These brown butter cinnamon rolls are loaded up with so much nutty, toasted brown butter flavor! The brioche dough is made with brown butter, brown butter cinnamon sugar filling and cream cheese frosting. These might be the most decadent homemade cinnamon rolls I've ever made! Plus, you can make them the night before and have warm brown butter cinnamon rolls the next morning!

Brown butter cinnamon rolls covered in brown butter frosting in a white baking dish.

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In my opinion, after 20 years of baking, I can safely say that brown butter makes everything better! From my brown butter cardamom almond cake to brown butter blondies, the subtle toasty and nutty taste of brown butter makes sweet treats a hundred times better (that's a fact! Ok, maybe not a fact, but still!)

I used the brioche cinnamon roll dough from my apple pie cinnamon rolls and chocolate cinnamon rolls and added softened brown butter instead of regular unsalted butter. I then brushed the dough with even more brown butter, before serving them with a brown butter cream cheese frosting. My husband might be biased, but he did say these were the best cinnamon rolls he's ever had! How perfect would these be for Christmas morning?

If you're looking more for a classic cinnamon roll, then try my brioche cinnamon rolls! But if you love brown butter recipes, then you need to try my brown butter chocolate chip espresso cookies and brown butter snickerdoodles!

Why you'll love this recipe!

Brown Butter Flavor: these cinnamon rolls have brown butter in not one, not two, but three parts of the recipe! I've used it in the brioche dough, with a brown butter filling and a nutty brown butter cream cheese icing. Never made brown butter before? Check out my post on how to make brown butter!
Make Ahead: you will have to make the brown butter ahead of time as it needs to firm up in the fridge. You can also make the cinnamon rolls the night ahead, pop them in the fridge, and then bake in the morning for fresh cinnamon buns!
Super Soft: I've developed a brioche dough recipe, using butter, sugar, milk, and eggs. Brioche dough is super soft, fluffy and light and I love using it for cinnamon rolls! The rolls are soaked in warm heavy cream just before baking, making them even softer.

Grab your ingredients

All the ingredients needed to make brown butter cinnamon rolls, weighed out into small bowls.

Flour: I've only tested these cinnamon rolls with all-purpose flour. If you're in the UK, that's plain flour! I haven't tested these with bread flour, which would make the cinnamon rolls chewier but they wouldn't be as soft.
Yeast: look for active dry yeast, and make sure it hasn't expired! Using yeast is going to give that rise to the cinnamon roll dough.
Eggs: using two eggs is going to add more moisture and chewiness to the dough. I recommend using room-temperature eggs, they'll bind with the ingredients more easily compared to cold eggs.
Unsalted Butter: we're going to need a lot of butter for the dough, filling and frosting! Because we're browning the butter, some of the water will evaporate in the saucepan, so we're using slightly more butter than what we need in order to account for the evaporation. Browning the milk solids in the butter is going to give us that nutty, toasted flavor that we want.
Milk: I recommend using whole milk if you can, and not skimmed milk. Whole milk is going to provide more flavor to the dough and make them richer.
Heavy Cream: now, this is totally optional but it's a trick I love! I warm up some heavy cream and pour it over the cinnamon rolls just before baking. This is going to make the cinnamon rolls super soft and so gooey.
Brown Sugar: the classic cinnamon roll filling uses light brown sugar, but in a pinch you could use dark brown sugar.
Ground Cinnamon: not only is there cinnamon in the filling, but I also add a pinch to the cinnamon roll dough along with some nutmeg!
Cream Cheese: I'm using full-fat cream cheese for the cream cheese frosting. My top tip is to use cold cream cheese and not room-temperature cream cheese, which I find thins out too quickly when whipping it up with the other ingredients.

Substitutions & Additions

Cardamom: if you want more of a Scandinavian twist on these brown butter cinnamon rolls, add ground cardamom to the filling! You could also add a pinch to the brioche dough.
Heavy Cream: adding warm heavy cream to the buns just before baking is optional, so feel free to leave that out if you don't have heavy cream on hand.

How to make

Step 1: Brown all the butter. Place the butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat and melt the butter. It should begin to foam and sputter, and then the milk solids will turn light brown and it will smell toasty. Pour into a large bowl, making sure you get all the brown bits and let cool. Place in the fridge until firmed up. I recommend stirring it every so often so the brown butter is evenly distributed.

Step 2: Heat the milk up in the microwave so it's warm, then add the yeast. Stir and let sit for 5 minutes, until small bubbles form. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine the flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar.

Brioche cinnamon roll dough in a glass bowl.

Step 3: Add the warm milk mixture to the flour mixture, as well as the eggs and browned butter. Mix on low speed for 2-3 minutes, then medium speed for 3 minutes. At first it might seem a bit dry but it will all come together!

Step 4: Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 ½ hours, or until doubled in size.

Brioche dough rolled out and brushed with brown butter.

Step 5: On a lightly floured surface, roll out the cinnamon roll dough until it's 18x12 inches long with a lightly floured rolling pin. Brush the brown softened butter over the dough, leaving a small border.

Brioche dough rolled out and covered in cinnamon sugar.

Step 6: Mix the ground cinnamon and brown sugar together. Sprinkle over the cinnamon sugar mixture.

A brown butter cinnamon roll log being sliced.

Step 7: Tightly roll up the dough from the long side. Use unflavored dental floss or a sharp knife to cut the log into 12 equal pieces.

Unbaked brown butter cinnamon rolls in a white baking dish.

Step 8: Place the rolls in a buttered 9x13 baking dish and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let rise for another hour at room temperature. Preheat the oven to 350°Fahrenheit.

Baked brown butter cinnamon rolls in a white baking dish.

Step 7: Warm up the heavy cream (if using) in the microwave and pour over the rolls. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Take out of the oven and let cool.

Brown butter cream cheese frosting in a glass bowl.

Step 8: In a medium bowl with a hand mixer or in a stand mixer, beat the remaining brown butter with the cold cream cheese. Once combined, add the remaining frosting ingredients. Frost your rolls and enjoy!

A brown butter cinnamon roll covered in brown butter cream cheese frosting on a small plate.

My Tips

Brown Butter: the brown butter solids tend to settle at the bottom of the bowl in the fridge. I recommend stirring it every so often in the fridge, but if you don't do that, just make sure you scoop the butter from the bottom of the bowl when you're measuring it out!
Kitchen Scale: it is obviously going to be a lot easier to measure out the brown butter with a kitchen scale! You can get them online for just a couple of bucks and it makes baking so much easier.
Slicing Up Rolls: My usual method is taking a long piece of dental floss, and using it to slice the rolls. I did try a fun method I saw on TikTok, where after sprinkle over the cinnamon sugar, you slice up the dough on the long edge with a pizza cutter! From there, you can individually roll each cinnamon roll.
When the Dough is Ready: you'll know the cinnamon rolls are ready to bake in their second rise when you poke the dough with your finger, and it slowly bounces back.
Overnight Rise: if you want to prep the rolls the night before and bake them the next day, only let them rise for 30 minutes once they're in the baking dish. Then place in the fridge. The next day, let them come to room temperature for 30-45 minutes and then bake in the oven.
Small Batch: looking for a small batch of cinnamon rolls? I've got a small batch cinnamon bun recipe that makes 6 perfect rolls!

Serving Suggestions

Breakfast Spread: serve these brown butter cinnamon rolls with some buttermilk french toast, sweet cream pancakes or apple waffles!
Pumpkin Spice Latte: to me, brown butter just screams fall! So I love serving a brown butter cinnamon roll with a pumpkin spice latte. I love making my own using homemade pumpkin sauce!

Storage & Freezing

Keep the rolls covered with plastic wrap at room temperature for 2-3 days. I like reheating my rolls in the microwave for about 15-20 seconds before enjoying.

A hand grabbing a brown butter cinnamon roll covered in cream cheese icing.

Try these breakfast recipes next!

Ella from Alpine Ella is holding a cake stand with cupcakes on it.

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Thank you!

Ella