These mini cinnamon rolls are soft and gooey with a delicious yeast dough and brown sugar cinnamon filling. These are the half-size version of my large bakery-style cinnamon rolls recipes. We called these cinnamon rolls our "Cinnamon Roll Halfsies" at Amycakes Bakery. A 1x batch makes 12 mini cinnamon rolls. A 2x batch makes 24 mini cinnamon rolls.
Servings 12mini (half-size) cinnamon rolls
Prep Time 20 minutesmins
Cook Time 16 minutesmins
Rise time 2 hourshrs
Ingredients
Cinnamon Roll Dough Ingredients
400 grams (3cups)All-Purpose Flour
1 ½teaspoonsInstant Clearjelfor a softer dough. It's a bakery ingredient you can use at home, see Notes section
1 ½teaspoonsInstant Clearjelfor gooier cinnamon rolls. It's a bakery ingredient you can use at home, see Notes section
1 ½teaspoonsAll-Purpose Flour
½ stick (2ounces)Salted Buttersoftened but not melted
Glaze Ingredients
141 grams (1 ¼cups)Powdered Sugar
2Tablespoonsroom temperature Water
Other Ingredients
¼ stick (1ounce)salted butter, melted
¼ cup to ½cupflour, for dustingonly use what you need
Instructions
Day One: Make Cinnamon Rolls Dough
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the Flour, Instant Clearjel, and Instant Yeast together until well blended. Set aside.
In a separate large bowl, stir the egg(s), salt, sugar, and oil together until well blended.
Make sure your water is hot, around 120 degrees. If you don't have a culinary thermometer, this temperature should feel uncomfortable to the touch but not painful). Pour the hot water on top of the egg mixture, but don't stir it together yet. (We want to allow our flour and instant yeast to activate when being mixed with the hot water).
Immediately add the flour mixture on top of the hot water, and use a sturdy spatula to stir all of the ingredients together until a dough is formed and the ingredients are well blended. The dough will get firmer, stickier, and more difficult to stir as it thickens.
There's no kneading of this dough, as we don't want to incorporate any additional flour, but we want to stir it until it gets stretchy. Leave the dough in the bowl, and continue to scrape the sides and stir the dough with your heavy-duty spatula for around 2-3 minutes, or until the dough is stretchy and uniform. It will be a very sticky dough.
Allow the dough to rise at room temperature until double in size, around one hour.
Loosely wrap the bowl in plastic wrap, and place the risen dough in the fridge overnight, for at least 4 hours but no more than 24 hours.
Day One: Prepare Filling Ingredients
Stir together the brown sugar and cinnamon. Use your fingers to break apart any large brown sugar pieces, and to make sure the cinnamon is thoroughly mixed in. Wrap this mixture or place it in an air-tight container until Day Two.
Whisk the Instant Clearjel and Flour together until well blended. Wrap or place in an air-tight container until Day Two.
The 1 oz of melted butter for brushing will be used three times. First, brush the cake pan(s) generously with melted butter on the bottom, sides, and inner corners. 12 mini cinnamon rolls fit in a 9x13x2 pan (a 1x batch), and 24 mini cinnamon rolls fit in an 11x15x2 pan (a 2x batch).
Day Two: Roll Out Cinnamon Rolls
Generously dust your counter with about ¼ cup of flour.
Scrape the risen refrigerated cinnamon roll dough on top of the dusted flour. Use your fingers to scrape out any stuck to the bowl and add it to the dough. The dough will be sticky. Avoid pressing the dough into itself or turning it into a ball--this will overwork the dough. We want to roll it out with very little shaping of the dough. Instead, just lightly dust any sticky portions of the dough, and press any sticky edges into the floured counter. Lightly press the dough into a rectangular shape before rolling (I recommend watching the recipe video).
Roll out the dough into an 18 inch horizontal by 8 inch vertical rectangle. (A 1x batch will be short and skinny. A 2x batch will be a large rectangle). Using extra flour only as needed, dust any parts of the dough with flour that sticks to the table or rolling pin.
If your butter is firm, microwave it for a few seconds until softened but not melted. Mix your softened butter thoroughly with the prepared Instant Clearjel mixture. Immediately spread it onto the rolled-out dough. We mix this right before spreading so that it doesn't have time to thicken before spreading. Spread it evenly all the way to the very edge of the dough.
Pour the prepared Brown Sugar/Cinnamon mixture on top of the butter and spread it evenly all the way to the very edge of the dough.
Roll up the cinnamon dough tightly, curving the edges in slightly as you roll (for a 2x batch, cut the large rectangle in half horizontally and roll up two logs, as described in the recipe post). Curving in the outside edges slightly as you roll helps maintain a nice roll on the edges and prevents the cinnamon mixture from escaping. When you are left with one inch of dough, pull it up and pinch it tightly against the rolled dough, creating a pinched seam.
Dust the seam with flour, and turn your dough so it is seam side down against the floured counter. Shape the roll of dough with your hands if needed so that it is even in thickness. Score the log(s) of dough with a bench scraper, pastry divider, or knife into 12 rolls, then cut the rolls with a bench scraper or sharp knife.
Place the cinnamon rolls into your prepared pan, with little room between each roll and ½ inch from the edge of the pan. Lightly press down on each roll so that the edges of each roll barely touch each other, and improve their round form if needed. (The cinnamon rolls will rise into whatever shape they are in now. So if you have some oval or misshapen rolls, use your hands to form the edges into a circle before they rise.)
Brush the cinnamon rolls with melted salted butter, then allow to rise at room temperature until double in size, around one hour.
Bake the Cinnamon Rolls
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Bake the risen cinnamon rolls in the preheated 350-degree oven on the middle or top rack for 8 minutes, then turn the oven down to 325 degrees. Bake for an additional 6-8 minutes for six cinnamon rolls in a 9x13 pan, or an additional 10-12 minutes for twelve cinnamon rolls in an 11x15 pan. Darker pans and glass pans will take less time in the oven. The cinnamon rolls are done when they are golden brown, and the dough bounces back when you tap it lightly with your finger. Check several areas of the rolls for doneness.
While the rolls bake, make the glaze. Whisk the powdered sugar and water together until smooth. It should be thin enough that it melts slightly into the hot rolls.
Brush the cinnamon rolls one last time with melted butter. Using a small whisk, drizzle the glaze lightly onto each hot cinnamon roll.
These cinnamon rolls are best served warm and have the best soft texture when eaten the same day they are baked. Enjoy!
Notes
Notes for 2x batches (some of these won’t apply if you are using the grams measurements): 3 tsp= 1 Tbsp 4 Tbsp= ¼ cupRead the Recipe Post for photos and details on how to make these mini cinnamon rolls, with the option to roll them out even smaller.You can turn these into mini maple pecan cinnamon rolls by using the large Maple Pecan Cinnamon Rolls recipe. Just roll them out and bake them as described within this recipe. Notes about Instant Clearjel: Read my article Instant Clearjel: a Magical Bakery Ingredient to see why I think this ingredient is worth having in your pantry. Instant Clearjel must always be whisked thoroughly with other dry ingredients before being added to wet ingredients to avoid clumping. I have tested this recipe with the following Instant Clearjel brands: Hoosier Hill Farm, Prepared Pantry, and Ingredion (Make sure what you purchase is labeled as “Instant.” Cooktype Clearjel is a different product that does not work the same in baked goods).