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This 1-hour Cinnamon Roll Recipe is the quick version of my ultimate Cinnabon clone. You’ll never need another recipe for Cinnamon Rolls!
In case you need a crazy-delicious {and seriously so fast} cinnamon roll recipe, I’ve got you covered. I decided to take matters into my own hands, tweak my original cinnamon roll recipe and post a 1-hour version that is *nearly* as fabulous. Obviously, there is a slight difference, but not much. Also, it’s really hard to go wrong with sugar, cinnamon and bread products. Just sayin’.
Quick Cinnamon Rolls
This recipe goes so quickly and works so wonderfully because I use super-fast acting yeast and lots of it.
I also cut these rolls a little thinner than the original Cinnabon ones so the centers cook as evenly as the edges and the entire thing puffs up evenly.
The same frosting recipe is used and nearly everything stayed the same within the context of the dough as well.
Sooooo, yeah. Basically, I’ve got this roll recipe for you to use and enjoy…. 🙂
Cinnamon Roll Recipe Ingredients
Okay, get your shopping list ready because there are a lot of ingredients that go into this recipe. Most ingredients you probably already have because they are baking staples. Others you might have to shop around for (like corn syrup).
For the dough, you’ll need warm milk, active dry yeast (use the fast acting kind), salt, granulated sugar, egg, canola oil (or vegetable oil), and all-purpose flour.
For the cinnamon filling, you’ll need softened butter (or margarine), light brown sugar, and ground cinnamon.
For the cinnamon roll icing, you’ll need cream cheese (at room temperature), softened butter (or margarine), vanilla extract, corn syrup, fresh lemon juice, and powdered sugar.
Once you have all of these ingredients, you are ready to make these fast and easy Cinnamon Rolls!
How to Make Cinnamon Rolls
- In a large liquid measuring cup, stir warm milk, yeast and 1 tablespoon of the granulated sugar together to dissolve. Stir and proof 5 minutes. Into the bowl of a stand mixer, measure out 3 cups of flour, the remaining sugar, and salt.
- Once yeast mixture looks bubbly and frothy, pour into the stand mixer with dry ingredients. Start to stir on low. Add in the egg and the oil. Scrape edges of the bowl to stir flour in evenly. Knead 5 minutes on low.
- If the dough seems a bit sticky, stir in 2 tablespoons of flour at a time until it starts pulling away from the bowl. {You still want it to be tacky, but not sticky enough to stick to your hands!} Rest dough 5 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with silicone baking mat or parchment paper, spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
Filling and Rolling
- Sprinkle counter with flour and roll dough to be about 18×24 inches. Spread with softened butter over dough, being sure to go right to the edges leaving a 1-inch strip untouched on one of the longer sides of dough.
- Dump brown sugar and cinnamon mixture onto the middle of the dough and spread with your hands, creating an even layer over top of the butter, still leaving that 1-inch strip of dough untouched. If you have any filling that falls off the sides of the dough, use a bench scraper to replace. Lightly press the sugar mixture into the butter using a rolling pin.
- Roll the dough up into a tight log, finishing with the plain dough on the bottom to seal the entire thing together. Cut off the uneven ends to even out the log. Slice your rolls into 1 1/2 inch rounds and place on prepared pan. Bake about 20 minutes or until tops start to brown lightly.
Cinnamon Roll Icing
- While the rolls are baking, whip cream cheese and butter together. Stir in vanilla, corn syrup and lemon juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Pour in powdered sugar and stir slowly until it starts to incorporate. Then mix on high for 5 minutes or until frosting starts to lighten in color. Scrape sides and mix again briefly.
- Once rolls have been removed from the oven, frost using half the amount made. Then after they have cooled a few more minutes, frost again with remaining frosting. The first frosting will melt down into the rolls and the second layer should stay put. Serve warm.
Cinnamon Roll Recipe Tips and Tricks
(some affiliate links below)
Original Recipe. These cinnamon rolls are based on my original Cinnamon Rolls recipe. If you have a little extra time on your hands, give the originals a whirl. If not, these are GREAT!
Thickness. You can cut these rolls to be thin or thick. Either is tasty; you’ll just have to cook the bigger ones longer.
Overkneading. Kneading dough in a stand mixer is a great way to make this dough, however, there is a tendency to add in too much flour. Be sure it’s sticky, but not sticky enough to stick to your fingers. Knead by hand is a great way to ensure the dough doesn’t get over kneaded.
Roulpat. I love my Roulpat for pie crusts, biscuits, cookie dough, and cinnamon roll dough too! It’s like the cousin of the Silpat. A silicone mat meant for doughs, not baking in the oven. It works amazingly well 🙂 I’ve been converted for a few years now and won’t go back. YOU CAN’T MAKE ME!
Food Processor. If you happen to have one of these on hand, it makes whipping the cream cheese frosting together a cinch! Seriously, if you have one, give it a try!!
Can I Make Cinnamon Rolls Ahead of Time?
Absolutely! Follow the recipe as directed but stop before baking! At this point, you can cover your rolls with plastic wrap and set them in the fridge overnight. When ready to bake, bring them to room temperature and then pick up where the directions left off and bake. You can even make the frosting ahead of time and refrigerate until ready to use.
Do I Have to use corn syrup?
No! The corn syrup adds a nice shine to the frosting and brings sweetness to it as well.
More Cinnamon Roll Recipes to Try!
- Chewy Soft Cinnamon Rolls
- The Best Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
- Warm Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake Dip
- Cinnamon Roll Cake Recipe
- Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls
- Christmas Tree Cinnamon Rolls
- Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Glaze
- Puff Pastry Cinnamon Rolls
- Cinnamon Roll Cookies
- Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls
- Pancake Mix Raspberry Cinnamon Rolls
- Cinnamon Roll French Toast Waffles
- Cinnamon Roll Pancake & Waffle Syrup
- Cinnamon Roll Pretzels
- Monster Blood and Guts {Raspberry Cinnamon Roll Pull-Aparts}
- Sweet Orange Rolls
Swoon is my middle name. Make sure you save this recipe, especially if you don’t have enough time to make the original Cinnamon Roll Recipe. Have a wonderful day!
xoxo-Lauren
1-Hour Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
for the dough-
- 1 cup warm milk
- 4 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast use the fast acting kind!
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
- 4-4 1/2 cups all purpose unbleached flour
for the filling-
- 1/3 cup salted butter softened
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
for the frosting-
- 2 oz. cream cheese at room temperature
- 1/4 cup salted butter softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 tablespoon corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
Making the Dough
- In a large liquid measuring cup, stir warm milk, yeast and 1 tablespoon of the granulated sugar together to dissolve. Stir and proof 5 minutes. Into the bowl of a stand mixer, measure out 3 cups of flour, the remaining sugar and salt.
- Once yeast mixture looks bubbly and frothy, pour into stand mixer with dry ingredients. Start to stir on low. Add in the egg and the oil. Scrape edges of bowl to stir flour in evenly. Knead 5 minutes on low.
- If dough seems a bit sticky, stir in 2 tablespoons of flour at a time until it starts pulling away from the bowl. {You still want it to be tacky, but not sticky enough to stick to your hands!} Rest dough 5 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with silicone baking mat or parchment paper, spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
Filling and Rolling
- Sprinkle counter with flour and roll dough to be about 18x24. Spread with softened butter over dough, being sure to go right to the edges leaving a 1-inch strip untouched on one of the longer sides of dough.
- Dump brown sugar and cinnamon mixture onto the middle of the dough and spread with your hands, creating an even layer over top of the butter, still leaving that 1-inch strip of dough untouched. If you have any filling that falls off the sides of the dough, use a bench scraper to replace. Lightly press the sugar mixture into the butter using a rolling pin.
- Roll the dough up into a tight log, finishing with the plain dough on the bottom to seal the entire thing together. Cut off the uneven ends to even out the log. Slice your rolls into 1 1/2 inch rounds and place on prepared pan. Bake about 20 minutes or until tops start to brown lightly.
For the Frosting
- While the rolls are baking, whip cream cheese and butter together. Stir in vanilla, corn syrup and lemon juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Pour in powdered sugar and stir slowly until it starts to incorporate. Then mix on high for 5 minutes or until frosting starts to lighten in color. Scrape sides and mix again briefly.
- Once rolls have been removed from the oven, frost using half the amount made. Then after they have cooled a few more minutes, frost again with remaining frosting. The first frosting will melt down into the rolls and the second layer should stay put. Serve warm.
They turned out good after baking and were delicious *
Thank you
Did not come out right.
Dough was hard as rocks.
The rolls turned out well after I added more water.
My apologies.
I have used this recipe for several years now. I make mine gluten free! It’s the best recipe I have found. I use King Arthur Measure for Measure flour and I add another teaspoon of xanthan gum to the flour. I have found that if you pack the flour they are very dry, so I measure it using the dipping method. These come out tasty and pretty good looking. I often share them at work and even my non gluten free friends like them. Thank you!
This recipe sounds Devine and easy enough to make!!! I will definitely 💯 make it for my husband very soon!!!
Common sense told me to let the dough raise til doubled and then again after the rolls are formed. Had I not done this, they would have been compact and hard as rocks. As it was, I didn’t let them raise quite enough but they were still good. One hour rolls from start to finish?? I don’t think so.
These were so delicious. Have to say was very skeotical about them working without any rise time but dang they worked. My house smelled so good. I never put any icing on my cinnamon buns and these didn’t need any. Will make these again and again.
Thanks Lauren for the fantastic and so easy and yummy recipe.
These were just as delicious as they were easy! My new favorite cinnamon roll recipe ❤️
Dough is not sweet enough, kind of tasteless to be honest and not light and fluffy like I thought they would be by the amount of yeast. Will keep looking for that perfect cinnamon roll recipe.
Question: your instructions say to put 3 cups flour in the mixing bowl and then add 2 tablespoons at a time until it is not sticky. It seemed to take forever to add the 2 tablespoons at a time to get it less sticky. Since the recipe calls for 4 1/2 cups can I put 4 cups in the bowl to start with or would that be too much to add at the beginning? I don’t want to start with too much but it seems the 3 cups is not nearly enough to start with.
I mean, it’s up to you. I like starting with 3 cups and working my way up which is why I wrote the recipe like that. I would start with 3 cups in the bowl and have the fourth measured out and sprinkle that is bit by bit. It will mix in quickly at first and then will start to turn into a dough. Thats when you need to be careful with your flour additions. You can always add more flour but can’t take away.
Amazing!! Worked perfectly👍❤ will be using this recipe more often!! Thank you for this!!
Ma’am
Any substitute for egg.
I have always wanted to try to make these! One hour just seems like a crazy short amount of time to make this deliciousness!! This would be perfect for Christmas morning! I’ll have to give them a try this year!!
My first recipe of yours that I tried! My family LOVES these ❤️
These look so good! I think I am going to try them this weekend.
These are an absolute favourite in our house!!! My family would have me make them daily! 💕💕
This is the best quick cinnamon roll recipe I have found- and I am somewhat of a cinnamon roll enthusiast. Highly recommend!
I did not think these would really work – but they did! 1 hour and they were so yummy! My family of 5 devoured the whole pan in one morning! Will definitely use this recipe many more times!!
I love this cinnamon roll recipe! They are quick and delicious! I make them for a morning surprise for my kids or a sweet side with chili. My kids even ask for them for their school birthday treats. I have always had a hard time with getting my yeast to activate and rise but I used the tips on this recipe and have had success every time! This is the first recipe I saw that brought me to Lauren’s blog and I have tried others and have loved them. I love the pictures… and explanation with the recipe. Thank you for helping me in my cooking/baking ventures!
[…] 1-Hour Cinnabons […]
When you say ‘fast acting yeast’, smdo you mean like SAF instant yeast?
Hi I just made these and should I have let them raise before baking? They are tight and small, did not rise. The dough was tacky maybe too much flour? The dough also tore when I was rolling it out. My husband loves cinnamon rolls and I want to perfect them. Help
You can give them more time to rise if they seem too tight and small. But if you added in too much flour, they would have a hard time rising. Perhaps your yeast was old or not fast acting?
Made these New Years Morning………..So Easy and Delicious! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Not sure what went wrong, but mine never did rise, and were tough on outside and doughie inside. Sad because they smelled wonderful, and your pics looked so yummy. The recipe is a bit confusing, because it says 4- 4 and 1/2 cups flour but then in directions it says 3 cups. So I assumed once I kept adding flour to the sticky dough and then rolled it out on flour surface it all added up to 4 and 1/2 cups? I think if I had let them rise 20 min instead of putting them straight in the oven, they would have worked out and still only taken an hour with 5 min for yeast to foam 5 min to knead in mixer, 5 min to proof, 20 min to rise, 20 min to bake, and 5 min to cool. Maybe I used wrong kind of yeast and flour? Saf Instant and Lehi Roller Mills Flour usually works for me though when I make my usual cinnamon roll recipe. 🙁
SO SORRY this recipe didn’t work for you! You kind of need to use guestimation with yeasted dough! So, the measurement was 4 to 4 1/2 cups flour. Some doughs don’t need the full 4 1/2 cups, depending on climate, humidity and how you measure the flour. Initially when you start mixing, add in 3 cups and then add in little bits of flour as needed until you get a smooth dough that is tacky but won’t stick to your hands. Hope that makes things a little more clear for you!
I tried recipe again and they turned out better this time! They were delicious. 😋