These slow cooker cinnamon rolls have all the flavor of gourmet cinnamon rolls, but with half the work!
If you’re entertaining this holiday season and are looking for an easy, make-ahead, no fuss, and completely indulgent brunch recipe, I have you covered. Whip out your crockpot and “bake” a batch of these Slow Cooker Cinnamon Rolls. They’re fluffy and soft with ooey gooey cinnamon swirls and sweet icing on top. It’s a breakfast classic made easier!
Easier Method to Cinnamon Rolls
Using your slow cooker for cinnamon rolls is revolutionary. This method works because dough needs to rise and cook in a warm environment. So why not just do it all at once? Slowly and simply. And because the rolls are cooked in a steamy environment, they’re extra moist and soft. It’s a cinnamon roll miracle.
Because the whole process is done in the slow cooker, you drastically cut down on prep time and all the usual fuss. No waiting for dough to rise! As if we all weren’t totally in love with our slow cookers already, right?!
Baking with Yeast Guide
Reference this Baking with Yeast Guide whenever you work with baker’s yeast. I include practical answers to all of your common yeast questions.
How to Make Slow Cooker Cinnamon Rolls
- Make the dough: The dough is a combination of these 2 cinnamon roll recipes: easy cinnamon rolls and classic overnight cinnamon rolls. The dough comes together quickly and only requires 5 minutes of kneading time. (Feel free to reference my How to Knead Dough video tutorial if you need extra help with this step.) After it’s prepared, let it rest for about 10 minutes. During this time, you can prepare the filling and line the slow cooker with parchment paper.
- Shape the rolls: Roll the dough out, like you would any cinnamon roll recipe. Spread with softened butter, then a heavy sprinkle of sugar and cinnamon. Roll it up tightly and cut into 10-12 rolls.
- Cook the rolls: On high for 2 hours until the sides are golden brown and the centers are cooked through.
That’s it, the rolls are done! Top with icing and serve.
Can you believe they are this easy?! A big sigh of relief.
One thing to note: if you’d like your cinnamon rolls to be a little toasty brown on top, you can place them in the oven after removing from the slow cooker. Just 5-10 minutes at a low temperature is perfect. See recipe note.
If you’re in the mood for a spin on the classic cinnamon roll, give my lemon sweet rolls a try!
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Slow Cooker Cinnamon Rolls
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Total Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: 10-12 cinnamon rolls
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Baking cinnamon rolls in a slow cooker cuts down on preparation time. The dough does not have to rise twice. In fact, it doesn’t even need to rise at all! All of the rising and baking is done in the slow cooker. And the rolls are unbelievably moist and soft.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (180ml) whole milk
- 1 packet Red Star Platinum Yeast or any instant yeast (1 packet = 2 and 1/4 teaspoons)
- 1/4 cup + 1 teaspoon (55g) granulated sugar, divided
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp; 56g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1 large egg
- 2 and 3/4 cups (344g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
Filling
- 5 Tablespoons (71g) unsalted butter, very soft
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar
Icing
- 1 and 1/4 cups (150g) confectioners’ sugar
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) pure maple syrup (or use 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) milk
Instructions
- Make the dough: Warm the milk over on the stove over low heat or microwave it until lukewarm. No need to use a thermometer, but to be precise: about 95°F (35°C). Pour the warm milk into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook or paddle attachment (OR you can use a handheld mixer). Whisk in the yeast and 1 teaspoon granulated sugar. Cover with a clean towel and let sit until the yeast is foamy, about 5-10 minutes. This is called proofing the yeast. If the yeast does not dissolve and foam, start over with fresh active yeast. On low speed, beat in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, salt, butter, egg, and 2 cups of flour until combined. The dough will be wet. While continuing to beat on low speed, add the remaining flour 1/4 cup at a time until a soft dough forms. Dough will be ready when it gently pulls away from the sides of the bowl. I usually use 2 and 3/4 cups flour total. **If you do not have a mixer, you can stir the dough by hand with a wooden spoon in this step.
- Knead the dough: Keep the dough in the mixer and beat for an additional 5 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5 full minutes. (If you’re new to bread-baking, my How to Knead Dough video tutorial can help here.) If the dough becomes too sticky during the kneading process, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of flour at a time on the dough or on the work surface/in the bowl to make a soft, slightly tacky dough. Do not add more flour than you need because you do not want a dry dough. After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft. Poke it with your finger—if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. You can also do a “windowpane test” to see if your dough has been kneaded long enough: tear off a small (roughly golfball-size) piece of dough and gently stretch it out until it’s thin enough for light to pass through it. Hold it up to a window or light. Does light pass through the stretched dough without the dough tearing first? If so, your dough has been kneaded long enough and is ready to rise. If not, keep kneading until it passes the windowpane test.
- Let the dough rest for about 10 minutes. During this 10 minutes, line a 4 or 5 quart slow cooker with greased parchment paper. (I spray it with non-stick spray, but brushing oil or softened butter all over it works too.) If you have a larger slow cooker, that’s ok—just space the rolls out more.
- Make the filling: After 10 minutes, roll the dough out in a 14×8-inch rectangle. Spread the softened butter on top. Mix the cinnamon and sugar together, then sprinkle on top of the butter. Roll the dough up tightly, then cut into 10-12 even pieces and place them inside the lined slow cooker. Place a paper towel right under the lid of the slow cooker—this will help keep condensation off of the cooking rolls. Do not leave that step out and do not use a cloth towel.
- Turn your slow cooker on high speed and cook for 2 hours, or until the rolls are fully cooked through. It’s usually 2 hours, sometimes 2 hours and 15 minutes. Once they’re done, remove the rolls from the cooker right away by lifting out the parchment paper.
- Make the icing: Right before serving, top your cinnamon rolls with glaze. Whisk the confectioners’ sugar, maple syrup, and milk together until smooth. Add a little more milk if too thick. Drizzle over the warm rolls.
- Rolls are best enjoyed the same day, but stay fresh covered tightly in the refrigerator for 5 days. Rolls (with or without icing) freeze well up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and heat up however you prefer.
Notes
- Overnight Instructions: This dough can be made the night before through step 3 and placed into a greased pie dish or cake pan. Cover with plastic wrap and keep in the refrigerator overnight. The next morning, remove from the refrigerator and place each roll into the lined slow cooker. Then continue with the recipe. The rolls may take less time, around 1 and 1/2 hours.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) or Glass Mixing Bowl and Wooden Spoon | Whisk | 4- to 5-quart Slow Cooker | Parchment Paper | Rolling Pin
- Quick Dough: This is a dough formulated to be “quick.” Make sure you are using an instant yeast. If using active dry yeast, the cook time will be longer.
- Golden Brown Tops: Looking for a golden brown and toasty top? Remove the cooked rolls from the slow cooker using the parchment paper to lift them out. Then, place the entire thing (the parchment paper and rolls) into an appropriate size pan. (If your slow cooker is round, a pie dish would be great.) Bake at 300°F (149°C) for 5-10 minutes.
- Slow Cooker: You’ll need a 4- or 5-quart slow cooker.
- Reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
No slow cooker? No problem! Try my easy cinnamon rolls instead!
Wow! These cinnamon rolls were so easy to make, and they tasted fantastic! The sides were a lovely golden brown, and the rolls were perfectly cooked in just under 2 hours. I have a Crockpot slow cooker, so the rolls were perfectly done in 1 hour and 50 minutes. The roll was soft and fluffy with tons of flavor! I’ll definitely be making these again! Thanks for sharing, Sally.
Love this idea!!! Could you add slightly cooked/chopped apples to the filling? We are in the middle of apple season in N GA, so always looking for ways to use them!!
Hi Jen, you could try using the filling from our apple cinnamon rolls here instead! Let us know if you give it a try.
How do you make Pillsbury cinnamon how do I make refrigerator rolls with cream in the crockpot How long do I cook them?
Hi DiAnne, We have not tested pre-made cinnamon rolls in a a slow cooker. If you try this homemade recipe, let us know!
I have tried this recipe twice now. The first time I followed it exactly especially the cooking time and they were so black on the sides and bottom as to render them inedible. The second time I tried cooking them on high for an hour then turned them down to low and they are still pretty burned. I am sorry I will not try them again. I really wanted them to work but no.
There is a possibility that your crock pot runs too hot on high; perhaps try on the lower setting? I’ve yet to try, so I am guessing, just like an oven, crock pots may just run too hot on high(?).
This has become a holiday staple in my home. They stay soft and gooey (yes, even when I forget the cream) and just the right texture. The only change I have made is that I use Brown sugar for the filling to mimic the Specialty Brand Cinnamon Rolls.
Also, a half recipe in the 1.5QT Belle croc pot was over baked @ 1hr 50 min… Less bake time is needed for this smaller croc pot
A half recipe in the 1.5QT Belle croc pot makes 6 rolls for 2-3 people. You don’t need a mixer. Less dough makes it easy to mix and knead. But there was too much dough so they baked into tall rather floury tasting rolls (probably from the Amish unsifted flour) . It was a great start. Next time I’ll still make a half batch, slice it into 10, bake 5, freeze 5.
Thank you Sally, it’s Christmas time here and this recipe saves hours of babysitting rising dough.
I tried making these twice. The first time I followed the directions and the outsides burned and it was dry. The second time I cooked them on low for a couple hours then turned the cooker on high to finish them off. It took longer but they came out amazing
I also used brown sugar instead of white for the filling
Yes, my first attempt, following recipe exactly resulted in overcooked sides. The centre was delightful.
Will try a combo of low and high settings next time.
Can you advise me on using the dough hook on my mixer, instead of hand-kneading, or should I just plan to knead by hand? Arthritis makes the hand method more difficult. Thank you!
Hi Janet! You can “knead” the dough in your mixer instead. Enjoy!
This is now my preferred way to make cinnamon rolls. Super easy, fluffy, and the icing is delicious! Thank you!
Hi Michelle,
The pumpkin cinnamon rolls were a divine pairing of spiced flavor with an oh so moist, soft flakey amazingness.
Possibly, the best I ever had.
Even though the edges were blackened, the insides turned out beautifully; gobbled by toddler and grandparent alike.
I would absolutely try out another recipe using this method (and I encourage all to try this easy recipe for an extra special fall treat) planning for more time using just the low setting.
Thank you to you, Sally, and the whole team that encourages, problem solves, and celebrates our collective baking curiosities, conundrums, and successful explorations.
All the best.
Thank you so much for reporting back with this kind feedback, Anjel. We’re so glad you’ve been enjoying our recipes and site!
Hello Sally,
Can any of your cinnamon roll recipes be made in the slow cooker/crockpot? Both the pumpkin and maple cinnamon rolls look scrumptious.
Thank you for sharing your tips and tricks; they have spread joy to many friends and family.
Hi Anjel, We haven’t tested these 2 exact recipes in the slow cooker, but they should both work. Let us know if you give it a try!
I have made these several time now and have one batch in the crockpot right now. They have come out absolutely perfect every time I have made them and I expect no less from today’s batch. They are soft, moist, scrumptious. I never tried storing them because they are all gone within a few hours.
After reading the comments, I tried 45 mins on high, and 45 on low. Though I could probably have gotten away with 10-15 mins less. I added raisins after I arranged them in the pot because I forgot to add them into the filling mixture XD, it was fine. They came out great, if a bit crispy on the sides and bottom (which I didn’t mind at all, love the different textures). Very pleased with the texture, soft and a bit chewy. Mine had a bit of layers, loved tearing the roll into strips (if that makes sense) before popping them into my mouth. I had 1 Tbsp left of the filling because the dough was already covered, and I skipped the frosting.
Only half of the dough fit into my cooker (I sliced them thin), I let the other half rise for about an hour, and I oven-baked them, 177c for 20 mins. The sides and bottoms are less crusty, and less doughy. Overall, this was a success for me and would definitely make again. Thanks, Sally!
I have some cinnamon roll dough in my freezer that have already been through one rise before I stuck them in there. I’d like to try this method of cinnamon rolls, though, rather than put them in the oven. Will the fact that the dough has already risen once make the bake time in the crock pot less? Or still count on it taking 2ish hours? Or should I not use this method for this dough?
Hi Caity, We honestly have never tried making these with dough that has already risen. You may wish to stick to a traditional method of baking for your cinnamon rolls. This particular dough is formulated to both rise and bake at the same time but if you do try yours let us know how they turn out!
This were so easy to make but I would definately say 2hrs is too much for my slow cooker. At hr and 30mins on high the edges or hard and burned. Will try again maybe for an hr and see what happens
Can I add raisins to this recipe?
Definitely!
My oven is broken, and in a desperate need to bake something I tried these. The outsides of these burned after less than 1 1/2 hours of bake time. I have made all the other cinnamon roll recipes with no problem, but the slow cooker was a definite fail.
Hi Emily! All slow cookers and their heat elements are different and for yours– we would recommend cooking on low next time for a little longer. Keep your eye on them. We know they’ll be more successful next time if you try them again!
For those wanting gluten free and/or dairy free, I made this recipe both GF & DF by using these substitutions:
used Bob’s Red Mill 1-1 Baking flour (blue bag in Canada): needed a little more than 2&3/4 cups; used Earth’s Own ‘culinary edition’ oat milk in place of milk; used coconut palm sugar in place of all sugar; used Melt Organic buttery sticks in place of all butter (only used 4tbsp in the filling).
The palm sugar makes them a golden colour, and they were denser than the original version but that’s not unusual with GF baking. They turned out really well and I actually found them easier to separate than the original, as they held their shape and didn’t spread together. Thanks for the great recipe – I love recipes I can adapt with such ease!!
Best recipe ever!
Just made them and all the family loved them.
Will definitely be making again.
Thank you
Was really intrigued and excited by this! But I just tried them and they expanded so much it was more like a cinnamon bread loaf! And they turned out dry, not moist and chewy at all. It’s such a shame I followed the instructions exactly. Maybe should have tried the low setting instead?
Thanks for the recipe though, love trying new things!