One-Hour Cinnamon Rolls

It never fails that on any given Saturday or Sunday, my kids ask for cinnamon rolls for breakfast. And, it never fails that I always forget to plan ahead when it comes to weekend breakfast or brunch. Always.

Don’t these kids know that most cinnamon roll recipes need to be prepared the night before?! Well, now I’m the hero. Because I discovered these ready in one hour homemade cinnamon rolls.

And they’re not the kind that come out of a can either. These are made start to finish in about an hour. Can I get a woo-hoo for being a weekend breakfast hero?!

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Homemade cinnamon rolls ready in one hour, you say?

That’s right, you read that correctly. These homemade cinnamon rolls are made from scratch, baked, smothered in cream cheese icing and ready to be devoured in one hour flat.

They’re like miracle cinnamon rolls, that’s what they are. The trick to these is instant yeast, which requires much less proofing time than active dry yeast. You could always go the cinnamon rolls in a can route, but… Lemme count the ways this homemade 1-hour recipe is waaaaaay better:

1. You make them yourself so you know exactly what goes into them
2. You don’t have to worry about popping that scary cardboard tube of cinnamon rolls open with a knife or a spoon. I cringe just thinking of that pop
3. You get to decide exactly how much cream cheese icing gets slathered all over your warm, fresh-out-of-the oven cinnamon buns. You won’t become another victim of the there’s-not-enough-icing-for-everyone-so-use-it-sparingly pre-made version
4. Your house will smell like a bakery and your family will sing your praises for at least a week
5. You don’t have to think ahead and prepare anything the night before! You can wake up on a lazy weekend morning, prepare these, stick them in the oven and instantly become the mom/dad/sister/brother/aunt/uncle/best friend who makes delicious homemade sticky cinnamon buns for breakfast – hero status, I tell ya

Putting these Cinnamon Rolls together

To make these cinnamon rolls, start by mixing the dough and letting it rest for a few minutes while you make the filling. The filling is a simple mixture of cinnamon and sugar which you’ll sprinkle on top of a layer of butter. Mmmmmm!

When the dough has rested, roll it out into a rectangle, spread the butter on top then sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Roll it up from the long end, pinch the seams, and cut into 11-12 individual rolls.

Allow these to rise for 25 minutes then bake. When they’re baking, mix up the cream cheese icing (the very best part and really the only reason I make cinnamon rolls to begin with).

I like to slather as much of the cream cheese icing on top when the cinnamon rolls are still very warm. Some of it will melt and that’s perfectly okay! This recipe makes plenty of icing to keep everyone happy.

Tips for Making This Recipe

• In the first step, you need to warm up a mixture of milk and butter until the butter is melted. Before moving onto the next step, it’s very important to make sure the milk has cooled down to 110 degrees F. You do not want to add your yeast to the milk/butter mixture if it’s too hot. This will certainly kill your yeast and any chances of becoming the weekend breakfast hero your family is routing for. Yeast is sensitive in that it needs a warm, not hot, environment in which to bloom and give life to your dough. I highly recommend using a digital thermometer to get an accurate read on the temperature of your milk before adding the yeast to it. The thermometer is inexpensive and if you order one today, I’m sure Amazon Prime will have it to you before the weekend is here!
• Once you have rolled your dough up with the filling, it’s easiest and best to use unflavored, unwaxed dental floss to cut the dough into individual rolls, preventing the dough from getting squished down. To cut dough with dental floss, simply break off a piece of floss about 12 inches long. Very carefully slide the middle of the floss under the dough to the place where you want to cut. Pull the ends of the floss up and cross over the top of the dough, as if you were about to tie a knot. Give a quick tug on both sides of the floss to cut all the way through the dough. This is the best method for not squishing down your dough while cutting it. If you do not have dental floss, use a sharp knife and press down gently to avoid misshapen rolls
• To get a good rise on your cinnamon rolls in a short time, I recommend placing the covered pan in a slightly warm oven. You can warm up your oven in a couple of ways: 1) turn the oven on for exactly 1 minute to 350 degrees F then turn off and place the pan inside or 2) simply turn on the interior oven light while the rolls are proofing inside. Either of these methods provides a just-warm-enough environment in which to allow the buns to rise

Like this recipe? Follow me on Pinterest for lots more recipes. And don’t forget to pin this recipe for later by clicking on the image below the recipe or by clicking on any of the images in this post!

For more delicious weekend breakfast or brunch recipes that won’t take you all day to prepare, give these a try:

• Two-Ingredient Biscuits
• Chocolate Toaster Pastries
• Bakery-Style Double Chocolate Chip Muffins

Useful Kitchen Tools for Making Cinnamon Rolls

9-inch Round Cake Pan

Rolling Pin

Unflavored Unwaxed Dental Floss

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