This is the best cinnamon roll recipe for soft, gooey, bakery-style rolls! The dough is fluffy and pillowy, swirled with brown sugar cinnamon filling, and topped with classic cream cheese frosting that melts into every bite. Readers agree, they taste just like Cinnabon, only better!
I spent over 7 years working in bakeries, and after hundreds of test batches at home, I finally landed on a cinnamon roll dough that’s soft, reliable, and totally foolproof. It’s the same base I use for all my gourmet rolls: sweet strawberry-filled cinnamon rolls that are popular year-round, or juicy peach cobbler rolls with cinnamon crumble. No matter the flavor, it never fails!
If the gooey center of a cinnamon roll is your favorite part (same here), you’ve got to try my cinnamon twist sticks. Same dough, same soft cinnamon swirls, just baked into golden twists and served with cream cheese icing for dipping!
Table of Contents
The Cinnamon Roll Tips I Swear By
Bread flour is your best friend. I always use bread flour for cinnamon rolls. It gives the dough that soft, pillowy texture with just the right amount of chew. All-purpose works in a pinch, but bread flour makes them truly bakery-worthy.
Cut the dough into strips with a pizza cutter. It’s faster, cleaner, and gives you those perfect, tight swirls with less mess.
Use a thermometer to check doneness. I always check the center roll with an instant-read thermometer. For a soft, gooey texture, pull them when they hit an internal temperature of 185°F. That’s the sweet spot!
How To Make Them
1
Make the tangzhong. This is my go-to technique for ultra-soft rolls. It pre-gelatinizes the flour, which helps the dough hold more moisture and stay soft for days!
2
Combine the wet and dry ingredients in a stand mixer bowl. The dough will look rough and shaggy at first. Don’t worry, that’s exactly how it should be.
3
Knead the dough. Add the butter gradually while mixing, then continue kneading until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and feels smooth, stretchy, and elastic.
4
Let the dough rest. This step is important because it allows the gluten to relax, making it easier to roll out in the next step.
Once you’ve nailed the dough, you’ve got options, and my blueberry jam cinnamon buns are one of my favorites. Still soft and cinnamon-kissed, but with pockets of warm blueberries!
5
Make the cinnamon sugar filling. Be sure to use cool, room-temperature butter. Butter that is melted or too warm tends to leak out of the rolls when they bake.
6
Roll out the cinnamon roll dough. You should need little to no flour; that’s the best part of my dough!
7
Spread the filling across the dough. Spread the cinnamon mixture evenly over the top, leaving a 1″ border at the top clean.
8
Cut out the rolls. From my experience in bakeries, using a pizza wheel to cut strips instead of cutting the log with floss yields perfectly round rolls every single time.
9
Let the rolls rise until doubled in size. Place the cinnamon rolls in the prepared 9×13 baking pan, cover the top with plastic wrap, and let them rise in a warm place until they have doubled in size.
10
Bake the rolls. Bake at 325°F until the center reaches an internal temperature of 185°F for a soft, gooey texture.
11
Make the cream cheese buttercream frosting.
12
Top the baked rolls with the icing. Spread the icing over the tops of the warm rolls, allowing it to melt into the centers.
My husband is my first taste tester for everything I bake, and his favorite? My espresso-glazed cinnamon rolls. Same soft dough, swirled with cinnamon, but packed with instant coffee for an elevated, caffeine twist!
Cinnamon Roll Problems (And How To Fix Them)
Warm butter is usually to blame. If the butter in your filling is too soft or melted, it will turn runny before the rolls even reach the oven. Keep your butter soft but cool, and leave a small border at the edges when rolling to help seal everything in.
The most common reason is overbaking. I always check the center roll with a thermometer and pull them at 185°F for that perfect gooey texture. Also, make sure your flour measurements are accurate. Using too much flour can dry out the dough before it even bakes.
Totally. There are two easy make-ahead options. You can either refrigerate the dough before rolling it out, mix and knead it, then cover and chill it overnight. The next day, roll it out cold, fill, shape, rise, and bake.
Or, you can shape the rolls the night before and refrigerate them in the pan. In the morning, let them rise at room temperature until puffy, then bake as usual!
If you tried this or any other recipe on my website, please let me know how it went in the comments; I love hearing from you! Also, please leave a star rating while you’re there! You can also tag me on Instagram or Facebook so I can check it out!
The Best Cinnamon Roll Recipe (Soft, Gooey, No Fail)
Equipment
Ingredients
Tangzhong
- 1/4 cup bread flour
- 3/4 cup water
Cinnamon Roll Dough
- 3 2/3 cups bread flour, *See notes below for measuring*
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/3 cup heavy cream, room temperature
- 1/3 cup whole milk, room temperature
- 1 large whole egg, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- Tangzhong from above
- 8 tablespoons salted European butter, cool room temperature
Cinnamon Sugar Filling
- 1/2 cup salted European butter, cool room temperature
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp vanilla powder, optional
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- 5 ounces cream cheese, cold
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
Instructions
- Before you start, line a metal 9×13 baking pan with parchment paper.
- First, make the tangzhong: In a small saucepan, whisk together the water and bread flour. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, for 4-5 minutes until the mixture is a paste-like slurry. Scrape it into a bowl and set it aside.1/4 cup (32 g) bread flour, 3/4 cup (155 g) water
- In a stand mixing bowl, mix the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt until combined. Add the cream, milk, egg, vanilla, and tangzhong to the bowl. Knead on low speed with the dough hook for 2 minutes until it forms a rough dough ball.3 2/3 cups (485 g) bread flour, 1/3 cup (66 g) granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons instant yeast, 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, 1/3 cup (78 g) heavy cream, 1/3 cup (78 g) whole milk, 1 large (50 g) whole egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste, Tangzhong from above
- On low speed, knead in the butter 1 tablespoon at a time, letting it fully incorporate before adding more. Continue kneading for another 10-12 minutes until the dough looks smooth and elastic.8 tablespoons (113 g) salted European butter
- Remove the dough from the bowl and pull the sides down into the bottom center to create a smooth round ball. Place it seam-side down into the mixing bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 30 minutes.
- While the dough rests, combine the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla powder for the filling. Set aside.1/2 cup (113 g) salted European butter, 2/3 cup (133 g) light brown sugar, 2 tbsp ground cinnamon, 2 tsp vanilla powder
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 15×21-inch rectangle. Dollop the cinnamon sugar mixture across the surface, then spread it to the edges with an offset spatula, leaving a 1-inch border at the top clean.
- Use a pizza cutter to cut twelve, 1 3/4-inch strips. Roll each strip away from you, then carefully transfer them to the baking pan. Cover the top with plastic wrap and set it in a warm place to rise until doubled, about 1-2 hours. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 325 F/162 C.
- Bake the cinnamon rolls for 30-35 minutes, or until the tops are lightly golden brown.
- While the rolls are baking, make the cream cheese frosting. In a stand mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese and butter until combined. Then mix in the powdered sugar. Keep beating on low speed until the frosting is light and fluffy, then mix in the vanilla bean paste and heavy cream.6 tablespoons (84 g) unsalted butter, 5 ounces (5 oz) cream cheese, 1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste, 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- Let the pan cool on a wire cooling rack for 15 minutes, then spread the cream cheese frosting on top. Let sit another 15 minutes for the frosting to seep into the rolls. Serve warm and enjoy!
- Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for 4-5 days. Reheat them in the oven or microwave until warm before serving!
Video
Notes
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment below & tag @cambreabakes on social!
Thank you so much for these! They were amazing! Quick question – I noticed the recipe for your strawberry cinnamon rolls in a little different (for example, using AP flour instead of bread flour and not using heavy cream). What is the rationale for using a different base recipe, and could I use this recipe with the strawberry filling? Just curious. Thank you!
Hi Ashley! Great question—the strawberry roll recipe was developed a year before this one which is why there are a few different ingredients. I just haven’t gone back to update the strawberry one with the new dough base! You can definitely use this recipe as the base with the strawberry filling and it will be just as delicious 🙂
These are amazing!! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe with others. My boyfriend loves cinnamon buns so I surprised him with these one day. He said they are the best he has ever had and since then I have made them 3x in 3 weeks (waistlines are expanding lol). I also shared these with my nephew and step mom and they also loved them and want more. My nephew is planning on making them himself because they were so good and he can’t stop thinking about them. So appreciate the recipe and how you laid it all out to make it very easy to follow.
Aww that makes my heart so happy! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe with so many people!
Tried you recipe and it turned out great! I had only one problem with the incorporation of the butter. I added it one tablespoon at a time as suggested, but after the first 3 or 4 the butter started to stick on the bottom of the bowl between the bowl and the dough, so I had to stop many times kneading with the stand mixer, and help to knead by hand and then restart with the mixer. Even increasing the speed of the mixer didn’t help.
Do you have any suggestion? Im using a Kitchenaid stand mixer, thanks
Hi Kevin, was the butter sticking to the bottom in chunks/whole? Sometimes that will happen to me but it’s more smeared on the bottom. I just keep kneading it and it eventually incorporates into the dough. If it’s chunks, it might be that the butter is too cold! I hope that’s helpful!
The butter was smeared on the bottom of the bowl and making filaments between the bottom and the dough, continue kneading didn’t help that much for me unfortunately.. if you have any suggestion I’ll try this out this weekend when I’m remaking the rolls;)
I would try using butter that is a little bit warmer, the only thing I can think of that would cause that problem is that the butter was too cold. Try it out and let me know how it goes!
I tried do make them another couple of times and the butter a bit warmer helped, and I think that also a long and slow mixing helps a lot! Thank you so much for your awesome recipes Cambrea!
Happy to hear that Kevin, glad it worked out!
These are incredible! What directions do you suggest to try and make them the night before so then you can toss them in the oven when you wake up? I struggle to make these to have them done before it’s lunchtime.
Hi Lacey! I think your best bet would actually be to bake them the night before and then warm them in the oven the next morning. This recipe is always just as soft and fluffy the second day!
Hello, thank you very much for sharing this recipe. I have fresh yeast, in this case how many grams of fresh yeast should I use? and how long should I leave them in the first leavening?
Hi Jacqueline! It’s tricky to say as I have personally only worked with fresh yeast once. I would double the yeast (4 teaspoons instead of 2) and make sure to activate it in warm milk before using it. The rise times may be longer than the recipe indicates!