Whip up your favorite cinnamon roll recipe and bake them in muffin tins to make super cute and easy to share cinnamon roll muffins. They are pillowy soft with a buttery cinnamon sugar filling and a dreamy cream cheese frosting! Drool.
Cinnamon roll muffins with cream cheese frosting
You’re looking at the perfect sweet holiday brunch to whip up this year. These pillowy cinnamon bun muffins look bakery-worthy, but come together with simple ingredients in no time to make your next brunch gathering a little sweeter. Plus, they’ll make your home smell amazing.
What are cinnamon roll muffins?
You may have heard other people call cinnamon roll muffins cinnamon roll muffins and I’m here to tell you that’s a scam and a lot of bite when I hear someone call cinnamon roll muffins, I imagine soft, buttery, fluffy cinnamon sugar. A rolled roll in a muffin tin. Not a boring old vanilla muffin swirled in cinnamon sugar. Don’t get me wrong – it’s also delicious, but I find it very misleading. I’m sure you’ll feel the same way after you sink your teeth into one of these Gooey Cinnamon Bun Muffins that are literally cinnamon buns baked in a muffin pan.
Ingredients for cinnamon roll muffins
Cinnamon rolls are one of those magical candies that taste like they have a million ingredients, but actually require basic pantry staples that you probably already have on hand. Here’s your grocery list for these homemade cinnamon rolls:
- All purpose flour: All-purpose flour perfect for creating soft, fluffy dough and slightly pillowy breads. I’ve also been able to make these with bread flour, but I find that bread flour makes them a bit chewier!
- Sugar: You will need a little granulated sugar to activate the yeast and also to sweeten your dough a little!
- Instant yeast: We usually use Fleischmann’s Quick Rising for these homemade cinnamon buns, but any quick rising yeast will work here! You can also use normal active yeast and double the rising times!
- butter: You will need butter for both the cinnamon roll dough and the cream cheese frosting. We prefer to use unsalted butter so you can control the amount of salt that goes into your baked goods! However, if all you have on hand is salted butter, this will work just fine too!
- milk: Any type of milk will work in this recipe, but for a super soft and buttery dough we recommend using whole milk!
- Eggs: These homemade cinnamon rolls are enriched dough, meaning the recipe calls for eggs. The eggs will give your dough a soft structure!
- cinnamon: Oh duh. You will need cinnamon for the cinnamon sugar filling! Sometimes when I feel spicy, I also put 1 teaspoon in the dough!
- Brown sugar: Brown sugar is the perfect, caramelized, soft sugar to use for your cinnamon sugar filling. You can feel free to use light brown sugar or dark brown sugar, but we don’t recommend using it with granulated sugar – it won’t melt the same way!
- Cream cheese: In my opinion it’s not a cinnamon roll if it’s not completely smothered in cream cheese frosting. It is imperative that you use cream cheese at room temperature to get the creamy, smooth texture.
- sugar powder: You will need powdered sugar to sweeten and thicken your cream cheese frosting.
How to make cinnamon roll muffins ahead of time?
That’s our number one question when it comes to homemade yeast baked goods, and especially with cinnamon rolls that you might not have to wake up at the crack of dawn to whip up on Christmas morning. Luckily you can make these bad boys the night before so you can roll out of bed, pop the buns in the oven and start your day with the perfect butter note. Prepare the recipe as directed, but after you have cut the rolls and placed them in your muffin pan, cover the muffin pan and refrigerate overnight. The cold refrigerator will slow the proof and the buns will rise slowly all night. In the morning, take the buns out of the fridge and place them on the counter for half an hour to warm up before baking according to the instructions!
Can you freeze these cinnamon roll muffins?
You sure can. Make the cinnamon rolls according to the directions and let them cool completely before freezing! If you know you’re going to freeze them, I recommend holding back on the frosting because the frosting can get a little funky when frozen and reheated. Place in a sealed plastic bag for the freezer or in a sealed container and freeze for up to 3 months! When you’re ready to serve them, pop them in the 350 degree oven until they’re heated all the way through! This will make your cinnamon rolls taste fresh baked if you freeze them after heating!
Whip up your favorite cinnamon roll recipe and bake them in muffin tins to make super cute and easy to share cinnamon roll muffins. They are pillowy soft with a buttery cinnamon sugar filling and a dreamy cream cheese frosting! Drool.
-
Preparation time:
30 minutes -
boarding time:
2 hours -
Cooking time:
20 minutes -
total time:
Two hours and fifty minutes -
yield:
12 buns 1X -
category:
Breakfast -
method:
yeast -
kitchen:
American
-
Preparation time:
30 minutes -
boarding time:
2 hours -
Cooking time:
20 minutes -
total time:
Two hours and fifty minutes -
yield:
12 buns 1X -
category:
Breakfast -
method:
yeast -
kitchen:
American
singularity:
ladder:
- Preparation time: 30 minutes
- boarding time: 2 hours
- Cooking time: 20 minutes
- total time: Two hours and fifty minutes
- yield: 12 buns 1X
- category: Breakfast
- method: yeast
- kitchen: American
Component
for the dough
- 4 cups All purpose flour
- 1/3 Goblet Sugar
- 1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) instant quick-rising yeast
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 6 spoons butter
- 1 Egg, room temperature
For the cinnamon sugar filling
- 1/4 Goblet Butter, room temperature
- 2/3 Goblet light brown sugar
- 1 tbsp Ground cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
For the cream cheese glaze
- 1 tbsp Cream cheese
- 1 1/2 cups sugar powder
- 2 To 3 spoons of milk
- Pinch of salt
- 1/4 tsp Vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix 2 cups of the flour, yeast, salt and sugar. Mix to combine.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave the milk and butter for 30 seconds until they heat up and the butter is mostly melted. The mixture should be warm, but not hot. If it is too hot, be sure to let it cool before adding the yeast to prevent killing the yeast. Add the egg, warm milk and butter to the flour mixture.
- Beat on low speed, gradually increase to high until fully combined, about 2 minutes.
- Scrape the bowl and add another 1 cup of flour while mixing until combined. Add the remaining cup of flour a little at a time until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl and form a ball.
Turn the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes until you get a uniform dough and you can stretch a piece of dough between your fingers without it breaking. This means the gluten has developed and your dough will be pillowy soft. - Transfer the dough to a greased bowl and cover. Let rise in a warm place for about an hour or until the dough doubles in size.
- While the dough is rising, prepare the filling. Mix the sugar, cinnamon and salt together in a small bowl and mix well. set aside.
- After the dough has risen, roll it into a long 18×12 inch rectangle on a well floured surface.
Spread the butter for the filling to the edge of the dough. Sprinkle the sugar mixture over the butter, pressing it down to stick to the butter. - From the long end, roll the dough away from you into a tight roll, sealing the bottom edge down by pinching the dough together.
- Use dental floss or a very sharp knife to cut the dough into 12 even rolls. Generously grease the entire muffin pan (I like to brush melted butter all over with a pastry brush), and place each roll in each muffin cup, making sure the dough is completely stuck in each cup.
- Cover loosely with a dishtowel and leave to rise for another hour until it doubles in volume and swells.
- Bake the cinnamon rolls at 350°F for 20 minutes or until golden brown and no longer doughy. Allow to cool.
- While the buns are cooling, prepare the glaze. Place the cream cheese in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 15 to 30 seconds or until softened. Add the powdered sugar, milk, salt and vanilla. Whisk together until smooth.
- Spread the coating evenly on the 12 buns. Enjoy hot!
Keywords: Cinnamon roll muffins
