Calling all Oreo lovers! These Soft Oreo Cinnamon rolls are going to be your new favourite cookies and cream treat! It’s an easy recipe that you can make at home with great results. They are gooey, delicious and topped with the perfect cream cheese frosting.
How to make Oreo Cinnamon Rolls
Oreo Cinnamon Rolls are one of the many variations from our Classic Cinnamon Roll. The main components in these Cookies and Cream Cinnamon Rolls are the dough, the filling and the cream cheese frosting. All of these together form the greatest cookies and cream cinnamon buns ever.
- Cinnamon Roll Dough: This dough is the same that I use for my classic cinnamon roll recipe. It’s a sticky dough that results in fluffy Oreo cinnamon rolls.
- Filling: The filling comes together really easily and it’s also simple to spread onto the rolled-out dough. The main ingredient is of course crushed Oreo cookies.
- Cream Cheese Frosting: My 5-minute cream cheese frosting for cinnamon rolls is easy and delicious. It also doesn’t have butter which prevents it from just melting away when it touches a warm cinnamon roll.
- Garnish: To garnish these Oreo Cinnamon Rolls I used chopped cookies so that even though the rolls are covered with frosting, you know what flavour they are.
Ingredients for the dough
When making homemade cinnamon rolls, one of the places where you don’t want to fail is in the dough. You want to have fluffy cinnamon rolls that you can pull and eat without needing 3 glasses of water afterwards. This cinnamon roll dough is very sticky so don’t get scared if you notice this. It’s what makes these Oreo Cinnamon Rolls great! The ingredients are expressed in grams and also in cups. I highly recommend though that you use a kitchen scale for a high-precision result every time. Here are the ingredients you will need:
- All-purpose flour: The base for the dough and what’s going to give it structure is all-purpose flour. Avoid using bread flour if you want to get gooey Oreo Cinnamon Rolls. Because bread flour has more gluten it tends to get a tougher crust.
- Salt: Salt evens out the sugar in the recipe and adds flavour to this dough.
- Yeast: For this recipe, we’re using instant yeast/active dry yeast. This type of yeast is very simple to use, it doesn’t need activating previously and keeps for a long time at home.
- Sugar: The sugar in the dough is there to provide flavour, and a bit of sweetness and it also helps feed the yeast.
- Milk: You can use whole milk, skimmed, lactose-free or even vegetable milk. All of these options will yield a very similar result. What is important is that it’s warm milk to help the yeast be at its most comfortable temperature.
- Butter: This dough is enriched, which means it has fat added to it. In this case, it’s in the form of butter and an egg.
- Egg: Well I told you there was an egg in the dough! The egg adds fat and helps open up the crumb a little bit. Not too much though, we still want it to be gooey.
- Vanilla: The dough for my cinnamon rolls has a bit of vanilla extract for flavour. You can also use vanilla essence although I do prefer the extract because it’s natural vanilla flavour. If you’re interested, you can also make homemade vanilla extract.
How to make the dough
Making this dough for these Oreo Cinnamon Rolls is really easy and it comes together in very few minutes. You will bring together all of the ingredients and then knead them for only 2-3 minutes. Just enough to bring the dough together but you definitely don’t want to knead it more than that. More kneading will yield a tougher exterior and we want it all the way fluffy. Here are the steps you need to follow:
- Mix the lukewarm milk, eggs, vanilla extract and melted butter.
- Mix all the dry ingredients in a separate large bowl, make a hole in the centre and add all the wet ingredients in the centre.
- Mix everything until you have a uniform dough. It’s really sticky so don’t worry, that’s just the way this dough is! That makes them gooey at the end instead of bread-y and hard.
- Let the dough rest for 1 hour covered in cling film or until it doubles its size. If it’s too cold, place it in the oven with the light on and no temperature setting.
Using a stand mixer
If you’re using a stand mixer, you will follow the same procedure as before, only aided by the mixer. You will place all the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer, give it a quick mix and then use the dough hook attachment to mix it on medium speed. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl after a minute to make sure everything is mixing correctly. It should take 2 minutes in total. Once the dough comes together, stop the mixer and let it proof in a warm place too.
Filling for the Oreo Cinnamon Rolls
The filling for these Oreo Cinnamon Rolls couldn’t be easier. To make it, you’re going to mix crushed Oreo cookies with brown sugar and ground cinnamon in a small bowl. To crush the cookies you can use a food processor or a blender until you get fine Oreo crumbs. Once you have this mix, reserve it. To stick it in place we’re going to paint melted butter on the rolled-out dough and then sprinkle the Oreo mix on top. It’s as simple as that!
Shaping and baking
Now that the dough and filling are ready, it’s time to shape and bake our Oreo Cinnamon Rolls. Here are the steps you need to follow:
- Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough until you have a large rectangle of approximately 30x40cm or 12x16in. As you roll, keep in mind that the dough is sticky so dust more flour on the surface as needed to prevent it from sticking.
- Spread the melted butter on top using a pastry brush. Then, sprinkle the Oreo filling on top. Use your hand to distribute it evenly.
- Roll the dough tightly, starting from the long side of the rectangle. Cut the buns into equal pieces about 3 fingers thick using a sharp knife.
- Place the cookies and cream rolls in a baking pan lined with parchment paper, leaving about 1-2 fingers in between them. Place them in a warm spot to proof for a second time, this time for 30 minutes.
Overnight Oreo Cinnamon Rolls
If you’re looking for a way to make these Oreo Cinnamon Rolls the night before and have them ready to bake the next morning, here’s how to do it. On the night before, you’re going to make the dough and the filling, shape them and place them in the pan where you’ll bake them on the next day. You will cover them in plastic wrap and place them in the fridge. The cool temperature will make the yeast act slower to prevent them from over-proofing. They will stay in there for 12 hours or a maximum of 14 hours. Once that time has passed, remove the Cookies and Cream Cinnamon Rolls from the fridge and place them straight in the oven to bake. Keep in mind that because they’re cold they might need a few more minutes in the oven. Read the note on the recipe card to see how to change the amount of yeast for this method to work.
The perfect cream cheese frosting
This cream cheese frosting is the same one that I use when I make my classic cinnamon roll recipe. To begin, you will beat together room-temperature cream cheese and powdered sugar/icing sugar. It’s important for the cream cheese to be at room temperature to be able to really beat it. If it’s too cold, you can microwave it for 10-20 seconds. Then, you will add a dash of vanilla extract and a bit of heavy cream. All of this creates a delicious cream cheese glaze that doesn’t melt away as soon as it touches the cinnamon rolls like the ones that have butter in them. Spread the frosting on top of the Oreo Cinnamon rolls and then finish them off with chopped Oreo cookies for that stunning finished look.
How to store cinnamon rolls
When you make Cookies and Cream Rolls, you want to keep them fresh as long as you can, especially if you have leftovers. To achieve this, you will place them in an airtight container and keep them at room temperature for up to 5 days. To rewarm them you can use a microwave for 15 seconds or a low oven. You can also freeze baked rolls for up to 3 months, also in an airtight container. To rewarm them, you can place them in a low oven at 140C/280F for 15 minutes or even use an air fryer at that temperature. It’s ideal to freeze them without the frosting on top.
Tips for the most perfect Cookies and Cream Cinnamon Rolls
No one likes dry cinnamon rolls. Here are a few tips that I have learned from making tens of cinnamon roll recipes to get the best results every single time:
- Don’t knead too much: As I mentioned in the instructions for the dough, you just want to bring the dough together nicely and then stop mixing. This is because if you knead the dough too much, the gluten will start to develop and this will make a harder outer crust, when in fact we want gooey Oreo Cinnamon Rolls all around.
- Don’t overbake: Overbaking is enemy number one for homemade cinnamon rolls. If you bake them for too long, it won’t matter that you did everything right to get a fluffy dough. Keep them in the oven only until you see a light golden brown colour on top.
- An airtight container is your best friend: Once ready, keep these Cookies and Cream Cinnamon Rolls in an airtight container to keep them fresh. This is particularly important if you live in a dry place.
Oreo Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
For the dough
- 500 g all-purpose flour
- 1½ tsp salt
- 2¼ tsp instant dry yeast
- 120 g sugar
- 240 ml lukewarm milk
- 60 g unsalted melted butter cooled to room temperature
- 1 egg at room temperature
- ½ tsp vanilla extract or essence
For the filling
- 60 g unsalted butter melted and cooled down to room temperature
- 100 g brown sugar
- 100 g crushed oreos
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
For the cream cheese frosting
- 110 g cream cheese at room temperature
- 3 tbsp icing sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 30 g heavy or whipping cream
Instructions
For the dough
- Mix the lukewarm milk, eggs, vanilla extract and melted butter.
- Mix all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and make a hole in the centre and add all the wet ingredients in the center.
- Mix everything until you have a uniform dough. It’s really sticky so don’t worry, that’s just the way this dough is! That makes them gooey at the end instead of bread-y and hard.
- Let the dough rest to proof for 1 hour covered in cling film or until it doubles in size. If it’s too cold, place it in the oven with the light on and no temperature setting.
Assembly
- Dust flour on a clean tabletop and roll the dough. Every couple of rolls make sure it’s not sticking and dust more flour underneath and on top. Roll it out to a large rectangle (30x40cm or 12x17in). Try to keep it as rectangular as you can. At the very end make sure it’s not stuck and dust more flour if necessary so you can roll it with ease.
For the filling
- Paint the melted butter on top of the dough evenly and reach every edge.
- Mix the cookies, brown sugar and cinnamon and spread it out as evenly as possible. Sprinkle it first and then spread out any mountains of sugar by gently brushing them with your hand.
- Start rolling: first do it carefully so it’s nice and tight and once you have the first 2 complete rolls, you can just push it (still very tightly) so it rolls to the end.
- Cut the rolls (I did mine 3 fingers thick) and place them in a baking pan lined with baking paper at the bottom (this will help later so the sugar doesn’t stick, you’ll thank me!) and arrange them nicely. Keep a decent amount of space between them so that they can rise during proofing and after in the oven without becoming square.
- Let them proof for 30min*** (again, it helps if they’re in a warm environment) and then they go in the oven at 180°C/350°F for 20-30min or until they’re lightly golden on top.
For the cream cheese frosting
- Whip together the cream cheese, vanilla and icing sugar.
- Add the cream little by little, whipping it in.
- Spread the frosting onto the rolls. Finish with chopped Oreo cookies.
Notes
