How to Make Mini Cinnamon Rolls with Homemade Caramel Sauce
Home » COOK » Recipes » Baking »
Warm Mini Cinnamon Rolls that are drizzled with homemade caramel sauce work perfectly for breakfast, brunch, or as a quick snack. Not only are they an indulgent treat but are easier to make than you think. These mini sweet pastry rolls are perfectly bite-sized and full of cinnamon flavor!
Affiliate Disclosure
We have included affiliate links to products and services related to the topic of this post.
We may earn a commission if you purchase after clicking on those links.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Read Our Full Disclosure Policy and Privacy Policy
Mini Cinnamon Rolls
The full ingredients list and instructions are found in the printable recipe card at the end of this post. I highly recommend reading the blog post all the way through so that you don’t miss any tips or substitution suggestions and to ensure that you have all the ingredients and equipment required as well as understand the steps and timings involved.
These little cinnamon rolls are made with pastry rather than a yeast dough which gives them a lovely flaky texture.
If you don’t want to make pastry from scratch, you could always buy some ready-roll pastry or pie crust from the grocery store and use that instead.
The pastry is covered with butter, sugar, cinnamon and a tiny bit of nutmeg too, before being rolled up and cut into the mini pastry bites.
You could serve the cinnamon pastry rolls piled up on a platter or skewer them onto wooden skewers for people to grab and eat on the go.
The caramel sauce that can be used for dipping or drizzling is made from a can of sweetened condensed milk.
The sealed can is boiled for a couple of hours and it magically turns into delicious caramel sauce!
Please read my safety tips for making the caramel because there are precise things you need to follow.
If you do not want to make the caramel this way you could buy a can of dulce de leche which is what is made using this boil-in-the-can process.
Ingredients & Equipment Used In This Recipe
You may have some of the ingredients for this recipe in your kitchen already – the full list with measurements is found in the recipe card.
For your convenience, any specialized or notable ingredients and equipment needed for this recipe have been listed below and linked to Amazon if available online.
- Sweetened Condensed Milk – to make the caramel – please read my safety tips before making this.
- Ground Cinnamon
- Ground Nutmeg
This recipe uses American cups. They’re a handy piece of kitchen equipment to have along with a kitchen food scale. Having both in your kitchen means you’ll be able to make all of the different recipes on my blog as I use both cups and weighted measures.
More Recipes Using Pastry
Whether you make pastry from scratch or buy it ready-made, here are some more recipes using this ingredient:
- Mince Pie Pinwheels in Filo Pastry Cups
- Delicious & Easy Lemon Hand Pies
- Homemade Apple Pie a la Mode (with No-Churn Vanilla Ice Cream!)
Safety Tips for Making Caramel
To make the caramel for this recipe, a can of sweetened condensed milk is boiled in water for around 3 hours, and when finished the condensed milk has turned into caramel.
There are some important safety measures you want to take, so please read this before starting the recipe.
- Do not use a can with a pull-tab opening as these have a weaker seal than regular cans.
- Remove the label from the unopened can of condensed milk and stand it in a deep saucepan. Cover the can completely with water – about an inch or two above the can.
- You can do more than one can at a time. Make sure they are evenly spaced in the pan.
- Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer 2½ to 3 hours – the longer you simmer it the darker the caramel becomes.
- You do not need to have a rapid boil, just small simmering bubbles.
- You MUST ensure that the can is completely covered at ALL times during this process. If not, the can might explode – you DO NOT want that!
- Top the water up as needed using boiling water from a kettle.
- When the time is up, place the saucepan in the sink and run cold water into the pan and over the can until cool enough to handle.
- Remove the can from the saucepan and place the can in the sink. Cover with cold water to continue the cooling process. After about an hour it should be cold enough to open.
- Make sure the can is completely cold before opening.
More Brunch Recipes
Looking for more brunch inspo? Check these recipes out next:
- Quick & Easy Pumpkin Spice Pancakes
- Make-Ahead French Toast Recipe for Busy Mornings
- Healthy & Delicious Stuffed Papaya Breakfast Bowls – 3 Ways!
There are 500+ Recipes on The Purple Pumpkin Blog for you to enjoy – please feel free to check them out too!
How Do I Make Mini Cinnamon Rolls?
Just check out the recipe card below with full ingredients, instructions, and demonstration photos. You can print the card out too (don’t worry, the pics don’t print to save your ink!).
Mini Cinnamon Rolls with Caramel Sauce
Ingredients
For the Caramel Sauce
- 1 14oz / 397g can sweetened condensed milk
For the Mini Cinnamon Rolls
- 2 cups all-purpose flour plain flour
- 1 tsp salt
- ⅔ cup unsalted butter cold and cut into cubes
- 5-6 Tbsp cold water
- ¼ cup unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup white sugar
- 2 Tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp nutmeg
SUGGESTED PRODUCTS
Instructions
- Peel the label off the can of sweetened condensed milk. Stand the can in a large saucepan and cover completely with water by 1-2 inches..
- Bring to the boil and turn medium-low and simmer for 2 ½ – 3 hours – do not let the pan dry out – keep topping with water to cover.
- Allow the can to cool completely before opening. Please see blog post for tips on this process.
- Sift or whisk the flour and salt in a large bowl.
- Add the cold butter cubes and cut in until crumbly.
- Add enough water until pastry dough sticks together, but isn't too wet.
- Form into a dough ball, cover, and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6 and grease baking sheets or line with parchment paper.
- Divide the dough into three pieces.
- Flour surface and roll each ball of dough to approximately ¼" thick.
- Spread with the softened butter and sprinkle with sugar.
- Mix the cinnamon and nutmeg together and sprinkle over the sugared dough.
- Roll the dough up to form a log shape.
- Cut into 1-inch pieces and place them onto the prepared baking sheets.
- Brush with egg wash or milk and bake for 15 minutes until golden.
- Stir the caramel sauce and pour it into a bowl.
- Serve with the cinnamon pastry rolls – enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is always approximate and will depend on the quality of ingredients used and serving sizes. If you need exact calories and macros, please do your own calculations.