World's Best Cinnamon Roll Recipe - Fun Cheap or Free (2024)

Holy CINNAMON ROLLS, Batman!! The most delicious cinnamon roll recipe that you can make in a bread machine!! That's right… the bread machine will do most of the work for you.

World's Best Cinnamon Roll Recipe - Fun Cheap or Free (1)

The world's best homemade cinnamon roll recipe… from a bread machine?! You bet your buckets, pal! We love homemade cinnamon rolls in our house, and we have the easiest, most delicious cinnamon roll recipe… made mostly in the bread machine!

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Yes, the $4 bread machine from a thrift store. That one. But don't worry, you can still make these suckers without a machine — it just makes your life easier if you have one. If you don't have a bread machine, you can still easily knead this dough by hand and make these fabulous cinnamon rolls by yourself!

So now, we introduce you to…

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HOW TO MAKE OUR DELICIOUS CINNAMON ROLL RECIPE

As with anything you bake, there are a few notes that will take your treat from so-so to absolutely divine! So, let's chat cinnamon rolls!

LET CINNAMON ROLLS RISE

Cinnamon rolls are all about the rising time. Most cinnamon roll recipes require you to allow the dough to rise TWICE. The first rise is before rolling the cinnamon rolls out — you might be tempted to roll it out sooner rather than later, but be sure to give it enough time to double!

MAKING CINNAMON ROLL FILLING

When making the filling, you've got two options. Combine all the ingredients and mix well until it forms a paste of sorts. Spread onto the dough with your hands or a greased spatula… OR soften the butter and smoosh it onto the dough, then just sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar over the top evenly. BAM! Super easy!

It's totally up to you. Second option is definitely easier, but some may tell you the first option makes your rolls taste better because the cinnamon roll filling doesn't leak as much!

ROLLING & CUTTING CINNAMON ROLLS

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After your rolls have risen, you'll want to roll them out into a rectangular shape about 1/4 inch thick. The more rectangular, the better, as this gives you more evenly-sized rolls. To prevent the dough from sticking to the countertop, add a little flour.

Once you've accomplished that, you can roll the dough right on up! Make sure you roll it up long ways. You'll want to get a pretty tight roll, then pinch it tight when you finish rolling. Don't let any filling escape!

Now it's time to cut evenly-sized rolls. You can totally eyeball this! But if you put a little dash mark in the dough for each roll, it makes it easier to keep the rolls evenly sized. About 2 inches is what you're going for here.

Pro Tip: Use unscented dental floss or fishing string to make your job cutting the rolls a little easier! This prevents squishy rolls.

SECOND CINNAMON ROLL RISE

Your rolls will need to rise again after you've rolled 'em out and filled 'em up! Add them to a 9×13 pan or multiple pans, if needed. Cover with a towel and let rise.

Pro Tip:Turn your oven on for one minute, turn it off, then cover and let rise in the warm oven — this decreases rising time. Once risen, pull them out. If not, you'll have some funky, potentially burnt rolls on your hands. Now that would just be sad!

WORLD'S BEST BREAD MACHINE CINNAMON ROLL RECIPE

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Mmmmmm. You ready for this recipe!?

Bread Machine Cinnamon Roll Recipe

Holy CINNAMON ROLLS, Batman!! And from a BREAD MACHINE! You won't believe how easy they are, and so stinking good!

5 from 10 votes

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Prep Time 1 hour hr 40 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 55 minutes mins

Course Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 12 servings

Ingredients

1 cup warm milk
2 eggs, room temperature
⅓ cup margarine, melted
4 ½ cups bread flour
1 tsp salt
½ cup white sugar
2 ½ tsp bread machine yeast

Sugar Mixture

1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 ½ Tbsp cinnamon
⅓ cup butter, softened

Frosting

3 oz package cream cheese
¼ cup butter, softened
1 ½ cup powdered sugar
½ tsp vanilla
⅛ tsp salt

Instructions

For Bread Machine

Place dough ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer (for me, it’s wet ingredients first). Select dough cycle; press Start.

No Bread Machine

No bread machine? No problem… Add warm milk to a standard mixer using the dough hook and sprinkle yeast in. Add eggs, butter, salt and sugar. Add the flour slowly and allow to soak up the liquid. Beat the dough on medium speed for 5-7 minutes or until the dough is elastic and smooth. Sticky is okay!! If your mixer doesn't have a dough hook, combine the ingredients and then knead by hand.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
After the dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll dough into a 24×12 rectangle.
Spread dough with ⅓ cup softened butter (I just smush it around with my fingers). Sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Make sure to get it to the very edges!! I like to save a little mixture to sprinkle on top of the rolls once they are rolled up. Roll up dough from the LONG side of the rectangle– you'll get more rolls that way! Cut into 12-16 rolls.
Place rolls in a lightly greased 9×13 inch baking pan (or a bigger pan if you have it).Be sure to space the rolls out in your pan so they don't touch. You may have to bake them in 2 or even 3 separate pans, depending on how thick you cut them. I like to let them rise for at least 30 minutes (longer = bigger).Sprinkle them with the extra cinnamon sugar mixture if you have any. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes.
Bake at 375°F untilgolden brown, about 15 minutes. Don’t over-bake!
While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, ¼ cup butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla extract and salt.Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

Notes

To freeze, get to the point where you add them to your pan, then cover with foil and freeze before the second rise. Thaw in the refrigerator the night before and place in a warm spot to rise the morning you're baking them. Then bake as normal and enjoy how delicious they are!

Keyword easy, make-ahead

That's it!

Are you drooling yet? Hope you enjoy thiscinnamon roll recipeas much as we do! If you try it and love it, please leave a comment and let us know below!

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