With this recipe, we will teach you how to make CINNAMON ROLLS IN THE AIR FRYER from scratch! Nothing beats a homemade cinnamon and making the dough from scratch is fun and satisfying!
Pretty sure that everyone likes a good cinnamon roll. I mean, what’s not to love?
So many people are left to only having them store-bought or baked out of a tube from the store.
We’re here to change that with this EASY cinnamon roll recipe. Made from scratch, cooked in the air fryer, and perfect for a weekend breakfast.
Never worked with yeast before? No problem! This recipe is easy and you’ll be a pro in no time!
Table of Contents
Ingredient Notes:
Most of the ingredients in this recipe are very basic. Here a just a couple quick notes on a couple of the ingredients.
Yeast – You want active dry yeast for this recipe.
Whole milk – You want this to be warm for use in the dough. It will help the yeast perform faster.
Butter – You will need unsalted butter for this entire recipe. Be sure to add that to your grocery list! Also leave a stick out to soften right as you start so it is ready when you need it.
Cream cheese – Again, this will need to be softened so get a package of it out right away when you start making the dough.
How to make air fryer cinnamon rolls:
Bloom the yeast – Whisk together your warm whole milk, a couple of tablespoons of granulated sugar, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Cover the bowl and then let it rest for 10 minutes. When you return this mixture should be foamy indicating that the yeast is in fact active.
Make sure the milk is right around 110 degrees. Too hot and the milk will kill the yeast, too cold and the yeast won’t bloom.
Mix the dough – Now add the egg and melted butter to your bowl and whisk again to combine. Then add your flour and salt.
Put the dough hook on your mixer and set to low, gradually increasing the speed to medium as the dough comes together. Let this run for a couple of minutes until you have a slightly sticky dough ball. The dough should just barely stick to your finger when you touch it.
When working with dough, you may need to add more flour depending on the humidity. If your dough doesn’t come together to make a slightly sticky ball, add in flour 1-2 tablespoons at a time.
Adding too much extra flour will result in a tough cinnamon roll. We want to use just enough to make a dough ball that only barely sticks at your finger when you pull away. The humidity in the air will determine how much flour you need to add, which is part of the fun!
Let rise – Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough ball to it. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and let rise until it doubles – about an hour.
We like to place our dough in the oven with the light on or with the oven set to proof.
Fill the dough – Flour your work surface and place the dough ball on it. Roll it out until it is about a 1/4″ thick rectangle. Spread melted butter all over the dough leaving a 1/4″ space around the edge that is not buttered.
Scatter your brown sugar and cinnamon over the butter and gently press it into the buttered dough with your fingers.
Cut the dough into rolls – Starting with the long side of your rectangle of dough, roll the dough up into a log and then pinch the edges together and place the seam of the roll down on a cutting surface. Use a serrated knife to slice the dough into 12 equally sized rolls.
Unflavored dental floss also works nicely for making smooth cuts.
Rise again – Spray or brush oil onto your air fryer basket. Place the individual rolls in your basket with space between them. The rolls will expand as they rise and bake, so don’t overcrowd them.
Cover the air fryer basket and let the rolls rise for 15 minutes.
Bake the rolls – Cook for 9 minutes at 350 degrees in the air fryer. They should be golden brown on top. Remove them and add frosting to them while they are warm.
Frosting – You should start this when your first batch is in the air fryer. In a medium bowl, combine butter and cream cheese and beat until smooth. Then add in your powdered sugar one cup at a time until fully combined. The resulting frosting should be light and fluffy. Spread the frosting over the warm, baked cinnamon rolls.
FAQ:
Well, in short, a cinnamon roll has frosting and a cinnamon bun does not.
It’s important to make sure that your yeast has worked properly and your dough fully doubled during the first rise. You’ll also want to make sure you’re adding just enough flour for the dough to come together. Adding too much flour will create a dense dough.
If you’d like to start these cinnamon rolls the night before, go ahead and make the dough and pop it in the fridge to rise overnight. In the morning, remove the dough from the fridge and let it fully come to room temperature before moving on to filling the dough.
Recipe Tips and Substitutions
Want to make the dough rise faster? I use my oven set to the “proofing” feature to speed this process up. If your oven doesn’t have this feature, just turn the oven light on to keep it warm.
If you are struggling to get clean cuts on the dough try cutting it with dental floss instead of a knife.
These freeze perfectly! We place individual frosted cinnamon rolls in small ziptop bags and pop them right in the freezer. Microwave on low heat when ready to eat .
More homemade air fryer recipes:
- Buttermilk biscuits in the air fryer
- Homemade Pop Tarts
- Chocolate chip cookie for one
- Air fried honey glazed carrots
Let us know your opinion!
We’d love to hear what you think of this recipe! Leave a comment and star rating down below! And don’t forget to pin and share!
Air Fryer Cinnamon Rolls
Equipment
Ingredients
Cinnamon Rolls:
- ¾ cup whole milk
- 2 ¼ teaspoons yeast
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup unsalted butter melted
- 3 cups flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
Filling:
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- ½ cup packed dark brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Frosting:
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
To make the cinnamon rolls:
- Heat the milk to 110-115 degrees. Add to the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk in the sugar. Sprinkle the yeast over the top. Let sit for 10 minutes. The yeast should foam and bubble.
- Add the egg and melted butter and whisk to combine.
- Add in the flour and salt. Place the dough hook attachment on the mixer and knead for 4-5 minutes. The dough should be slightly sticky. Add more flour, 1-2 tablespoons at a time if needed to reach a firm dough ball that just barely sticks to your finger when pulled away.
- Transfer the dough to a large well-oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for 1 hour in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size.
- Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to ¼ inch thick rectangle.
Fill the dough:
- Spread the melted butter over the dough, leaving a ¼ inch border all around.
- Sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon over the buttered dough, pressing the mixture gently into the butter with your fingers.
- Starting from the long side, roll up the dough into a log and pinch the edges together. Make sure the seam is down.
- Using a serrated knife or dental floss, trim the edges from either side to remove the space without filling. Slice the dough log into 12 equal rolls.
- Spritz the air fryer basket with oil and put the individual rolls in the basket with a couple of inches space between each roll. You will need to work in batches.
- Let the rolls rise for 15 minutes.
- Set the air fryer to 350°F and cook the cinnamon rolls for 8 to 10 minutes, until golden brown on top.
- Remove the air Fryer basket and leave the rolls to cool for 5 minutes.
To make the frosting:
- To a medium bowl, add the butter and cream cheese. Use an electric mixer to beat until smooth and combined
- Add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, and mix until fully combined, light and fluffy.
- Spread the frosting over the warm cinnamon rolls and serve while cooking the second batch of rolls.
Notes
Nutrition
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Comments & Reviews
Larry R Safrit Sr says
I have the Ninja Foodi Fryer Oven. I have been reluctant to try recipes written for the Air Fryer because I am not sure the times and temps may be different. I had the air fryer prior to getting the oven, but gave it to my children (they did not have an air fryer). When you publish recipes could you include any settings needed for the oven, or state that the oven can be used.
Karly says
Hi Larry! All of the basket style air fryer recipes should work similarly to the oven style. We don’t use an oven style air fryer though, so I can’t test teach recipe separately. I would go ahead and make the recipes as suggested using your oven style air fryer…just keep an eye on things and you’ll quickly learn if the oven cooks a bit faster or slower than the basket style air fryers.