I basically live my life in moderation. A little coffee, a short break, a bit of dessert. There’s pockets of time with my kids, little bursts of energy, and the full spectrum of emotions- joy, impatience, excitement, loneliness, peace, and fear- scattered in spurts throughout my day. Moderation is the essence of everything from my diet, my workout regimen, and even my my hair washing schedule. In this time where we’re just doing a little less- maybe less work, less planning, or fewer visits with friends- it seems fitting to share a similarly bitty recipe: these mini cinnamon rolls. These are bite-sized treats that work for this moderate period of life, and because they’re super yummy, you’re going to want to try them ASAP. Let’s chat about them.
Mini Cinnamon Rolls
This recipe for mini cinnamon rolls was adapted from my favorite overnight cinnamon rolls recipe. This has long been one of the more popular recipes on this site and for good reason- they’re phenomenal. These pastries are soft, lightly sweetened, crowd-pleasing, and near-impossible to screw up. This new recipe is smaller in size and uses half the dough, so it will work perfect during this time when we’re seeing fewer people and have less opportunity for sharing. Like the original recipe, they’re still delicious and totally worth the time, so let me tell you how to make them.
These mini cinnamon rolls start like any other sweetened yeast bread. Yeast dissolves in lukewarm milk and water before being combined with sugar, butter, and eggs. The dry ingredients come next, and the whole thing is kneaded until the dough comes together into a tacky, stretchy heap. Let the dough rise until doubled in size, about an hour and a half.
Next comes the rolling. We roll an extra-long but narrow strip of dough and coat it with melted butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Roll the dough tightly and use a sharp knife to cut small spirals from the log. I baked my rolls in a mini muffin tin, but you could easily just plop them on a quarter sheet pan instead. Whatever works! After a second brief rise and a bake in the oven, these rolls are ready for icing.
These mini cinnamon rolls are cute, really yummy, and the perfect addition for these weird times. Give the recipe a try and let me know what you think! Oh! And if you happen to be making this recipe months or years later, when social distancing isn’t a thing, double the recipe and test it out for a party or a group brunch. It will be perfect for something like that. Happy hump day and happy baking!
If you like these mini cinnamon rolls you should try:
Chocolate Sweet Rolls
Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
Hazelnut Cinnamon Rolls
Swedish Cinnamon Rolls
Bananas Foster Cinnamon Rolls
Gingerbread Cinnamon ROlls
Mini Cinnamon Rolls
These mini cinnamon rolls have two filling and frosting options and can be made in advance or overnight to serve a crowd!
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 240
- Yield: 40
- Category: Pastry
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 1/2 cup (120 gm) milk, lukewarm
- 2 tablespoons water, lukewarm
- 1/2 tablespoon active dry yeast
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted but not too hot
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1–1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup bread flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
For the filling:
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 6 tablespoons brown sugar
For the frosting (see notes for glaze alternative):
- 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- ¼ cup (55 gm) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup (115 gm) powdered sugar
- 2+ tablespoons of milk
Instructions
To prepare the dough:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl, combine the milk and water and sprinkle the yeast over top of it. Allow the yeast to dissolve, about 5 minutes. Stir in the butter, egg, and brown sugar, and sugar until smooth. In a small bowl, combine the flour, bread flour, and salt. Dump about half of the dry ingredients into the yeast mixture and stir until combined. Pour in the remaining dry ingredients and knead in the bowl using the dough hook attachment until smooth and slightly tacky, about 7 minutes. If you notice your dough isn’t pulling away from the sides of the bowl or it’s too wet, add flour 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and forms a little dough “tornado” around the dough hook. Once done kneading, place the dough into a large lightly greased bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap to double in size, about 1-1/2 hours.
- Once the dough has risen, dump it out onto a lightly floured surface and cut it in half. Use a rolling pin to roll one half into a large rectangle about 6”x22” in size. Pour the melted butter and spread it out over top. Combine the cinnamon and brown sugar and sprinkle evenly over the buttered dough. Starting with one of the long ends, tightly roll the dough from end to end and pinch the edges together to seal. Cut the dough into about 20- 1” sections and lay them out pop each on spiral up in a lightly greased mini muffin tin. Repeat this process with the remaining dough. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise again, about 40 minutes.
- In the meantime, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Once preheated, bake in the oven for about 15-17 minutes or until the edges are barely golden and the internal temp of a roll is 190 degrees. Remove from the oven and prepare your frosting.
To prepare the frosting:
- Cream the cream cheese and butter in large bowl at medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the powdered sugar and milk and beat to combine. Add additional milk to thin out the frosting or more powdered sugar to thicken it. You can also gently warm the frosting to pour over the rolls as a glaze. Cinnamon rolls are best enjoyed warm.
Notes
- As an alternative to the, you can spread a thin layer of Nutella and proceed with the instructions.
- As an alternative to the thick frosting, you can make a glaze for the rolls by combining 2 cups confectioner’s sugar with ¼ cup milk and ½ teaspoon vanilla extract. Dip the tops of each warm roll into the glaze and allow to set up.
- You can make these overnight by putting the freshly spiraled cinnamon rolls into the fridge overnight and baking first thing in the morning!
40 thoughts on “Mini Cinnamon Rolls”
Are these any good if made & iced the day before? I want to make them on Christmas Eve, to take to a brunch on Christmas Day. We have to be up early for a 2 hour drive, so hence needing to ice them the evening before. Warm regards and Happy Holidays!!
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Dont let the photos full ya, my inside mixer sank to the bottom of rolls. Still turned out good. It makes a bunch to freeze for winter months. 😋 Yum
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Can these be frozen without the frosting ?
savanna
hello i love this. me and my family did this and it wax the most delicious thing we have always tasted. 🙂
Can these be frozen raw to defrost/bake when needed?
Hi there, I’m hoping for clarification here: “Cut the dough into about 20- 1” sections and lay them out pop each on spiral up in a lightly greased mini muffin tin” and here: “As an alternative to the, you can spread a thin layer of Nutella and proceed with the instructions.”
Also wondering if you’ve worked the dough without a mixer before? If so, is there another indicator to look for doneness?
Thanks!
These are great little cinnamon rolls. I used all purpose flour instead of bread flour, and they were wonderful – soft and chewy, with a perfect hint of cinnamon. I made the glaze, and there was a bit too much – three quarters of the glaze recipe would be better. I’ll definitely be making these again.
★★★★★
So happy to hear this, michelle! 🙂
Hi! I’m planning on doubling this recipe. Is it best to cut the dough into 4 and repeat the process multiple times or cut into 2 and make more 1’’ cuts?
I’d just cut the dough in half and roll the rolls out to the size specified. That way you know they’ll fit nicely in the pan. 🙂
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Can i use chadar flavor cheese cream?
I’m not sure what chadar is, but I’ve only tested this with regular cream cheese. so I can’t say! but lmk if you try it! 🙂
Can I put these in the muffin tin,cover and refrigerate to bake the next morning?
Yes! 🙂
I use this recipe all the time but for the filling, I cream the butter with the sugar and cinnamon. It turns into something that’s very easy to spread evenly throughout the dough before rolling. Thanks for sharing this!
★★★★★
HOORAYYYY!!! I’m so happy to hear this! Enjoy!
What do you do with the other half of the dough. “Once the dough has risen, dump it out onto a lightly floured surface and cut it in half. Use a rolling pin to roll one half into a large rectangle about 6”x22” in size. “
you repeat the process! 🙂
These look amazing! Does this recipe make 20 or 40 minis? It says to cut the dough in half so do you just repeat the rolling and cutting steps with the second half?
that’s correct! 🙂
Hey Kate, I am confused… you say “Once the dough has risen, dump it out onto a lightly floured surface and cut it in half. Use a rolling pin to roll one half into a large rectangle about 6”x22” in size. ” Are we only using one half of the dough here?! Thanks and can’t wait to make these!
I love this idea! They are so cute. My kids would love these.
hooray! so thrilled to hear this!!
What a great idea to bake these in a mini muffin tin and keep them from unrolling! Cinnamon buns are my absolute weakness (though I otherwise also live in moderation) and these look fantastic! Off to check out the original recipe now. Thanks so much for sharing!
★★★★★
hooray! so thrilled to hear this!!
It’s an amazing recipe, but one question, how do you make them fluffy? I tried and went a little bit dry and hard… please help 😉
★★★★★
hi, looks like the instructions are from the original recipe and weren’t updated to match the mini ingredient list. Not a deal breaker but a little confusing on the first read-through. thanks for this recipe, though; it looks great.
Hi… these look wonderful. I would like to make them this weekend. No clear on what to do with the other half of the dough….
whoops!! I’m sorry- typo. just repeat the process!
Would it be possible to use sourdough starter versus dry active yeast? If so, how would the ingredients change?
possibly although I’ve never tried it!
HI
Your recipe instructions call out to add an egg and egg yolks, but only 1 whole egg is mentioned in the ingredient list.
These sound yummy! Can”t wait to try them.
Kathleen
Will using all purpose flour instead of the small amount of bread flour still work? I am eager to try this recipe!
sure!!
Hi Kate. Your recipe looks delicious! In your instructions, you mention egg yolks. Can you tell me how many are needed?
Thanks so much!
oh no! man, there were typos. it’s been corrected 🙂
Cuties !!