Can You Make Cinnamon Rolls From Frozen Bread Dough

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These Frozen Bread Dough Cinnamon Rolls are so easy to make with just 5 ingredients! A wonderful breakfast for special mornings.

pan with cinnamon rolls in front of milk bottle

I won't lie, I do appreciate a fully homemade cinnamon roll. I just prefer it if someone else makes it for me 😉 Our Christmas mornings would be pretty bleak with a bowl of oatmeal if it wasn't for incredibly easy recipes like these Frozen Bread Dough Cinnamon Rolls: They are so fuss-free to make, and taste amazing!

I also have to admit, I always have a can of cinnamon rolls in the fridge. But for a truly special morning? I do enjoy putting in the effort for these semi-homemade ones!

Ingredients you'll need

This is just an overview of the ingredients needed – scroll to the recipe card at the bottom for exact quantities and instructions.

ingredients for bread dough cinnamon rolls with text labels — Ingredients for Frozen Bread Dough Cinnamon Rolls: Frozen bread dough, softened butter AND melted butter, brown sugar, white sugar and ground cinnamon. Not pictured (and optional): Frosting or icing of your choice.

Ingredient notes

Frozen bread dough: This recipe really tastes best with bread dough, but you can absolutely try this recipe with refrigerated, rolled out pizza dough. I recommend using a family-style crust and not a thin crust. Remember, pizza dough has some olive oil added, so the taste will be a little different from bread dough.
Butter: Feel free to use stick margarine for this recipe, it works just as well! I do use stick margarine for a lot of my baking and cooking, but this is one of those recipes I do make with butter when I can.
Sugar: You can easily make this recipe with all white sugar or all brown sugar. I like the balance of using mostly brown and a little white sugar, but choose what you like best/have on hand.

Step by step photos

As the first preparation for this recipe, you need to place your frozen bread dough in a lightly oiled bowl and thaw and rise until double in bulk.

For the filling, I like using very soft butter instead of the melted butter most recipes call for. The reason for this is that melted butter just runs all over the place, makes it difficult to slice the rolls and is just generally messy. So, I use very soft butter and mix it into a paste with both sugars and the cinnamon.

photo collage to show making cinnamon roll filling

As soon as the dough is ready, roll it out into roughly a 10×15 inch rectangle. Carefully spread the butter-sugar paste all over the dough.

bread dough spread with cinnamon sugar butter

Then, roll the dough up into a log from the longer end (that's the bottom edge in the picture above, if you need visual confirmation) and pinch the seam to seal it. You should now have a 15 inch long log.

Now you need to cut this log into 10-12 slices. 10 rolls will make bigger individual rolls, but 12 rolls will fill the pan more and therefore result in more gooey rolls with less crisp edges (I made 10 rolls in the batch for the photos).

I like to use a piece of regular old sewing thread to slice the rolls. Unscented dental floss is another option, but if you don't have either just use a sharp knife.

collage of photos to show slicing of unbaked cinnamon rolls

Place your sliced rolls into a greased 9-inch round pan and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Let sit on the counter for around 45 minutes, until puffy. Then brush with 1 tablespoon melted butter and bake!

collage of photo to show sliced cinnamon rolls before and after proofing

My rolls didn't puff up as much as I would have like them to because it was a very cold day, I still went ahead and baked them after 60 minutes and they came out just fine!

Once your cinnamon rolls are baked, you're free to use any frosting or icing on top. For a cream cheese frosting, I add it when the cinnamon rolls are 5 minutes out of the oven. For a powdered sugar icing, I let the cinnamon rolls cool 20-30 minutes before adding it.

round pan with baked cinnamon rolls on wooden surface

I often use store-bought cream cheese frosting from a tub, but I have also just stirred up a few tablespoons of softened cream cheese and a tablespoon of icing sugar and it was just fine.

Recipe tips

Be careful when you spread the cinnamon/sugar/butter mixture over the dough. You don't want to push down too hard, or you'll rip the dough.
Don't worry if your sliced cinnamon rolls do not rise enough to double in size. I recommend baking them after 60 minutes anyways.
If you accidentally roll up the log from the short side vs the long side, slice just 8 rolls. They will bake a little differently, but it's still perfectly fine.

close up photo of cinnamon roll made with frozen bread dough

We eat these pretty much straight from the oven, and a batch vanishes in minutes 🙈 Can't wait until our kids turn into a handful of teenagers, will I have to make a batch for each of them?! Probably, ha!

More easy baking recipes

Cake Mix Pumpkin Bread
Caramel Apple Dump Cake
Cake Mix Crinkle Cookies

If you tried this recipe, don't forget to add a review by tapping the stars in the recipe card below!

Ingredients

1 (16-oz) loaf frozen bread dough
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
For brushing
1 tablespoon melted butter
For topping
Icing or frosting of choice, optional

Notes

Ingredient notes

Frozen bread dough: This recipe really tastes best with bread dough, but you can absolutely try this recipe with refrigerated, rolled out pizza dough. I recommend using a family-style crust and not a thin crust. Remember, pizza dough has some olive oil added, so the taste will be a little different from bread dough.
Butter: Feel free to use stick margarine for this recipe, it works just as well! I do use stick margarine for a lot of my baking and cooking, but this is one of those recipes I do make with butter when I can.
Sugar: You can easily make this recipe with all white sugar or all brown sugar. I like the balance of using mostly brown and a little white sugar, but choose what you like best/have on hand.

Recipe tips

Be careful when you spread the cinnamon/sugar/butter mixture over the dough. You don't want to push down too hard, or you'll rip the dough.
Don't worry if your sliced cinnamon rolls do not rise enough to double in size. I recommend baking them after 60 minutes anyways.
If you accidentally roll up the log from the short side vs the long side, slice just 8 rolls. They will bake a little differently, but it's still perfectly fine.