Gooey, Soft Brioche Cinnamon Rolls

5 from 12 votes

Published by Rebecca Eisenberg ⁠— March 5, 2024 — 23 Comments

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Sink your teeth into these amazing soft brioche cinnamon rolls; they're super fluffy and drenched in heavy cream before they hit the oven. The heavy cream works its magic while they bake, giving these cinnamon rolls an incredibly moist, gooey texture.

The simple sweet vanilla bean icing is generously poured over the top while the buns are still warm, melting into the soft dough as a sweet finishing touch. Trust me, these cinnamon buns are the ultimate brunch or dessert treat — a cozy sweet cinnamon hug for your taste buds. I can't wait for you to try them!

closeup of icing covered cinnamon rolls. two have been removed from the bottom right corner of the pan.

Unlike my small batch cinnamon roll recipe which makes just one large cinnamon roll, this recipe makes cinnamon buns that I consider a "Goldilocks" size — not too big and not too small. They're fun to pull apart and best eaten with your fingers so you can lick every bit of gooey cinnamon sugar filling clean when you're done!

For a slightly less intensive cinnamon sugar bread situation, check out my foolproof cinnamon swirl bread!

In this blog post I'll walk you through all my best cinnamon roll tips — from step-by-step instructions on how to roll and slice cinnamon rolls evenly to how to make the dough ahead of time and do an overnight rise. Let's get into it!

Jump to:

About This Recipe
Ingredient Notes
🍽 Mise en place (aka "the setup")
How to Make Brioche Dough for Cinnamon Rolls
Same Day Cinnamon Rolls vs. Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
Cinnamon Sugar Filling for Cinnamon Buns
Shaping Brioche Cinnamon Rolls
How to Cut Cinnamon Rolls
Baking and Icing Gooey Cinnamon Rolls
Storage Notes
Substitutions and Variations
Practical Tips and Recipe Notes
Why is this recipe in grams? I want to use cups!
TL;DR — Recipe Summary
📖 Recipe
💬 Comments

About This Recipe

My goal with this recipe was to transform my fluffy base brioche dough into ooey-gooey, soft-n-sticky cinnamon rolls. I did add a little bit of vanilla and cinnamon to it to carry those cinnamon roll flavors through from the filling to the dough. But you could use the plain brioche dough here too if you wanted.

One of my favorite things about my go-to brioche dough is that it's a quick, same-day brioche. For these cinnamon rolls, I did have to add an extra hour to the rise time to chill the dough so it's easier for you to roll out, but don't worry — they can still be done in just a few hours. (That said, I did include instructions for how to do an overnight fridge rise in case you want to make the dough in advance.)

close up of a cinnamon roll that's been pulled off the rest of the bake.

As a baking blogger and recipe developer, I'm always tweaking and testing my recipes up to the last minute. These cinnamon rolls were no different. I thought I had the recipe locked down when I suddenly remembered a grandma hack (that recently went viral on TikTok) for pouring heavy cream over cinnamon rolls before baking to make them extra gooey.

I knew I couldn't consider this recipe "done" without trying it. I'm so glad I did. Not only does the heavy cream absorb into the cinnamon rolls during baking to make them extra ooey-gooey, but it also slows down the staling process and keeps the cinnamon rolls from drying out too quickly.

Without the heavy cream, these cinnamon rolls were best eaten within 24 hours or else they dried out. With the heavy cream, they stay nice and soft and sticky for 3-4 days! Don't skip the heavy cream!

5-star reader review

“I baked these today alongside my 15 year old. Wow, they are good, even my cinnamon roll hating 14 year old went back for seconds!”
—Jen

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Ingredient Notes

Here's what you'll need to make these super soft and squishy homemade brioche cinnamon rolls! Not pictured: heavy cream. See recipe card (at the end of the blog post) for ingredient quantities.

all of the ingredients for cinnamon rolls measured out and labeled.

All Purpose Flour - No fancy flour needed! I use King Arthur Baking's all-purpose flour which has a slightly higher protein content which makes it a little chewier. If you're using store brand flour, you may see better results with a bread flour. But regular all purpose should work just fine!
Milk - Whole milk works best — the fat content is an important part of this enriched dough.
Large Egg - If you use a different-sized egg, you may find the dough stickier or drier than it should be. It will still work, you just may need to add more milk or flour in the initial mixing stages! In the U.S. a large egg (without the shell) weighs 57 grams (approximately 2 ounces).
Honey - To sweeten the dough. You'll want to use a honey that has a flavor you really like here. Yum!
Instant Yeast - Instant yeast is sometimes also called "rapid rise," "quick rise," or "bread machine" yeast. Active dry yeast can be used as well, see recipe notes for how to adjust.
Vanilla Bean Paste - I like the concentrated flavor of a vanilla bean paste, but vanilla extract or the seeds from one vanilla bean pod will also work!
Salt - I use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt which half as salty as other brands. As long as you measure your salt by weight, it doesn't matter what brand or type of salt you use. If you're measuring by volume (teaspoons) cut the amount of salt in half.
Unsalted Butter - You'll need butter for the dough, the cinnamon sugar filling, and the icing. If you use salted butter, cut the amount of salt in half or omit it entirely.
Brown Sugar - The more intense flavor of dark brown sugar works best for cinnamon roll filling, but light brown sugar will also work if that's all you've got.
Ground Cinnamon - There's a heap of cinnamon in the filling, but there's also a bit of ground cinnamon in the dough.
Nutmeg - This is technically optional but gives the cinnamon sugar filling a more complex flavor. Don't have nutmeg? Allspice or cardamom will also work here.
Heavy Cream - Also called "heavy whipping cream." This is the secret ingredient that makes these cinnamon rolls super ooey-gooey and soft! While you can make these cinnamon rolls without it, they're 10,000x better with a pour of heavy cream over the top right before baking.

🍽 Mise en place (aka "the setup")

Mise en place is a French culinary term that literally translates to "putting in place."

It basically means: Measure all your ingredients and make sure you have all the right tools and equipment ready to go when you need them before you start working.

This can make a huge difference in a) how enjoyable you find the baking and cooking process and b) the success of your recipe!

Here's the mise en place you'll need before you begin this recipe:

Soften the butter - The best way to soften butter to room temperature is to leave it out for 1-3 hours (or overnight if it’s very cold in your kitchen). If you don't remember to do that, you can microwave the wrapped stick of butter for 4-5 seconds per side.
Warm the Milk - Microwave the milk in 10-15 second bursts in the microwave until it is warm to the touch but not hot (90°F).
Bring the egg to room temperature - Submerge the egg in very hot water for 5-10 minutes.

How to Make Brioche Dough for Cinnamon Rolls

There's no need to be intimidated by brioche dough, though it does have a unique two-stage kneading process which can be a bit confusing if you're new to it. But I promise you can do this.

Basically, you first mix and knead together all the dough ingredients except for the butter, and then you add the butter gradually in a second kneading stage. This allows the flour to absorb the liquid ingredients and form the gluten network before the fat in the butter is introduced. The soft butter then coats the gluten network, giving you a softer, smoother, more elastic dough.

If this sounds confusing, don't worry. Brioche is a very resilient dough that is hard to over mix, so don't worry; you don't need to feel rushed during this process. You have plenty of time to get it right.

Psst! If you're brand new to brioche, I've gone into more detail about it with step-by-step photos and how to troubleshoot it in my brioche bread loaf post. I recommend heading there to read more about it!

Here's the basic brioche dough process:

Mix the dough - Whisk the dry ingredients together, then whisk the liquid ingredients together. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix everything with the dough hook until it comes together in one mass on the dough hook and there aren't any dry bits of flour left in the bottom.
Knead the dough - Increase the speed and knead on medium until the dough is soft, smooth and ideally passes the windowpane test.
Add the butter - Add the soft, room temperature butter 1 tablespoon at a time, letting it fully incorporate between each addition. You're asking the dough to incorporate quite a lot of fat each time you add a new chunk of butter, so be patient. It can take 60 seconds for each cube of butter to incorporate.
Knead the dough - Once the butter has been added, knead the dough again on medium speed until it passes the windowpane test a second time.

Finish by shaping the dough into a ball by tucking all the ends under so the top is nice and smooth.

a ball of brioche dough in a metal bowl.

Place it in a lightly greased bowl and cover it to bulk ferment (rise) for 1 hour at room temperature, then 1 hour in the fridge. This is the fastest possible rise you can do for this cinnamon roll dough. The room temperature rise allows the dough to expand quickly, while the fridge rise chills the butter making the dough easier to roll out.

Want to make your cinnamon roll dough ahead of time? No problem!

Same Day Cinnamon Rolls vs. Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

Once the brioche dough is in the fridge it will be fine in there for up to 24 hours.

You can even skip the room temperature rise entirely if you're not in a rush or you know you want an overnight rise. Just put the dough directly in the fridge for a minimum of 3 hours and as long as 24 hours before rolling it out.

It's really up to you how far in advance you want to make the dough. A longer, slower rise will give the dough more time to develop flavor and a softer texture too. Play around with the timing of this cinnamon roll recipe to fit your schedule!

I often make the dough the night before and place it directly in the fridge for the first rise. Then I shape the cinnamon rolls in the morning for overnight cinnamon rolls. But when I'm in a rush I do the 1 hour room temperature rise followed by 1 hour in the fridge.

iced cinnamon rolls in a baking pan on a cooling rack.

I did test leaving the cinnamon rolls to rise in the fridge after cutting and shaping them, but I found the cinnamon sugar filling tended to absorb into the dough with that method and the rolls just didn't bake up quite as big and fluffy.

You still need to do the one-hour rest out of the fridge in the morning before baking because these cinnamon rolls are best baked from room temperature. So shaping them the night before doesn't end up saving that much time. I don't recommend doing it this way.

To do an overnight rise: Let the dough bulk ferment (rise) overnight in the fridge, then roll, shape, and cut the cinnamon rolls the next day and do the final proof (rise) before baking.

Cinnamon Sugar Filling for Cinnamon Buns

Making the cinnamon sugar filling for these cinnamon rolls is so easy. First melt the butter about halfway in short bursts in the microwave, then whisk it until the residual heat melts the remaining pieces.

This keeps the butter from getting too hot and helps the cinnamon sugar filling cool down faster. You want the filling to be at a nice, creamy, spreadable room temperature when you put it on the dough.

whisking the dark brown, thick cinnamon sugar filling.

Add the brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg. Whisk until well combined, and set aside while you roll out the dough. By the time you're ready to use the filling, it will have cooled to the perfect spreadable temperature.

Shaping Brioche Cinnamon Rolls

Turn the chilled brioche dough out onto a lightly floured work surface or countertop. Try to get it all in one piece or as un-wrinkled as possible to make it easier to roll out smoothly.

It's okay if it's not perfect, or if you need to scrape a few stuck bits out of the bottom of the bowl and stick them onto it. It'll just make things easier if you can get it out of the bowl in one solid piece.

rolling a thick piece of brioche dough with a wooden rolling pin.

Use a rolling pin to press down on the dough three times. Rotate and repeat. This helps even out the dough's thickness and warm up the butter and gluten network before you start rolling and stretching it.

to square off the dough use a metal bench scraper in one hand. the other hand presses the dough flush against it to square the edges.

Keep rolling, pausing occasionally to square off the edges of the dough with a bench scraper. Brioche dough is super pliable, so smush it with your hand to get it flush with the bench scraper.

The butter in the dough will warm up as you work it, especially in response to the heat from your hands, so dust in more flour (lightly) only as needed to prevent sticking.

To help keep the rectangle shape, I find it helps to angle the rolling pin so that you're rolling toward the corners from the center of the dough. I alternate which corner I'm rolling toward, and then periodically roll lengthwise down the center and edges of the dough to even out the thickness.

Periodically lift the corners and gently stretch them outward to create sharper right angles.

rolling a rectangular piece of dough with a wooden rolling pin.

Keep rolling the dough out until you have a nice rectangle of dough about 11" wide and 16" long. Brush off any excess flour.

a long rectangle of dough with the cinnamon sugar spread to every edge except the long edge on the left side.

Spread the dough with a thin layer of the cinnamon sugar filling, leaving one long edge with about an inch of clean dough.

This strip of clean dough will help the cinnamon roll dough stick to itself once you roll it up so the cinnamon rolls don't come undone during the final rise.

two hands folding up the long right edge of the dough to begin rolling the cinnamon roll.

Begin rolling by folding the other long edge up. It helps to work from one side to the other.

two hands rolling up the cinnamon roll dough into a log.

Keep rolling, pushing the dough roll forward onto itself until it's all rolled up in a nice log with the seam underneath.

Try not to create too much tension or stretch the dough too much while rolling it up. If the roll is too tight, the centers of your cinnamon rolls will pop up when they bake. You want to keep the roll tight enough that there aren't any air pockets trapped inside, but not so tight that the cinnamon rolls pop up in the oven.

Carefully lift the whole log of dough onto a sheet pan and place it in the fridge for 10-15 minutes before slicing. This firms up the butter in the dough and filling which makes the cinnamon rolls so much easier to cut. You're welcome!

How to Cut Cinnamon Rolls

Cutting cinnamon rolls neatly is an art form in and of itself. The goal is to slice the log of dough into neat rounds while preserving the nice round shape and without smearing the filling all over the place.

Chilling the dough before slicing is the first step to getting nice clean cuts. And while some people use unwaxed, unflavored dental floss to cut their cinnamon rolls, I prefer using a sharp, serrated bread knife.

the log of dough next to a metal ruler with the end of the dough trimmed off.

Start by trimming off the very ends of the dough log so they're nice, straight, and even.

the log of dough next to a metal ruler and a serrated bread knife. three scored cut marks divide the dough into quarters.

Use the knife to lightly mark where you plan to cut the log of dough. I start with the cut in the middle.

To make your cuts, move the knife in clean, single-direction strokes, pulling it fully out of the dough between each cut instead of sawing back and forth or pressing straight down with the blade.

I find it helps to brace the dough with the thumb and forefinger of your other hand on either side of the knife blade to hold it in place without pressing down on the dough.

This will allow you to avoid collapsing the cinnamon rolls or smearing the cinnamon sugar filling.

cutting a quarter length of the cinnamon roll dough log in half.

Cut each half of the dough log in half so you have four equal lengths of dough.

four small sections of the dough log each with scored cut marks to divide them in half.

Then cut each half in half. Repeat one more time. You'll have 16 cinnamon rolls.

Crumble a sheet of parchment paper to soften it up, then press it into a 13x9" rectangular baking dish (two 9" round cake pans will also work).

the cinnamon rolls in a parchment lined baking pan before rising.

Arrange the cinnamon rolls in slightly offset rows so that the rolls have room to expand while they rise.

the cinnamon rolls arranged in a rectangular baking pan after rising.

Cover the pan and let the cinnamon rolls rise somewhere warm for about an hour until doubled in size and puffy.

a stainless steel rippled rectangular high sided baking pan with sharp corners.

9x13" Rectangular Baking Pan

Dimensions: 9 x 13 x 2.25 inches. A high-sided rectangular metal baking pan with a durable, environmentally friendly non-stick coating. Particularly appreciated for its precise 90° corners and edges. Max temperature: 450°F.

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Walmart

Baking and Icing Gooey Cinnamon Rolls

Towards the end of the rise time, preheat the oven to 375°F. Now, it's time for the not-so-secret ingredient that makes these cinnamon rolls oh-so-ooey-gooey. Heavy cream. This is one of those secrets that grandmas have known about for decades, but that recently went viral on TikTok. And you know what? It totally works.

proofed brioche cinnamon rolls in a baking pan covered with a layer of heavy cream. the heavy cream is pooling in the bottom of the pan.

Pour a ½ cup of heavy cream (½ tablespoon per roll) over the cinnamon rolls right before baking. It will pool in the bottom of the pan. That's okay.

golden brown cinnamon rolls in the pan after baking.

Bake the cinnamon rolls for 25-30 minutes until golden brown on top. The heavy cream will absorb into the dough as they bake.

Remove the pan from the oven and set it aside on a wire rack to cool slightly (just a few minutes) while you make the icing. Or make the icing while they bake, I don't really care when you do it. Just don't skip it!

If any of the centers of the cinnamon rolls pop up in the oven, just push them back down carefully with a spatula. No one has to know!

the thick vanilla bean icing whisked in a small bowl.

Whisk together powdered sugar, vanilla, melted butter, and whole milk until you have a thick icing.

It should be a fairly thick icing; the heat from the cinnamon rolls will loosen it up so it spreads nicely over all the rolls.

(Yes, this is the same icing I used in my Oreo bundt cake recipe!)

Cinnamon rolls are best enjoyed slightly warm. Once they're cool enough to handle, use a knife or your hands to pull apart the cinnamon rolls to serve.

5-star reader review

“If you are like me and love the attention and validation you get from people when you bake something delicious, make this recipe. It's a little bit of a labor of love, but 100% worth it. I’m a beginner when it comes to working with yeast and thought I might have bitten off more than I can chew with these, but they came out perfect. This will be another staple in my recipe collection. Highly recommend!”
—Antonette

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Storage Notes

These soft cinnamon rolls will last for 3-4 days at room temperature in an airtight container. I like to keep mine in one of these layered dumpling storage containers which are nice and flat.

Once the cinnamon rolls are fully cooled or to enjoy leftover cinnamon rolls, microwave them for about 10 seconds before serving. Any longer than 10 seconds and the cinnamon sugar filling can get hot enough to burn. Be careful!

The microwave doesn't just warm them up, it also softens the butter in the dough again, giving the cinnamon buns a better texture. Even slightly dry cinnamon buns can be revived this way.

Substitutions and Variations

Use melted cream cheese instead of melted butter for a cream cheese icing.
Instead of vanilla bean paste, vanilla extract will work just fine.
If you don't have any vanilla, you can leave it out of the dough. Replace the vanilla in the icing with additional milk, or even a splash of booze like spiced rum or bourbon.
Instead of nutmeg in the cinnamon sugar filling, allspice or cardamom will also work.
Add 1-2 teaspoons of orange zest to the dry ingredients when making the brioche dough for a sweet, citrusy flavor that is so nice with the warm cinnamon sugar filling. You can also use ½ teaspoon orange zest in the icing to carry the flavor through.

close up of a cinnamon roll with a bite taken out.

Practical Tips and Recipe Notes

If you don't have a 9x13" pan, you can also use two 9-inch square or 9-inch round cake pans instead.
Always use a stand mixer to make this brioche cinnamon roll dough. You cannot use a hand mixer.
If you have one of the tilt-head KitchenAid stand mixers, the motor may struggle with this dough; you may need to hold the bowl in place to make sure it doesn’t unscrew or come loose. You can always lower the speed and knead for longer if your mixer is struggling with the higher speeds. If you have a bowl-lift stand mixer, you'll still want to keep an eye on it the whole time it's mixing and kneading so it doesn't walk itself off the counter.
You shouldn't need to go above speed 6 on your KitchenAid mixer at any point while you're making brioche dough. Most of the time speeds 2-4 are just fine!
If you don't reach a perfect windowpane stage before adding the butter to the dough and you've kneaded for at least 10 minutes, go ahead and start adding butter anyway. It'll be fine!
Room temperature = 72-75°F. If it's cold in your kitchen, the dough may need an extra 30-60 minutes to rise. I've been using this seed-starting heat mat to help my dough rise properly in my cold kitchen. It's less than $15 and has a very gentle heat; I just put my mixing bowl or sheet pan right on top of the mat. It works beautifully.

Why is this recipe in grams? I want to use cups!

In order to make this brioche bread successfully, you need to measure your ingredients by weight. No, unfortunately I cannot convert it to cups for you.

A kitchen scale is more accurate than cup measurements and will give you the right ratio of milk, yeast, salt, honey, butter, and flour so that your brioche dough behaves the way you want it to. Depending on how much you pack the flour in and what brand of measuring cups you’re using, you may be off by 30-50 grams of flour per cup which can make a huge difference in how your brioche bread turns out.

I tested and developed this recipe using weight measurements. If I were to convert it to cups, I would be using Google — just like you would. And since there's no set standard for what "1 cup" of flour weighs, different online converters use different amounts, which means converting the recipe to cups would be very inaccurate.

Basically, if you convert this recipe to cup measurements, do so at your own risk. It will have a higher rate of failure. I don’t recommend it!

TL;DR — Recipe Summary

Mix dry ingredients. Mix wet ingredients. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Use dough hook to mix until combined in a shaggy dough.
Knead until windowpane stage is reached, adjusting dough as needed.
Add room temperature butter 1 tablespoon at a time until incorporated.
Knead until windowpane stage is reached again.
Cover and rest the dough for 1 hour at room temp followed by 1-24 hours in the fridge.
Roll the cold dough out to 11x16 inch rectangle.
Make the cinnamon sugar filling and spread it in an even layer on the dough, leaving about an inch of bare dough on one of the long sides.
Roll the dough up into a log, place it on a sheet pan and chill in the fridge for 10 minutes.
Trim the ends of the log, then divide the dough into 16 swirled rolls.
Arrange the cinnamon buns in a 9x13" parchment-lined baking pan, cover and rise for 1 hour.
Pour heavy cream over the cinnamon rolls and bake for 25-30 minutes at 375°F.
Make the icing and spread it over the cinnamon rolls in the pan while they're still warm.

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