Small Batch Cinnamon Rolls

A delicious recipe of small batch cinnamon rolls – soft, buttery and delicious topped with cream cheese frosting.

The next recipe in my small batch bakes series, cinnamon rolls. This recipe was so highly requested, and as I am so utterly obsessed with cinnamon rolls, I was more than happy to oblige. 

Small Batch Bakes

It’s only been a short while since I started my small batch bakes series, and I am still utterly obsessed with it. I love the idea of being able to treat myself to a little bake that doesn’t have any leftovers or any agro for that bake you are after. 

To me, any recipe that serves 1-6 counts as small batch. Some bakes are hard to make only 1-2 sometimes, without completely changing the recipe and then getting a different end result in flavour or texture. My cheesecake for two is a quick and easy no-bake dessert idea, along with my luxurious Lindt chocolate fondants. 

As I have mentioned before, the reason behind my Small Batch Bakes series is because sometimes you just want to make a smaller amount of a baked good, you might not want leftover, you might not have freezer space for spare, and sometimes you just fancy making a lil’ something – so this recipe is for that insane cinnamon roll craving that we all get… right?! RIGHT?! 

Bread recipes

When it comes to cinnamon rolls, I have my trusty tried and tested recipe for a classic 12 batch on my blog already. I adore this recipe, and I have made it so many times, over and over, because I love it. You have a soft and light bread dough, filled with a brown sugar cinnamon filling that creates the iconic swirl, and that recipe has an icing drizzle. 

Any sweetened dough is my favourite sort of bake because I enjoy actually making the dough, as the process is quite soothing to me, but I also just adore eating anything like this. My heart adores bread, and it adores me. My lemon and blueberry rolls are another one of my favourites, and the idea for this small batch bakes recipe works for my other similar flavour profiles. 

The bread dough

For the dough itself, I have tried to make it as similar to the classic cinnamon rolls recipe as I can. As mentioned above, because you are reducing the recipe down it’s not necessarily as simple as making only a third or a quarter of a bake as it doesn’t always work that simply. I don’t want to create a recipe that uses a quarter of an egg for example. 

• Flour – I do prefer to use strong white bread flour for this. I have tried wholemeal as well, but I found the dough quite heavy in comparison, so I prefer the white 
• Yeast – I use a dried active yeast – so I just add it into the mix as per the recipe. Check if your recipe needs activating first, as if it does you need to add it to the warmed milk
• Sugar – a little caster sugar to feed the yeast and help the dough grow 
• Butter – I use unsalted block butter, but you can use salted block butter as well 
• Milk – I use dairy milk, and I prefer and recommend full-fat for best results. You can use dairy free milk such as soya, or almond 
• Vanilla – I love the little dash of vanilla but this is optional. 

Make the rolls

When you are making a bread dough like this, it’s important to follow a few tips to make sure you get the best cinnamon rolls you can make, whether it’s the small batch ones or the regular sized batch. I always start my bread dough by adding the flour, yeast, sugar and butter to a bowl and I rub this together with my fingertips to make a breadcrumb like texture. It’s so important to use a real butter and not a margarine here. 

Once the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, you can then add in the warmed milk, and vanilla. The warm milk is designed to help kick-start the yeast, and create the lovely dough that you are after. I make this small batch recipe by hand and don’t use a mixer, but you can if you want. I pour the milk and vanilla into the bowl and mix briefly with a spatula as it is super sticky at this point, and then I bring it together with my hand. 

Once the dough has been brought together you need to knead the dough for 5-10 minutes. You want to make the dough as soft and pillowy as possible to create a wonderful texture for the cinnamon rolls. The dough then needs to rest and rise for a couple of hours, covered in a warm place, and then you can make the filling. 

The filling

Once you have made the dough and it’s rising, you can make the filling. It is a really simple filing of melted butter, and then brown sugar and cinnamon mixed together. It’s going to take a couple minutes maximum to make it, as you have to melt the butter. I typically wait until my dough has been rolled out before I do the filling to be honest. 

I get my risen dough out of the bowl, and plopped onto a lightly floured surface. You want to roll the dough out to a rectangle shape, as evenly a shape as possible. My rectangle is about 20x25cm in size. Once rolled out, I brush the melted butter all over the dough, and then I press the brown sugar cinnamon mix on top and press it into the dough lightly. 

Once you have added this on top, you can roll the dough up. I roll from the short side to the short side, quite tightly. I cut this into four, and then place into a small baking dish. If you don’t have an appropriate small baking dish, you can use a 7″ round baking tin, or a 6″ square baking tin. My dish was a little big, but I loved it for the photos if I am honest. Leave the dough to rise again whilst the oven preheats and then bake. 

The frosting

The baked cinnamon rolls are glorious when they are fresh out of the oven, smelling deliciously warm and cosy and I adore it. However, I love slathering a frosting on top – and whilst my regular cinnamon rolls have an icing drizzle, I do love the classic cream cheese frosting topping. 

I use a really small version of my cream cheese frosting recipe – which is a small amount of block butter, mixed with icing sugar. A little dash of vanilla, and then the cream cheese – always make sure to use full fat soft cheese. I slather this on top of the cinnamon rolls, when they’re still slightly warm and fresh, and then I simply devour them. This recipe serves 2-4 people, but honestly… it’s hard to share. 

Tips & Tricks 

• These are best on the day of baking as they stay soft and fluffy, but can be kept for a couple of days (and refreshed in the microwave) 
• These can be prepped up until baking the night before and place into the fridge overnight. Bring back to room temp for 45-60 minutes, and then bake in the morning
• These can be frozen for 3+ months
• If you want to make a larger batch, look at my homemade cinnamon roll recipe instead 

Small Batch Cinnamon Rolls

A delicious recipe of small batch cinnamon rolls - soft, buttery and delicious topped with cream cheese frosting.

Print Pin Rate

Category: Small Batch

Type: Cinnamon Rolls

Keyword: Cinnamon, Small batch

Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 22 minutes minutes

Rising/Decorating: 3 hours hours

Total Time: 3 hours hours 47 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 rolls

Author: Jane's Patisserie

Ingredients

Bread dough

• 200 g strong white bread flour
• 5 g dried active yeast
• 25 g caster sugar
• 30 g unsalted butter (cold and cubed)
• 100 ml whole milk (warm)
• 0.5 tsp vanilla extract

Filling

• 15 g unsalted butter (melted)
• 75 g light brown soft sugar
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon

Topping

• 30 g unsalted butter (room temp)
• 30 g icing sugar
• 75 g full-fat soft cheese
• 0.5 tsp vanilla extract

Grams - Ounces

Instructions

• Add the bread flour, yeast, sugar and butter to a bowl and rub the mixture together to resemble bread crumbs
• Add warmed milk, and the vanilla and mix. I start off with a spatula, and then knead with my hands. 
• Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes until smooth and elastic
• Leave to rise for 1-2 hours in an oiled bowl in a warm place
• Roll the dough out onto a floured surface to a rectangle and brush over melted butter
• Mix the sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle over the top 
• Roll up tightly from short side to short side and split into four
• Place into a small baking dish and cover. Leave to rise again for 30-45 minutes in a warm place
• Preheat oven to 180ºc/160ºc fan 
• Bake the cinnamon rolls for 18-22 minutes until golden and leave to cool slightly
• Mix the butter and sugar together until smooth
• Add the cream cheese and vanilla and mix. Spread over the cinnamon rolls 

Notes

• These are best on the day of baking as they stay soft and fluffy, but can be kept for a couple of days (and refreshed in the microwave) 
• These can be prepped up until baking the night before and place into the fridge overnight. Bring back to room temp for 45-60 minutes, and then bake in the morning
• These can be frozen for 3+ months
• If you want to make a larger batch, look at my homemade cinnamon roll recipe instead 

ENJOY!

Find my other recipes on my Recipes Page!

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