The Best Cinnamon Rolls with Heavy Cream

These cinnamon rolls are soft, fluffy, and sweet without being overly sweet. We’ve made hundreds of cinnamon rolls over the years, and these cinnamon rolls with heavy cream and cream cheese frosting win every time.

They’ve been called AMAZING, the best cinnamon rolls ever, and incredible just in the past month since we’ve made them for family and friends. Try them for yourself, just be warned that you may never make another cinnamon roll recipe again!

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls with Heavy Cream

Let me start by saying that this is a homemade cinnamon roll recipe. This is not the Viral TikTok cinnamon rolls that you make using Pillsbury Grands cinnamon rolls. If you want that recipe, try this TikTok cinnamon roll recipe.

Those are good for using store bought cinnamon rolls, but there is nothing like homemade cinnamon rolls. Just nothing like it, even with the heavy cream TikTok cinnamon roll hack.

These heavy cream cinnamon rolls are everything you dream of in a cinnamon roll – they’re soft, fluffy, full of cinnamon sugar flavor, and topped with a sweet but not too sweet cream cheese icing that complements the flavor of the cinnamon sugar filling perfectly.

They take more time than using canned cinnamon rolls, but I’m here to tell you that time is absolutely worth it. You’ll never buy store-bought cinnamon rolls again after trying these.

Make them for Easter brunch, Christmas morning, baby showers, or any time you are just craving cinnamon rolls. They’re the base for all of our cinnamon roll recipes – Halloween cinnamon rolls, chocolate sweet rolls, and even giant cinnamon rolls – because if you start with a perfect base, it’s hard to mess it up by changing the toppings!

1. Buttermilk – you can use store-bought buttermilk or make your own buttermilk, but I highly recommend using buttermilk versus regular milk.
2. Butter – both salted butter and unsalted butter will work, but for best results use a higher quality butter. You’ll need melted butter for the dough and softened butter for the filling and frosting. You can also use vegetable oil in place of butter for just the dough portion if you don’t have butter.
3. Heavy whipping cream – again you can use whole milk for this but they are much better with heavy cream.
4. Flour – all-purpose flour is best for this as it makes for a softer dough.
5. Karo syrup – this can be omitted without issues.
6. Instant yeast – this recipe allows for proofing the yeast so any type of active dry yeast will work.

Don’t let the idea of making these from scratch scare you off from making them. I promise they are worth every bit of effort and are not as hard to make as they seem.

I’ve included a basic outline of how to make these homemade cinnamon rolls, but I highly recommend using the recipe card at the bottom of this post for even more details!

1 – Proof the Yeast

Combine water and heavy cream in a microwave-safe bowl or liquid measuring cup then microwave for a minute until it’s slightly hot to the touch. Then add this liquid to the bowl of a stand mixer.

Add two tablespoons of sugar and yeast to the warm liquids. Gently stir to combine then allow it to proof for 5-10 minutes or until the yeast is foaming.

2 – make the cinnamon roll dough

While the yeast mixture is proofing, measure buttermilk and place it in the microwave for 30 seconds until warm. Set aside for later.

In a small bowl, combine melted butter, eggs, egg yolk, sugar, and salt. Stir together until it resembles wet sand.

Once yeast is done proofing, add warmed buttermilk and stir to combine, you can use the paddle attachment or rubber spatula for this.

Add the remaining wet ingredients to the yeast mixture, again stir until fully combined.

Attach the dough hook to your stand mixer then begin adding flour to the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook at medium-low speed, adding one cup at a time until it begins to form a dough.

Once a dough ball begins to form, add just enough flour so that the dough consistently cleans the side of the bowl (aka pulls away from the side of the bowl).

Continue kneading the dough for five minutes or until the dough has a smooth and soft look to it.

While the dough is kneading, take a large bowl and lightly grease the inside of it.

When the dough is done, remove it from the stand mixer and place in the lightly greased bowl then cover with a dish towel or plastic wrap or a bowl cover like this one.

Set in a warm place to rise until it is doubled in size, this should take about an hour.

3 – Roll out the cinnamon Roll Dough

Line a large cookie sheet with a piece of parchment paper.

Once your dough has finished its first rise, turn it out onto a large lightly floured surface.

Using your hands, pull and shape the dough into a rectangle. Once the shape is formed into a basic rectangle, use a rolling pin to roll it out until you have a rectangle roughly 24×18 and no thicker than ¼ inch.

4 – Make and Add Cinnamon Roll Filling

In a medium bowl, combine brown sugar, sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon.

Spread the 1/2 cup of softened butter all over the rolled out dough.

Spread the cinnamon sugar filling over the buttered dough. It may seem like a lot but add it all on there – it gives these cinnamon rolls their amazing flavor!

5 – roll and cut the cinnamon rolls

Starting on the long end, tightly roll the dough into a log. 

Use unflavored dental floss or a sharp serrated knife to cut the cinnamon rolls into 12 pieces that are two inches thick. I like to measure each and make a little indention with the knife as I go to make sure I can get all 12 in before I actually cut them.

Gently place the cut rolls onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Cover the rolls and allow them to double in size again, roughly 45 minutes.

6 – Bake The Cinnamon Rolls

While the rolls are rising preheat the oven to 350. Once the rolls have finished their second rise, place in the preheated oven and bake for 20-23 minutes.

Once they start to turn light golden brown, remove them from the oven. You do not want to over bake these or they won’t be result in the gooey cinnamon rolls you’re hoping for!

7 – make The cream cheese Frosting

Combine softened butter, cream cheese, and karo syrup in the bowl of a stand mixer or just a large mixing bowl. Cream together until smooth. Then add in the vanilla and stir until combined in.

Slowly add powdered sugar until the texture is smooth and all the sugar has been added.

8 – Frost and Serve the Cinnamon Rolls

Let the baked cinnamon rolls cool for a few minutes then frost while still warm so the frosting spreads across the rolls easier.

Once frosted, enjoy warm! We often like to cut these in half because they are pretty large and filling, but you can serve them however you want.

Store any leftover cinnamon rolls in the fridge for up to three days.

Reheat any cinnamon rolls in the microwave for a few seconds or put in a cold oven and preheat the oven to 350 and let the cinnamon rolls warm up with the oven, checking them every few minutes to take them out when they are warm.

If you love these cinnamon rolls, you should try these other sweet brunch recipes next!

• Apple pie cups – these two ingredient treats are about as easy as it gets!
• Monkey bread muffins – little mini cinnamon roll monkey breads made in a muffin tin!
• Pineapple bread – this light, fresh, and flavorful bread is perfect for a summer brunch!
• Homemade strawberry danish – a super easy strawberry danish recipe with a cream cheese frosting.
• Cream cheese french toast casserole – overnight French toast casserole with a creamy surprise!