Cinnamon Roll Muffins
Baking cinnamon rolls in a muffin tin may just be my new favorite thing. Each roll gets a golden, slightly crisp outer crust, with an ultra soft, gooey center. The muffin tin forces each cinnamon roll to grow upward, rather than flattening and spreading out. The individual muffin tins trap all of the delicious buttery cinnamon sugar that drips out of the rolls, creating a sticky, caramel bottom on every single roll. Each cinnamon roll bakes faster and more evenly, ensuring that each roll is done at the same time, rather than waiting for the center rolls to finish baking.
Cinnamon rolls are hands down my favorite breakfast treat. I mean, how can you resist pillowy, soft dough with lots of extra buttery cinnamon sugar filling?! And don’t forget the icing! Well, recently I was baking cinnamon rolls and had a few extra that didn’t fit into my 9×13 inch pan. I had a muffin tin close by and thought why not try baking cinnamon rolls in the muffin tin!? I am certainly not the first to make cinnamon rolls this way, but this method was new to me.
The end result was EVERYTHING! I honestly think this is my new favorite way to make cinnamon rolls. I always struggle to get the center rolls fully done, oftentimes covering the outer rolls with aluminum foil to prevent them from getting too dark before the center ones get done. Don’t get me wrong I absolutely love cinnamon rolls made the traditional way in a pan, but there are some key benefits to making them in a muffin tin.
Muffin tin versus traditional baking dish
There are a few benefits to baking cinnamon rolls in a muffin tin. Of course, baking cinnamon rolls in a traditional 9×13 inch pan yields absolutely delicious cinnamon rolls, as well. So, here are a few of the benefits of baking cinnamon rolls in a muffin tin.
- The muffin tin shape causes the cinnamon rolls to rise and bake upwards, rather than spreading out and flatten. This creates, beautiful, enormous looking cinnamon rolls!
- Each roll is in contact with its own individual muffin tin, which means each cinnamon roll has golden, lightly crisp edges, with an incredibly soft, tender, gooey center. I personally love the contrast in textures.
- The muffin tin traps the delicious buttery, cinnamon sugar mixture. Since each roll is in its own muffin tin, the buttery cinnamon sugar mixture that drips out of the cinnamon rolls drips down into the muffin tin, creating a gooey caramel bottom on each roll.
- Even, quicker baking. Since each roll is in its own tin, it is exposed to hot air on all sides, meaning they cook much faster than traditional rolls that are sandwiched together with other rolls. I know I often have trouble getting center rolls completely done, so this muffin tin method makes that process much easier.
Cinnamon Roll Muffins
- Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
- Yield: 8 jumbo or 14 standard sized cinnamon rolls 1x
Description
Baking cinnamon rolls in a muffin tin may just be my new favorite thing. Each roll gets a golden, slightly crisp outer crust, with an ultra soft, gooey center. The muffin tin forces each cinnamon roll to grow upward, rather than flattening and spreading out. The individual muffin tins trap all of the delicious buttery cinnamon sugar that drips out of the rolls, creating a sticky, caramel bottom on every single roll. Each cinnamon roll bakes faster and more evenly, ensuring that each roll is done at the same time, rather than waiting for the center rolls to finish baking.
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 4 1/2 cups bread flour
- 1/4 cup Greek yogurt
- 2 large eggs
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon salt
Cinnamon Sugar Filling
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened/semi-melted
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
Cinnamon Sugar Drizzle (before baking)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1–2 tablespoons heavy cream or milk
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, add instant yeast, warm milk and sugar. Allow the mixture to sit for 2 to 3 minutes. This recipe uses instant yeast, so this step is not necessary, but I like to ensure the yeast is working. The mixture should be frothy on the surface and should have a yeast smell to it.
Add in the bread flour, Greek yogurt, eggs, softened butter and salt. Knead the mixture for 5 minutes on medium-low speed.
Transfer the dough to a greased bowl, and spray the top of the dough with nonstick spray, or drizzle with a touch of canola or vegetable oil. Cover with plastic wrap.
2. First rise. Allow to rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
3. Make the cinnamon sugar filling mixture. In a medium sized bowl, add softened/semi-melted butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Stir to combine.
4. Punch down dough and and transfer to very, very lightly greased countertop. I prefer to drizzle my counter with a very small amount of canola, vegetable oil, or melted butter, rather than using flour. This helps keep the dough moist, rather than drying it out with extra flour.
Roll out into a 24×12 inch rectangle.
Spread the cinnamon sugar mixture over dough, spreading all the way to the edges.
5. Roll and shape. Roll dough up, starting at short end into cylinder. Use a piece of unflavored dental floss, or a serrated knife (although I prefer the dental floss as it gives the cleanest cuts), to cut into 8 rolls.
If you prefer smaller rolls, you can cut into 14 rolls.
6. Place rolls into greased muffin tin. If you are making the 8 larger rolls, place in a jumbo muffin tin. The smaller, 14 rolls can go in a standard size muffin tin.
7. In a small bowl, make the cinnamon sugar drizzle. Stir together the heavy cream, brown sugar and cinnamon. Pour along the sides (you can just gently pull the roll away from the side of the tin, so that you can get some of the mixture along the side) and on top of each roll. This mixture will soak into the rolls as it bakes, helping to create ultra soft rolls, and a delicious, gooey bottom.
8. Preheat oven and short second rise. Turn oven on and preheat to 350F. While the oven preheats, the rolls will do their second rise. This should take 10-15 minutes. Very loosely cover the rolls with plastic wrap, while the rise to prevent them from drying out.
9. Bake the rolls. Place the muffin tin on a rimmed baking sheet, just in case some of the cinnamon sugar mixture bubbles out over the pan. Bake the rolls in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown and the center temperature registers 190F ( for the jumbo rolls). For the smaller sized rolls, bake for 15-25 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 190F.
10. Allow to cool a few minutes in the muffin tin, while you make the icing. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese, heavy cream (or milk), powdered sugar and vanilla extract until smooth and creamy.
Spread icing over warm rolls. Serve and enjoy!
- Prep Time: 25
- Rise Time: 60
- Cook Time: 25
- Category: Breakfast/Brunch
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
