These cinnamon roll muffins are fluffy, gooey, and are packed full of buttery cinnamon goodness. The easy no knead dough is braided, baked in a muffin tin, and topped with a two ingredient glaze. The braiding technique creates thin layers of dough, resulting in the perfect bread to cinnamon ratio. Pouring heavy cream over each muffin before baking helps to insure the ultimate soft and fluffy buns with ooey gooey cinnamon filling.
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🧁 Why you'll LOVE this recipe
- Easy, no knead dough: All you have to do is mix it together and let it rise! No kneading required.
- Gooey: The dough is covered in sticky, gooey cinnamon sugar.
- Layers: The braiding technique creates thin layers with more surface area for the cinnamon sugar. It's the ultimate ratio.
- Glaze: An easy, two ingredient glaze to top it all off.
For a bundt cake version of these cinnamon roll muffins, try this cinnamon bundt cake! It has a gooey layer of cinnamon sugar in the middle and a cream cheese glaze.
📝 Key ingredients
Read through for all the tips you will need for success!
Full steps and ingredients in recipe card below.
- Active dry yeast: You could use instant dry yeast but I prefer the flavor of active dry yeast. You only need 1 packet or 7 grams.
- All purpose flour: Weigh the flour to get the most accurate results. If you don’t have a scale, measure properly by stirring the bag and spooning gently into a measuring cup. Scrape the excess off the top with the flat edge off a knife without packing it into the cup.
- Butter: Use a good quality real better for the best flavor and results. You want it to be very soft - almost melted for both the dough and filling.
- Large egg: Have the egg at room temperature so that the dough rises better.
- Milk: Use your milk of choice for the dough and glaze. I’ve tried all kinds of milks and they all work great! Make sure that the milk is slightly warmed.
- Heavy cream: Heavy cream is essential for creating cinnamon rolls that are gooey on the bottom and fluffy inside. Whipping cream works great! Do not use anything with less fat content, it just won’t work. You'll end up with soggy rolls that aren't gooey. If you don't do well with dairy you can use full fat coconut milk instead.
- Icing sugar: These rolls are dusted with powdered sugar and it also goes into the glaze. Powdered sugar is the same as icing sugar.
- Brown sugar: Brown sugar goes into the filling to make the perfect gooey cinnamon filling. I use an old fashioned, medium brown sugar for the best flavor (not too mild, not too dark). Do not replace it with granulated sugar, it just doesn’t work the same.
- Cinnamon: The star of the show! Don’t use very old cinnamon because it won’t give these twisted rolls that same burst of flavor.
👩🍳 How to make cinnamon roll muffins
Step 1: Combine warm water, 1 teaspoon sugar, and yeast in a small bowl. Stir to dissolve. Let it sit for about 5 minutes so that a foam starts to form on top.
In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, salt, and stir. Make a well in the middle and add the butter, eggs, vanilla, milk, and yeast mixture.
Step 2: Mix until a dough forms. Cover the bowl and place in a warm place to rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.
Punch down the dough and transfer onto a floured surface. Roll the dough into a large rectangle, about 16” by 20”.
Step 3: Spread the cinnamon filling on top of the dough, all the way to the edges.
Fold the dough into thirds starting by pulling the top long edge two thirds of the way down and the bottom edge up to the top get a long strip of dough. Like a letter!
Step 4: Trim the uneven ends off the strip. Mark and cut the dough into 12 equal strips. Cut each strip of dough into three strands, leaving the top ½” of the strip attached.
Step 5: Braid or twist the strands of each strip. Roll the braid into a roll, starting with the bottom of the braid. Place each braided roll into the muffin tin with the pretty side up.
Step 6: Let the rolls rise until they fill out the muffin tin (double in size), about 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 355°F (180°C).
Step 7: Pour 1 tablespoon of heavy cream over each roll. Bake for 18-25 minutes or until the rolls are golden brown on top. Let cool for 5 minutes inside the muffin tin. Use a spatula to help lift them out and let cool on a cooling rack.
Step 8: Combine powdered sugar and milk to form the glaze while they cool. Drizzle the glaze onto the cinnamon roll muffins and/or sift powdered sugar on top before serving.
✔️ Expert cinnamon roll tips
- Measure the flour properly: Use a kitchen scale for best results! If you don't have a scale on hand, use dry measuring cups. Fluff the flour with a spoon, spoon it gently into the measuring cup, and scrape the excess flour off the top without packing it in.
- Don't over knead the dough: I find that the less you handle this dough, the softer it bakes up.
- Don't skip rising the dough: This allows the flour to hydrate, and for the yeast to create pockets of gas that will rise the dough. It's essential in creating fluffy rolls with a gorgeous pull apart structure.
- Only cool for 5 minutes: You want to remove them from the muffin tin while they are still warm so that they don't stick.
🥄 Make ahead and storage
The cinnamon rolls are best eaten warm. They taste the best when they're fresh, but also taste incredible the next day - just make sure to warm them up!
Store the cinnamon roll muffins in an airtight container or bag at room temperature. Reheat them before eating again.
You can even make these overnight - prepare the muffins the night before and stop before letting the assembled muffins rise (second rise). Wrap muffin tray tightly to cover and immediately place in the refrigerator for up to 12 hours. I don't recommend refrigerating them for any longer because they will over-proof.
Once you are ready to bake them, let them come to room temperature for 10-20 minutes and rise to fill out any gaps in the pan. Bake as per instructions.
❔ How do you get the fluffiest rolls?
The most important step to getting buttery, light, and fluffy cinnamon rolls is making sure the flour is properly measured. I use a scale to weigh the flour for the most accurate results. A cheap kitchen scale works wonders.
If you don’t have a scale on hand, you can measure the flour properly using dry measuring cups. Mix up your flour with a spoon, spoon it into your measuring cup, and level off the top with the flat edge of a knife without packing in the flour. It isn’t as accurate as using a scale but is the next best option!
My favorite tip however, is to handle the dough as little as possible. The less effort I put into the roll dough, the fluffier they turn out – every time!
The heavy cream poured onto the rolls before baking really make a huge difference! They turn the filling into a beautiful gooey mess and steam the dough into puffs of clouds.
📖 Recipe FAQs
The dough is supposed to be pretty sticky and wet. If it is way too gloopy and not cohesive at all, then add a bit of flour until it looks a little bit more like a dough.
This usually happens because the dough was over proofed. Only let the dough rise until it is doubled in volume – not more! You can let them rise a little bit less than double in size. Don't overbake because that could also make them shrink.
The cream steams the dough as it bakes creating airy buns and will also mix with the cinnamon sugar to create super gooey bottoms and middles. I do this will all of my cinnamon rolls because no one wants dry rolls!
I like to let my dough rise in an oven preheated to the lowest temperature it could go for a few minutes, then turned off. Don't let the oven get too hot (over 130°F or 55°C) because the yeast cells will start to die off.
Prepare the rolls the night before and stop before letting the assembled rolls rise (second rise). Wrap baking tray tightly to cover and immediately place in the refrigerator for up to 12 hours. I don't recommend refrigerating them for any longer because they will over-proof.
Once you are ready to bake them, let them come to room temperature for 10-20 minutes and rise to fill out any gaps in the pan. Bake as per instructions.
🍞 More related recipes
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📖 Recipe
Cinnamon Roll Muffins
Equipment
- 12 hole regular size muffin tin
Ingredients
Muffins
- ½ cup brown sugar packed
- ¼ cup unsalted butter softened
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon ground
- ¼ cup water warm
- ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 packet active dry yeast 7g
- 3 ½ cup all purpose flour 425g
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
- ⅔ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 large egg room temperature
- ⅓ cup milk warm
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 12 tablespoon heavy cream or whipping cream
- 2 tablespoon icing sugar for dusting
Glaze (optional)
- 1 cup icing sugar
- 2-5 tablespoon milk
Instructions
Muffins
- Combine all of the ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well to combine. Have the butter very soft, almost melted to blend easier. Set aside to use later. Don't refrigerate!½ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup unsalted butter, 2 tablespoons cinnamon
- Combine warm water, 1 teaspoon sugar, and yeast in a small bowl. Stir until yeast dissolves. Let it sit for about 5 minutes so that a foam starts to form on top. If a foam doesn’t form in 10 minutes, discard and try again with another packet of yeast.¼ cup water, ½ teaspoon granulated sugar, 1 packet active dry yeast
- In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, salt, and stir. Make a well in the middle and add the butter, eggs, vanilla, milk, and yeast mixture.3 ½ cup all purpose flour, ¼ cup granulated sugar, ⅛ teaspoon sea salt, ⅔ cup unsalted butter, 1 large egg, ⅓ cup milk, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Mix until a sticky cohesive dough forms. Don’t worry if not all of the butter is incorporated. Cover the bowl with a dish cloth and place in a warm place (see notes) to rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. Butter a muffin tin while it rises and prepare the cinnamon filling.
- Punch down the dough and transfer onto a floured surface. Roll the dough into a large rectangle, about 16” by 20”.
- Spread the cinnamon filling on top of the dough, all the way to the edges.
- Fold the dough into thirds starting by pulling the top long edge two thirds of the way down and then the bottom edge all the way up to get a long strip of dough. Like an envelope.
- Trim the uneven ends off the strip. Mark and cut the dough into 12 equal strips. Cut each strip of dough into three strands, leaving the top half inch of the strip attached. Braid or just twist the strands of each strip. Roll the braid into a roll, starting with the end of the braid. Place each braided roll into the muffin tin with the pretty side up.
- Let rise until the rolls fill out the muffin tin (double in size), about 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
- Pour 1 tablespoon of heavy cream over each roll. Bake for 18-25 minutes or until the rolls are golden brown on top. Let cool for 5 minutes inside the muffin tin. Use a spatula to help lift them out and let cool on a cooling rack. Make the glaze while they cool. Sift icing sugar over the cinnamon rolls and drizzle glaze before serving.2 tablespoon icing sugar
Glaze (optional)
- Combine sifted icing sugar and milk in a large bowl. Add enough milk to get it to the desired consistency. I made it pretty thin. Drizzle over warm cinnamon rolls and serve.1 cup icing sugar, 2-5 tablespoon milk
Notes
- Measure the flour with a kitchen scale.
- Don't over knead the dough
- Don't skip rising the dough
- Only cool for 5 minutes before removing from muffin tin
Karina
These were so delicious and incredibly soft! Definitely a keeper! Can’t wait to make them again.
Maria
Soft, fluffy, and delicious! Easy to make on those cold fall days 🙂 I also really like that they are not too too sweet (like some other recipes out there).
Mary
Thank you so much for leaving a review! I'm so happy you liked them 😀
Susan Hajdik
I just made these and they are incredible!!!! My first ever homemade cinnamon rolls. 🙂
Mary
I'm so happy you loved the recipe! Thank you so much for making them 😀