The best cinnamon roll recipe from scratch. Homemade cinnamon rolls for Christmas or for breakfast! The’re so worth it once a year.
Two years ago we started a tradition where we make homemade cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning (we actually did it this morning too for a Thanksgiving treat)! It is a great tradition and worth it as they are so ooey gooey and yummy. Far better than in the can and the kids can get involved too. This is by far our favorite quick easy dessert we have made for the holidays!! (originally published 11/15)
Homemade Cinnamon Rolls Recipes
Do you love baking during the holidays?? We do! There are only a few times a year where I go all out with yeast and all. This is one of those winners. And we have a few different tweaks of this if you want it to go quicker, or desire a holiday flavor.
- Like, you can make a twist on this and make gingerbread cinnamon rolls, make crescent roll cinnamon rolls with crescents, or make sweet rolls.
But let’s start with this one that is go all out I want to bake completely from scratch because there isn’t another….
Recipe for Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
Here are the ingredients you will need:
- 2 pkg. yeast, dissolved in 1 cup lukewarm water
- 6 T of shortening
- White sugar
- 7 cups unbleached flour
- 2 cups hot water
- Eggs, beaten
- Salt
- 1 stick softened butter
- Brown sugar
- 3/4 c. Raisins (optional)
- Cinnamon
You are going to need to make the dough first off right? So let’s get going on that….
Recipe for Cinnamon Rolls from Scratch
We have shared how to proof dough in Instant Pot or you can just find a warm spot for it to rise like Grandma did.
- Start by adding yeast to cup of lukewarm water. Sprinkle in a little sugar, set aside for about 5 minutes.
- Add shortening, sugar, and salt to hot water and cool to lukewarm.
- Stir in 2 cups of flour and mix until smooth.
- Add yeast and mix again until smooth.
- Add in beaten eggs.
- Stir in remainder of flour, a little at a time until no more can be mixed in. Remove the mixer attachment and knead by hand until dough is smooth.
- Cover and let rise for 30 min. Lightly knead and roll out until it’s about 1/4″ think and covers the cutting board
- May need to break off a portion and roll out to just this rectangular shape
- Spread with softened butter, sprinkle on brown sugar, raisins, and cinnamon until it covers the entire area, the more the better.
- Roll it from the bottom to the top so it is a long roll from one end of the cutting board to the other. Cut into pieces that are about 2″-3″
- Place on well greased pans and for best results let them rise again sitting in the pans for maybe 15-30 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 min. or so.
- It is best if you space them out before rising/cooking because if you don’t the middle ones won’t cook all the way through. An 8×8 pan is great.
- Frosting ~ You can use ready made vanilla frosting or make traditional frosting from powdered sugar.
- If you have never done that just mix maybe 1/2 stick of butter, powdered sugar and thin it out with a bit of milk and vanilla to taste.
This is a peek at our semi homemade but quick cinnamon rolls we’ve made in the past. Want to use something other than your oven? We’ve done air fryer cinnamon rolls too!
How to Make Cinnamon Rolls
We love goodies like this so much that we have made several variations. Many are semi homemade and baked using different methods.
- Want to make no yeast cinnamon rolls too? They’re great if you don’t have any on hand.
- If you have a Ninja Foodi you could try these air fryer desserts or if you don’t we’ve made these pecan sticky buns in the oven too.
For a quicker but same taste creation, try our cinnamon roll muffins. Choose your preferred method and let us know which one you love best!
Cinnamon Rolls From Scratch
Equipment
- 1 9×13 pan
- 2 bowls
Ingredients
- 2 pkg yeast, dissolved in 1 c. lukewarm water
- 6 t shortening
- 1 c sugar
- 7 c unbleached flour
- 2 c hot water
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 stick butter, softened
- 3/4 c raisins, more or less depending on your preference
- 1 c brown sugar
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Add yeast to cup of lukewarm water and sprinkle in a little sugar, set aside for about 5 minutes.
- Add shortening, sugar, and salt to hot water and cool to lukewarm. Stir in 2 cups of flour and mix until smooth. Add yeast and mix again until smooth. Add in beaten eggs.
- Stir in remainder of flour, a little at a time until no more can be mixed in. Remove the mixer attachment and knead by hand until dough is smooth.
- Cover and let rise for 30 min. Lightly knead and roll out until it's about 1/4" think and covers the cutting board (may need to break off a portion and roll out to just this rectangular shape) Spread with softened butter, sprinkle on brown sugar, raisins, and cinnamon until it covers the entire area….the more the better.
- Roll it from the bottom to the top so it is a long roll from one end of the cutting board to the other, cut into pieces that are about 2"-3" (they will rise quite a bit).
- Place on well greased pans and for best results let them rise again sitting in the pans for maybe 15-30 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 min. or so (check until light brown so they're cooked all the way through). It is best if you space them out before rising/cooking because if you don't the middle ones won't cook all the way through…about 5 in an 8×8 pan is great.
- Frosting ~ You can use ready made vanilla frosting or make traditional frosting from powdered sugar.
- If you have never done that just mix maybe 1/2 stick of butter, powdered sugar and thin it out with a bit of milk and vanilla to taste….really it is just by the look of it and how thick you like it as far as measuring goes.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
