The BEST cinnamon rolls – Soft and buttery sweet rolls with swirls of brown sugar and cinnamon and topped with cream cheese icing
Close your eyes and imagine waking up to the smell of freshly baked cinnamon rolls coming from your kitchen. The smell is so powerful you can’t resist it. Quickly you jump out of the bed and run into the kitchen. Right there, on the counter top lays a pan of cinnamon rolls. You can hear the coffee machine brewing. You smile, taking all the aromas in. Life it’s good.
Cinnamon rolls, cinnamon buns, cinnabons – however you want to call them, are one of the best thing to wake up to. There’s nothing better than seeing my family rushing down the stairs as soon as I pull the pan full of rich, buttery, sweet, cinnamon rolls out of the oven. Their ohhs and ahhhs make my day.
Cinnamon rolls may seem a little intimidating. But it’s not and you should not be afraid. This recipe it’s totally fool-proof. I’ve made it countless time and every time the results were out of this world good.
Just like any other yeast dough, you start by proofing the yeast. Here’s an article I wrote about proofing yeast: Bread Baking 101 – baking with yeast.
Once you know the yeast it’s alive. The mixing and kneading process starts. Slowly add the wet ingredients (for this recipe that would be sugar, eggs and Greek yogurt) followed slowly by all-purpose flour until the dough forms a ball around the dough hook.
I said earlier that I’ve made this recipe lots of times but every time I’ve made it I used my stand-up mixer. I HIGHLY recommend using one for this recipe. You can definitely make the dough by hand to the point where all the flour it’s added but once you start adding the butter I doubt there’s a person here who can knead that fast since the mixer has to be on its highest speed for around 10 minutes.
Once the dough is made your worries are over. It’s time to leave the yeast do its job. Since it’s a rich dough, the first time will take around 2-3 hours, so don’t panic if it doesn’t double in volume in less than one hour. The second rise it’s done in the fridge over night. It will take around 6-7 hours.
A couple of times I’ve made the dough in the morning, put the dough in the fridge for the first rise (takes around 12-14 hours) took the dough out, rolled in into a rectangle, brushed with soft butter and sprinkled generous amounts of brown sugar and cinnamon, rolled it, cut into 8 buns and place it back into the fridge overnight for the second rise.
Next morning, take the pan out, leave it at room temperature while the oven it’s heated and bake until golden. Pour some frosting on top and enjoy!
[mpprecipe-recipe:428]
If you enjoyed these Cinnamon rolls you may also like
Cranberry Chocolate Brioche Rolls – Soft and slightly sweet chocolate brioche filled with tart cranberry sauce and topped with sweet cream cheese icing. Delicious in every bite
Chocolate rolls with coffee icing – Soft buttery brioche rolls filled with chocolate and drizzled with coffee cream cheese icing. Great at breakfast time with a cup of tea/coffee or even with some cold milk
Pumpkin cinnamon rolls – shreded pumpkin added to the dough and to the filling makes these sweet soft rolls irresistible.
Carrot cake cinnamon rolls at Crazy for crust
Lemon coconut cinnamon rolls at Chocolate Moosey
Pumpkin cinnamon rolls at Recipe Girl
Cinnamon Buns at Simply Recipes
Sending love your way,
Roxana
Mmmm I love cinnamon rolls, and these look so simple that I might just have to give them a try! Thanks for the recipe. Leah x
Cinnamon rolls are my ultimate weakness and these are beauties!
These rolls are calling my name! Soft, rich and buttery; so tempting! I can die for the smell filling the house! How I wish I see these on the counter tomorrow morning!
OMG, I love cinnamon rolls! I want to come live with you! 🙂
I’ve been looking for a good cinnamon roll recipe!
I like the overnight part of these cinnamon rolls and these look so pillowy and tender!
These look wonderful and I’m loving that they don’t use a ton of butter! Can’t wait to try them out!
I had the weirdest craving for cinnamon rolls last night so this recipe was posted in the nick of time. I’ll have to make these cinnamon rolls tonight for tomorrow morning.
I love making cinnamon rolls overnight so I can have some for breakfast! I am so not a morning person, so I would never get up early to make them haha
p.s. thanks for the link!
Who wouldn’t love waking up to one of these beauties in the morning? Whenever I have a cinnamon roll I always want to be a lady and take dainty bites but the reality is that I just rip into them because I can’t help myself.
I love that you used yogurt in these!! Awesome Idea!
I have an overnight cinn roll recipe that I love b/c who wants to get up at the crack of dawn and make rolls! Not me 🙂 Love that these have the make-ahead option!
Oh man I would be in heaven waking up to one of these. Cinnamon rolls are my biggest weakness. These look fantastic.
Roxana, these are beautiful! My daughter is visiting for the weekend, and I so wish I had seen these soon so she could have woke up to them! LOVELY!
Mmmmm I can almost smell these.
So perfect, so cinnamon-y, so gooood
Nothing like waking up to cinnamon rolls, my only wish is someone else would bake them- so I could wake up to the smell! LOL
Its looks nice & yumme thinks Roxana
These would be perfect for a monring meeting at work. Thanks for sharing.
We’re having a party tomorrow morning – What’d You Do This Weekend? I’d love it if you would share this recipe there. http://www.tumbleweedcontessa.com/blog
It goes live at midnight.
Hope to see you there,
Linda
Your cinnamon rolls look so delicious, thank you for this recipe!
Good morning, this morning woke up to MORE snow. Just a few things, I was really surprised that this recipe did not call for sugar to be added to the proofing stage, also recipe reads makes eight, yet the instructions say cut into six. A lot of work for 6 buns, but I will assess after they are baked. Also remind all to be sure the yogurt and eggs are at room temp before adding to dough, I had a minor delay as I caught myself in time. 12 more minutes til the timer buzzes, can’t wait!!
Hi Kathy,
Thanks for catching my type. The recipe yields 8 rolls not 6. As I mentioned I’ve made this recipe couple of times and used both room temperature and cold eggs and yogurt, and didn’t see a significant difference.
Hope you’ll come back and tell me how yours turned out.
Roxana
These buns were awesome, they were gobbled up instantly, one even got the chance to cool . I will be making these again, many times. Definetly should be made as 8 tho. Can’t wait for more of your recipes. Thanks for caring and sharing!!
Roxana, I can only imagine the incredible fragrance while these are baking, I’m surprised half your neighborhood was not standing at your door, they look WONDERFUL!!
Oh man, I am a serious cinnamon roll craving now!!
I made these yesterday and baked them this morning for my nephew’s birthday. They turned out perfectly and tasted delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
Now, this is what I want to wake up to! The smell of cinnamon and yeast bread in the morning…what else can be so perfectly homey?
oh my gosh! I love cinnamon rolls! They are my ultimate comfort dessert!
Love the idea of the overnight cinnamon bun. These would be simply perfect for Sunday breakfast. Lovely!!!
Can you use a bread machine to make the Dough?
Hi C.C
I don’t own a bread machine and have never worked with one. You may, but I don’t know for sure.
Roxana
There is nothing better than a warm cinnamon roll first thing in the morning! These look great!!!
Can this be made without the yogurt? Or is that the best part?
Hi Mel,
If you skip the yogurt you’ll have to add more butter and probably another egg. I haven’t tried the recipe without yogurt, so I can’t tell you the exact quantities.
Roxana
These do look to die for, your really making me hungry! I like that you used Greek yogurt in these rolls, these are must try asap!
I like that you use yogurt in the dough…that I must try. Cinnamon rolls are a weekend splurge *sometimes;)This is the recipe I’ll do next!
I’ve been dreaming about homemade cinnamon rolls for weeks. Now I seriously want some.
Just had to tell you, I made these this morning! Well ,we LOVED them!!!!!!!! The dough is sooo soft and light, they were beyond my exceptions! Thank You so much for sharing the recipe . I will be making them again & again. Tomorrow I’m making your white bread recipe, cann’t wait to devour that baby! So happy I found your beautiful blog! Please keep up the good work.
Love the whole concept of overnight yeasted bread. When I want buns for breakfast, I don’t want to wait hours for it all morning! These look amazing. I haven’t had cinnamon rolls in ages and now I’m really craving them. My attempt at weight loss does not like you right now. 😉
Cinnamon rolls are intimidating, but I should just get over it already. Your photos are so appetizing and I love the links you posted for other variations.
Lovely work, Roxana! Would you be happy to link it in to the current Food on Friday which is collecting snacks and treats? This is the link . I do hope to see you there. There are already quite a lot of links for you to check out. Cheers
I have just made a triple batch of these for the school carnival today. I made and froze them 4 days ago, popped them in the fridge last night and baked this morning. Worked out perfectly, and what a relaxed way to prepare for the carnival!
Thanks for the recipe x
Has anyone tried these using a bread machine? I saw the question about using a bread machine but I’m hoping by now someone might have used one. I’m making them tonight and I don’t have a powerful electric mixer so I’m not sure I can use it without burning up the motor. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Hi Susan,
I don’t know if anyone tried the recipe using a bread machine, but if you give it a try, please come back and let us know how they turn out
Roxana
I need to make several batches (4) at once. Could I double up the recipe in my Kitchen-Aid (4.5 quart bowl) or do you recommend doing it one at a time? I was also thinking of making the rolls ahead and freezing them until the day before. Any tips for this?
Hi Susan,
My recommendation would be to do one batch at a time, but you can probably do 2, definitely not 4. I have a 6qt mixer, I’m not sure how much you can add in a 4.5qt bowl.
You can make the rolls ahead of time. Once you cut the rolls, instead of placing them to rise into the fridge overnight, put them in the freezer. Make sure they are cover tight so they don’t get freezer burns.
When ready to bake, take the rolls out of the freezer, leave them at room temperature for about 1 hour or so.
Bake and enjoy!