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Home » Eats & Drinks » Easy Semi-Homemade Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Glaze

Easy Semi-Homemade Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Glaze

Published on April 30, 2019 Updated on January 10, 2022 by Eden

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Our fresh baked, Semi-Homemade Cinnamon Rolls are made using frozen bread dough and topped with the most delicious cream cheese glaze! These are easy to make, foolproof, indulgent cinnamon rolls!

And if you want to make homemade cinnamon rolls, try this eggnog cinnamon roll recipe! You can also try our monkey bread recipe and monkey bread muffins for a fun twist on cinnamon bread!

Need more brunch ideas? Check out these brunch recipes and pair them with our brunch cocktails!

Easy Semi-Homemade Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Glaze

I’ve been making cinnamon rolls from scratch for a very long time, until I finally realized they take too darn long and personally I don’t have the time for long recipes with a lot of steps and ingredients.

So we made the process simple and much easier by using frozen bread dough! Have you tried it?

Here’s the thing, if there was a tremendous flavor difference between the homemade dough and frozen dough (dough that was already made by professionals), I would make the dough from scratch. But to my excitement, there is zero taste difference and frozen bread dough is JUST AS GOOD and much easier.

How to Make Quick Cinnamon Rolls

Table of Contents

  • How to Make Quick Cinnamon Rolls
  • How to Make Semi-Homemade Cinnamon Rolls using Frozen Bread Dough.
  • Ingredients
  • How do you thaw frozen bread dough for cinnamon rolls?
  • Rolling the Cinnamon Roll Dough
  • Easy Cream Cheese Glaze for Cinnamon Rolls
  • WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE CINNAMON ROLLS
  • Recipe Variations
  • More delicious breakfast recipes you will like!
  • Semi-Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
    • Ingredients
      • Cinnamon Rolls
      • Cinnamon Roll Icing
    • Instructions
      • Cinnamon Roll Icing
    • Notes
    • Nutrition
Easy Semi-Homemade Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Glaze in a cast iron skillet

Just look at them?! Okay, I went a little overboard with the glaze… I really like a lot of glaze, but please note you don’t have to put this much on!

If you squint, you can see through the thick layer of cream cheese, that they look exactly the same as any of our “homemade” dough cinnamon rolls. These are really good and fuss-free AND they’re hom baked cinnamon rolls, so they’re warm and gooey when you take them out of the oven, just how they should be!

How to Make Semi-Homemade Cinnamon Rolls using Frozen Bread Dough.

Frozen bread dough in bags

Ingredients

This recipe for the rolls has only 5 ingredients total, takes about 15 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to bake and makes 12 large cinnamon rolls. The icing is separate but also very easy!

  • Frozen Bread Dough – Use Rhodes Italian Frozen Bread or Primo Taglio Pizza Dough. You can also get dough from a local pizza shop!
  • Brown Sugar
  • Granulated Sugar
  • Butter
  • Cinnamon
Bread dough on a table with flour

How do you thaw frozen bread dough for cinnamon rolls?

To thaw frozen bread dough, leave it in the package and let it stand room temperature for about 30 minutes until dough reaches 55-60 degrees F.

Measuring bread dough to make cinnamon rolls

Rolling the Cinnamon Roll Dough

Roll the dough out in the shape of a rectangle that is 15″ in length and about 5-6″ width.

Spreading butter on cinnamon roll dough

Brush the dough with melted butter. Yum.

Ingredients for cinnamon rolls

Combine brown sugar, granulated sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and stir to mix.

Sprinkle the mixture over the buttered dough.

Cinnamon and sugar on frozen bread dough

Cover the entire surface with the cinnamon and sugar mixture.

Rolling up a cinnamon rolls to put into a pan to bake

Starting from the top, roll the dough tightly to make a log. Keep it as tight as possible and then cut 12 slices. I made little lines all the way down so I know where to cut to make them even.

Cinnamon rolls in a cast iron skillet

Place them in a buttered cast iron pan, leaving some space between the rolls. They will expand and touch each other after they bake.

Bake them for 25-20 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Now that the easy cinnamon rolls are cooking, it’s time to make the cinnamon roll icing!

Easy Cream Cheese Glaze for Cinnamon Rolls

We love a good cream cheese glaze to top our cinnamon rolls off with! This recipe uses only 5 ingredients and takes about 5 minutes to make. 

  • Butter
  • Cream Cheese
  • Powdered Sugar
  • Vanilla
  • Whole Milk
Glaze being poured over cinnamon rolls in a cast iron skillet

Make sure the butter and cream cheese are very soft before mixing together. Also, add more milk if needed. You want it to be a thicker glaze, but remember it will also melt when poured over the hot cinnamon rolls.

Cinnamon rolls in a cast iron skillet and two on a pink plate

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE CINNAMON ROLLS

  • Stand Mixer
  • Large cast iron skillet or rectangular casserole pan
  • Pastry brush 
  • Knife to cut the dough
  • Frozen bread dough
  • Small bowl for sugar mixture
Close up photo of a cinnamon roll

Recipe Variations

You can add ingredients to the dough before it’s rolled, like mini chocolate chips, nuts, or even coconut shreds.

Use any extract in the glaze to give it a hint of another flavor. Like almond, lemon, orange, lavender…

Leave the cream cheese out of the glaze if desired.

Add toppings to over the glaze.

Cinnamon roll on a pink plate with gold fork.

Serve these semi-homade cinnamon rolls with egg, coffee, fruit and bacon for the best breakfast/brunch ever!

More delicious breakfast recipes you will like!

The Best Chorizo Quiche

Delicious and Easy Monkey Bread

Homemade Pumpkin Filled Donut Holes 

The Best Frittata Recipe 

If you make these delicious cinnamon rolls please let us know what you think in the comments and reviews below! Also, tag us @sugarandcharm on our social channels. We love seeing what you make!

One cinnamon rolls on a pink plate with gold fork.

Semi-Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

The most delicious semi-homemade cinnamon rolls using frozen bread dough with a homemade cream cheese glaze!
4.75 from 16 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: French
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 12 Rolls
Calories: 303kcal
Author: Eden

Ingredients

Cinnamon Rolls

  • 2 pounds frozen bread dough
  • 1/2 cup melted butter
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon

Cinnamon Roll Icing

  • 4 tablespoon butter, room temperature and soft to the touch
  • 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature and soft to the touch
  • 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 3 tablespoons whole milk, more needed
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

  • Let the bread dough thaw out completely.
  • Roll the dough out on a floured surface to a 15″ semi-rectangle. Does not have to be perfectly shaped.
  • In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, granulated sugar, tablespoon cinnamon and give it a stir to mix.
  • Melt the 1/2 cup butter and brush it over the dough. Save a little melted butter to brush over the top of the rolls later.
  • Sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture over the dough, covering the entire surface.
  • Starting from the top, tightly roll the dough to create a log shape. Roll it as tight as possible.
  • Cut 12 slices in the cinnamon roll log and place them in a buttered cast iron skillet.
  • Make sure they’re separated because they will expand quite a bit while baking.
  • Brush the top of the rolls with the rest of the melted butter and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 25-30 minutes.

Cinnamon Roll Icing

  • In an electric mixer, cream together the soft butter and cream cheese. Make sure to get it as smooth as possible.
  • Add in the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla and continue to beat on high until smooth with a glaze like texture. Add more milk if needed.
  • Pour the glaze over the cinnamon rolls when they come out of the oven.
  • Enjoy every bite!

Notes

There are several brands of frozen bread dough that will work. Try Rhodes Bread Dough or we used Primo Taglio Pizza Dough. The white traditional pizza dough they sell at Trader Joe’s would work too.
You can bake these in a cast iron pan or a rectangular casserole dish. It makes 12 and they expand so make sure the dish is big enough for the rolls to have a little space.
When making the glaze, it’s important the butter and cream cheese is very soft. This will result in a creamy texture. If it’s cold it will be clumpy and hard to make it smooth.

Nutrition

Calories: 303kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 41mg | Sodium: 136mg | Potassium: 30mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 42g | Vitamin A: 486IU | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this Recipe? Tag me Today!Mention @sugarandcharm or tag us #sugarandcharm!


6 Comments

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Comments

  1. Suz says

    December 25, 2020 at 4:02 pm

    Pour 1/4 – 1/2 cup heavy cream over rolls before baking. The caramel sauce it makes is amazing.

    Reply
  2. Kim says

    September 17, 2019 at 5:44 pm

    5 stars
    I need to remember to use my cast iron skillet! These look so good!

    Reply
  3. Ashley F says

    September 17, 2019 at 5:14 pm

    5 stars
    This is such a great idea! Takes some of the work out of making cinnamon rolls! Love it!

    Reply
    • Tanya says

      October 3, 2019 at 1:25 am

      5 stars
      These came out absolutely amazing and so fast!!! I’m still thinking about them. I honestly can say these are just as good as homemade ones but no headache and you can literally whip them up in no time! I plan on making these for the up coming holidays! Thank you thank you thank you! ?

      Reply
  4. Sara says

    September 17, 2019 at 4:54 pm

    5 stars
    Love the pizza dough hack!! These were so good and so easy!!

    Reply
  5. Stephanie says

    September 17, 2019 at 3:22 pm

    5 stars
    I love homemade cinnamon rolls but sometimes I just don’t have the time. Great shortcut recipe!

    Reply

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