Small Batch Honey Butter Cinnamon Rolls

This simple recipe for Small Batch Honey Butter Cinnamon Rolls only makes 4 rolls! Make this easy recipe if you have a smaller family or if you just don't want a lot of leftovers around.

If you love baked breakfast as much as I do, be sure to check out some of my other favorite recipes like Apple Pie Cinnamon Rolls, Meyer Lemon French Toast, Sourdough French Toast Sticks, or Sourdough Chocolate Chip Scones.

small batch honey butter cinnamon rolls in a white baking dish on a kitchen towel.

A Quick Look At The Recipe

Recipe Name: Small Batch Honey Butter Cinnamon Rolls
Ready In: 3 hours 55 minutes
Makes: 4 cinnamon rolls
Main Ingredients: salted butter, all purpose flour, honey, yeast
Flavor Profile: cozy cinnamon with brown sugar and honey
Dietary Info: eggless, no seed oils
Difficulty: Medium
Why You’ll Love It: ooey, gooey cinnamon roll experience without committing to a huge batch

Summarize & Save This Content On

Add us as a trusted site on Google

Why You'll Love This Recipe

Small Batch: I love this recipe because this only makes 4 cinnamon rolls! We are a small household and cinnamon rolls are best when they are fresh, so we don't need a lot. This recipe is perfect as we get to eat cinnamon rolls for two days!
Balanced Sweetness: The combination of honey and butter in the filling provides a natural, mellow sweetness that perfectly complements the cinnamon, resulting in a rich and balanced flavor that isn’t overly sugary.
Indulgent and Comforting: This indulgent breakfast treat is incredibly comforting. When you're looking for a warm and cozy breakfast, this checks all the boxes.
Eggless: These are eggless cinnamon rolls, which makes them even easier as you don't need eggs! If you are looking for eggless cinnamon roll recipe that makes more, just double this!

Jump to:

A Quick Look At The Recipe
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Ingredients
Baker’s Tips
How to Make Small Batch Honey Butter Cinnamon Rolls
What to Serve With Small Batch Honey Butter Cinnamon Rolls
Recipe FAQ’s
More Baked Breakfast Recipes
Small Batch Honey Butter Cinnamon Rolls
The Bake Shop

Ingredients

Instant Yeast: I prefer to use organic instant yeast as it helps these rise quicker. Active dry yeast also works, you may just have a little bit longer rise time.
Warm Water: When activating yeast, you need to have warm water. Even though we're using instant yeast here, I still always add it with warm water and sugar to be sure it's bubbly and ready to go! This is just something I do to make sure my yeast is good and ready. The water should be about 105°F to 110°F. If it's hotter than this, it can kill the yeast, then your dough won't rise. So if you have hot water for tea you should not use this! If you're unsure, then you can also heat water with a thermometer as well.
Light Brown Sugar: I use organic light brown sugar in the filling for these homemade cinnamon rolls. I like the combination of the light brown sugar with the honey for flavor, as it creates a little lighter cinnamon roll. If you only have dark brown sugar, you can use that in its place, but the flavor will be richer. I prefer to make my own Homemade Light Brown Sugar, but store bought also works!
All Purpose Flour: My favorite organic flour is from Cairnspring Mills, they mill fresh flour up in Washington, try it out!
Honey: I use organic raw local honey for flavor and it also helps replace eggs here for a binder!

*For a full list of ingredients and measurements, visit the recipe card below.

Baker's Tips

Always use a digital food scale for the best results.
Look for visual signs the dough has risen and doubled in size. While I provide a time estimate, always go off how the dough looks and not the time.
Because these are eggless cinnamon rolls, there's no worry of under baking them if you like really gooey cinnamon rolls.
Make sure to bake until the cinnamon rolls look golden brown to your liking, all ovens are a little different so a few more minutes could be needed.
Store extra cinnamon rolls under a cake dome or in an airtight container to stay fresh.
High Altitude — Bake at 350°F for 35 minutes or until golden brown.

How to Make Small Batch Honey Butter Cinnamon Rolls

yeast and water in a glass mixing bowl on aw white marble counter.

To make the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add the yeast, ½ teaspoon cane sugar, and warm water. Stir to combine and let sit for 5 minutes, until bubbly.

butter and milk in a small pot on the stovetop.

In a small pot over medium heat, add the butter, milk, and honey. Stir until completely melted, remove from heat.

dry ingredients for honey butter cinnamon rolls in a glass mixing bowl on a white marble counter.

Add the flour, remaining 2 tablespoons cane sugar, and sea salt to the mixing bowl in that order.

ingredients for honey butter dinner rolls in a glass mixing bowl on a white marble counter.

Add the milk mixture.

honey butter cinnamon roll dough in a glass mixing bowl on a white marble counter.

Knead on speed 2 to 4 for 5 minutes or until smooth.

Place the dough in a greased bowl, and cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let rise for 2 to 3 hours, until doubled in size.

ingredients for brown sugar filling in a glass mixing bowl on a white marble counter.

Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a small baking dish. To make the filling: In a small bowl, add the butter, honey, brown sugar, and cinnamon and mix together until a paste forms.

honey butter cinnamon dough rolled out with a rolling pin on a white marble counter.

On a floured surface, roll out the dough to a square that is about 8×8 inches.

honey butter cinnamon roll dough rolled out being spread with brown sugar filling.

Using a spatula spread the brown sugar mixture all over the rolled out dough.

honey butter cinnamon rolls cut into 4 pieces on a white marble counter.

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 4 cinnamon rolls.

raw honey butter cinnamon rolls in a white baking dish on a marble counter.

Place in a greased baking dish.

small batch honey butter cinnamon rolls in a white baking dish on a sheet pan sitting on the stovetop cooling.

Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown. Let rest for 10 minutes.

glaze in a glass mixing bowl with a whisk on a white marble counter.

To make the glaze: In a mixing bowl, add the powdered sugar and milk and whisk until you have a smooth glaze.

Slather the glaze over the tops of the warm cinnamon rolls.

What to Serve With Small Batch Honey Butter Cinnamon Rolls

We love these with protein packed sides like Fluffy Scrambled Eggs With Sour Cream, Maple Turkey Breakfast Sausages, or Homemade Pork Breakfast Sausage Patties.
Try Bone Broth Sausage Mushroom Frittata as another great option to serve with homemade cinnamon rolls.
This makes a mid morning snack with an Iced Blueberry Latte.
Enjoy as an afternoon snack with a smoothie like Creamy Vegan Chocolate Smoothie With Almond Butter or Berry Protein Smoothie Without Banana.

Recipe FAQ's

Can you make cinnamon rolls ahead of time?

Yes! You can make homemade cinnamon rolls ahead of time. You can make the dough, let it rise, roll it out, fill it, cut it, and place it in the baking dish. When you get to this step, then just cover the baking dish with plastic wrap. Foil will not do here! Foil is not airtight, and you want plastic wrap because it's airtight so the dough won't dry out.

Place the wrapped baking dish in the fridge overnight. The following morning, preheat the oven and take out the dish at the same time. That way the rolls can come to room temperature before they go into the oven.

How do you store cinnamon rolls?

Although homemade cinnamon rolls are best when eaten the same day, you can store cinnamon rolls in a cake dome or airtight container. This keeps the dough from drying out. And then you can eat them at room temperature, or you can pop them in the microwave for a few seconds to warm them up as much as you'd like. If you don't have a cake dome, then a tupperware would be the best option.

More Baked Breakfast Recipes

Blueberry Cream Cheese Scones Without Eggs

Homemade Sesame Bagels

Baked Chai Donuts with Sourdough Discard

Sourdough Strawberry Pop Tarts

We Love Organic Feedback!

Thanks a waffle lot for stopping by 🧇 If you loved this recipe, sprinkle some love by leaving a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review — it really helps me organically reach dog loving foodies like you! I personally read and appreciate every message!

Also, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel and join John John and me in the kitchen for step by step recipe videos! And subscribe to our newsletter for new and seasonal recipes!