Fluffy and light Eggnog Cinnamon Rolls with gooey cinnamon sugar centers and a rich eggnog cream cheese frosting. The perfect holiday breakfast or brunch!
Can’t get enough eggnog desserts? Try Eggnog Snickerdoodle Whoopie Pies, Eggnog Pound Cake, and Eggnog Sugar Cookies.
This recipe is in partnership with Fleischmann’s® Yeast.
It warmed up for a quick minute last week but now it’s S N O W I N G and I’m feeling all the cozy feels. We put up (both) trees, my husband scaled the roof to get our Christmas lights in working order, I hung the stockings (with oh so much care) and the kids have been wearing fuzzy reindeer jammies all week long.
I’ve been testing out recipes for Christmas morning and these eggnog cinnamon rolls are one of my top contenders. A twist on classic Beginner’s Frosted Cinnamon Rolls, you just can’t go wrong with fluffy, gooey-centered cinnamon rolls with a hint of eggnog flavor, topped with rich and creamy eggnog and cream cheese frosting!
Even my notoriously picky eater two year olds can’t say not to a cinnamon roll. As long as we call it a donut. They have issues trying new things and they already have a donut obsession (like mother like kiddos) so we chalk it up to a parenting hack and call it a win.
Fleischmann’s® RapidRise makes super fluffy and completely delicious Christmas morning cinnamon rolls a breeze. The rising time for these eggnog cinnamon rolls is only one hour, which works out to be just enough time to prepare the filling and frosting, and whip up a batch of extra chocolatey hot cocoa – complete with about nine thousand marshmallows if my kids have anything to say about it.
I like my cinnamon rolls with a real gooey, sticky center so I bake these for about 25-28 minutes and then let them rest in the pan for a few minutes before slathering them in all that rich ‘n creamy eggnog frosting. If you are like my husband and prefer your cinnamon rolls on the less-gooey, and more-browned side, then let them bake a little longer, closer to 30-35 minutes for perfectly golden cinnamon rolls.
Eggnog Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Dough
- 4 ½ – 5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 egg
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 2 packets Fleischmann’s® RapidRise ™️ Yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup eggnog
- ¾ cup water
- 6 tablespoons butter
Filling
- 6 tablespoons very soft butter
- ⅔ cup brown sugar
- 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Frosting
- 2 ounces softened cream cheese
- 4 tablespoons softened butter
- 5 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 tablespoons eggnog - more as needed
Instructions
Prepare the dough
- Combine 2 cups flour, sugar, dry yeast and salt in a large mixer bowl and stir until blended. Place eggnog, water and butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH in 15 second increments until very warm but not hot to the touch (120° to 130°F). Butter won’t melt completely). Add to flour mixture with egg.
- Beat 2 minutes at medium speed of electric mixer, scraping bowl occasionally. Add 1 cup flour; beat 2 minutes at high speed, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in just enough remaining flour so that the dough will form into a ball.
- Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic and dough springs back when lightly pressed with 2 fingers, about 6 to 8 minutes. Cover with a towel; let rest for 10 minutes.
Prepare the filling
- In a small bowl use a fork to blend together brown sugar and cinnamon.
- Roll dough into a 15 x 10-inch rectangle using a rolling pin. Spread butter over dough stopping at least 1/2-inch from the edges on the long sides. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture. Beginning at long end of the rectangle, roll up tightly. Pinch seams to seal. Cut into 12 equal pieces. TIP: Use unflavored dental floss instead of a knife to cut rolls. To do this, cut a piece of floss about 12 inches long. Slide floss under the roll; bring the ends up and cross over to cut each slice. Place, cut sides down, in greased 13 x 9 inch baking pan . Cover with towel; let rise in warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour .
- Bake in preheated 350ºF oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until rolls are golden brown.
Prepare the Frosting
- In a large bowl cream together cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Mix in 2 cups powdered sugar, then 6 tablespoons eggnog, mixing until smooth. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing until incorporated, then add more eggnog if needed until frosting is light, fluffy, and easily spreadable.
- Spread frosting on cooled slightly cooled cinnamon rolls and serve.
oh my gosh!!!!!! These were the absolute best!! My husband and daughter both said these were the best cinnamon rolls they’ve ever eaten. Thank you!
Most excellent cinnamon rolls I have ever made. Just terrific. I did find a better topping with less fat. Use 1 3/4 cup of powdered sugar and add 1/3 cup of eggnog. Whip together and drizzle over the buns when they cool.
I’m not one to leave reviews often, but these are phenomenal! I did have to adjust a couple of things to accomplish the recipe without going to town.
1) I used active dry yeast rather than instant—they still doubled in size in an hour in my warm oven. 2) I did not have enough powdered sugar, so my icing was 1 oz crm chs, 3.5 tbsp butter, 3/4tsp vanilla, 5 tbsp eggnog, and abo 3c powdered sugar. It’s still plenty to cover the rolls!
I’m not one to like plain frosting or eat while cooking, but while the cinnamon rolls were baking I could not keep my fingers out of the icing bowl!! Seriously amazing stuff, i don’t even like eggnog that much lol. I may just start using it for other deserts as well… thanks for your recipe!
Haha that’s great! I’m glad you were able to make it work! 🙂
Cinnamon rolls are fluffy and delish! Made them spur the moment Christmas morning and they were a hit!
I am wondering if milk or buttermilk would work in this recipe once the holiday season is over? My daughter-in-law made these for the family and all of us wanted more!
I’ve never tried to replace the eggnog but I have plenty of cinnamon roll recipes you can look up and choose from if you don’t want eggnog flavored cinnamon rolls 😊