Cinna-Mini Cinnamon Rolls

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.

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.

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.

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. 

Cinna-Mini Cinnamon Rolls

Yield: 48 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. 

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

• 4-4 1/2 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons (1 package) instant yeast
• 1 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, cut up
• 2 large eggs, room temperature

Filling

• 1/2 cup water*
• 1 cup Baker’s Cinnamon Filling mix*
• *Or substitute 1/3 cup (2 5/8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened, 1 cup (7 1/4 ounces) brown sugar, packed, 3 tablespoons (3/4 ounce) ground cinnamon

Icing

• one 3-ounce package cream cheese, softened
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups glazing or confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon milk

Directions:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, combine 3 1/2 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 1/4 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.

Icing

In 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.

Adapted from King Arthur Flour

More cinnamon roll recipes you might like:

Bake Shop Cherry Cinnamon Rolls, Barbara Bakes
Pumpkin Fantail Cinnamon Rolls, Barbara Bakes
Banana Bread Cinnamon Rolls, Cooking Classy
Parry’s Cinnamon Rolls, Two Peas and Their Pod

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