This easy cinnamon rolls recipe with pecans and cream cheese frosting is perfect for a big gathering of family and friends. Fluffy, soft dough with a sweet, buttery filling that’s filled with cinnamon flavor and crunchy pecans nuts - a dessert to die for!
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Ingredients you will need
For the cinnamon roll dough
Flour - You can use bread flour for this recipe, although you’ll probably need less of it since it's thirstier and will take in all wet ingredients faster. However, I prefer to make my homemade cinnamon rolls with all-purpose flour as it gives you more tender rolls.
Yeast - Use active dry yeast or instant yeast for this recipe for convenience. Make sure that your yeast is fresh and active! Alternatively, you can use fresh yeast if you like, but you would need 3x more of it.
Nutmeg - I like to add a pinch of nutmeg to the dough, which you don't have to do if you don't want to. Alternatively, you can add a pinch of cinnamon or a teaspoon of vanilla extract instead.
Salt - Never skip the salt!
Milk - Use lukewarm whole milk to make my cinnamon rolls recipe. To learn more about the right milk temperature, read the cooking tips section above.
Sugar - White granulated sugar will add flavor to the dough and feed the yeast.
Butter - Melt the unsalted butter and let it cool down to room temperature before adding it to the yeast mixture. Adding too-hot melted butter can kill the yeast and your dough won't rise!
Eggs - Eggs should be at room temperature to incorporate well with the rest of the ingredients.
For the filling
Sugar - I use both white granulated sugar and dark brown sugar for the filling. If you want, you can use dark sugar only.
Butter - You'll need unsalted butter to make a cinnamon roll filling. It should be very soft so it will be easy to spread on top of the raw dough. I recommend placing it in a bowl and giving it a 5-10-second blast in the microwave. Then, whisk it with a fork to create a cream-like consistency that you’ll enjoy working with.
Cinnamon - You can adjust the amount of cinnamon you use in this recipe. However, I wouldn't go lower than 1 tablespoon, since it's called a cinnamon roll for a reason.
For the cream cheese icing
Cream cheese - I use Original Philadelphia cream cheese. Take it out of the fridge 1 hour in advance so it will soften and whisk easily with the rest of the ingredients.
Sugar - Use powdered sugar.
Vanilla extract - You can omit vanilla or replace it with a tablespoon of lemon juice, if you like lemon flavor.
Butter - Unsalted butter should be at room temperature so you can whisk it easily with the cream cheese.
Milk (optional) - Some people like cinnamon bun frosting to be pourable and some like it to be spreadable. For pourable icing, add whole milk one tablespoon at a time to have better control over the consistency. Usually, 1-2 tablespoons are enough to achieve thick but still pourable icing.
Cooking tips
The right milk temperature. Working with dry yeast is easy unless you kill it with overly warm ingredients. That's why I suggest you use an instant-read thermometer to make sure that your milk isn’t too warm before you mix it with yeast and flour. It should be 100-105F or 37C-40C for yeast to wake up but not die. If you don't have a thermometer, you can heat the milk in the microwave just until it's slightly warm to the touch.
You might need more flour. In the recipe card I stated that you'll need 535g of all-purpose flour, but you might need a little bit (20-40) more to make the dough. It all depends on the quality of the flour you use. If your all-purpose flour has less hydration capacity, you'll need more flour to achieve an elastic and soft but not sticky-to-touch piece of dough. So, make sure that you have enough flour to make the dough + some extra to flour a working surface when you bring the dough together, shape the ball, and roll it out after proofing.
You don't need a stand mixer! This recipe is so awesome, you don't need any fancy equipment at all to make these easy cinnamon rolls. All you need to do is add flour ⅓ cup at a time to our yeast mixture and mix with a wooden spoon. When the dough is too thick for a spoon, start mixing with your hands. Keep mixing until the dough pulls off from the sides of the bowl (can take up to 5 minutes) but still sticks to your hands and the bottom a bit. If this doesn’t happen, add one tablespoon of flour and mix again. Then, transfer the dough onto a working surface dusted with flour and knead the dough, adding more flour if needed until it doesn’t stick to your hands anymore. The dough should be homogenous, elastic, and soft.
No baking dish - no problems! Even though all recipes show that you bake your rolls in a deep baking dish, you can absolutely do it on a baking sheet. All you need to do is make sure your rolls won't unroll during baking. To secure them, take a roll and fold a small, clean (free from filling) part of the dough from the filling tail and tuck it under the roll. Place the roll on a baking sheet so it stands on this tail. Place all rolls 2" apart from each other and proof them for 30-40 minutes before baking. You can also bake your rolls in round springform pans, brownie pans, and even muffin pans.
Don't overbake. Perfect cinnamon rolls should be soft and fluffy. To keep them like that, you should bake them just until they start picking up a golden brown color. Remember, the more you bake your rolls, the drier and tougher they will be!
Step by step directions
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer combine ½ cup flour and the yeast, sugar, salt, ground nutmeg, and lukewarm milk.
2. Add the butter and eggs and whisk again.
3. Place the bowl into a stand mixer fitted with a hook attachment. Add the rest of the flour ⅓ cups at a time while the mixer runs on low.
4. Knead the dough on medium for 10 minutes, or until it starts pulling off from the sides of the bowl but is still sticking to the bottom. It should also be a little bit sticky if you press it with your fingers. If this doesn’t happen and the dough is still too thin, add 1 tablespoon of flour and keep kneading for a minute. Repeat several times if needed.
5. Finish kneading the dough by hand on a surface dusted with flour until it doesn’t stick to your hands and is elastic and soft.
6. Grease the bowl with a little bit of oil and place the dough ball inside. Cover with a kitchen towel and leave to proof for an hour in a warm place.
7. Combine the brown sugar, white sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl and take the butter from the fridge to soften.
8. When the dough has risen, punch it down and remove it from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle the top with flour and roll it into 13" by 20" (33cm by 50cm) rectangle.
9. Spread the soft butter over the surface, leaving ½ inch at the one long end of the rectangle untouched. Sprinkle with the prepared sugar and cinnamon mixture and press gently.
10. Roll up lengthwise, starting with the end that is covered with filling, so you have one big log. Take the end of the rectangle that is not covered with the sugar filling and pinch it into the rest of the log to form a seam. Roll the log so the seam is on the bottom.
11. Cut the log into 12 even slices. Place them into a 9" by 13" (22cm by 33cm) deep pan greased with butter and cover with a kitchen towel for 30-40 minutes to proof.
12. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 355F (180C).
13. Bake the rolls for 25 minutes or until golden brown on top and risen. Remove from the oven and let cool down.
14. While the rolls are cooling down, place all the frosting ingredients into a bowl and whisk until homogenous in consistency. If you want your frosting runnier, you can add 1-2 tablespoon of whole milk.
15. Frost the slightly warm rolls and serve.
Possible variations
Salted caramel - Make my homemade Salted caramel (or use a store-bought one) and drizzle it on top of your warm cinnamon buns. You can also sprinkle extra crushed pecan nuts on top for extra crunch.
Apple cinnamon rolls - Cube 1-2 apples and make an apple pie filling, like in my Homemade apple pie, and spread that on top of a sugar and cinnamon layer instead of crushed pecans. If apples give too much juice, drain them before spreading them on top of the sugar filling.
Chocolate - It's always a good idea to add semi-sweet chocolate inside your cinnamon scrolls or as a topping. Sprinkle your favorite chocolate chips on top of the sugar filling so you get chocolate bits spread throughout your rolls, or make my Chocolate ganache and use it as a topping instead of the cream cheese frosting.
Simple sugar icing - Make any simple sugar icing with powdered sugar and water, milk, or heavy cream, then drizzle on top of slightly warm rolls.
FAQ
Store unfrosted cinnamon rolls right in the baking dish covered with plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 2 days, or refrigerate for up to 4 days. If frosted, they should be stored in the fridge covered with plastic wrap for up to 4 days. When out of the fridge, warm the rolls in a microwave just for 5-10 seconds to soften them up.
You can freeze baked (but not frosted) cinnamon rolls for up to 2 months wrapped in plastic wrap and then in a piece of foil. Thaw in the fridge overnight and then reheat in the microwave just until slightly warm. Then, frost and serve!
Cut the cinnamon roll log into 12 slices and wrap each one tightly in plastic wrap and a piece of foil. Freeze for up to 2 months. The day before baking, unwrap and place them in a baking dish. Cover and thaw in the fridge overnight. The next day, take it out from the fridge and place it in a warm place or leave at room temperature, covered with a kitchen towel, to proof until doubled in volume. Bake, cool down, frost, and serve!
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Recipe card
Cinnamon rolls
Equipment
- 9" by 13" (22cm by 33cm) deep pan
- Stand mixer
- Digital kitchen scale
Ingredients
For the dough
- 540 g all-purpose flour more if needed + flour for dusting
- 7 g active dry yeast
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 250 g whole milk lukewarm
- 80 g white granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 80 g unsalted butter melted and cooled down
- 2 medium eggs at room temperature
For the filling
- 80 g unsalted butter softened
- 80 g white granulated sugar
- 80 g dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoon cinnamon
- 50 g pecans roughly chopped
For the frosting
- 200 g cream cheese at room temperature
- 50 g powdered sugar
- 50 g unsalted butter at room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-2 tablespoon whole milk add if you prefer runny cinnamon roll filling
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a bowl large enough to fit all dough ingredients) combine ½ cup flour and the yeast, sugar, salt, ground nutmeg, and lukewarm milk.
- Add the melted, room temperature butter and eggs and whisk again until the mixture has a homogenous consistency.
- Place the bowl into a stand mixer fitted with a hook attachment (read how to make the dough by hand in the notes section at the bottom of the recipe card). Add the rest of the flour ⅓ cup at a time while the mixer runs on low.
- When all the flour has been added, increase the speed to medium and knead the dough for 10 minutes, or until the dough starts pulling off from the sides of the bowl but is still sticking to the bottom. It should also be a little bit sticky if you press it with your fingers. If this doesn’t happen and the dough is still too thin, add 1 tablespoon of flour and keep kneading for a minute. Repeat several times if needed.
- Finish kneading the dough by hand on a surface dusted with flour until it doesn’t stick to your hands and is elastic and very soft.
- Grease the bowl with a little bit of oil and place the dough ball in it. Cover with a kitchen towel and leave to proof for an hour, or until it has doubled in size in a warm place (I use the oven with the light turned on for that).
- While proofing, combine the brown sugar, white sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl and take the butter from the fridge to soften.
- When the dough has risen, punch it down and remove it from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle the top with flour and roll it into 13" by 20" (33cm by 50cm) rectangle.
- Spread the soft butter over the surface, leaving ½ inch at one long end of the rectangle untouched. Sprinkle with the prepared sugar and cinnamon mixture and press gently.
- Roll up lengthwise, starting with the end that is covered with filling, so you have one big log. Take the end of the rectangle that is not covered with the sugar filling and pinch it into the rest of the log to form a seam. Roll the log so the seam is on the bottom.
- Cut the log into 12 even slices using a sharp knife or dental floss. Place them into a 9" by 13" (22cm by 33cm) deep pan greased with butter and cover with a kitchen towel for 30-40 minutes to proof.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 355F (180C).
- Bake the rolls for 25 minutes or until golden brown on top and risen. Remove from the oven and let cool down.
- While the rolls are cooling down, place all the frosting ingredients into a bowl and whisk until homogenous in consistency. If you want your frosting runnier, you can add 1-2 tablespoon of whole milk.
- Frost the slightly warm rolls and serve.
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