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Quick 45 Minute Cinnamon Rolls are made with homemade dough filled with ground cinnamon, and a brown sugar mixture rolled and baked in less than an hour. Drizzle a sweet glaze over the top, making this the VERY BEST breakfast!
Fluffy and soft cinnamon rolls taste even better than Cinnabon and are ready in just 45 minutes! Try these strawberry cinnamon rolls, these delicious overnight cinnamon rolls, and of course, these tasty caramel apple cinnamon rolls. There are so many delicious ones to try!
A Reader’s Review
Quick 45-Minute Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
This is the only cinnamon bun recipe you will ever need! These cinnamon rolls are Incredibly soft, fluffy, and ready in just 45 minutes. And no, they are not made with pre-made or canned dough. The dough is made entirely from scratch and rises super fast, thanks to my oven-proofing method. You basically make the dough and let it rest for just 5 minutes. Then, you roll and cut the cinnamon rolls and let them rise in a warm, preheated 200-degree Fahrenheit oven.
They will rise in just 20 minutes and are then ready for baking. You then turn on the oven to 375F and bake for 15 minutes, and that’s pretty much it! The result is soft and fluffy cinnamon rolls that are out of this world. Top with my easy glaze, and enjoy these warm rolls right out of the oven!
What you need to make Quick 45 Minute Cinnamon Rolls
Don’t let the ingredient list scare you! Most of the ingredients are right in your refrigerator and pantry. These cinnamon rolls come together quickly and easily in just a few simple steps.
Dough
- Flour: This adds thickness and combines it all together.
- Sugar: You need sugar for a sweet taste.
- Salt: The salt adds just enough to help the yeast rise.
- Instant Yeast: This makes it so that your dough can rise at a quicker pace.
- Water: Water softens the dough and creates a sticky, gooey texture.
- Milk: You can use whatever milk you have on hand. I used one percent milk, which gave these a creamy and smooth texture with a hint of flavor.
- Butter: I used unsalted butter in this recipe.
- Large Egg: The egg will combine it all together.
Filling
- Butter: The butter is melted and used to combine the cinnamon and brown sugar tougher.
- Cinnamon: You can’t have a cinnamon roll without cinnamon!
- Brown Sugar: I love how this brings a little sweetness to the cinnamon rolls.
Glaze
- Powdered Sugar: It dissolves quickly and makes this icing glaze come together.
- Vanilla Extract: A splash of vanilla makes the perfect blend of icing and tastes SO good!
- Milk: This combines with powdered sugar to form the glaze.
How to Make Quick 45-Minute Cinnamon Rolls
These cinnamon rolls are SO good and melt in your mouth. Trust me! These cinnamon rolls will not last long and are always a huge hit! Watch the glaze fall into the cracks and in-between the cinnamon rolls getting ooey-gooey.
Dough
- Mix and knead: In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast until evenly dispersed. Set aside. In a small microwavable bowl, heat the water, milk, and butter together in the microwave until the butter is melted (about 30-45 seconds). Stir the butter mixture into the flour mixture. Add the egg and knead with a hand or stand mixer for 3-4 minutes or until the dough is no longer sticky. Place in a lightly greased bowl and let rest for about 5 minutes.
- Preheat oven: Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and turn it off after 10 minutes or just before placing rolls in the oven.
Filling
- Roll and add to pan: After the dough has rested for 5 minutes, roll it out in a 15×9 inch rectangle. Spread the softened butter on top. Mix the cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle it all over the dough. Roll up the dough tightly and cut it into 9 (large) even pieces. Place in a lightly greased 9-inch or square pan (or cut into 12 small pieces and place in a 9×13 pan) and lightly cover with aluminum foil or plastic wrap.
- Let the roll rise in the oven, then bake: TURN OFF the oven and place the cinnamon buns in the oven to rise for 20 minutes. Keep the buns in the oven (REMOVE THE FOIL OR PLASTIC) and turn on the oven to 375F. Bake the cinnamon rolls for 15-20 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and top with glaze.
Glaze
- Combine and Drizzle: Mix the powdered sugar, vanilla, and 2 Tablespoons milk together until smooth and lump-free. Drizzle over warm rolls.
Tips for Making Quick 45-Minute Cinnamon Rolls
There are several tips for making quick 45-minute cinnamon rolls, but simply following the recipe is straightforward and will help make the best of the best cinnamon rolls! Watch how easily these cinnamon rolls come together.
Dough:
- Liquids: Any liquid, like water or milk, should all be warm to keep the yeast active.
- Rising the dough: For a quicker rise, turn the oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Once it reaches 200 degrees Fahrenheit then turn the oven off and let the dough rise in the oven.
- Yeast: It is best to use active dry yeast. You will want to make sure it is fresh too. If it is old, it doesn’t work as well, and your cinnamon rolls may turn out flat.
- Proof the yeast: You can proof the yeast by simply adding water, yeast, and sugar to it. You can tell good yeast by it being foamy after dissolving in the mixture. If it is not foaming, discard that yeast mixture. Your cinnamon rolls will not rise.
Rolls:
- Rolling out the Dough: The thinner you roll out your dough, the more layers and rings it will have rolled up.
- Rolled Dough: After the dough is rolled into a log shape, use non-flavored dental floss to help you cut the cinnamon rolls. The dental floss is a clean cut and helps the rolled dough from flattening and squishing.
- Spray your wrap: When letting your cinnamon rolls raise or anytime they are covered, spray the aluminum foil or plastic wrap before covering your cinnamon rolls. This will avoid the covering from sticking to the cinnamon rolls.
- Filling Variations: Try pumpkin pie spice to the mixture or use fruit fillings to add a little more flavoring.
- Using a Bread Machine: This will work in a bread machine too! Simply add all dough ingredients into the bread machine. Set the bread machine on the dough cycle. Once it is done, let the dough rise for another 10 to 15 minutes.
Glaze:
- Storing the Icing: go ahead and make the icing ahead of time if you need to. Just keep it covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- Icing Variations: Change the flavoring on the icing by adding either almond extract or cinnamon to add a little different flavor to your cinnamon rolls.
- Frosting: Let your cinnamon rolls cool for a couple of minutes, but it is best to frost while they are hot, and the frosting can melt on them into each of the layers.
45 Minute Cinnamon Rolls FAQs
Here are a few questions that you may have when making cinnamon rolls. Hopefully, these frequently asked questions and answers can help make these cinnamon rolls easier for you.
- What type of yeast should I use? It is best to use high active yeast when making cinnamon rolls. Traditional yeast does not rise quickly enough compared to the high active yeast.
- What flour is best? All-Purpose flour is best for baking. If you need to use bread flour or gluten-free flour, that will work as well. The texture and taste may be altered a bit using anything besides All-Purpose flour.
- Why didn’t my cinnamon rolls rise? There are a lot of variables on this question. To start, it could simply be your yeast. It may be old and expired and not functioning properly for yeast. If your liquids were not hot when combining could also dilute and kill the yeast. There may not have been enough time for them to rise. If you are baking in the wintertime, you may need a little more time to rise the dough since it is colder than normal. To help, place them in the oven, by a window with sunlight, or simply give them a little more time than an hour.
- Sticky Dough: Add a tablespoon of flour until it is no longer sticky on your fingers.
- Why do my cinnamon rolls seem to fall after baking? Kneading too much can cause the cinnamon rolls to fall apart after baking. I like to use a mixer to do most of the work and prevent me from over-kneading the dough.
How to Store Leftover Cinnamon Rolls
Quick 45-minute cinnamon rolls don’t last long! I haven’t had a chance to even freeze these or store more than 24 hours. They are that good and always a family favorite.
- Bake Ahead of Time: This is always a great idea when making the next day for breakfast. Simply follow the instructions before baking your cinnamon rolls. Once sliced and in a pan to rise. After they have risen, make sure they are covered and placed in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Before baking your cinnamon rolls, remove them from the refrigerator and let rise once again for about one hour. Then follow the instructions and bake accordingly.
- To Freeze: These are great for freezing. The glaze can either be left off until warming up or leave it on while it is in the freezer. Following the cinnamon roll instructions, bake, frost, or freeze your glaze separately. Then let cool, cover, and place as a pan or individually wrapped cinnamon rolls in the freezer for up to 1 month. When ready to eat, let your cinnamon rolls thaw overnight on the countertop or refrigerator.
- To Reheat: When ready to warm up, place in the oven for best results and warm up on low until the frosting has melted through, or use a microwave to warm up in 15 to 30-second intervals. Try not to overheat in the microwave, leaving these overcooked and dry.
More Cinnamon Recipes to Try
Breakfast
Baked Cinnamon Roll Oatmeal
Desserts
Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes
Desserts
Churro Cupcakes
Desserts
Cream Cheese Snickerdoodles
Quick 45 Minute Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
- 2 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 package instant yeast (1 packet = 2 and ¼ teaspoons)
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup milk
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 large egg
Filling:
- 1/4 cup salted butter softened
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup heavy cream for drizzling over buns before baking
Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2-3 Tablespoons milk
- 4 ounces cream cheese room temperature
Instructions
To Make the Dough
- In a large bowl, mix the flour, the sugar, salt, and yeast together until evenly dispersed. Set aside. In a small microwavable bowl, heat the water, milk, and butter together in the microwave until the butter is melted (about 30-45 seconds). Stir the butter mixture into the flour mixture. Add the egg and knead with hand or with stand mixer for 3-4 minutes or until the dough is no longer sticky. Place in a lightly greased bowl and let rest for about 5 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit and turn off after 10 minutes or just before placing rolls in oven.
To Make the Filling
- After the dough has rested for 5 minutes, roll it out in a 15×9 inch rectangle. Spread the softened butter on top. Mix together the cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle it all over the dough. Roll up the dough tightly and cut into 9 (large) even piece. Place in a lightly greased 9-inch or square pan (or cut into 12 small pieces and place in a 9×13 pan) and lightly cover with aluminum foil or plastic wrap.
- TURN OFF the oven and place the cinnamon buns in the oven to rise for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove the foil or plastic wrap and drizzle the ¼ cup of heavy cream evenly over the top of the buns.
- Put the buns back in the oven and turn on the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake the cinnamon rolls for 15-20 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and top with glaze.
To Make the Glaze
- Mix the cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, 2 tablespoons milk together until smooth and lump free. Spread over warm rolls.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Serves: 9
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods and portion sizes per household.
I have been making this cinnamon rolls for years! They’re so easy, quick and delicious! About to make a batch for tomorrow morning! 🤤
The perfect recipe for breakfast, by the way, I have never made Cinnamon rolls but I would love to try this. Your instructions are so clear that anyone can make it. I hope I will make it perfect and will tell you how it tastes. Thanks.
Quick…easy…perfect!
Made these today they turned out great. Only thing I did different was I made a cream cheese glaze. My husband said that is a keeper
Can you make these until the point of baking and refrigerate and then bake the next day? I’m trying to not wake up at 5 in the morning. 😬
I made these last night with my 2yo and they were perfect and so easy!
I’m in Australia and I’m not sure if our cinnamon is different here (I know the tablespoon measurement is about 5ml out between AU and USA but I still used our regular 20ml tablespoons and that was fine) but I thought 2 tablespoons of cinnamon seemed like an awful lot so I used 2 teaspoons instead and it was still super cinnamon-y and yum!
Just a note for my fellow Aussies I guess.. I feel like 2 tablespoons would have actually been unbearably spicy and overpowering?
Adding these to our ‘tried and tested favourites’ anyway! Thanks for the recipe!
We made these this morning and they were delicious. My only note would be that the recipe says 45 minutes but it took us more like 80 minutes with a 3 year old (the baking and resting stages take 40 minutes total) We all loved them.
Tasted good and recipe was easy to follow, but the dough seemed very dry (and I mean before we kneaded, it was just coming together very crumbly). Dry enough that it seemed strange and so I figured that instead of our elevation/humidity that it must be an intentional part of the recipe and only added a bit more (warm) water. It was never really “sticky,” so I guess that should have been my first hint! Resulting rolls were not very fluffy at all, although did rise some and were bready and edible. Suppose if I wanted fluffier rolls I should have just committed to a normal recipe.
Perhaps add another little tip about the dough that you not only can add more flour if it’s wet but also more water or milk if it’s dry? This is a normal thing to do with breads and I’ve done it many times but, again, it was so dry that I thought it might be intentional.
My rolls were very dry too. Not sure why either. The dough did seem drier before kneading than other recipes I’ve made.
Something must have not come together correctly. The consistency should have been like a regular bread dough. I’ve been making this recipe for years and is my go to Christmas morning treat.
Great recipe! I made 12 instead of 9 and opted for a cream cheese icing but otherwise followed the recipe as written. Delicious!
Thank you so much for this recipe! This was my first time making cinnamon rolls. Your instructions were perfect and the cinnamon rolls were absolutely delicious. I will definitely be making them again!
Thank you so much!! These cinnamon rolls are a favorite at our house!!
Way too salty for my taste buds, otherwise great texture, soft and fluffy
Hi there it days 1 packet of yeast which I dont have a have a jar of yeast so how much of the yeast should I measure?
A packet of yeast is about 2 1/4 teaspoons!
Question: It says add water, yeast and sugar to see if it foams. In the recipe you add the yeast to the flour, sugar, salt. Then in diff. bowl combine milk, water, butter. How do you proof the yeast??
If you are using quick rising yeast you dont have to do the step of adding it to the warm water/milk mixture. You just add it to the dry ingredients and mix as the directions say.
Making these now. Love how easy it is to mix up. Can you clarify when to start the timers? Is it when the over is turned on or when it is at temp??? Thanks!
So the oven will already be heated to about 200 degrees Fahrenheit when you put the cinnamon rolls in the oven (but it will be off). Put the cinnamon rolls in and start the timer. The oven will be off, but they will rise in the warm oven for 20 minutes (timer on). Then you turn the oven to 375 and bake for another 15-20 minutes with the timer still running. So your timer will run for a total of 45 minutes during this process! Hope that helps!
Thank you for sharing this recipe. Just tried it. First time I’ve ever made cinnamon rolls from scratch. Very easy and quick to make. These rolls taste sooo goood!
These were really good and easy. I did need to add flour as my mixer was kneading, probably almost half a cup. I made 12 rolls. They turned out beautifully. Will make again. Thanks for the recipe!
I’ve tried making cinnamon rolls a few times in the past, and it always fell flat and never rose properly, this is the first recipe that has actually worked for me! Very pleasantly surprised, and only took about an hr in total to make! Very easy and clear directions, will be using this recipe often! Thank you!!
I made these and oh my word, they were amazzzzing!!!! XD
I really loved them! Here’s lil trick:
(not really ‘trick’, lol!! ) When they were all rolled out and sliced, I preheated my waffle maker and made them in there! IKR, they were SO delicious!!! Will def be making again soon, tysm Alyssa!!
I make cinnamon rolls from scratch often. It is vey time consuming but delicious. This recipe is Perfection made simple. I will be making this recipe for my family even more often. It is so simple and quick. Thanks so much for your hard work and sharing this wonderful recipe.
I’ve spent as much as half a day baking my husband cinnamon rolls. Your recipe is quick and clean. They’re great with less sugar in the filling plus white raisons and chopped pecans. Thank you.
You’re welcome! So glad to hear that you loved them.