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Easy Fluffy Eggnog Cinnamon Rolls…with sweet vanilla white chocolate frosting…just the holiday breakfast you’re looking for. Buttery, soft, and fluffy dough made with spiced eggnog for a seasonal twist. Swirled with cinnamon sugar and frosted generously with vanilla spiced eggnog frosting. There’s nothing not to love, every bite is melt in your mouth delicious. These are a great make-ahead breakfast rolls the whole family will love, perfect for your holiday celebrations!
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The holidays just would not be the holidays without cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Like a lot of families, it’s tradition to have cinnamon rolls for our Christmas Eve breakfast…as well as a few times throughout the months of November and December.
Growing up, my brothers and I would bake the canned cinnamon rolls. I remember them being our favorite breakfast of the year. I mean, what kid doesn’t love a cinnamon roll, right? Some of my favorite holiday memories involve cinnamon rolls, I remember them being soft, fluffy, and so delicious. Of course, back then I didn’t know that homemade cinnamon rolls were even a thing
My mom loved to bake, and even dabbled in some homemade breads, but never cinnamon rolls. When I started cooking and baking in middle school one of the first recipes I decided to tackle was homemade cinnamon rolls. Trying out cinnamon rolls felt a little ambitious, but also so delicious. The funny thing is, that very first attempt at cinnamon rolls was actually quite similar to these.
We had leftover eggnog in the fridge but I had no idea how to use a splash of eggnog in place of milk in my cinnamon roll dough. I decided to wing it and just go for it. I also remember being so nervous to bake with yeast. My mom had bought Fleischmann’s® Rapid Rise Yeast, which made the process of making and baking the cinnamon rolls so simple and easy. Fleischmann’s® Rapid Rise Yeast cuts down on rising time and allows you to skip the longer rise times. It contains fine granules that activate faster without the need to dissolve first. So using their rapid rise yeast made baking my first batch simple and straight forward. Crazy to think that was over ten years ago…and I’ve been making cinnamon rolls every holiday season since.
With every season, my holiday roll recipe changes slightly. I like to add a different extra special touch each year. But for the most part, I stick pretty close to the classic cinnamon sugar flavor we all love most. With the help of my little sister, Asher, this year I’m taking inspiration from my very first cinnamon roll and we’re recreating them together.
Asher was very excited. She’s always helping me with the baking recipes, but her favorite recipe is cinnamon rolls. She loves them, and I love our tradition of baking them together every holiday season.
Let’s jump into the details.
First, I want to note that even if you don’t like eggnog, you will still love these rolls. I don’t ever drink eggnog, but I love creating fun holiday recipes using this spiced nog. It makes for the most delicious sweet treats and these rolls are some of the best.
The dough is the simplest to make. Simply mix flour with Fleischmann’s® Rapid Rise Yeast, and a pinch of salt. Add warmed holiday nog (use a high-quality variety), a touch of brown sugar, eggs, and salted butter. Then mix until smooth and let the dough rest for ten to fifteen minutes. Then it’s time to shape the rolls. And that’s the beauty of Fleischmann’s® RapidRise® yeast! We get to skip an entire hour-long rise, but yet we will still get the softest, fluffiest cinnamon rolls!
For the filling, I spread the dough with butter, then sprinkle on a simple mix of brown sugar and cinnamon.
I like to use brown sugar for a nice depth of flavor. And I go heavy on the cinnamon and ginger for sweet, cinnamon, ginger swirls throughout.
These are the softest, most fluffy cinnamon rolls, the flavor is beyond amazing. It’s like Christmas in a roll!
Shaping these easy fluffy eggnog cinnamon rolls…
Roll the dough, cut into rolls, and place them into a baking dish.
If you want to enjoy warm rolls fresh out of the oven you can do a quick rise and bake right away. Then simply frost, eat, and enjoy! Cinnamon rolls in under two hours. Perfect for baking up super last minute. OR, you can cover the rolls and let them sit in the fridge overnight, then bake up in the morning. It’s just a matter of what works best for your time frame!
While the rolls are baking, I like to make the frosting. Just mix eggnog with melted white chocolate and a splash of vanilla. Then add a little powdered sugar to sweeten them up.
As the rolls bake, your home will be filled with scents of Christmas. It’s a magical smell and immediately gets everyone excited for breakfast…or just a mid-afternoon snack. These rolls are great any time of day.
As soon as the rolls come out of the oven, frost, serve, and enjoy every last sweet and delicious bite. They’re soft, fluffy, heavy in the cinnamon swirl, and perfectly spiced with light holiday nog flavors.
And gooey, SO gooey. These rolls are beyond good and our family’s favorite holiday breakfast. Hope you all enjoy too!
Lastly, if you make these Easy Fluffy Eggnog Cinnamon Rolls be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Looking for other easy holiday breakfast? Here are my favorites:
Baked Cinnamon Crème Brûlée French Toast with Raspberry Preserves
Cider Pumpkin Waffles with Salted Maple Butter
Lastly, if you make this Easy Fluffy Eggnog Cinnamon Rolls, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Easy Fluffy Eggnog Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 – 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 packet Fleischmann’s® Rapid Rise Yeast
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup high quality eggnog, warmed , (you can also use whole milk)
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) salted butter, at room temperature
Filling
- 1/2- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) salted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips, (optional)
Frosting
- 1/4 cups high quality eggnog, warmed
- 2 ounces white chocolate chips, melted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- 1. To make the dough. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 3 ½ cups flour, the yeast, brown sugar, and salt. Add the eggnog, eggs, vanilla, and butter. Using the dough hook, mix until the flour is completely incorporated, about 4-5 minutes. If the dough seems sticky, add the remaining ½ cup of flour a little at a time. It's better to have a stickier dough rather than a dry dough, so add flour 1 tablespoon at a time.2. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.3. Meanwhile, make the filling. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, and cinnamon. Line a 9×13 inch baking dish with parchment. 4. Lightly dust your work surface with flour. Turn out the dough, punch it down, and roll it into a rectangle about 10 x 16 inches. Spread the softened butter evenly over the dough. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar, and then the white chocolate chips, evenly over the butter and lightly push into the butter. Starting with the long edge closest to you, carefully roll the dough into a log, keeping it fairly tight as you go. When you reach the edge, pinch along the edge to seal. Using a sharp knife, cut into 12-15 rolls. Place the rolls into the prepared baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise 20-30 minutes.5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the rolls for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown.6. Meanwhile, make the frosting. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggnog, melted white chocolate, and vanilla until combined. Add the powdered sugar and mix well. Spread the frosting onto the warm rolls. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
(This post is sponsored by Fleischmann’s®. Thank you for supporting the brands that keep HBH cooking!)
We have made these the last 2 Christmasses, they are fun and easy to make and a hit with everyone. The only change we make is we double the cinnamon mixture. This has quickly become a new Christmas tradition in our home. The white chocolate and eggnog topping is a great addition. Thank you for creating this and sharing with other. I give this 5 stars!
Hi Laura! So glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for trying it out and leaving such a kind comment! xT
Excellent recipe,soft pillowy and satisfying!
I added the zest of a lemon and orange to the flour.
Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon to the soft butter for ease of spreading the filling.
Roll is much easier to slice when chilled.
Delicious!
So glad you loved these cinnamon rolls! Thanks for trying out this recipe! xT
Hi Tieghan!
If we don’t do eggnog in our family, do you have a normal cream cheese recipe for the rolls instead? Thanks so much!!
Hi Christina! Here is a more cream cheese based frosting for the cinnamon rolls! You can just omit the espresso 🙂 https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/brown-butter-iced-mocha-cinnamon-rolls/
Best cinnamon rolls ever. My kids loved them so much. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Thank you so so much for giving this recipe a try! Hope you have an awesome New Year! xT
I make homemade cinnamon rolls every Christmas Eve to bake Christmas morning. I decided to try this recipe this year and it did not disappoint! I made the dough in my bread machine, stored the rolls in the fridge overnight, let them rise on the stovetop Christmas morning and they turned out wonderful! My husband and boys said they were the best I’ve ever made. We opted for a cream cheese frosting made with vanilla egg nog and they were drool worthy! Thank you!!
Hi! Thank you so so much for trying out the recipe! Hope you had a wonderful Christmas! xT
We love these so much! They are easy to pull together the night before and bake up beautifully the next morning. Thank you for this recipe – a new holiday tradition at our house.
Hi Karen! Thank you so so much for trying out the recipe! Hope you had a wonderful Christmas! xT
Call me a dumb dumb, but I have tried to make this recipe TWICE and have always struggled getting them to rise. Finally, while sadly noticing my dough isn’t rising again, I saw the instructions to activate the yeast at the very bottom of the recipe. I know that it’s pretty common to have to activate yeast, but I have done recipes that do not require it either. Either way, it might be better to move that direction a little closer to step 2 so that you see that as you’re doing the recipe. It’s such a crucial step, but it’s buried underneath not so crucial information. I will of course make these again and do not mean to sound critical (I LOVE HALF BAKED HARVEST RECIPES), but I hate that I missed it! Twice!
Agree!! I made the exact same mistake today and had to toss the dough and remake. Active dry yeast is so common- the special steps to take for this should be part of the main recipe so less people make the same mistake!
I did the same yesterday and had to toss the first dough. Although her recipe does call for rapid rise yeast which is why the note about the active yeast is at the bottom and not in the recipe instructions. The first rise didn’t rise at all both tries for me (rapid yeast). However, on my second try it did rise (second rise only) after I put it in a warm oven! Turned out great.
Well now I feel even more silly. I used the right kind of yeast that shouldn’t have needed to be activated, but it just didn’t work out for me. Maybe my egg nog wasn’t warm enough or something. Who knows! It’s a great recipe though when your yeast behaves!
I did the same thing this morning :/
Hi Liz! I am so sorry for any confusion! Thank you for the feedback! xT
Tieghan, I agree that this is a super important step that should be listed as STEP 1 in the instructions. You thanked Liz for the feedback, but failed to implement it even though many others agreed that they made the same mistake.
Could you please add this into the actual instructions rather than a note? I don’t trust myself to remember to do this when I make it in eight months
Hi Teagan,
There is nothing in the recipe that needs to be adjusted. The recipe itself calls for Rapid Rise yeast which does not need to be activated, the recipe should be followed exactly as written:) I made a note below the recipe for any readers who chose to use active dry yeast, which does need to be activated, but that isn’t what I used in the recipe. I hope this clears things up for you! Have a great Sunday! xx
Coming back to add that when you do it right, these cinnamon rolls are delicious! Also just emphasizing that I LOVE Half Baked Harvest recipes and hated to bring negativity to your site, but I really thought this was a little confusing! Glad I tried again though because it was worth it!
I agree, not sure why the dough doesn’t rise at all during the first rise….did still turn out great tho in the end!
Ok I struggled with this as well! I’m still confused though as to which steps to take with the rapid rise yeast. If I use the rapid rise yeast, I don’t need to activate it, correct? I just mix it directly into the dough? Do I need to still need to let it rise for 1 hour? In the directions it says to rise for 1 hour, but in the blog post it says to just let it rest for 15 minutes. Novice baker over here! 🙂
Hi Jocelyn,
I actually did this, and the booze will kill the yeast resulting in really flat (but still tasty) rolls. You could still use boozy yeast for the icing, but I would not for the dough.
Could you use self rising flour?
Sure, that should work well for you! xT
These are delicious!! They were easier to make compared to other cinnamon roll recipes. I will be making this again for Christmas morning!
Thank you so so much! Love to hear this recipe was enjoyed! xT
Do you think this would work with homemade boozy eggnog??
Oooh sounds yummy! Let me know if you give it a try! 🙂 xT
Hi Jocelyn,
I actually did this, and the booze will kill the yeast resulting in really flat (but still tasty) rolls. You could still use boozy yeast for the icing, but I would not for the dough.
Hello. I can’t wait to try these. My question: do they do well being stored for a day or two? I’d like to make them to pass out to neighbors so they can reheat and eat. Do you think that would be okay? Lastly would storing them on the counter or fridge be better?
Hi there! They should be fine being stored for a day or two! And you can store covered on the counter 🙂 xT
Wondering what cookbook I can find this recipe in? I’d love to gift it to friends and family.
Hi Marie,
So sorry, this recipe is only on the blog:) Please let me know if I can help in any other way! xT
Just made these but made a couple changes for preference.
My changes were: made a cinnamon sugar butter and spread that, instead of sprinkling cinnamon sugar over butter. I also made a cream cheese frosting.
The dough is perfect though! Love it. Thank you.
Hey Heather,
Happy Friday!🍂 I love to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks a lot for trying it and your comment! xx
Do you think using the 1 to 1 and making gluten free would work just as good? LOVE this recipe it’s my go to for Christmas morning but have a gluten intolerant person this time!
I haven’t ever tried to make this GF before so I’m not sure! So sorry! xT
My go-to recipe. Just switched out eggnog for regular milk when Christmas season was over. Everyone loves them.
Hey Kori,
I am delighted to hear that this recipe turned out well for you and appreciate you giving it a try! Have a great weekend:)