These cinnamon rolls made from cake mix are fantastic. They are prepared the night before, set out in the morning, and allowed to rise. I’ve also used this recipe to make sticky buns, coating my pan with a coconut-pecan icing.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 20 mins |
| Additional Time: | 1 hr 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs |
| Servings: | 16 |
| Yield: | 16 cinnamon rolls |
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups warm water
- 3 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
- 1 (15.25 ounce) package white cake mix
- 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup butter, softened
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup butter, melted
- ⅓ cup white sugar
- ¼ cup chopped pecans, or to taste
Instructions
- Pour warm water into a bowl; add yeast and let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
- Combine yeast mixture, cake mix, and 3 cups of flour in a large bowl; stir well. Add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition until dough pulls together. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.
- Lightly oil a large bowl; place dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes.
- Deflate dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a 10×16-inch rectangle. Spread softened butter over the rectangle; sprinkle on brown sugar and cinnamon. Starting from one of the long sides, roll up the rectangle and cut into 1-inch wide rolls.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan.
- Pour melted butter into a small bowl. Mix the white sugar and pecans in another small bowl. Dip the top of each roll in melted butter, then in sugar and pecan mixture, then arrange rolls snugly in the prepared pan. Cover rolls with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes.
- Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 399 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 64 g |
| Cholesterol | 23 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 6 g |
| Saturated Fat | 6 g |
| Sodium | 278 mg |
| Sugars | 28 g |
| Fat | 14 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Very dry and not the right amount of flower and plain and I had add more cinnamon But hey this is just my opinion try if you dare
I used this recipe to make plain cinnamon rolls. I have made these rolls three times in the past month. 4-1/2 cups of flour was not near enough to make this dough come together for me. All three times I had a wet soggy doughy mess that was not manageable. I had to add two more cups of flour before being able to work the dough. Not sure why, but the rolls came out beautifully and each batch was well received. I was able to fill two 9×13 pans with twelve rolls each – and the softness of the rolls was outstanding. I do use SAF instant yeast and a pkg of yeast is 7 grams . .so, 21 grams of yeast is aLOT of yeast. This last batch I used a half a cup of butters and cup of brown sugar with two tablespoons of cinnamon. I read all the positive comments and am not sure why only I had an issue with the flour, but the end result was good and leftovers warmed up beautifully in the microwave.
Excellent! I added chopped apples inside. I also added coconut on top with the nuts and sugar. I also put butter, brown sugar and chopped apples on the bottom of the pan for turning the rolls out onto a platter. I drizzled powdered sugar icing on top for added moisture. Definitely flour your hands before handling the sticky dough. I used my Ninja dough setting for bringing the dough together. Then kneaded with floured hands. Pretty easy overall. These rolls could pass as a signature product for a small business as the dough is unique between bread and cake and absolutely endulg-ably delicious and sweet.
I have literally been looking for this recipe for 30 years! I used it several times (30 years ago) and lost it in a move. I e never been able to find it. This makes the tastiest, moistest cinnamon rolls you’ll ever find. A worthy rival to Cinnabon for sure. I’m printing, saving, and sharing for sure!!
I used the spice cake mix, and added more sugar and cinnamon in the middle, turned out great.
These were great. We added a few more pecans, but that was the only thing different. They were very good, but we can’t make these too often. They disappeared quickly.
Very easy and delicious! I’m not good with yeast dough but this recipe did not fail me. I have been successful each time I’ve used this recipe.
It is a very good recipe. Everybody loves them and I can make a lot of them.
Not as good as sounds dry no flavor
These were excellent. I was afraid they would be too cake like or too sweet but they weren’t. Next time I will put them in two pans – maybe a 9X 13 and an 8 X 8 because they did not cook evenly when crammed into just the one pan. I had to remove the edge ones (by that I mean eat them haha) and put the rest back in the oven for another 15 minutes. I think giving them more room will help with that. I used my kitchen aid mixer to knead the dough and probably used closer to 5 c flour. I dipped the cut rolls into melted butter then placed them in a pan that was sprinkled with 1/3 c brown sugar and pecans. I drizzled a little extra melted butter on top. Highly recommend and will make again!
I don’t know what I’m doing wrong they keep coming out heavy & not roaring
I’m always looking for something different and this is just that! I just had to try it out! In my goofiness I added too much water so I just add more flour. Thus resulting in a double batch which is fine by me. I added my own filing and topping because I was only looking for a different dough. The dough was not better or worse, just different. I did find however that the dough was easier to work than standard bread dough. Nice take on an old classic!
My husband loves cinnamon rolls so I thought I’d try this recipe. He ate 2 so I guess he liked them. I kneaded the dough by hand and just kept adding flour as needed. It wasn’t as hard to work with as some reviewers were saying. Anyway it made a 9×13 and 9×9 pan. So some will go into the freezer.
Video does not follow the Instructions. No second resting, topping applied differently and some ingredients. Sure they will turn out great either way.
Super yum!
Followed the recipe exactly but the flour measurements where off the dough was very sticky I had to add more flour I think it needs 5 1/2 cups of flour. Anyways it came out well and I got a two thumbs up from my kids.
These are very good! I wish, though, that I had watched the video. I followed it to a T, including Step6, which was a total disaster. Instead of trying to make the rolls, dip them in butter, then dip them in sugar/cinnamon and then letting them rise, the next time I will make the rolls, put them in the pan, let them rise, brush on the butter, then sprinkle on the sugar and pecans. So much easier and cleaner! I am going to try them next time with the “Perfect Cinnamon Roll Icing” mentioned in other posts. I guess it depends on how you wind up cutting them as to how many you fit in the 9×13 pan. I had a few leftover with nowhere for them to fit. Put them in another pan. Try this recipe, you won’t be disappointed.
I followed the recipe to the T (at least I thought I did) and I wound up with a sticky, nightmarish mess because I clearly messed up on the amount flour I was supposed to add. HOWEVER, the flavor is awesome and I’ll make this again and again even though I butchered it this time around. The dough was so sticky I just rolled it the best I could, literally scraped it off my counter top into a 9×13 pan and baked it like a cake. Glazed it and served it warm. It was really good! This will be my go to cinnamon bun recipe. So easy, especially if you have a stand mixer and a dough hook. And I’ll definitely pay attention to the amount of flour next time I make it!
“Still good, but looked better than they tasted. ‘Could be the cook’s fault; first time with this recipe, but not cinnamon rolls. I topped with homemade cream cheese frosting. Without frosting, I’d be disappointed; but I didn’t dip in butter since I was using frosting. Thanks for the cinnamon rolls.
These were a huge hit with my entire family and I’ve made them several times!
Good but too rich with cake mix