Brown Butter Cinnamon Rolls with Brown Butter Frosting

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

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Brown Butter Cinnamon Rolls with Brown Butter Frosting

These soft and gooey brown butter cinnamon rolls have brown butter in the dough, cinnamon sugar filling, and the cream cheese frosting!

Prep Time1 30

Cook Time25

Resting Time2

Total Time2 55

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings: rolls

Calories: 549kcal

Author: Ella Gilbert

Equipment

9x13 baking tray
Stand Mixer
Measuring Cups
Bowls
Rolling Pin

Ingredients

Brown Butter

1 cup unsalted butter

Cinnamon Rolls

1 cup whole milk
2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
2 large eggs room temperature
5 cups all purpose flour
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
6 tablespoons brown butter
pinch ground cinnamon
pinch ground nutmeg
½ cup heavy cream

Cinnamon Filling

½ cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
pinch salt
4 tablespoons brown butter room temperature

Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

3 ½ tablespoons brown butter room temperature
½ cup cream cheese cold
2 cups confectioners' sugar
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Browning Butter

Start by browning all of the butter you'll need for this recipe. I recommend doing this a few hours before.
Place all of the butter in a large saucepan on the stove over medium-low heat and let it melt.
1 cup unsalted butter
Turn the heat to low and stir as the butter begins to foam and sputter. As you stir, you should start to see little white milk solids at the bottom of the pan.
Once the milk solids have turned golden brown and it smells nutty and toasted, pour all of it into a large bowl and let cool.
Place in the fridge and let firm up, but it should be soft to the touch (like room temperature butter!) I recommend stirring it every so often so all the brown bits don't just settle at the bottom. If they do settle though, it's fine. It just means when you're measuring out the butter in the rest of the recipe, try to scoop from the bottom of the bowl!

Cinnamon Rolls

Warm up your milk in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, you just want it to be lukewarm. Too hot and it will kill the yeast! Pour the milk into a medium bowl and add the yeast, stirring to combine. Leave for 5-10 minutes until it has foamed and there are bubbles
1 cup whole milk, 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
In the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, add the flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar and mix to combine.
5 cups all purpose flour, ¼ cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, pinch ground cinnamon, pinch ground nutmeg
Pour the milk, brown butter and eggs into the stand mixer bowl, and mix on low speed for 2-3 minutes. Raise the speed to medium and mix for another 3 minutes. Your dough should be smooth and not too sticky.
6 tablespoons brown butter, 2 large eggs
Take the dough out of the bowl and oil it, then scrape the dough back into it. Cover it loosely with clingfilm and let it rise at room temperature until it has doubled in size, about an hour to an hour and a half.
Butter a 9x13 baking dish.
Turn your dough onto a floured work surface and use a floured rolling pin to roll it into a large rectangle, measuring 18 inches (46cm) long, and 12 inches wide (30.5cm).
Mix together the cinnamon, sugar, and salt in a small bowl. Use a pastry brush to brush over the softened brown butter, leaving a ¼ inch margin, then sprinkle over the cinnamon mixture.
½ cup light brown sugar, 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, pinch salt, 4 tablespoons brown butter
From the long side, roll it into a tight spiral. Cut it into 12 pieces using either unflavored dental floss or a serrated knife. Place them into your buttered dish.
Cover loosely with clingfilm and let rise for about an hour. You’ll know the dough is ready when you poke it, it bounces back but leaves a bit of a dent. If the indentation doesn’t stay, it needs longer.
Preheat your oven to 350°F/180°C. Warm the heavy cream in a small saucepan. Just before putting it into the oven, pour your warm heavy cream on top of the rolls, and in the spaces between the rolls. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.
½ cup heavy cream

Frosting

In your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or in a bowl with a handheld mixer, beat the cream cheese with the remaining brown butter (there should be 50 grams/3 ½ tablespoons) on medium speed until smooth.
½ cup cream cheese
Add in the powdered sugar, salt, vanilla extract and beat on low speed for about 30 seconds. Increase the speed to high and beat for 1 minute. If your frosting is too thick, you can add up to 1 tablespoon of milk or heavy cream.
2 cups confectioners' sugar, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Notes

My recipes have been developed and tested in metric grams. I highly recommend using a weighing scale and measuring out your ingredients the metric way. It's also much easier to measure out the brown butter with a kitchen scale instead of tablespoons! I have provided a conversion to US cups but please note that I haven’t tested the recipe with this method. Just click on ‘US Customary’ above ingredients.

Browning Butter: You're going to brown all of the butter, then divide it up into the dough, filling and frosting. I recommend doing this ahead of time so the butter has time to firm up in the fridge! If you don't want to brown butter, I recommend using my brioche cinnamon roll recipe instead.

Cream: If you're based in Europe, you can use double cream instead of heavy cream.

Storage: Cover the rolls and keep them in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can warm them up in the microwave or oven.

Overnight: If you want to prep these the night before, make the rolls until they're in the pan and rising for the final time. Let them rise for 30 minutes instead of an hour, then place in the fridge overnight. The next morning, let them come to room temperature for 30-45 minutes before baking in the oven.

Freezing: Let the rolls cool completely. Place in a freezer bag or container and freeze for up to 3 months. To serve, take them out of the freezer the night before and let them defrost in the fridge. The next morning, heat your oven to 350 and bake for about 10 minutes.

Nutrition