Two ways to make and enjoy air fryer cinnamon rolls! See how to make canned Pillsbury cinnamon rolls in the air fryer and also how to make homemade cinnamon rolls from scratch!
Quick Overview:
Homemade Cinnamon Rolls from Scratch – 8 minutes at 350°
Canned Cinnamon Rolls – 7 minutes at 375° F
See the full recipe card at the end of this post for instructions for both methods.
Plus, see the full post for tips for each type of cinnamon rolls for your recipe success!
Whether it’s the summer heat making you want to use the air fryer instead of heating up the whole oven, or you just love using your air fryer for all of your favorite recipes, you’ll love making cinnamon rolls this way!
Jump to:
- Quick Overview:
- How to Make Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls in the Air Fryer
- How to Make Canned Cinnamon Rolls Better
- What are the best canned cinnamon rolls?
- How to Make Air Fryer Cinnamon Rolls from Scratch
- Ingredients
- Instructions for Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
- Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe for Cinnamon Rolls
- How long are cinnamon rolls good?
- What to Serve With Cinnamon Rolls
- 🍳 More Breakfast Recipes
- Recipe
- Related Recipes
- Comments
While you’re in the kitchen, you’ll also want to consider making this classic coffee cake recipe that’s full of cinnamon flavor or these air fryer apple fritters!
How to Make Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls in the Air Fryer
If you’ve purchased storebought canned cinnamon rolls, like Pillsbury brand (other brands will work too!), it’s really easy to cook them in the air fryer!
- Open the can of raw cinnamon rolls
- Preheat air fryer to 375°
- Separate the rolls and pllace them in your air fryer basket. (Image below.)
- Cook for 7 minutes.
- To make clean-up a breeze, transfer cooked cinnamon rolls to a plate or baking dish before pouring frosting on the tops.
- Warm up the frosting that’s provided in the canned cinnamon rolls (usually the packet of frosting can be warmed by placing it in warm water for a few minutes, or you can pour frosting out of packcaging in to a different container and microwave for only a few seconds.)
- Pour over your cooked cinnamon rolls. Serve!
Caution: Hot!
In only a few minutes you can have delicious canned cinnamon rolls in the air fryer!
(We have a double batch here, seen below!)
How to Make Canned Cinnamon Rolls Better
Although they’re usually delicious all by themselves, there are ways to take them to the next level if desired. For instance:
- Add mini chocolate chips before cooking
- Drizzle chocolate syrup, caramel syrup, butterscotch, marshmallow cream or your favorite sweet sauce!
- Sprinkle with nuts after frosting cinnamon buns
- Top with raisins, dried cranberries or your favorite dried fruit
What are the best canned cinnamon rolls?
According to Spoon University, the 5 best brands of cinnamon rolls are:
- Rhodes Anytime Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Immaculate Bakery Organic Cinnamon Rolls
- Annie’s Organic Cinnamon Rolls
- Pillsbury Grands Flaky Original Cinnamon Rolls with Icing
- Trader Joe’s Jumbo Cinnamon Rolls with Vanilla Icing
How to Make Air Fryer Cinnamon Rolls from Scratch
Cinnamon rolls in the air fryer are a quick and easy way to cook the sweet buns, especially the canned version.
However, when you have the time to make homemade cinnamon rolls, you’ll LOVE this recipe and it may just become a new favorite breakfast treat!
If you prefer a gluten-free recipe, you’ll love these gluten-free cinnamon rolls!
Ingredients
With only a few ingredients that you probably already have on hand, you can have air fryer cinnamon rolls from scratch, in no time! Here’s what you need:
- 2 ¼ cups warm milk
- 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 5 cups white flour
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 ½ cups brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Full recipe card at the end of this post!
Instructions for Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
Not only does this recipe use simple ingredients but it has simple instructions too!
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the milk, yeast, oil, white sugar, and salt. Whisk gently until the ingredients are combined and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
- Slowly add in the flour while stirring with a wooden spoon or stand mixer.
- Continue stirring until the flour is mixed evenly with the rest of the ingredients.
- Turn your mixture out onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for 5-10 minutes, or until the dough is elastic.
- Place the dough back in the mixing bowl and cover with saran wrap. Allow the dough to rise for 30 minutes.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a long rectangular sheet about ¼ inch thick. Before you begin preparing your filling, preheat the air fryer to 375 degrees F for 5 minutes.
- Prepare the filling by melting the butter and combining it with the brown sugar and cinnamon. Spread the filling over the sheet of dough and use a spoon to make sure it is spread evenly.
- Roll the dough into a long tube and cut into even pieces.
- Place as many rolls as will fit in your air fryer basket and cook for 8 minutes at 350 F.
- For easy clean-up, transfer the cooked cinnamon rolls to a baking dish or plate before adding on the frosting.
- Top the cinnamon rolls with your favorite cream cheese frosting (or our cream cheese frosting recipe, seen below) right after they come out of the air fryer. Allow to cool for 3-5 minutes, serve, and enjoy!
Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe for Cinnamon Rolls
Feel free to use your favorite store-bought cream cheese frosting, or quickly and easily make this delicious frosting recipe of ours…
Frosting Ingredients:
- 8 oz. block of cream cheese (softened)
- 2 cups of powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Frosting Instructions:
- In a small bowl, mix together all three ingredients with a mixer until evenly combined.
- Spread over warm cinnamon rolls.
Store any leftover cinnamon rolls in an airtight container, making sure air cannot get to them to dry them out and make them hard.
They can if they do not have a cream cheese frosting. If frosted with cream cheese frosting, they will need to be refrigerated to maintain safe consumption.
Place back in the air fryer for just a couple of minutes until heated through. Or, you can place them in the microwave on a microwave-safe plate, in 10-15 second increments until heated through.
How long are cinnamon rolls good?
If storing cinnamon rolls in the refrigerator, they can stay fresh for up to one week!
If they’re made without cream cheese frosting (or with a frosting that doesn’t require refrigeration) you can store them on the counter, in an airtight container, but the lifespan is shorter, and are only good for 2-3 days.
What to Serve With Cinnamon Rolls
If you love using your air fryer for breakfast, then you’ll also love seeing how we make bacon in the air fryer, air fryer hash brown patties from frozen, and air fryer breakfast potatoes, to serve along with these for an entire meal made in one small appliance!
🍳 More Breakfast Recipes
If you love cinnamon rolls as much as we do, you’ll also want to make this mini cinnamon rolls recipe. But if you love easy breakfast recipes, then I think you’ll also love these:
Recipe
Air Fryer Cinnamon Rolls
Equipment
- air fryer
Ingredients
Canned Cinnamon Rolls (Pillsbury)
- 1 can cinnamon rolls
Cinnamon Rolls from Scratch
- 2 ¼ cups warm milk
- 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 5 cups white flour
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 ½ cups brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
Canned Cinnamon Rolls
- Preheat air fryer to 375 F.
- Place one full package of cinnamon rolls in your air fryer. Cook the cinnamon rolls for 7 minutes at 375 F. D
- If desired, warm included frosting slightly, and then drizzle the frosting over the cinnamon rolls and allow to cool before serving.
Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the 2 ¼ cups of milk, 2 tablespoons of yeast, 2 tablespoons of oil, 2 tablespoons white sugar, and 2 teaspoons of salt. Whisk gently until the ingredients are combined and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
- Slowly add in the 5 cups of flour while stirring with a wooden spoon or stand mixer. Continue stirring until the flour is homogenous with the rest of the ingredients.
- Turn your mixture out onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for 5-10 minutes, or until the dough is elastic.
- Place the dough back in the mixing bowl and cover with saran wrap. Allow the dough to rise for 30 minutes.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a long rectangular sheet about ¼ inch thick.
- Before you begin preparing your filling, preheat the air fryer to 375 F for 5 minutes.
- Prepare the filling by melting the 6 tablespoons of butter and combining it with the 1 ½ cups brown sugar and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon. Spread the filling over the sheet of dough and use a spoon to make sure it is spread evenly.
- Roll the dough into a long tube and cut into even pieces.
- Place as many rolls as will fit in your air fryer basket and cook for 8 minutes at 350 F.
- Top the cinnamon rolls with your favorite cream cheese frosting (recipe below if needed) right after they come out of the air fryer, allow to cool for 3-5 minutes, serve, and enjoy!
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Combine 8 oz. cream cheese, 2 cups powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla in a bowl and mix together until evenly mixed.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
Related Recipes
If you love this recipe then you’ll also love these delicious and easy breakfast recipes.
Eden says
Didn’t even realize you could make them in an air fryer!! These were fantastic and we can’t wait to make them again!
Jessica says
Oh for sure!! I love using an air fryer instead of an oven some days! So glad you liked them, thank you! 🙂
Andrea Thueson says
I love my air fryer, but this was my first attempt at making dessert or something on the sweet side. These air fryer cinnamon rolls were so tasty and a breeze to make. I also loved that it made a small batch!
Jessica says
Oh that’s so awesome! I’m so glad you liked using the air fryer for cinnamon rolls!
Beth says
Who would have thought you could make cinnamon rolls in an air fryer. They’re delicious!