Quick and Easy Cinnamon Rolls are soft and chewy with the perfect ratio of bread to cinnamon filling, topped with a delicious vanilla butter cream. These are fresh, out of your oven in less than 90 minutes!
Quick and Easy Cinnamon Rolls.. it really is a miracle that I am writing this post. True story: I used to be horrible at yeast. Like, 100% completely awful.
You don’t even want to know how many batches of cinnamon rolls have gone into the garbage. It’s a crime, really.
Then, one year I decided that for my New Year’s Resolution I was going to conquer yeast. (Let’s all now pretend that this is totally normal. Thank you.)
Well, I can count on one had the number of resolutions I have actually completed, BUT this is one of them.
It wasn’t exactly torture eating different homemade breads all year though.. Anyway, my point is, if I can make these cinnamon rolls, you can too.
The dough ingredients are literally thrown into the stand mixer and then kneads for 5 minutes once all of the ingredients are combined. This is a sticky, soft dough. It is what makes the bread so soft and fluffy.
Once the dough has finished kneading, it is time for it to rise. You can rise it on the counter top for an hour or if you’d like the super speedy version, you can toss it in the Instant Pot for 20 minutes.
Before my Instant Pot days, if I needed to rise dough quickly I would warm my oven for about a minute, then turn it off and then place my covered dough inside to rise. It worked pretty well.
After the dough has risen, it is shaped into a rectangle, smeared with butter and filling and then rolled up and sliced. They will rise one more time while the oven is preheating.
They are baked at 350° for 20-25 minutes. While the rolls are baking, I always make the vanilla butter cream.
It is very simple, just butter, milk, powdered sugar and vanilla. The taste is nothing short of amazing though! These Cinnamon Rolls always disappear quickly at my house!
Tips for the perfect Cinnamon Roll
- Don’t add too much flour, it will be sticky! It is okay, I promise!!
- Use a super sharp knife when cutting the rolls so they don’t flatten. This is my favorite knife of all time.
- Using a silicone baking sheet will change your world. The clean up is so easy, and it helps bake these cinnamon rolls to perfection.
Quick and Easy Cinnamon Rolls
(Printable Recipe Below)
Quick and Easy Cinnamon Rolls are soft and chewy with the perfect ratio of bread to cinnamon filling, topped with a delicious vanilla butter cream. These are fresh, out of your oven in less than 90 minutes!
Ingredients
Cinnamon Rolls
- 3/4 tbsp dry active yeast
- 1 1/4 cup very warm water divided
- 3/4 tbsp sugar divided
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
Cinnamon Roll Filling
- 1/4 cup butter softened, almost melted
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla
Butter cream Icing
- 1/4 cup butter softened
- 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Combine the yeast, 1/4 C of warm water, and 1/2 tsp of the sugar to a small bowl. Let the yeast proof. This means to wait until it is bubbly, to show you that the yeast is alive and kicking!
- While the yeast is proofing, add the remaining cinnamon roll ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer. Once the yeast has proofed, pour it into the stand mixer and begin mixing slowly with the dough attachment. Once all of the flour is combined, knead for 5 minutes. The dough will be sticky, but you should be able to pull off some dough and roll it into a little ball. If it is too sticky for that, add a little extra flour.
- Spray the liner of your Instant Pot with non stick spray, and transfer the dough from the stand mixer bowl to the Instant Pot liner. Use the yogurt setting on NORMAL. Cover with a glass lid and let proof for 20 minutes. Alternatively, you can let the dough rise in a warm spot on the counter for 1 hour or until double.
- After the dough has finished rising, transfer dough to a floured surface. Roll into a rectangle, you’ll want the dough to be about a 1/2 inch thick.
- Spread the butter onto the dough making sure to leave the top 1 inch untouched. You’ll need this to keep your cinnamon rolls from unrolling!
- Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. Spread evenly over the dough, massaging it into the butter and dough a bit as you do.
- Tightly roll the dough up into a log and seal with the 1 inch strip of dough. Either use a sharp knife or dental floss to cut the log into 16 rolls. You can do this easily by cutting the log in half. Then cut each half into halves (we have 4 now), then cut each of those pieces into half (8) and then in half one more time (16).
- Place on a silicone lined cookie sheet and cover lightly. Turn oven on to 350°. Let the cinnamon rolls rise while the oven is preheating. Once the oven has preheated, place the rolls in the center of your oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
Butter cream Icing
- Place all ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, cream all ingredients together. Start slowly and then gain speed and whip until light and fluffy. Spread onto warm cinnamon rolls, and lick your fingers.
Did you love these Cinnamon Rolls? Try out my other Bread Recipes!
Instant Pot Cheater Ciabatta Rolls
Copy Cat Little Caesars Crazy Bread
Cinnamon Roll Apple Pie
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Quick and Easy Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Cinnamon Rolls
- 3/4 tbsp dry active yeast
- 1 1/4 cup very warm water divided
- 3/4 tbsp sugar divided
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
Cinnamon Roll Filling
- 1/4 cup butter softened, almost melted
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla
Butter cream Icing
- 1/4 cup butter softened
- 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
Cinnamon Rolls
- Combine the yeast, 1/4 C of warm water, and 1/2 tsp of the sugar to a small bowl. Let the yeast proof. This means to wait until it is bubbly, to show you that the yeast is alive and kicking!
- While the yeast is proofing, add the remaining cinnamon roll ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer. Once the yeast has proofed, pour it into the stand mixer and begin mixing slowly with the dough attachment. Once all of the flour is combined, knead for 5 minutes. The dough will be sticky, but you should be able to pull off some dough and roll it into a little ball. If it is too sticky for that, add a little extra flour.
- Spray the liner of your Instant Pot with non stick spray, and transfer the dough from the stand mixer bowl to the Instant Pot liner. Use the yogurt setting on NORMAL. Cover with a glass lid and let proof for 20 minutes. Alternatively, you can let the dough rise in a warm spot on the counter for 1 hour or until double.
- After the dough has finished rising, transfer dough to a floured surface. Roll into a rectangle, you'll want the dough to be about a 1/2 inch thick.
- Spread the butter onto the dough making sure to leave the top 1 inch untouched. You'll need this to keep your cinnamon rolls from unrolling!
- Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. Spread evenly over the dough, massaging it into the butter and dough a bit as you do.
- Tightly roll the dough up into a log and seal with the 1 inch strip of dough. Either use a sharp knife or dental floss to cut the log into 16 rolls. You can do this easily by cutting the log in half. Then cut each half into halves (we have 4 now), then cut each of those pieces into half (8) and then in half one more time (16).
- Place on a silicone lined cookie sheet and cover lightly. Turn oven on to 350°. Let the cinnamon rolls rise while the oven is preheating. Once the oven has preheated, place the rolls in the center of your oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
Butter cream Icing
- Place all ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, cream all ingredients together. Start slowly and then gain speed and whip until light and fluffy. Spread onto warm cinnamon rolls, and lick your fingers.
Jane says
Hi! This was my first attempt at cinnamon buns and they are in the oven smelling delicious. To make this recipe fool proof (I am a fool and made this error), I would divide the topping for the dough into its own section. I added it all to the dough as it just said add all remaining ingredients ?. Luckily the dough still rose and is smelling delicious in the oven.
karlibitner says
Great feedback!! I’ll get that fixed ASAP! Tell me how they end up coming out of the oven though, cinnamon bread made like that actually sounds pretty good!
Rebecca says
Hi Karli! Is there a way to make these the night before I bake them? I want them for Christmas morning ?
karlibitner says
Rebecca- YES! Make them to the point of arranging the cinnamon rolls on the pan. Then cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Pull out in the morning and let sit at room temp for an hour or so and then bake!
Tammy Moore says
What did I do wrong with letting the dough raise in the IP? My dough after 20 minutes on the yogurt setting was cooked like a pancake on the bottom. I had to throw it away. : (
Karli Bitner says
I am so sorry to hear about this, Tammy!! Was your yogurt setting on HIGH by accident? That is the setting that is used to boil milk prior to making yogurt and would definitely cook your dough.
Jessica Hill says
We love this recipe and make is every conference. Its so easy and requires so few ingredients!