Funfetti Cinnamon Rolls
This website uses affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you click on the link and make a purchase.
Funfetti Cinnamon Rolls are classic cinnamon rolls with the addition of rainbow sprinkles. These light and pillowy Funfetti Cinnamon Rolls are an extra special treat for a special morning.
If you love making homemade cinnamon rolls as much as I do, be sure to check out some of my other favorites like my Healthy Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Cream Cheese Icing, Chocolate Peanut Butter Sweet Rolls, or my Small Batch Honey Butter Cinnamon Rolls.
Table of Contents
What are cinnamon rolls?
The short answer is they are made from a sweet fluffy dough, filled with cinnamon and sugar, and usually topped with a sweet glaze. The more in depth answer is cinnamon rolls are made from a yeast dough, or some use a brioche dough as they usually have butter, sugar, eggs, and flour in them. All of these ingredients combined with yeast make a dough that rises, and in turn produces the sweet fluffy dough that we all love.
After the dough rises, you roll it out, and fill it with butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Roll it back up, trim off the edges, and cut the log into pieces. Those pieces are then baked off into individual cinnamon rolls. Once they come out of the oven, you only want to let them sit for 5 to 10 minutes to cool just a little. Then, you want to slather them with glaze – which is the best part!
I call these amazing little pastries cinnamon rolls, but they have many names. Sticky buns, cinnamon buns, cinna buns, cinnamon snail… there’s probably more too! Whatever you call them, they’re delicious!
Why You'll Love This Recipe
Funfetti: Well, you can basically Funfetti anything, and trust me people do! To me, Funfetti is just vanilla with rainbow sprinkles. So, making Funfetti Cinnamon Rolls is basically just adding rainbow sprinkles to cinnamon rolls!
No Artificial Colors: I use all natural rainbow sprinkles that are made with vegetables and free of artificial colors. They are pastel, which I love! You can find them here. I add sprinkles into my dough, and then also on top of the glaze.
One Rise: These fluffy Funfetti Cinnamon Rolls only require one rise, where most cinnamon roll recipes will require two. That makes these Funfetti Cinnamon Rolls quicker and easier than most recipes!
Ingredients
Cairnspring Mills Organic All Purpose Flour (use code MIMIORGANIC15 for 15% off your order!)
Homemade Organic Dark Brown Sugar
Frontier Co-Op Organic Korintje Cinnamon
Florida Crystals Organic Powdered Sugar
India Tree Nature's Colors Carnival Mix Sprinkles
Tools Needed
Subscribe to Mimi's Organic Eats Channel
Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for all the latest videos. Bake and cook along with John John and me on YouTube!
Subscribing is easy and just by subscribing, you are directly supporting my site!
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1
To make the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add the yeast, ½ teaspoon cane sugar, and hot water. Stir to combine and let sit for 3 to 5 minutes or until bubbly.
In a medium pot over medium heat, add the butter and milk. Stir until completely melted, remove from heat.
Add the flour, remaining cane sugar, and salt to the mixing bowl in that order. Add the egg and milk mixture and knead on speed 2 to 4 for 5 minutes.
Place the dough in a greased bowl, add the rainbow sprinkles and knead in with your hands until they are completely incorporated.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 to 3 hours or until doubled in size.
Step 2
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
To make the filling: In a bowl, add the brown sugar and cinnamon and mix to combine completely.
Step 3
On a floured surface, roll out the dough to a rectangle that is about 12 x 16-inches. Using a spatula spread the butter all over the rolled out dough. Sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture to completely cover the butter.
Starting at the larger side, fold the dough over and start to roll the dough until it is completely rolled into a log. Trim off each of the ends, then cut the dough log into 8 cinnamon rolls. Place in a greased baking dish. You can use either a 9-inch circle dish or an 11-by-7-inch baking dish.
Step 5
Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown. (If you're baking at high altitude, be sure to check the Notes at the bottom of the recipe for high altitude baking instructions).
Step 6
To make the glaze: In a mixing bowl, add the powdered sugar and milk and whisk until you have a smooth glaze. Pour the glaze over the top of the warm cinnamon rolls, about 10 minutes after coming out of the oven. Sprinkle with more rainbow sprinkles.
Baker's Tips
- Make sure your yeast is bubbly. If it doesn’t look bubbly after a few minutes, then it may be bad. If your yeast is bad, there’s no point to continue on with the recipe because the dough won’t rise. And no one wants a cinnamon roll that hasn’t risen, as the dough won’t be fluffy. Yeast stays good for about 4 months once opened. It can be kept in the freezer for up to 6 months.
- Make sure to look at the dough and see that it has doubled in size. I know I give a time frame, but whenever making any kind of bread, looking at physical signs is much more important than time. If you want the dough to rise faster, place the bowl in a warm area like on top of your oven if it's on, or on the mantle if you have a fire going.
- Make sure the butter is soft when spreading it onto the dough for the filling. If it's not soft, it can break or puncture the dough. So make sure it's very soft! I like to leave butter out at room temperature the day before if I'm baking cinnamon rolls.
- I use dark brown sugar in these cinnamon rolls, but if you only have light brown that will totally work as well. They just won't as much brown sugar flavor as if you use dark brown.
- Make sure to use a high quality organic cinnamon. There are different types of cinnamon out there, so make sure you find one that you like. My favorite one can be found here.
- Make sure to store your cinnamon rolls in an airtight container so they stay soft and fluffy.
FAQ's
The best cinnamon for cinnamon rolls is ground cinnamon. There are many different varieties of ground cinnamon, and so the best cinnamon for cinnamon rolls may depend on your preference of flavor. In my opinion, the best ground cinnamon is Korintje Cinnamon, it's always what I use! Most grocery stores will only have Ceylon Cinnamon, which will also work as well. To learn more about the best cinnamon for cinnamon rolls and more, check my article Best Cinnamon to Bake With.
Yes, cinnamon rolls are a great recipe to make ahead of time! Do all the steps the day before, aside from baking. When the rolls are in the baking dish, just cover it with plastic wrap (tightly so they don't dry out). Then, place the dish in the fridge overnight. The following morning, preheat the oven and remove the dish and allow the rolls to come to room temperature, then bake them off. If they are not completely room temperature, you may just need a few extra minutes in the oven.
Yes, feel free to swap out for any sprinkles you like! You can also use specific colors for certain holidays like red and green for Christmas, pink and purple for Valentine's Day, or even just all natural nonpareils!
Homemade cinnamon rolls are best kept in an airtight container. I will just leave mine on a plate under my cake dome and they stay fresh for a few days. You can always warm them up too!
Craving More?
Funfetti Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Dough
- 7 grams active dry yeast
- ½ teaspoon cane sugar
- ¼ cup warm water
- 57 grams salted butter
- ¾ cup milk
- 446 grams all purpose flour
- 57 grams cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 large egg
- 45 grams all natural rainbow sprinkles
Filling
- 142 grams dark brown sugar (packed)
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 57 grams salted butter (softened)
Glaze
- 340 grams powdered sugar (sifted)
- ¼ cup milk
Instructions
- To make the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add the yeast, ½ teaspoon cane sugar, and hot water. Stir to combine and let sit for 3 to 5 minutes or until bubbly.
- In a medium pot over medium heat, add the butter and milk. Stir until completely melted, remove from heat.
- Add the flour, remaining cane sugar, and salt to the mixing bowl in that order. Add the egg and milk mixture and knead on speed 2 to 4 for 5 minutes.
- Place the dough in a greased bowl, add the rainbow sprinkles and knead in with your hands until they are completely incorporated.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 to 3 hours or until doubled in size.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- To make the filling: In a bowl, add the brown sugar and cinnamon and mix to combine completely.
- On a floured surface, roll out the dough to a rectangle that is about 12 x 16-inches. Using a spatula spread the butter all over the rolled out dough. Sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture to completely cover the butter.
- Starting at the larger side, fold the dough over and start to roll the dough until it is completely rolled into a log. Trim off each of the ends, then cut the dough log into 8 cinnamon rolls. Place in a greased baking dish. You can use either a 9-inch circle dish or an 11-by-7-inch baking dish.
- Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown.
- To make the glaze: In a mixing bowl, add the powdered sugar and milk and whisk until you have a smooth glaze. Pour the glaze over the top of the warm cinnamon rolls, about 10 minutes after coming out of the oven. Sprinkle with more rainbow sprinkles.
- Store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Notes
Nutrition
Join Our Organic Community
Leave a Comment