Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls
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I can’t even begin to count the number of times I’ve made these Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls. My kids cheer when they find out I’m making them. You’ll be the one cheering when you realize how easy it is.
Fear not – Non-bread machine instructions are included. Let’s get baking!
Mom’s Cinnamon Rolls
There is one thing my kids can agree on: Mom’s cinnamon rolls are the bomb.
We’ve tried all sorts of variations of cinnamon rolls over the years: canned, sourdough, store-bought, farmers market, etc. Despite the hefty competition, this cinnamon roll recipe rises to the top.
The kids love to watch the dough dance around in the bread machine and I always have lots of help when it comes to rolling out the dough.
Serve it up with our Spinach and Bacon Quiche or along side Crockpot Ham for a delicious meal!
Why Use a Bread Machine to Make Cinnamon Rolls?
Yes, there are thousands of recipes out there that don’t require a bread machine. And I’m sure they are delicious. But, I assure you, you are not compromising flavor or texture when using a bread machine to do the hard work of making the dough for your cinnamon rolls or Dinner Rolls. In short, it’s a no-brainer approach that has served me well for years!
While you still have to roll and bake, the dough setting on a bread machine will ensure you have amazing dough to work with before you even begin!
Here is the bread machine I personally use. Many bread machines will have a yeast dispenser at the top. If yours has it, go ahead and use it. Mine does not but I’ve found my dough turns out fine when I nestle the yeast in right on top of the ingredients.
I use this machine for other bread machine recipes like:
- Bread Machine Hamburger Buns
- Bread Machine Wheat Rolls
- Panini Bread
- Pita Bread
- Ham and Cheese Crescent Rolls
How to Make Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls
1. Make the Dough
Place the ingredients for the dough in your machine in the order listed in the recipe below. If you don’t have a yeast dispenser, just nestle the yeast on top of the flour.
Run your machine on a dough cycle. (Mine takes around 45 minutes but times will vary on this.)
After the dough is done, take it out and split the dough into two mounds.
Roll one of the dough mounds out into a rectangle shape. To get it flattened out, it might take a few minutes of working with it, but it will get there.
2. Make the Filling
Spread half of the melted butter out on your dough and then top it with half of the cinnamon-sugar mixture. This is a great job to have kids help with and it can be far from perfect.
3. Roll and Slice Them
With the long edge in front of you, begin to gently roll the dough.
Starting at one end, slice the dough into about 1-inch thick pieces. The result will be a pinwheel-shaped form when turned on its side.
Place pinwheels on greased baking sheet or glass baking dish. I like mine touching each other so they all are soft and not too browned on the outside but if you want them not touching, spread them apart on the sheet.
Repeat the steps above with the second mound of dough.
4. Let Them Rise
Cover assembled dough with a lightweight hand towel and let rise for another 25-30 minutes. If it’s cooler weather, I turn on my oven for just a minute or two and then turn it off in order to get it a little warm. I then let it rise in there.
5. Time to Bake
Bake at 350°F for 17-20 minutes or until lightly brown on top (they will need longer if you’re baking them in a dish dish instead of a metal sheet pan). Tap the middle of the roll to see if it bounces back. If it does, it’s probably done!
How to Make the Icing
I keep my icing pretty simple. While there are many variations out there, here is what I use:
- 3-4 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 4-5 tablespoons milk + more if you want it thinner
Mix all of this together until it forms the desired consistency. Drizzle it over the cinnamon rolls.
Freezing Cinnamon Rolls
Another beauty of this recipe is you can prep the cinnamon rolls ahead of time. I’ve done this a lot when I know we will be feeding guests for breakfast or for holidays. The biggest tip I can give you on this is to make sure they come back to room temperature and have time to rise before you bake them.
If you want to prepare the rolls ahead of time, assemble them as normal, let them rise, and then refrigerate for 24-48 hours. Make sure to let them come back to room temperature and rise back up again before baking.
If you want to freeze the cinnamon roll dough, assemble them as normal, let them rise as directed and then wrap them tightly or place them in an airtight container with a lid and freeze. Just make sure you let them thaw and warm up to room temperature and rise a bit before baking.
What to Serve with Cinnamon Rolls
FAQs
I’ve gotten this question a lot so I tested out this exact recipe without using a bread machine. And guess what? It worked!
If you don’t have a bread machine, use a stand mixer to combine all of the dough ingredients. Using a dough hook, let it knead the dough for 7-8 minutes. Transfer the sticky dough to a grease-lined bowl. Cover with a towel and let it rise for about 1-1.5 hours (or until twice its size.) It will be sticky so use lots of flour when rolling it out.
Quick Rise (aka Instant) and active dry yeast are essentially the same ingredients. They are just slightly different in forms and applications.
The main differences between the two are:
Active yeast needs rehydration. Active dry yeast must first be dissolved and rehydrated in warm water. I like to think of it like, “It needs to be activated!”
Quick Rise Yeast needs less time to rise. Since instant yeast has a finer texture than active dry yeast, it’s possible to skip the initial rise time that Active Rise Needs. This is why it works great for bread machines!
I’ve tested both types of yeast with this recipe in my bread machine and the Quick Rise Yeast works much better! Active yeast will work. In fact, I use it in our Ham and Cheese Crescent Roll recipe. It will just need more time and more warmth to rise.
Be sure to keep opened packets/jars in the refrigerator!
I prefer to use metal baking sheets because it gives a nice caramelization on the bottom of the cinnamon rolls. However, a 9×12 glass baking dish will work as well.
Did you make this? Snap a photo and tag us on Instagram at @thrivinghome so we can see your creations and cheer you on!
Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls
Homemade cinnamon rolls. Let the bread machine whip up this cinnamon roll dough for you and follow the easy instructions to bake! Once you’ve made them from scratch, you’ll never go back to canned cinnamon rolls.
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 1/3 cups lukewarm water (110-115°F is perfect)
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) room temperature butter, cut into small chunks
- 5 tablespoons sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon quick rise yeast
Filling
- 1 1/2 cups sugar (brown sugar works great too!)
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, melted
Icing
- 3–4 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 4–5 tablespoons milk, plus more if you like it thinner
Note: This recipe was changed slightly in 2021. I removed 1/4 cup powdered milk from the ingredient list. I made these once when I didn’t have it on hand and couldn’t tell the difference. But, it’s up to you if you use it or not! I also opt for quick rise yeast vs. active yeast now.
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Instructions
- Place the ingredients for the dough in your bread machine in the order listed. If your machine doesn’t have a yeast dispenser, just nestle the yeast in on top of the flour (don’t let it touch the wet ingredients).
- Run your machine on a dough cycle.
- After dough is done, take it out and split the dough into two mounds.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll one mound of your dough out into some sort of a rectangle.
- Spread half of the melted butter over the rolled-out dough.
- Sprinkle half of the cinnamon sugar over the melted butter making sure to cover as much surface with the filling as you can.
- Starting at one long ends of your rectangle of dough, roll it up.
- Using a sharp knife, slice the dough into about 1 inch pieces. The result will be a pinwheel shaped form when turned on its side.
- Place pinwheels on greased metal baking sheet or in a 9×12 glass baking dish. I like mine slightly touching each other so they all are soft and not too browned on the outside but if you want them not touching, spread them apart on the sheet pan.
- Repeat the steps above with the second mound of dough.
- Cover assembled rolls with a lightweight hand towel and let rise for 25-30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake for 17-20 minutes or until lightly brown on top (add a few extra minutes if using a glass dish). Tap the middle of the roll to see if it bounces back. If it does, it’s probably done!
- Combine ingredients to make icing and spread over warm rolls so it melts into them.
Notes/Tips
- Every bread machine is a bit different. The dough setting on mine is 45 minutes. This is the first rise. The second rise will be after you assemble the rolls.
- I prefer to use a metal baking sheet but if you are using a glass baking dish, allow for a few extra minutes when baking.
- If you don’t have a bread machine, use a stand mixer to combine all of the dough ingredients. Using a dough hook, let it knead the dough for 7-8 minutes. Transfer the sticky dough to a grease-lined bowl. Cover with a towel and let it rise for about 1-1.5 hours (or until twice its size.) It will be sticky so use lots of flour when rolling it out.
This turned out beautifully. I used a well buttered cake pan and cut them a little thicker and I could sell them!
Glad the recipe is working so well for you! Thanks for leaving a review.
It smelled heavenly in the oven and tasted even better! Made with brown sugar. Will make again. Thank you!!!
Yay! So glad to hear it. Thank you for leaving a review!
Looking forward to putting this all together. Looks very easy and simple. One question about the ingredients. It is 1 “tablespoon” (as listed) or 1 teaspoon of yeast? 1 tbsp seems like a lot.
Hi John. It is 1 tablespoon as listed. Let us know if you make them!
This is The BEST Cinnamon Rolls ever!! Everyone raves about them when I make them and says that they are better than Cinnabon.
Wow! That’s great to hear. So glad you enjoy them so much. Thank you for taking the time to leave a review!
These are a family favorite. It has become a sweet tradition to eat them on Christmas morning. I love that I can make them in advance so having a delicious breakfast on Christmas is easy. And for anyone else who doesn’t have a bread machine like me, they are still easy to make 🙂
Thanks for letting people know you make them without a bread machine Kacee. Hope you had a Merry Christmas!
Wonderful. A Family Tradition!
Love that this is your family tradition. Thanks for taking the time to leave review Samantha!
This was my first time making cinnamon rolls. Directions, recipe, process was very easy to follow. They tasted amazing! I don’t like a ton of icing so I might cut the icing recipe in half next time and add some tart apples. Thank you this was deliciousness!!
Thanks so much for the review. Love the idea of adding some apples, yum.
These cinnamon rolls are AMAZING. These are the only cinnamon rolls that I will make. My whole family loves them.
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review and comment, Jessica!
Pretty good (I did do some tweaks tho)
Hi Dez! Thanks for leaving a review… we’re glad you liked it. You are always welcome to tell us about your tweaks in case others might want to try that too!
Polly I posted a comment earlier and am following up with my results. Even after making boo boo’s in my recipe, mine just came out of the oven and oh my gosh are they ever good. Since we are smaller eaters, my next batch will be cut to 1/2 inch thickness as that will be a perfect size for the two of us and I figure I will end up with around 40 cinnamon rolls. With this batch, I ended up with 12 cinnamon rolls cut at 1 inch thickness as recommended and being placed inside a cupcake pan they rose way over the top of the pan before being baked. There are 9 more cut at 1/2 inch and baked on a cookie sheet. These rose to about the size of store bought canned cinnamon rolls before baking and are the perfect size for small eaters. Thank you for sharing your recipe. This was my first time making bread machine cinnamon rolls and definitely will not be my last.
Hi Mary! Thanks for taking the time to report back after your earlier comment regarding some mishaps. You clearly recovered beautifully! 🙂 We’re so glad you enjoyed this recipe.
I have made these a bunch of times. They are our new go to with lots of variations on the filling. Sometimes we add raisins and nuts, sometimes cranberries and oranges, sometimes peanut butter and jelly. Thank you for the great recipe!
Wow Stacey! That’s a lot of variations. I’ve never thought of the peanut butter and jelly option. I bet it’s delish! Thank you for taking the time to leave a review AND tell us about all your variations. 🙂
Can I put them together and then cook the next morning?
Hi Heather. Here is what Polly says in the post: The biggest tip I can give you on this is to make sure they come back to room temperature and have time to rise before you bake them. If you want to prepare the rolls ahead of time, assemble them as normal, let them rise, and then refrigerate for 24-48 hours. Make sure to let them come back to room temperature and rise back up again before baking.
I have tried several recipes over the past 10 years, but this one was the best! My family devoured the cinnamon rolls within a few minutes and asked me to make another batch!
Wonderful! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review and tell us how much your family enjoyed them Debbie.
My family loved these cinnamon rolls, making more now . I used to make some like 22 years ago and decided it was time to finally make some again and in the same bread machine lol.
I use fishing line to cut them.
Thanks for the recipe and trying the dinner roll one soon.
Hi Heather! Thanks for the review and tip about the fishing line. I’d say if an appliance is still kicking there’s no reason to replace it. So many things were made to last much longer years ago!
I messed up so bad. I forgot to add the egg so when I noticed I stopped my bread maker, removed the dough and kneaded the egg into the dough. I then restarted the bread maker from the beginning and am now in the first rise. Hopefully they come out good and rise again in the second rise. I’ll let yall know. READ DIRECTIONS BEFORE BEGINNING. I will say this, they are rising on the first round and the dough smells delicious!
I use dental floss for cutting dough, especially since I don’t have fishing line. lol
this recipe is simple and delicious!
I made a cream cheese icing to go on top though.
So glad you enjoyed it Marie. Thanks for leaving a review!
Great recipe! Didn’t change a thing. So many complements!
Thank you so much for leaving a review Megan. So glad you enjoyed success with no changes!