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Make your morning magnificent with these pillowy-soft cinnamon rolls infused with nutty brown butter in the dough, filling, AND frosting. They’re everything you want in a classic cinnamon roll, and then some!

Take your classic cinnamon rolls up a notch with brown butter! Its nutty, caramel-like flavor adds a new level of depth to these soft and pillowy rolls. Topped with a fluffy cream cheese frosting (also made with brown butter) for a breakfast treat you’ll simply adore.

Good morning indeed!

There’s something nostalgic about a classic cinnamon roll, whether your memories involve a pop can (that still, to this day, makes me flinch whenever I open it), a local bakery in your hometown, or one of the aromatic bun shops in malls or airports.

Whatever your memories involve, chances are that you’ve had a hard time replicating that with homemade versions. Or maybe that’s just me?

Needless to say, this recipe is as close as I’ve gotten to what my tastebuds remember. From the gooey centers to the just-shy-of-too-sweet frosting, with ample amounts of cinnamon sugar rolled up in a pillowy soft dough, these brown butter cinnamon rolls are perfect served with a cup of bitter brew.

The secret to these stellar cinnamon rolls is most definitely the brown butter: its nutty, caramel-like flavor compliments and enhances the cinnamon and adds a sumptuous depth of flavor and subtle savory notes to contrast the sticky sweetness.

This recipe has a higher proportion of filling to dough than many recipes. So much so that it’s almost indecent. Let’s just say this recipe certainly doesn’t skimp on the cinnamon!

As it bakes, this extra thick layer of filling melts and caramelizes, more concentrated towards the bottoms of the rolls as the molten sugar flows in the heat of the oven: a gooey gradient with an almost sticky toffee-like chew that’s downright devilish, and only gets more intense as you peel back the layers.

As for the cream cheese frosting… (because what’s a cinnamon roll without frosting? A sticky bun. That’s what.) In this case the brown butter cream cheese frosting is the finishing touch that makes these cinnamon rolls sing.

Now, let me just say that I am not usually a fan of cream cheese frostings. To me, cream cheese belongs on bagels, and that’s it. Anything sweet that tastes strongly of cream cheese just turns my stomach (this is also the reason I am not a fan of ‘no-bake’ cheesecakes—they taste like straight up sweetened blocks of cream cheese—no thank you).

But in this case, the rich, toasty flavor of the brown butter dominates, resulting in a frosting that’s creamy and rich without tasting strongly of cream cheese. The cream cheese in this case is more of a filler than a flavor driver, adding structure and substance to the frosting without needing so much sugar (the tang of the cream cheese also helps to cut the sweetness of the powdered sugar). Add a hint of vanilla and you have the perfect frosting for cinnamon rolls.

I also imagine this frosting would be downright amazing with mascarpone (which has a comparably creamy texture with a more subtle flavor, which is why I regularly use it in place of cream cheese in many recipes).

Brown butter love.

Brown butter is butter that has been browned (obviously) on the stovetop, until the milk solids turn golden brown and all remaining water present in the butter has been cooked off. It has a unique flavor, nutty and almost caramel-like, and can be used in both sweet and savory applications (hello, mashed potatoes of my dreams).

This is a classic cinnamon roll recipe for the most part, but I’ve replaced the regular butter in the dough, filling, and frosting (go big or go home, I say!)

You’ll notice the recipe calls for you to start with 2 1/2 sticks of butter (20 tablespoons), but only uses 15 tablespoons between the dough, filling, and frosting. That’s because you’ll lose about 25% of the volume during the browning process. Starting with more than you need ensures that you have plenty of brown butter for all the steps of the recipe.

Different butters may vary slightly in the final yield, butters with a higher fat content will have less liquid loss during browning. I used a standard American butter (Trader Joe’s organic unsalted butter, specifically), but a higher quality European butter may yield more than 15 tablespoons.

The frosting portion of this recipe, where the remaining butter is used, is flexible though, so whatever you have left, be it 3 tablespoons or 5, can certainly be used in the frosting without any adverse effects.

Once you’ve made your brown butter, I like to divide it up right away before it solidifies. You’ll need to separate it out into 3 different bowls: 1/4 cup for the dough, 1/2 cup for the filling, and then the rest (about 3 tablespoons or so) will go in the frosting. Be sure to stir the liquid butter as you measure, and don’t pour or spoon just off the top, to ensure even distribution of the toasty brown bits.

Whatever you’re not using that day go ahead and cover and refrigerate. The brown butter used in the dough can be any temperature (it gets melted into the tangzhong anyway), and the butter in the cinnamon sugar filling is melted as well. Only the butter for the frosting needs to be at a specific temperature when you use it (soft room temp), and that’s easy enough to do with your microwave’s soften setting or a few short intervals at 50% power. Or, if your butter is melted at the time, set it up quickly in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes (stirring every 5-10 minutes to ensure it cools evenly).

Let’s talk about our fillings: wet or dry?

There are two schools of thought when it comes to cinnamon roll fillings, one I’ll call the Dry method and another the Wet. Both have their advantages, as well as their faults.

Dry

Soften butter until it is nearly but not totally melted (the consistency of warm peanut butter). Use a pastry brush to spread a thick layer of butter evenly over the entire piece of dough. Sprinkle dry filling (sugar blended with cinnamon) evenly over top, then pat down or gently run a rolling pin over the surface to pack and stick the filling to the butter.

I find this method infinitely easier to get an even layer of filling versus trying to spread a thick paste over a fragile dough, since you’re just brushing on the soft butter, then sprinkling the dry ingredients over top.

This method, however, is a bit harder to roll up, since the filling is somewhat loose. It’s also messier to slice for this same reason.

Wet

Add brown sugar and cinnamon to melted butter, forming a grainy paste. Spread this out onto your rolled dough.

While I find it this method a bit tricky to spread the paste into an even layer (you end up with patchy parts that are slightly thicker or thinner), the thick paste gives the dough more structure, making it easier to roll up and slice cleanly.

This method also allows you to ultimately have more filling, since it’s easier to build up a thicker later of paste versus loose sugar. So if you like extra gooey, extra cinnamony rolls, this method is for you.

Do I think there’s a difference in the final result? Not really, though I haven’t directly compared them side by side.

This recipe could technically be made either way, even though I’ve written it using the wet method. Same ingredients, same proportions, just a matter of whether you mix the sugar/cinnamon in with the melted butter or spread it on first and then sprinkle.

Roll with it.

Similarly, there are also two different techniques when it comes to the rollup.

I’ve always used the roll-and-slice method for my cinnamon rolls, where you roll up the big log of dough and filling and then try to slice through the thing without mangling it. The dental floss trick makes for the cleanest cuts this way, as opposed to using a knife.

But recently I saw a new technique from Matt on Instagram (skip to around the 2:00 minute mark to see what I mean) where you slice strips of dough first, and then rolled them up into individual rolls. This definitely works better with the wet filling method, since the dry tends to crumble out the sides when rolled up.

It helps if you have one of these handy tools to cut even strips (though you can also use a ruler and a pizza cutter). My strips were larger than Matt’s, more like 1¾” thick, which makes for taller overall rolls.

Both methods are much easier with cold dough, which is why I like to make my dough the night before, refrigerate it overnight, and then shape it in the morning. While you could let the dough rise at room temperature, and shape the rolls the night before (making for a quicker bake in the morning), I much prefer working with chilled dough.

Cinnamon roll math can be a complicated beast, and you have to think about the final shape and size of your rolls as well as what pan you will be baking it in (which will determine how many rolls you need to make—a square pan will fit more rolls than a round one, for instance).

While the dough proportions are nearly the same as this recipe, you’ll notice I instruct you roll it out to a larger size rectangle here (12×16 instead of 10×15). This allows you to make 9 rolls (instead of 8 to bake in a round pan). A thinner layer of dough also means more spirals and a higher filling to dough ratio. If you are baking your rolls in a round pan, you may want to follow the sizing outlined here. Or, you could make 9 rolls as directed, bake 7 in the round pan and 2 in their own individual ramekins or muffin cups.

Like these other cinnamon roll recipes, this recipe uses what’s called a Tangzhong, a Japanese technique wherein a bit of the flour is hydrated beforehand, allowing the dough to absorb extra water and resulting in an extra-pillowy bread dough. I’ve found this to be the best method to get super soft and tender cinnamon rolls.

Timing wise, while you can technically make this recipe all in one go, chances are you’ll be serving it in the morning, in which case starting it the day before is ideal.

I personally prefer to chill the dough and then shape the rolls the next morning, since a cold dough is much easier to work with.

However, if you want freshly baked cinnamon rolls ASAP as soon as you wake up, you may prefer to shape them the night before. In which case, make the dough, let it rise at room temperature for about an hour or so, then and fill and roll. Lightly cover and chill the shaped rolls overnight. The next morning, just pull the pan out of the fridge right when you wake up (or at least an hour or so before baking), to let them come to room temperature and puff a little bit before baking.

The frosting can also be made ahead of time if you want, or you can throw it together while the rolls are in the oven.