It’s officially the holidays! That means time with friends, family, and (our fav!) FOOD!
Main Street Bakery Cinnamon Roll with Extra Icing!
And one recipe we constantly hear about from you, our dear readers, is the long lost Main Street Bakery Cinnamon Roll (it was SO GOOD!). Well, we’re going to show you how to bake like a BOSS this holiday and whip these up for your family on Christmas morning! We PROMISE…it’s not that hard! (Seriously!!)
For those unfamiliar, before Starbucks took over the Main Street Bakery in the Magic Kingdom in 2013, one of the star attractions was the warm, gooey, sweet, practically-perfect cinnamon roll the size of your head served there! We loved it so much we practically wrote love sonnets about it. It was THAT GOOD. And while a great version of it can still be found at Gaston’s Tavern, it was just never quite the same for us.
Read more about the OG Main Street Cinnamon Roll vs Gaston’s version HERE!
We’ve shared the recipe for the original Main Street Bakery Cinnamon Roll but what if you’re NOT Betty Crocker in the kitchen? We got yo’ backs! Some of our DFB Team know their way around a kitchen pretty well, and we’re going to walk you step by step through making these beauties. We’ll even share some BOMB tips to make your foray into baking a surefire hit. Brace yourself for the adoring compliments from your family when they’re wowed by your sweet skillz — and let’s get baking!
TIP: if you’re looking to have this for breakfast in the morning, you’re going to want to do the first steps the DAY BEFORE. Yup, you can do the hard work the day or night before, then wake up, pull these out the fridge to bake, and look like you just effortlessly dominated breakfast.
Ain’t nobody got time to be waking up at the crack of dawn to proof cinnamon rolls. Sleep is our friend.
Cinnamon Rolls Recipe:
Walt Disney World’s Main Street Bakery
Yield: 8 or so MEGA Disney World sized rolls
Ingredients:
Cinnamon Rolls
1/2 cup warm water
2 standard 1/4oz packages of yeast (4.5 tsp)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 standard-sized package instant vanilla pudding
2 cups milk
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon salt
8 cups all-purpose flour
Filling:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups brown sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
Cream Cheese Frosting
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened (room temperature)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
Process:
First up, let’s gather all our ingredients…
Ingredients
First, in a small bowl mix your warm water, sugar, and yeast. (We only had rapid-rise/bread machine yeast, which works the same here with one tiny exception we’ll share later.)
Yeast Mixture (yum?)
In a big bowl or a stand mixer, make the pudding according to the instructions of the box. (2 cups cold milk and the pudding mix. Mix til it thickens up.) We used French Vanilla pudding because pro tip: French Vanilla in pudding=more vanilla-y flavor! Regular vanilla works just fine too. 😉
Mixin Up Dat Pudding
In goes the melted unsalted butter (YES unsalted. It matters. Use the right butter, guys.)
Melted Butter
Then 2 beaten eggs and salt. Whip that all up until well mixed.
Eggs
It’s gonna look a little thick and lumpyish now. That’s ok!
Lumpy Pudding
Now, dump in your oh-so-appetizing yeast mixture and give it a good mix.
Add Yeast
Now you’re going to want to add all 8 cups of flour into the wet stuff gradually. This is easiest in a stand mixer but if you’re doing it by hand, we recommend a sturdy spoon to stir. With our mixer we started with the paddle attachment. We’re going to add the flour in 4 batches, mixing well each time. Round 1…
Round 1 of Flour
Not too bad. Little lumpy. Round 2…
Round 2 of Flour
Ok, getting a little thick here. Round 3.
Round 3 of Flour
At this point do as we say, not as we do — if using a mixer, switch to your dough hook. If you’re rockin’ and rollin’ by hand, you’re good to keep going. Get the rest of the flour in there.
THIKK Dough
We gave in and switched to our dough hook. Note, this makes a LOT of dough, so even in a mixer, it’s a lot for it to handle. Ours kept creeping up over the top of the dough hook. Baking is messy guys…but worth it!
Shaggy Dough
Your dough is going to be a hot mess right now. Shaggy and lumpy. Hang in there! If using a mixer, keep going! It’ll get silkier as it mixes. If using a spoon, go ahead and dump your dough onto a floured surface and start kneading it with your hands til it gets smoother (it’ll take 5 or so minutes).
Way Smoother
At this point, using a mixer or your hands, you’re going to want to knead the dough by hand the last step of the way. Flour is your friend here, but don’t go crazy.
On a Floured Surface
If you’re new to kneading, just get the hardest part of the palm of your hand and smush into the dough, pushing away from you. Fold it over itself and repeat until it feels nice and soft.
Kneading
When it’s ready it will look roughly like this.
Finished Dough
Now, grab a bowl and oil it up (cooking spray or olive oil are great choices). Plop your dough it and cover it with plastic wrap. This baby is ready to rise!
Ready to Rise!
Now here’s where your yeast matters — if using regular, active dry yeast, you want to let this rest in a barely warm spot (if your oven has a Proof setting, that will be your new BFF) until the dough doubles in size (roughly. Ain’t gonna be perfect here!).
The dough will rise. You’ll deflate it by punching it down with your hands, then let it rise again. You’re letting the yeast do its thing and get the dough all puffy. If you cheated like we did and used Rapid Rise/bread machine yeast, you skip this first rise and just do one rise. (So no rise, punch it down, rise again. Just rise and done. We’re all ’bout them shortcuts. Also — it was late and we didn’t want to go to the grocery store. 😉 )
While you’ve got some time to kill, let’s make the cinnamon filling…
TIP: The original recipe says to melt butter, brush it on the dough, then sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top. MESS CITY. We’re talkin’ sloppy rolls. You want to bake these like a pro. Mix the filling into a paste.
First dump your brown sugar, cinnamon, and room temperature butter in a bowl (if you forgot to get your butter room temp…it happens…pop it in the microwave for NO MORE than 10 seconds).
Filling Ingredients
Give it a good stir. It’ll be thick, but that’s OK.
Mixed Filling
Set this aside until you need it. Back to our dough… .
Oh Hai There Puffy Dough
It’s hard to see from the pictures, but after a couple of hours (it took about 2 for us) that dough is about doubled. Regular yeast users, smash the dough down, re-cover it, and wait again. It’ll rise faster the second time. Yeast cheaters like us move on to the next step — rolling out the dough.
Puffy Dough Ready to Roll
Flour your surface and grab your rolling pin. Roll the dough roughly into a 34×21 inch rectangle. This doesn’t have to be perfect; you can eyeball it.
Rolled Dough
Grab your filling mix and plop it around the rectangle as evenly as you can.
Filling Mix on Dough
Grab a spatula or knife (or your hands) and spread the mix as best you can. It’ll work its magic while it bakes so it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Spread Out Filling
Now we roll! Grab a short side and roll this baby up!
Rolled Up
TIP: You weren’t going to cut these with a knife were you? Go to your bathroom and grab that floss you pretend you use instead! 😉 Trust us…
Floss Time
Slip the floss under the roll and cross the ends over the top and pull. Voila! Perfectly sliced, no smushed rolls here!
Floss Cutting
Look how pretty!
Cinnamon Roll
Keep going until the roll is all sliced. You’ll want to space out the cuts about every 2 inches.
Cutting the Rolls
Spray a 9×13 inch baking pan (metal, ceramic, glass…it all works fine here!) with cooking spray or rub down with oil. Place your rolls evenly around. (We had 2 that didn’t fit, so we cut them in quarters. Nothing wrong with that! Smaller nibbles! 😉 )
Rolls in Pan
At this point, you’re done for the night! Cover the rolls with plastic wrap and pop the tray in the fridge. Get some sleep! If you’re looking to keep going, just skip the trip to the fridge.
Note — if you’re looking to freeze these to save for baking far later, we wouldn’t recommend it. Many other baked goods like cookies can handle a freeze really well, but yeast doesn’t like the arctic temps so much. You can keep these in a fridge for around 24 hours if need be, but we’d skip the deep freeze!
Covered Rolls
TIP: Grab a stick of unsalted butter and leave it out on your counter overnight for the frosting. You want perfect frosting, don’t you?
Leave This Out. You’ll Thank Yourself in the Morning.
If you let them hang out in the fridge overnight, don’t be shocked when you wake up if they’ve puffed a little since you last saw them — that’s normal.
Next Morning
It’s time to let your rolls warm up and rise before you bake them! If you have that Proof setting on your oven, use it! If not, leave these out at room temp to warm up. We popped ours in our oven on Proof and about an hour later were met with puffed, ready to bake rolls. They should all be touching.
Ready to Bake
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. When hot, pop the rolls in! Depending on your oven, they can take anywhere from 15-30 mins. Ours were perfect at 25 minutes.
Baked Rolls
YUM. But what’s missing? Oh…yeah: FROSTING!
Since you left your butter out like we told you to (you did, didn’t you?!) dump the stick of unsalted butter, a package of cream cheese, 3 cups of powdered sugar, and vanilla extract in your mixer or a bowl.
Frosting Ingredients
Whip this up with your mixer or by hand with a spoon or whisk.
What Dreams are Made of
DON’T EAT IT YET. Stop! Put the spoon down!
Yummmmmmmm
Only thing left to do: frost the warm cinnamon rolls!
Off to a Good Start…
Use. It. All.
Need More Frosting!
Perfect.
Oh My.
Now, show your family what a pro-pastry chef you are and enjoy the adoration. You. Are. The. BOMB!
YESSSSS
The result? SO moist and deliciously fluffy. The frosting is just cream-cheesy enough and oozes down evverrrywhere in the rolls!
So Moist
Close your eyes, take a bite and pretend you’re on Main Street, U.S.A. WORTH IT!
Yeasted rolls can be SCARY for newer bakers but we promise, follow the steps above and you’ll be shocked when you have a HUGE plate of perfect cinnamon rolls in front of you in no time. Ok, not “no time”…they do take a bit of work, but so worth it and your family will love them (if you share!).
Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe!
WE KNOW DISNEY.
YOU CAN, TOO.
Oh boy, planning a Disney trip can be quite the adventure, and we totally get it! But fear not, dear friends, we compiled EVERYTHING you need (and the things to avoid!) to plan the ULTIMATE Disney vacation.
Whether you're a rookie or a seasoned pro, our insider tips and tricks will have you exploring the parks like never before. So come along with us, and get planning your most magical vacation ever!
Have you made the Main Street Bakery Cinnamon Rolls before? What did you think? Let us know in the comments!
Our handy (and portable!) ebook guides make sure you get the best deals and can plan a vacation of a lifetime.
Can you be specific on the pudding? Can’t fine any that are vanilla instant in 3.5 ounce . Thanks
Linda, go with the 3.9 (a small box); that’s what our team member did. 🙂
Can you freeze these? If so, what’s the process for baking?
Kara, you can freeze them once they’ve had their first rise. You’ll then roll them out, spread the filling, form into buns, place in the pan, cover tightly with plastic, and freeze. To bake, you’d want to remove them from the freezer and let them come to room temperature. You’ll need to be sure they’ve risen before you bake them as usual. Note that the team member who made these does not recommend freezing them because yeast tends to act up when it’s been frozen. You can make them and keep them in the fridge for up to 24 hours without adverse effects, though.
For the icing, I did not see where you added the milk… Should I add it or only add it if it is too thick?
Robin, that’s a good approach — see if it is too thick and add milk in tiny amounts until you’re happy with the consistency.
I made them but haven’t baked them yet. My roll made 11 but it looks like a tight fit. Should I only have 8 in there like your picture shows?
Kate, I hope you worked this out! I had twelve in my pan yesterday, and they came out fine.
These are positively heavenly! Thank you so much for the post with pics and step-by-step instructions. I always find that so helpful when making something for the first time.
Fantastic recipe to kick off 2020! Opted for a glaze instead of the full frosting for a slightly healthier option 😆 Will be sharing these with my office tomorrow. Happy New Year!
These were amazing!!! It made so many though. Do you think this recipe could be halved successfully? Thank you so much for sharing!
Laura, I halved it for Christmas for my family, and they came out terrific. Still too many for the four of us… but we ate them for a couple more days.
Hi can you please tell me the equivalent of the vanilla pudding mix in the UK? Is it like a moose whip or a sponge pudding mix?
Many Thanks x
Leanne,
I’m not too familiar with those 2 options, but I do know a viable (and tastier, to be honest!) alternative would be to mix up 2 cups worth of Bird’s Custard — I know that’s readily available throughout the UK. Just make it as directed and let cool completely before proceeding!
Can you specify how much yeast exactly? I have 5/16oz packets of yeast and want to make sure they are correct measurements! Thank you!!
Hi Maxine!
A standard packet of yeast is usually 1/4oz or about 2.25 tsp of yeast. When in doubt you can scoop it in with a teaspoon to check!
Question: for the first rise and the second for the dough, how long should it rise each time?
Thanks
Michelle Kirby
P.s. the step by step pictures are cool!
In the cinnamon roll recipe, you put 1/2 cup of melted unsalted butter, then a few lines down it says 1 cup of melted unsalted butter. So… how much unsalted butter?
Hi Casey!
Good eye! The second cup of melted butter was for the filling in the rolls. In this version we used softened butter though, not melted. I adjusted the recipe to be clearer that second butter is for the filling! Happy baking!
Hey Michelle!
How long each rise takes depends a lot on your room temp, how old your yeast is, etc so it’s hard to say! You’re looking for the dough to be significantly larger/puffed. I’d give it at least an hour for each rise. Probably a good bit longer for the first. Good luck!
Wow!! Best cinnamon rolls EVER! I did halve the recipe and it made a full pan AND a half pan of cinnamon rolls. I also made the dough in a bread machine! I only proofed it once (in the machine) but did let it rise another 30 minutes after slicing and placing in the pan. To make in a bread machine half the dough recipe (or it won’t fit-half the recipe completely proofed and filled my bread machine bin perfectly) and put the yeast in first, then the flour, then the sugar, then the pudding mix and last the salt. We made the half pan to eat immediately and then kept the whole pan to make for breakfast the next day. YUM! Kept the icing the same, because who doesn’t want extra icing! In a perfect world I’d say half the dough recipe, double the icing recipe. I didn’t have the unsalted butter, but I just reduced the salt in the recipe to a smidge and it came out great. I love how this icing whips up and almost turns white again not yellow even with the vanilla extract in it. I can’t wait to try other DFB Disney recipes! This brought a smile to my day as we were booked to go to Disney the week it closed. Thanks! Everyone stay healthy and well!
Made two batches of these in the past two days. I shared with many friends and very one has raved about them! They are the only recipe I’ll now use for cinnamon rolls! Thank you DFB!!!!
This looks awesome and thanks for sharing! I am just trying to get a understanding of the whole “let it rise then smash it down and rise again”. I’m kinda new to this so please don’t judge me if this is a stupid question. If I’m using regular yeast, do I let it rise and smash it down then roll it out with the cinnamon/ sugar mixer then let it rise again with the final rise ready to bake? Or do a double rise then roll out with the cinnamon/sugar after the second rise? Therefore, rising again in the pan a 3rd time. I hope I didn’t just confuse you. I may have confused myself a little with that one.
Dustin, you’ll let just the dough rise twice before rolling it out and putting on the cinnamon mixture. So let it rise the first time, punch it down and you can even press it with your hands and knead it for a minute, then put it back into the bowl to rise a second time. Then move on with the next step. Hope that helps!
DFB Sarah, that clears it up for me. Thank you very much for you help. Me and the kids are getting started right away!
Dustin, enjoy!
Hello! I just made these and they look amazing! Can they sit out over night with the icing?
Excellent instructions with the visual aids. I need those, so huge help! 🙂
Question: Instead of putting in refrigerator overnight and then needing to let them come to room temp for at least an hour before baking, can you just leave them covered on the counter instead?
TYIA! 😊
Hi Family,
Technically yes, you could but not overnight. If so, you’d likely overproof your dough and end up with ruined rolls! IF you have time, you could just skip the fridge and coming to room temp and proceed to just letting them do the final rise and baking. Good luck!
After these have baked and been iced do they need to be stored in the fridge until eaten? Mine made 16 rolls….no way we can eat all of them in one sitting! Thanks they were absolutely delicious!!
Tiffany, when I made them, I stored the leftovers in the fridge. They’ll dry out in there over a few days, but if you leave them out, some of the ingredients can get funky.
Hi there! Can’t wait to make these! I am wondering if there is a recipe for the maple drizzle like at Gaston’s? I would love to add that to the top as well! Thanks 🙂
Made these today for my daughters 18th birthday. We are huge Disney fans and love all of the food at Disney World! We love making these recipes! They are a lot of work and time but THEY ARE SO WORTH IT!!!
My first attempt at making Cinnamon Rolls…from scratch. Who da thunk it?LOL. Thanks so much!!!
I tried making these with a gluten free cup 4 cup flour. While the dough rose fine, it was very dense (almost like a cookie) after baking. If I attempt these again, I would recommend cutting down the gf flour quite a bit and go by looks rather than recipe.
I made these last night.this morning. I got 16 rolls. 12 went into a 9×13 pan and 4 into an 8×8. That was too many in the 9 x 13. They rose rather strangely and the filling overflowed the pan, created a good bit of smoke, and set off the smoke detector when I opened the oven. If I make them again, I’ll use 2 8 x 10 pans.
I made them exactly like the recipe with zero modifications. Baked then until they were golden brown like the picture. Frosted them. And they were still dough in the middle. Inedible and I couldn’t bake them longer because I had already frosted them. Very sad.
This has been my go-to recipe for cinnamon rolls for a couple years now. The first time I made it, I discovered there was too much butter in the filling and my family prefers less icing. I always make TWO 9×13 pans with this recipe (great for family gatherings! ). For the filling, I melt the 1/2 cup butter and brush it on the dough then sprinkling with the cinnamon & sugar mixture (I always add a little more cinnamon because that’s what we like). We LOVE these and highly recommend them!
I made these last Christmas and they were amazing…for Halloween this year I decided to replaced the pudding with 2 cups of pumpkin purée…added 1 tbsp of pumpkin pie spice (1/2 in the dough and 1/2 in the filling)…it made the best pumpkin cinnamon rolls I’ve ever had! Try it out! 🎃
Hi! I want to make cinnamon rolls for Saturday morning but am thinking of making them Thursday night then refrigerating them so I can just pop them in the oven on Saturday. Would this be possible?
Kait, I would recommend putting them in after you’ve shaped them and before the second rise. They’ll rise overnight — but slowly — in the fridge. Plan to let them warm up for a half hour before you bake them tomorrow.
Wow!! I meant to make these Christmas morning, but time got away from me Chrismas Eve. Honestly now I’m glad I didn’t – more on that in a minute…
The GOOD – Ohemgeeeeee these are so flipping delicious! I followed the instructions precisely, baking on the longer side. They were beautifully golden, but tender on the inside. Perfect balance of dust and cinnamon. Icing was so good!
The bad – the cinnamon sugar butter filling totally melted and oozed, then overflowed my Pyrex 9×11 pan.
The ugly – I didn’t have a drip pan or foil in the bottom of my oven, so now I’m having to run the self-clean cycle. My house is FULL of smoke and my smoke detector is going off every couple minutes. So… glad I didn’t try this for the first time Christmas morning! Lol
Final verdict – I will 100% make these again and prepare better for the mess. Or buy a deeper plan just for these rolls. So worth it!
Sorry about the typos –
Dust = sugar
Plan = pan
My dough comes out so soft after rising twice that they’re really hard to roll. Am I doing something wrong ? 🙁
I made these today and they are awesome. Thank you for the recipe!
I’ve made these several times for the holidays and every last time they turned out perfect. This is one amazing cinnamon roll recipe. It’s a forever keeper.
Has anyone made these into pecan rolls , instead of iced cinnamon rolls?