Instant Pot Cinnamon Rolls from Scratch
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Make these gooey and sweet instant pot cinnamon rolls in under an hour with your electric pressure cooker. This is one of our most popular instant pot dessert recipes. We hope you enjoy it!
We love our cinnamon rolls around here! We have also shared instant pot Pillsbury cinnamon rolls, instant pot monkey bread, and bread machine apple cinnamon rolls.
This recipe requires no rise time thanks to two amazing kitchen helpers: baking soda and baking powder. This recipe does not require yeast. Don’t get me wrong, I love my yeasted bread but it felt wrong to have to 1-2 hours rise time for an Instant Pot recipe.
Unless I am making yogurt, I do not want to wait longer than an hour for a recipe to be ready. I want my cinnamon rolls ready quickly!
New to the instant pot? Check out our instant pot guide here.
Let me tell you. We were not disappointed! We ate a little bit on the day I made them and the rest for our Sunday breakfast. I have to say, I think they might have even been better the second day! Just make sure you warm them – cold cinnamon rolls just aren’t the same. 🙂
I knew I wanted to try cinnamon rolls in my instant pot ever since I heard about someone making Pillsbury cinnamon rolls in their electric pressure cooker. I just knew I needed to try making them from scratch.
There are quite a few ingredients listed below. Don’t be alarmed! These are the ingredients for the cinnamon roll dough, the filling, and the cream cheese icing.
There are a lot of components that go into making cinnamon rolls. Luckily, you get to skip the rise time, dough punching, and second rise time all while still having from scratch cinnamon rolls hot, fresh, and ready to eat!
Why use a paper towel and foil to make instant pot cinnamon rolls?
Covering your instant pot cinnamon rolls with a paper towel and then sealing with foil is very important. Since you are cooking the cinnamon rolls in a pressure cooker with water, the paper towel and foil keeps most (if not all) of the moisture away from the cinnamon rolls.
What if my cinnamon rolls come out undercooked?
Some people’s cinnamon rolls are coming out undercooked. If this happens to you, put them back into the instant pot and cook on high pressure (the manual or pressure cook button, depending on model) and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
What if my dough is too sticky?
The amount of flour your add depends on a lot of factors. Sometimes when there is more moisture in the air, than you may need to add a bit more flour. I reccomend slowly adding more flour (about 1/4 cup at a time) until the dough is dry enough to work with. It should still be a little sticky – but not sticking all over your hands.
Traditional icing for cinnamon rolls
Would rather make traditional icing instead of the cream cheese frosting for your instant pot cinnamon rolls? I recommend you use the recipe in this post for Banana Blueberry Muffins with Vanilla Glaze.
Helpful Tools for Making Cinnamon Rolls in the Instant Pot
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Instant Pot Cinnamon Rolls from Scratch
Equipment
Ingredients
Filling
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar packed
- 4 tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon ground
- 1/8 tsp cloves ground
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp butter melted
Cinnamon Rolls
- 1 1/4 cup milk
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus more for work surface
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 7 tbsp butter melted
- 2 cups water
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 2 tbsp cream cheese softened
- 2 1/2 tbsp milk
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- Instant Pot
- 7 inch pan
- Trivet
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the light brown sugar, 4 tablespoons granulated sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and salt.
- Whisk in the 1 tablespoon melted butter until it resembles wet sand. Set aside.
- Combine the 1 1/4 cup milk and vinegar in a cup. Let sit 5 minutes. (This will make sour milk, buttermilk may be used in place of this)
- Brush 1 tablespoon melted butter on the bottom and sides of a 7-inch push pan. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, remaining 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
- Mix 2 tablespoons melted butter into the soured milk.
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the soured milk + butter.
- Mix until a dough is formed.
- Pour your dough onto a floured surface and knead until the dough becomes smooth.
- Roll the cinnamon roll dough into a 9x12 rectangle.
- Brush the dough with 2 tablespoons melted butter and sprinkle the filling on top of the butter - leaving 1/4 inch of space around the edges.
- Pat it down so it sticks, leaving 1/4 inch around the edge of the cinnamon roll dough.
- Roll the dough lengthwise until it resembles a log. Pinch the seams along the edge and on the ends so they stick.
- Cut the log into 6 equal pieces. Place one piece in the center of your push pan and the remaining 5 around the center cinnamon roll.
- Brush the tops of the rolls with the remaining 2 tablespoons melted butter.
- Pour 2 cups water in the bowl of your Instant Pot electric pressure cooker and place the trivet inside.
- Create a foil sling with a long piece of foil, folded lengthwise into thirds. Gently place the foil into your pressure cooker with the ends poking out on both sides.
- Place a paper towel on top of your push pan (with cinnamon rolls inside) and cover with a piece of foil. This keeps the water out of your cake pan so your cinnamon rolls don't get soggy.
- Gently lower your cinnamon rolls (with the paper towel and foil still on top) into your pressure cooker.
- Fold the ends of the foil sling over the top of your push pan so they are accessible after your instant pot cinnamon rolls have cooked.
- Close lid and set to "sealing". Cook your the cinnamon rolls on high pressure for 23 minutes. Natural Pressure Release (NPR) for 15 minutes.
- To make the icing: Mix together softened cream cheese and 2 tablespoons milk. It will be lumpy. Whisk in the powdered sugar until smooth.
- Once the cinnamon rolls are finished cooking, gently remove the pan using your foil sling. Let cool 10 minutes.
- Remove the cinnamon rolls by pushing them out from the bottom (this is where the push pan comes in handy).
- Spread the icing over the top of your instant pot cinnamon rolls and enjoy immediately.
- Refrigerate any uneaten portion and reheat prior to serving.
Nutrition
Other Delicious Instant Pot Recipes:
Other Delicious Instant Pot Recipes:
Instant Pot Mushroom and Parmesan Risotto
We love a delicious batch of warm and gooey cinnamon rolls, but the rise time can be a bummer. This recipe for instant pot cinnamon rolls saves so much time!
ACK!!! I have no idea what happened but this was a total FAIL for me! I followed your recipe. The Fat Daddio push pan leaked cinnamon sugar all over the bottom of the IP insert and was dripping when removed. The rolls rose nicely but were very doughy so I placed the pan (on the foil that covered it in the IP) in a 350F oven for 5 min. to firm up and slightly brown. Inverted the pan of rolls onto a plate. They looked good but they were now hard and still not brown. My husband couldn’t even cut into one. So disappointed.
Anyone tried using almond milk? Is it even possible to make it w/o the sour milk?
I am having trouble visualizing the foil part of this recipe. Step by step photos could be really helpful for first time instant pot users!
Hi Sarah! Check out this post. It is for banana bread, but I use the same method and it includes pictures.
https://aileencooks.com/instant-pot-banana-bread/
Thanks for sharing this – was fun to make. I have the ultra 8 quart. Worked relatively well but the rolls were very doughy and dense. Had to add a lot of flour because dough was unmanageable. Open to suggestions to make dough lighter
The dough is denser due to the biscuit type dough used in this recipe. You could always try a traditional risen cinnamon roll dough and baking it the same as that would make the dough lighter.
Followed recipe to a T and they were still very raw and doughy on top. Like others my paper towel was sopping wet as well so that moisture was just sitting on top of the rolls.
Carolyn, I am so sorry this didn’t work out for you. Can I ask which pot you have? I’m working on finding solutions and that would really help me troubleshoot.
Unfortunately I had the same problem as the others- dough was hard and very doughy. Had to finish them in the oven but should have put them in the oven from the beginning and not the instant pot.
The flavor was very good but mine were very doughy on top. The paper towel was completely wet. Maybe I should try a larger towel and a bigger piece of foil. It didn’t ruin them but I think I like mine a little firmer. I did use a corning ware bowl and it seemed to work fine for that part. Thanks for sharing.
I tried to convert this to vegan by subbing soy milk, earth balance (in place of butter), and Tofutti faux cream cheese. The texture was very doughy. Perhaps a longer cook time for my next try. Also, perhaps a few paper towels on top next time since one seemed fairly soaked through.
Thanks for sharing how you converted it to vegan!
How do I reheat them this morning? We have three left over?
Hi Rachel! Just reheat in your microwave for about 30 seconds Enjoy!
I followed the recipe exactly and they were doughy straight out of the instant pot. I had to put them in the oven to finish baking. 🙁 I was so excited for this.
I don’t know what happened. I covered the pan with a paper towel and foil, but when I took my pan out of my IP, the dough was raw looking and swimming in liquid (is it melted brown sugar??). I put it in the oven to try to save it….It’s baking in there right now. I hope I can save it!
Hi Diane. I am so sorry it came out uncooked. I’m guessing the extra liquid was the liquid from the bottom of the pot. The paper towel is supposed to help with it. I hope it ended up turning out okay in your oven.
Success! I used a corningware dish without a removable bottom but had no problems with sticking. I did end up cooking for a total of 28 mins probably because of the cookware I used.
Yay! I’m so glad it worked out for you!
Hi 🙂 Do you think I can sub gluten-free flour for the all purpose flour in this recipe?
Thanks so much!
Hi Parizad! I’m not sure on the gluten free flour as I have not personally tried. Please let me know how it turns out!
Disappointed. Dough was VERY soft. Tried adding 1/4 c more flour but was still quite unmanageable. Went ahead with cooking. It wasn’t done so put back in IP for another 4 min & 10 min NPR. Barely edible. Didn’t even save the leftovers.
This was my experience too. I haven’t started cooking because I can’t get my dough to set up at all. Any tips?
Hi Savannah. If your dough is still sticky, I would recommend adding more flour. Keep in mind that it is not a yeasted dough, so it will still be softer than a traditional cinnamon roll dough. I hope this helps.
Please tell me what a push pan is, is it a removable bottom pan?
Hi Suz. Yes, it’s a cake pan with removable bottom. Here is the one I have: http://amzn.to/2FEpKvm (affiliate). A springform pan can also be used.