dough into 9 or 12 evenly sized pieces, depending on how many rolls you want from this batch.
Rise Until Doubled
Place the cut rolls into a greased 9x13 baking dish.
Cover with a greased piece of plastic wrap and place into a warm location to rise until doubled in size.
Bake Cinnamon Rolls
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
Warm your heavy cream until it’s slightly warmer than room temperature and gently pour it over the top of the rolls, trying to get as much coverage as possible. Pour slowly so it doesn't go over the sides of the baking dish. You may not need all of it.
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until the cinnamon rolls are golden brown.
When the cinnamon rolls are removed from the oven, begin making the frosting.
Make the Frosting
In the bowl of the stand mixer or in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer and beaters, add all of the frosting ingredients together and beat on high for 8-10 minutes. Don't skimp on the time!
Spread your whipped cream cheese frosting over the tops of the warm cinnamon rolls.
Wait a minute or two and then dig in and enjoy!
Bread Machine Instructions
Add everything for the dough to your bread machine in the order of your bread machine manual. My machine does liquids, dry, and then yeast last but yours could be yeast first. Double check so that you do it accurately.
Set your bread machine to DOUGH setting and let the machine do the work, wait for it to finish. If needed add 1 tablespoon of water while it's mixing to help remove loose flour from the sides.
Turn out your proofed dough onto a lightly floured surface. Cover with a towel and allow to rest for 10 minutes then follow along with the instructions starting from rolling the dough out into a rectangle.
Notes
- Watch the cinnamon rolls around the 14-minute mark to prevent excessive browning, and use foil if needed.
- For a more authentic flavor, use margarine and Makara Cinnamon in the filling.
- Bread machine yeast or active yeast can be used.
- Adding heavy cream to the pan before baking makes the rolls gooier.
- You can use bread flour instead of all-purpose flour but may need additional water.
- Whipping the frosting creates a light, fluffy texture.
- Store the rolls in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Reheat in the microwave for 30-45 seconds.
- Prepare rolls up to the second rise and refrigerate them overnight for an 8-hour slow rise or freeze for up to three months.
- If freezing unbaked rolls, thaw them in the fridge overnight or at room temperature for a few hours before baking.
- If baking from chilled, allow the dish to sit on the counter for 30 minutes to 1 hour before baking to avoid shattering in a heated oven.
Nutritional Information
Serving: 1roll | Calories: 549kcal | Carbohydrates: 82.8g | Protein: 9.9g | Fat: 20.9g | Saturated Fat: 12.2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 83.9mg | Sodium: 353.8mg | Potassium: 204.9mg | Fiber: 3.9g | Sugar: 42.5g | Vitamin A: 182.3IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 90.2mg | Iron: 2.8mg
Author Nicole Durham
Course Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine American
Diet Vegetarian
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Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used. To view how this recipe was calculated you can visit my Pricing Disclosure Page for more information.
