Giant Buttermilk Cinnamon Rolls
These Buttermilk Cinnamon Rolls are the softest, fluffiest, most tender cinnamon rolls you’ll ever make! My recipe makes 12 GIANT rolls that are covered in a vanilla cream cheese frosting while still warm from the oven. This recipe can be made in advance and baked off on holiday mornings, like Thanksgiving and Christmas.
“These are *the best* cinnamon rolls. It was my first time making them from scratch, and the recipe was so easy to follow. The dough is incredibly fluffy and soft. Simply divine!” -Dani, So Much Food reader
Table of contents
- Meet the Homemade Buttermilk Cinnamon Rolls of Your Dreams
- Jenny’s Tips for Making the Best Cinnamon Rolls
- The Main Ingredients for the Dough and Frosting
- The Tools You’ll Need
- How to Make Fluffy Cinnamon Rolls with Buttermilk
- Jenny’s Tip: Use Dental Floss to Cut Your Cinnamon Rolls
- Make-Ahead Instructions
- More Holiday Breakfast Recipes
Meet the Homemade Buttermilk Cinnamon Rolls of Your Dreams
When I tell you these are the fluffiest, softest cinnamon rolls I’ve ever eaten, I mean it! I used a couple different baking tricks to perfect these oversized beauties.
First of all, there’s buttermilk, heavy cream, butter and whole milk powder in the cinnamon roll dough. This type of dough is what’s known as a “rich” dough; all of the dairy keeps the dough soft, supple, and moist — so don’t swap in any low-fat versions!
Second, these cinnamon rolls are massive. As in, you can only squeeze 12 of them onto a 18×13 baking sheet. Larger rolls are less prone to overbaking, and it means you can stuff in even more cinnamon sugar filling.
Make a batch of these buttermilk cinnamon rolls for special occasions like Thanksgiving and Christmas, or prep the dough on Saturday night to bake off on Sunday morning!
Jenny’s Tips for Making the Best Cinnamon Rolls
- Make sure your buttermilk is at the right temperature. Too hot and the buttermilk will kill the yeast. Aim for 100ºF.
- Check your yeast’s expiration. Old yeast may not work properly, so it’s important to make sure your yeast is fresh. If your yeast doesn’t get foamy in the milk, get some new yeast and start over.
- Use the right flour. This recipe specifically uses all-purpose flour which keeps the rolls from being too heavy and dense.
- Use the right amount of flour. I always weigh my flour specifically and this keeps me from adding too much. Too much flour also can result in heavy and dense rolls.
- Rising time. Don’t rush the dough when it’s rising, and instead have patience. Find a warm-ish spot in your kitchen, (at least 70ºF) and let the dough do its thing, especially after shaping. Dough that hasn’t risen enough will yield hard rolls.
The Main Ingredients for the Dough and Frosting
- Dairy. This recipe calls for both buttermilk and heavy cream. Buttermilk for flavor and tang, heavy cream for richness and fat to make the dough soft.
- Flour. Use all-purpose flour in this recipe. Bread flour will make these buttermilk cinnamon rolls too dense.
- Active dry yeast. Make sure your yeast is fresh and hasn’t been hanging out for ages. The fridge is the best place to store yeast.
- Sugar. You’ll need brown sugar, granulated sugar, and powdered sugar to make this recipe.
- Butter. Melted butter adds fat to the dough making it super soft and fluffy.
- Eggs. Eggs serve as a binder and add richness to the dough.
- Cinnamon. What are cinnamon rolls without cinnamon? Use high-quality ground cinnamon for best results.
- Cornstarch. This is my secret to creating a super gooey cinnamon filling that doesn’t leak out of the cinnamon rolls.
- Whole milk powder. I love adding milk powder to my doughs, it really gives them amazing texture. You can swap in non-fat milk powder if necessary.
- Butter + cream cheese. Using both creates a super rich and creamy frosting that’s not too tangy.
- Rum extract. Deepens the flavor of the frosting without having to use actual rum.
The Tools You’ll Need
How to Make Fluffy Cinnamon Rolls with Buttermilk
- Activate the yeast. Active dry yeast needs to be mixed with warm buttermilk and cream and set aside until foamy (that’s how you know your cinnamon rolls will puff up nicely).
- Make the dough. Simply combine the wet ingredients in the same bowl you activated the yeast, then add the dry. At this stage, you’re just bringing the dough together.
- Knead for 10 minutes. A stand mixer makes easy work of this, but you can use your hands, too!
- Let rise. Cover the bowl with a clean towel and let the dough rise for about 2 hours, or until doubled in size.
- Roll out, shape, and fill with cinnamon sugar. This process is straightforward, but very wordy to explain, so I’ve shared the exact instructions in the recipe card below.
- Let rise (again). This time, the cinnamon rolls need just 1 hour to puff up and almost touch.
- Bake until golden. I like to make the cream cheese frosting right when the cinnamon rolls go into the oven so I’m ready to ice them once they come out.
Jenny’s Tip: Use Dental Floss to Cut Your Cinnamon Rolls
Ditch the knife and swap in unflavored dental floss! Unlike a knife, dental floss cuts the cinnamon roll dough from all sides at once, which helps keep its shape.
To cut cinnamon rolls with floss, grab a piece about a foot long. Slide the floss underneath the roll and then drape both sides over the top of the roll, crossing over each other. Pull the ends tight to cut through the roll.
My other recommendation would be to use a pizza cutter and cut the dough into 1 1/2″ strips, then roll them up into individual rolls. Easy!
Make-Ahead Instructions
Today: Prepare the dough, let it rise the first time, roll it out and fill it, cut the rolls, place them on a prepared baking sheet, and then wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Tomorrow: Let the rolls rise for the second time on the counter, still covered, for about 2 hours. Then bake. Making these ahead of time can take some of the work off your plate on the day of.
To freeze before baking: Follow the make-ahead instructions, but instead of refrigerating overnight, freeze the rolls in a baking pan. Once frozen, they won’t stick together anymore and you can place them in a freezer bag. When ready to bake, let them thaw overnight in the fridge on a baking sheet and then rise on the counter (covered) for about 2 hours, then bake.
If you give this recipe a try, be sure to let me know. Leave a comment with a star rating below. Be sure to subscribe to my weekly newsletter and never miss a new recipe! You can also snap a photo & tag @JENNYGOYCOCHEA onInstagram. I LOVE hearing about & seeing your SMF creations!
More Holiday Breakfast Recipes
- Apple Pie French Toast Casserole
- Ham and Cheese Croissant Bake
- Quiche Lorraine
- Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
- Croissant Breakfast Casserole
- Apple Cider Donuts
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Giant Buttermilk Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 1/2 cups (385 g) cultured buttermilk
- 1/2 cup (115 g) heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons sugar + 1/4 cup (75 g), divided
- 4 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast (2 envelopes)
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup (2 sticks, 226 g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup (50 g) whole milk powder
- 7 cups (925 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) fine sea salt
Filling
- 1 stick (4 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 stick (4 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon rum extract optional
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Activate the yeast. Warm buttermilk and heavy cream together in a measuring cup in the microwave just until barely lukewarm (90-110 F). In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the buttermilk mixture, yeast, and two tablespoons of sugar. Stir to mix and let it sit for 5-7 minutes until foamy.
- Mix together the dough. Add the remaining sugar, eggs, vanilla, and melted butter to the yeast mixture and mix on low with the dough hook. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, milk powder, and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet and mix until the dough comes together.
- Knead the dough. Knead in the mixer or by hand for another 10 minutes, until dough is smooth and soft.
- Let rise for 2 hours. Transfer to a greased bowl, cover, and let it rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
- Prepare the filling. While the dough is proofing, mix the room temperature butter together with the cinnamon until everything is evenly mixed. Set aside. Mix together the brown sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl.
- Roll out the dough. Once the dough is done proofing, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough out into a 20×16 rectangle or so, about 1/4 inch thick all the way through.
- Fill, then roll into a log. With one of the long sides facing you, spread the butter all over the surface, leaving 1 inch bare on the opposite long end. Sprinkle the sugar/cornstarch mixture all over the butter. Brush the bare inch with a little water. Rolling away from yourself, roll the dough into a tight log. Pinch the seam shut and roll over it a couple of times to seal it.
- Cut into rolls. Meanwhile, line a rimmed 18×13 baking sheet with parchment paper. Use either a serrated knife or floss/fishing wire to cut into 1 1/2 inch rolls. Place the rolls side by side, about an inch apart on the baking sheet.
- Let rise again. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and proof at room temperature until the rolls are puffy and almost touching (about 1 hour).
- Make the icing. Add the room temperature butter and cream cheese to a mixing bowl. Using a hand mixer, beat on medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the powdered sugar, cream, rum extract, and vanilla and beat until smooth. Cover and set aside.
- Bake. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Remove the plastic wrap from the rolls and bake for 25-27 minutes, or until the rolls are just barely golden.
- Ice. Remove the rolls from the oven and let them cool for 15 minutes. Spread the warm rolls with the icing and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
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Rate & Review This Recipe
These are *the best* cinnamon rolls. It was my first time making them from scratch, and the recipe was so easy to follow. The dough is incredibly fluffy and soft. Simply divine!
I made these cinnamon rolls yesterday (8-20-22). Excellent rolls! Went by the recipe just as you had written. Only change I made was the icing I used Karo white corn syrup, butter, milk, powdered sugar, vanilla mixed together and poured over after cooling for awhile. I would give this recipe a 10 and higher.
Soft and moist and the right amount of everything. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I shared them with family and church friends. Really like working with yeast breads. Buttermilk and heavy cream are the stars in this cinnamon roll.
Thank you so much for your comment erma! I’m so happy you loved the recipe!
These were so good! Directions were precise and easy to follow. I’m not an experienced baker at all and I made them perfect the first time. SOOO GOOD! Will absolutely make again!
I forgot to click the five stars and came back to leave another review just to do it. THATS how good these are!
So happy you loved it!
This is the best dough recipe I’ve ever found. Soft, delicate rolls, even straight out of the fridge overnight the next day. I do admit to using a full pint of buttermilk and omitting the cream in the dough (saved it for the icing and added rum to that). I also used bread flour instead of all-purpose, because that’s what I had. Was afraid that would make them stodgy, heavy / dry, but nope – best rolls EVAH.