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    Home » Recipes » Breads » Sweet Rolls

    Cinna-Mini Cinnamon Rolls

    Published by Melissa on February 19, 2017 | Updated June 10, 2022 | 87 Comments

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    These Cinna-Mini Cinnamon Rolls are a classic ooey, gooey cinnamon roll topped with a rich cream cheese frosting in a fun mini size perfect for a party. Betcha can’t eat just one. 

    A while back, my sweet friend Annalise, Completely Delicious, hosted a pot luck baby shower brunch for our good friend Becky, Vintage Mixer. When you go to a pot luck party with food bloggers, you know you’re going to eat well, and the pressure’s on to make something extra special.

    Cinna-Mini Cinnamon Rolls

    Becky mentioned in a comment on my Simply Sinful Cinnamon Muffins post that one of her only pregnancy cravings has been cinnamon rolls, so I couldn’t resist making cinnamon rolls to take to the shower.

    To make them easy to eat and serve at a pot lucky party, I decided to make mini cinnamon rolls like the ones you can get at the mall.

    Amanda, Kevin and Amanda, baked some cute baby cinnamon rolls for a virtual baby shower last year. It’s a super easy, quick version made with crescent roll dough, but I wanted to use a traditional sweet yeast dough. I found just what I was looking for on the King Arthur Flour website. Their “Cinnabon clone” recipe.

    These Cinna-Mini Cinnamon Rolls are a classic ooey, gooey cinnamon roll topped with a rich cream cheese frosting in a fun mini size perfect for a party. Betcha can't eat just one.

    I filled them with the King Arthur Baker’s Cinnamon Filling, but if you don’t have that, I’ve given the ingredients for a substitute.

    I baked them in mini muffin tins, but you could also bake them on a baking sheet if you don’t have mini muffin pans. You can use dental floss or a serrated knife to cut your rolls, but I like to use my plastic dough scraper.

    Cinna-Mini-Cinnamon-Rolls-Collage-Barbara-Bakes

    The little cinnamon rolls are a bit more work to make than big ones, but they’re perfect for a party. Most people had two or three, and  even took some home for “their kids.” 😉 Kalyn, Kalyn’s Kitchen, gave them two thumbs up and said they reminded her of the ones her mom use to make for her growing up.

    I recently made them again for my family and thought it was time to share the post again with updated pictures. My family of six devoured all 48 of these rolls in 1 day. You definitely need to give these luscious three bite cinnamon rolls a try. 

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    4.42 from 29 votes

    Cinna-Mini Cinnamon Rolls

    A classic ooey, gooey cinnamon roll topped with a rich cream cheese frosting in a fun mini size perfect for a party. Betcha can’t eat just one. 
    Prep Time2 hrs
    Cook Time15 mins
    Total Time2 hrs 15 mins
    Course: Sweet Rolls
    Servings: 48 mini cinnamon rolls
    Author: Barbara Schieving
    Prevent your screen from going to sleep

    Ingredients

    • 4-4 ½ cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
    • ½ cup sugar
    • 2 ¼ teaspoons 1 package instant yeast
    • 1 ¾ teaspoons salt
    • 1 cup milk
    • ⅓ cup unsalted butter cut up
    • 2 large eggs room temperature
    • ½ cup water*
    • 1 cup Baker’s Cinnamon Filling mix*
    • *Or substitute ⅓ cup 2 ⅝ ounces unsalted butter, softened, 1 cup (7 ¼ ounces) brown sugar, packed, 3 tablespoons (¾ ounce) ground cinnamon
    • one 3-ounce package cream cheese softened
    • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
    • 1 ½ cups glazing or confectioners’ sugar
    • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 1 tablespoon milk

    Instructions

    • In the bowl of a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, combine 3 ½ cups flour, sugar, yeast, and salt.
    • In saucepan or microwave safe dish, heat milk and butter until warm (120°–130°F). Add heated milk and butter to flour mixture. Mix in eggs. Blend at low speed until moistened. Beat 3 minutes at medium speed.
    • Switch to the dough hook and mix in the remaining flour a little at a time, to make a soft dough, adding more or less flour as needed. Knead the dough for 5 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover; let rest 15 minutes.
    • While the dough is resting, prepare the filling by mixing the Baker’s Cinnamon Filling with enough water to make filling with a soft, pudding-like consistency. Set it aside. Spray 48 mini muffin cups with non stick cooking spray.
    • Divide dough in four equal pieces and keep remaining pieces covered with plastic wrap. On a floured surface, roll the dough into an 8×12″ rectangle. Spread ¼ of the filling evenly over the dough.
    • Starting with the long end, roll the dough into a log, and cut it into 12 slices. Place each piece, cut edges up, in a mini muffin cup. Repeat with remaining dough.
    • Loosely cover muffin pans with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled, about 60 minutes.
    • Preheat oven to 375°F
    • Bake 10 to 15 minutes until rolls are golden brown. Remove to a wire rack to cool. While rolls are cooling, make the icing.
    • IcingIn a small bowl, beat together the cream cheese, butter, sugar, and vanilla. Spread the icing on the buns while they’re warm.
    • Serve warm or at room temperature.

    Notes

    Adapted from King Arthur Flour

    More cinnamon roll recipes you might like:

    • A fun, easy to make petal-shaped Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake drizzled with a sweet glaze. Sweet Petals Coffee Cake from Barbara Bakes
    • Pumpkin Fantail Cinnamon Rolls, perfect for fall from Barbara Bakes
    • Banana Bread Cinnamon Rolls, a fun combo of banana bread and cinnamon rolls. Cooking Classy
    • Parry’s Cinnamon Rolls a classic cinnamon roll from Two Peas and Their Pod
    • Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls topped with a heavenly cream cheese frosting from Heartbeet Kitchen.

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    about us

    About Melissa & Barbara

    As of June 2022 Melissa Griffiths now is the one adding recipes. So think of it as Barbara Bakes, and Melissa too! Melissa and Barbara have been blogging friends for over 10 years and when Barbara was ready to retire and spend more time with her family, Melissa took over the site. Read more...

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      Recipe Rating




    1. Emma yoder

      January 07, 2023 at 3:55 pm

      4 stars
      Hi!
      I tried making these today I am a avid baker and I know even if something dosent work out it is not always the recipe so I’m not going to give you less stars but my rolls did not rise at all and I’m wondering if it my mistake if my “warm place” was not warm enough (I live in Wisconsin and never turn on my heat so its hard to find a warm enough spot in my house for yeast recipes) or if next time I can mix just the yeast and milk first, let the yeast bloom then add to flour, sugar,salt ect. I just have never seen a Yeast recipe where you add the dry yeast to other dry ingredients then mix warm milk(and butter) to it.. would love a reply back because I enjoyed making this recipe and they look so cute.. just not fluffy 🙁

      Reply
      • Melissa Griffiths

        January 09, 2023 at 12:15 pm

        I feel like the warm spot could definitely do it, you could always let them rise longer until you can see them rising a bit!

        Reply
    2. Carolyn Hahne

      March 05, 2020 at 12:43 pm

      What do you do if your mixer does not have paddles? Can I use the regular beaters. I also have some twisty beaters that I never use but I would not call them paddles. Hope to make these soon so hope to hear from you.
      Thanks.
      Carolyn 

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        March 05, 2020 at 12:49 pm

        Hi Carolyn – your twisty beaters are probably dough hooks for kneading dough. So you can use your regular beaters initially and then switch to the twisty beaters in step 3. Enjoy!

        Reply
    3. Katrina

      August 14, 2017 at 10:05 am

      How small are they?

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        August 14, 2017 at 11:25 am

        Hi Katrina – about 2 inches wide.

        Reply
      • Kelsi Thomsen

        March 08, 2020 at 5:11 pm

        I sprayed my muffin tin but they stuck horribly anyways it was a mess any suggestions on what else to do

        Reply
        • Barbara Schieving

          March 08, 2020 at 5:45 pm

          Hi Kelsi – did you use a paper towel to spread the spray around in the cups? Did you remove the cinnamon rolls before the sugar had time to cool? Is your muffin tin nonstick? I’ve also made these on a glazed pizza and that worked well, so that could be a good option for you too.

          Reply
    4. Tea

      May 13, 2017 at 4:15 pm

      I hate to say this bit this recipe is horrible. I’ve tried it several times. Brown sugar should never be used in cinnamon rolls. I will stick to my recipe for normal sized ones and just make them smaller. They turned out so much better. The sub of brown sugar, butter and cinnamon just doesn’t work. I am always up for a new recipe and love to bake. This one just didn’t work for me. I’m sure it will work for others.

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        May 13, 2017 at 8:48 pm

        Hi Tea – sorry you didn’t care for the recipe. King Arthur Flour uses brown sugar in their popular cinnamon roll recipe and we love this recipe. But if you prefer your recipe, definitely make them in a small version.

        Reply
    5. Suzanne McLean

      April 26, 2017 at 11:45 pm

      Thanks for the recipe, Barbara. I’m looking forward to making these for a fancy donor brunch. My question- if I want to bake them in pans or cookie sheets, what size(s) would you recommend? I need to make lots!

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        April 27, 2017 at 8:36 am

        Hi Suzanne – sounds like a great idea for a fancy brunch. I haven’t tried it, but I would bake them on a rimmed baking tray /cookie sheet similar to how the bakery owner made hers in this recipe https://www.barbarabakes.com/bake-shop-sweet-rolls/ Space them about a half inch apart so they have room to rise. Snap me some pictures. I’d love to see them and the brunch. 🙂

        Reply
    6. Rocky Mountain Woman

      March 03, 2017 at 1:19 pm

      These are perfect for a brunch I’m doing next weekend!

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        March 05, 2017 at 10:44 pm

        Sounds like my kind of brunch 🙂 Enjoy!

        Reply
    7. 2 Sisters Recipes

      February 20, 2017 at 6:49 pm

      Love these little ones! Now we are craving for them!

      Reply
    8. Rosa

      February 20, 2017 at 1:00 am

      A great idea. I’m craving these babies now… 😉

      Cheers,

      Rosa

      Reply
    9. Amanda

      February 02, 2017 at 6:07 am

      Does this make 24 rolls or 48 (4 sections of dough cut into 12 rolls each)? Thanks!

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        February 02, 2017 at 7:36 am

        Hi Amanda – it does makes 48 rolls. I’ve updated the yield. Enjoy!

        Reply
        • Amanda

          February 05, 2017 at 5:22 am

          Thanks!

          Reply
        • Amanda

          February 05, 2017 at 5:22 am

          Thanks for that info.

          Reply
    10. Sally

      December 08, 2016 at 5:10 pm

      Thank you! These turned out fabulous

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        December 08, 2016 at 9:42 pm

        Great – thanks for letting me know Sally! 🙂

        Reply
    11. Melody

      August 04, 2016 at 10:10 am

      Can I make these a day or two ahead of time?

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        August 04, 2016 at 10:26 am

        Hi Melody – yes, you can make them a day or two ahead of time. I would store them in a ziplock bag and frost them the day I was serving them.

        Reply
      • Sam

        November 17, 2017 at 12:26 pm

        Are you able to make the dough the night before and cook them the next morning?

        Reply
        • Barbara Schieving

          November 17, 2017 at 12:42 pm

          Hi Sam – yes, that will work. Just refrigerate the dough over night.

          Reply
          • Jennifer

            December 06, 2018 at 12:04 am

            When you say you can make the dough the night before, do you mean just the dough and you would then have to let it warm up, rise, roll out, etc. Or could you do the whole thing, have the filling inside and them rolled up and ready to go ahead of time and just bake the next day?

            Reply
            • Barbara Schieving

              December 06, 2018 at 8:48 am

              Hi Jennifer – if you’re short on time in the morning, you can make them through step 6, cover the muffin trays and put them in the fridge overnight. In the morning put them on the counter to warm up and rise if they haven’t risen enough in the fridge overnight and bake them.

    12. Muriel

      April 12, 2016 at 10:21 am

      Can this be done in a bread machine on dough setting, then follow rest of recipe?
      I use my bread machine for dough because arthritis prevents me from kneading dough as I used to do.
      These look wonderful; just what I have been looking for!!

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        April 12, 2016 at 10:22 am

        Hi Muriel – definitely! I’m a big believer in doing what works best for you. Enjoy!

        Reply
        • Muriel

          April 12, 2016 at 10:49 am

          Thanks so much.
          Also, I love the idea of using mini muffin pans!

          Reply
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