Homemade Small Batch Cinnamon Rolls

A close up of six cinnamon rolls covered with cream cheese icing.

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Homemade Small Batch Cinnamon Rolls

This recipe makes six perfect cinnamon rolls! This small batch is perfect if you aren't making them for a crowd. Each cinnamon roll is soft, gooey, and filled with cinnamon sugar. I've then topped them with cream cheese icing!

Prep Time30

Cook Time20

Resting Time2

Total Time2 50

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings:

Calories: 524kcal

Author: Ella Gilbert

Equipment

Eigthth Sheet Pan
Stand Mixer
Kitchen Scale
Measuring Spoons
Rolling Pin

Ingredients

Tangzhong

2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons whole milk
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Dough

2 cups bread flour
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1½ teaspoons instant yeast
⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon whole milk
1 large egg room temperature
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
4 tablespoons heavy cream

Cinnamon Filling

½ cup light brown sugar
½ tablespoon ground cinnamon
Pinch kosher salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature

Cream cheese icing

2 oz cream cheese room temperature
6 ½ tablespoons icing sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon butter room temperature

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Make Dough

Mix the water, milk and flour together in a small saucepan with a whisk.
2 tablespoons water, 2 tablespoons whole milk, 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Place over medium-low heat and cook, whisking constantly, until it becomes thick. Make sure to scrape along the sides of the saucepan. It should look like mashed potatoes. Take off the heat and pour into your mixing bowl. Set aside for a few minutes so it cools down.
Add the milk, egg, flour, salt, sugar, butter and yeast to the bowl with the tangzhong.
2 cups bread flour, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, 1½ teaspoons instant yeast, ⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon whole milk, 1 large egg, 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Mix on medium speed for about 12-15 minutes, until it become smooth but slightly sticky. If too sticky, add up to quarter cup of flour, one tablespoon at a time. Depending on the weather, sometimes I needed to add more flour so it wasn't too sticky so feel free to add a bit more!
Take the dough out of the bowl and use oiled hands to shape it into a ball. Lightly grease the bowl and place the dough ball back in. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise for 60-90 minutes (the time depends on how hot your kitchen is!).
Whisk the cinnamon and brown sugar together with a pinch of salt.
½ cup light brown sugar, ½ tablespoon ground cinnamon, Pinch kosher salt
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Roll it into a 16x12-inch rectangle.
Spread the butter on the dough, leaving about ¼ inch border around the edges. Sprinkle over the cinnamon sugar. I like to use my hands to press the cinnamon sugar into the dough!
Use a pizza cutter to slice it into six equal slices, from the long edge. Gently roll up each one.
Place in a greased and lined 8-inch round pan or an eighth sheet pan.
Cover the pan with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let rise for 40-50 minutes. If you want to make these rolls the night before, let them rise overnight in the fridge, making sure they're tightly covered.
Preheat the oven to 350℉/175℃.
This is optional, but you can heat up the heavy cream in the microwave so it's warm but not boiling. Pour the warm cream over the rolls.
4 tablespoons heavy cream
Bake for 18-22 minutes. They should be golden brown. While the rolls cool slightly, make the frosting.

Frosting

In a stand mixer or with a handheld mixer, beat all of the frosting ingredients together. Spread over warm rolls and enjoy!
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, 2 oz cream cheese, 6 ½ tablespoons icing sugar, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 tablespoon butter

Video

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

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.

Flour: I'm using bread flour but you can swap it out for all-purpose flour.

Salt: I always use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt, not Morton's salt and not coarse kosher salt. If you don't have Diamond Crystal, then swap it out for table salt. You'll need to use half the amount of sale (so 1 teaspoon of kosher salt = ½ teaspoon of fine sea salt)

Overnight: If you want to prep these the night before, make the rolls until they're in the pan. Cover them with plastic wrap and place them in the fridge overnight. The next morning, let them come to room temperature for 45-60 minutes before baking them in the oven.

Nutrition