Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting (Cinnabon Copycat)

Cinnabon lovers of the world, rejoice!

If you have stayed away from making cinnamon rolls because you think they are hard….this post will change your life for the better! 🙂  If you have stayed away from making cinnamon rolls because they just take too much of your precious time….ditto.

I have to say that one of my all-time greatest kitchen tools has been having a breadmaker. And I rarely ever use it to bake and cook the bread. But it just makes it sooooo easy to throw the ingredients in, walk away, and come back to dough for bread, rolls, breadsticks, pizza, and….yes…..cinnamon rolls with lots of cream cheese frosting!

I have owned a Sunbeam Breadmaker for many years and at the time of this post, it is $48 on Amazon….so a pretty great investment! (We just bought one as a gift last week and it was $68 then….bummer, but still overall a good deal.)

If you don’t have time to let these rise for 3 hours, pre-heat your oven to 200*. Then turn it off. Place a bowl or pan of warm water on the bottom rack of your oven and the cookie sheet with the cinnamon rolls, covered with a dish cloth, on the rack above it. Check them after 20 min, then every 5 minutes. (When I did this, mine were fully risen in 25 minutes.) Remove the dishcloth and the bowl of water. Then preheat the oven to 400*. You WILL need to adjust the baking time and not bake for as long, but it will depend on how quickly your oven pre-heats. Mine were ready about 12 minutes from when I set it to pre-heat to 400*, but your oven could be different, so check them frequently once the oven is preheated. Remove when they are golden brown on the top.

This recipe will make 20 medium-sized cinnamon rolls or 15 large cinnamon rolls.  I am sure that you could make smaller ones and make more if neccessary for a crowd.  I say, “go big or go home,” but it’s up to you! 🙂

Do yourself a favor and use real butter for the frosting. If you haven’t had to let your cream cheese and butter sit out to become soft, that’s ok. Put the cream cheese in a microwave safe bowl and warm for 10-12 seconds or until it has softened. Then do the same with the butter, but start at 8 seconds or so, so it doesn’t actually melt. If it’s slightly melted, or even completely melted, it will be ok, but your frosting will be smoother if it is not melted.

If you like your frosting thicker on top, wait a little longer to spread the frosting. If you like it more melted, you can spread the frosting right when they come out of the oven. I like to wait about 5 minutes so that some of the frosting melts and seeps into the creases, but there is still a thick amount on the top.

I have included the instructions for making the dough without a breadmaker, but I haven’t done this for probably 15 years, so I’m no expert and would be interested to know how it works out for any of you doing it that way!

Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting

These Cinnabon-style cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting are the perfect after school snack, dessert, or special breakfast!

Prep Time

25 min

Cook Time

10 min

Passive Time

4 1/2 hours

Servings

rolls

Ingredients

Dough

• 1 large egg
• 1/4 c butter or margarine, softened
• 1/2 c warm water
• 1/2 c warm milk
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/3 c sugar
• 3-1/2 c bread flour
• 2-1/4 tsp active dry yeast

Cinnamon Filling

• 1/2 c butter
• 3/4 c brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 3 oz cream cheese softened
• 5 Tbsp butter softened
• 2 c powdered sugar
• 2 tsp Vanilla

Prep Time 25 min Cook Time 10 min Passive Time 4 1/2 hours Servings rolls Ingredients Dough 1 large egg 1/4 c butter or margarine, softened 1/2 c warm water 1/2 c warm milk 1 tsp salt 1/3 c sugar 3-1/2 c bread flour 2-1/4 tsp active dry yeast Cinnamon Filling 1/2 c butter 3/4 c brown sugar 1 Tbsp cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting 3 oz cream cheese softened 5 Tbsp butter softened 2 c powdered sugar 2 tsp Vanilla

Instructions

1. Put ingredients into bread maker in order specified by your instruction manual. (It will usually be in the order given or the exact opposite.) Select a large loaf size and the dough setting and start.
2. When dough is ready, remove it from the bread maker, cover with a dry cloth and let it rest on a floured surface for 10 min.
3. Place dough on floured surface. Roll dough into a 20x10 inch rectangle. Spread with butter. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle on top of butter. Roll up, rolling from the long edge of the rectangle dough.
4. Cut into 15 (large) or 20 (medium) pieces and place on a greased cookie sheet or a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.
5. Raise for 3 hours, or until double or triple in size.
6. Bake at 400* for 10 min or until top starts to turn golden brown.
7. While cinnamon rolls are baking, beat softened cream cheese and butter with a mixer until well combined. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until creamy.
8. Cool for 5 minutes and spread frosting over the top.

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