Banana Bread Cinnamon Rolls

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How long has it been since you made homemade cinnamon rolls? These Fluffy Banana Bread Cinnamon Rolls with a luscious cream cheese frosting are a must if it’s been awhile! It’s a wonderful treat for your weekend when you have family in town or you want an extra special treat or brunch featuring bananas and cinnamon together!

More banana delish?  Check out this Super Easy Banana Bread RecipeWe also included it in our 30 Mother’s Day Desserts for Mom!

Fluffy Banana Bread Cinnamon Rolls

I think these were invented because banana bread and cinnamon rolls got together behind the scenes, if ya know what I mean, and now we have these delicious Fluffy Banana Bread Cinnamon Rolls!  Yay!

I think that’s why these breakfast rolls are so sinful!  They should be named Temptress Banana Bread Cinnamon Rolls or something along those lines. Whoaaaaa!

Speaking of cinnamon rolls, you may love these Easy Quick Gooey Cinnamon Rolls, these Cinnamon Pumpkin Rolls, these Lemon Sweet Rolls and these Easy No Yeast Apple Cinnamon Rolls! YUM!

best banana cinnamon rolls

These Banana Bread Cinnamon Rolls Are So Fluffy!

These banana sweet rolls just melt in your mouth, just like you would imagine with an awesome cream cheese frosting with pecans scattered about.  There are even banana slices in the actual cinnamon rolls, plus they have incredible cinnamon buttery flavor and they smell soooo amazing!

This sweet roll recipe is great when you have some ripened bananas just laying around that you want to use up!  It’s also a wonderful treat for your weekend when you have family in town or you want an extra special treat or brunch!

It’s so weird…It’s been a long time since I’ve used yeast in any recipes!  I used to bake bread all the time in my very younger years, as a kid and when I lived on a farm.  We always made everything from scratch, from baby food to pasta to yeast rolls to cinnamon rolls!

Still made the usual cookies and brownie desserts, just nothing to do with yeast for years. I am a huge fan of quick breads, so I made a lot of quick breads!  But we finally made some homemade yeast rolls!

best banana cinnamon rolls

Ingredients You Need

Sweet Rolls

For the filling

  • butter 
  • granulated sugar
  • ground cinnamon
  • banana 
  • pecans , rough or finely chopped (optional)

Cream Cheese Frosting

best banana cinnamon rolls

How to Make Banana Cinnamon Rolls  

  1. In a large mixing bowl, heat the almond milk and 3 Tablespoons butter in the microwave in 30 sec increments, until warm and just melted. Let cool to 110 degrees. If milk mixture is too hot it will kill the yeast.
  2. Sprinkle yeast on top of milk mixture and let activate for 10 minutes. Then add 1 tablespoon sugar, salt and stir. Next add in ½ cup mashed ripe banana and stir.
  3. Add flour ½ cup at a time, stirring as you go, as the dough will be sticky. When it is too thick to stir, transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead for a minute or so, adding more flour as needed to form a ball. Only use as much flour as it will take.
  4. Rinse out your mixing bowl, coat it with canola or olive oil, and add your dough ball back in seam side down.
  5. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place to rise for about 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
  6. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a long rectangle ~¼ inch thick.

Adding the Filling and Making the Cinnamon Rolls

  1. Brush with ¼ cup melted melted butter (reserve 1 tablespoon for top of rolls) and sprinkle with ⅓ cup sugar (minus 1 tablespoon sugar for top of rolls), cinnamon and nuts. Then add about 20 very thin banana slices so it’s easy to roll.
  2. Slowly roll up the dough and place seam down. Start with left corner of long side of rectangle when rolling up.
  3. Using a thread, or a sharp knife cut the dough into 1 – 1½ in slices. and place in lightly buttered baking pan. Brush the top with remaining 1 tablespoon melted butter and sprinkle with reserved tablespoon of sugar.
  4. Cover with plastic wrap and set on top of the oven to let rise again while you start oven to preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  5. Once the oven is ready, bake rolls for 28-35 minutes or until slightly golden brown. Let cool for a few minutes, then frost with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

  1. While they are baking combine frosting ingredients. Beat butter and cream cheese together, then add vanilla and beat again. Add powdered sugar ½ cup at a time until you reach desired consistency and sweetness. It should be fairly thick but still spreadable, Add more powdered sugar, or a little milk if needed to get the right texture.
  2. Add pecans if desired.

Want it more Caramel flavored? You can also do ½ granulated sugar and ½ brown sugar if you want the rolls to be a little more caramel-ey.

Reheating cinnamon rolls that have been stored in the pantry or the refrigerator can be done by reheating them in the oven or even the microwave. If you’re going to reheat a batch in the oven, cover them with aluminum foil and bake them in a warm oven for around ten to fifteen minutes.  However, if you want it quickly, you can easily reheat one or two cinnamon rolls in the microwave for 30 seconds or so!  Enjoy!

Storing & Freezing Banana Rolls

  • It is best to store cinnamon rolls in an airtight container to prevent them from drying out. They will last two days at normal room temperature, about seven days in the refrigerator, or up to two months in the freezer.
  • Make sure you completely seal and if freezing, double wrap with saran wrap and tin foil.

best banana cinnamon rolls

Whatever you do, make these delish banana bread cinnamon rolls on a Saturday or when you’re craving something a little different that just normal cinnamon rolls

 MORE DESSERTS! Never fear!

Don’t miss out on one of our readers’ favorites, our Home-made Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars!  They are the best!

BANANA BREAD CINNAMON ROLLS

Fluffy Banana Bread Cinnamon Rolls

Kim Lange
How long has it been since you made home-made cinnamon rolls? Fluffy Banana Bread Cinnamon Rolls are a must if it's been awhile! It's a wonderful treat for your weekend when you have family in town or you want an extra special treat or brunch! <3
3.56 from 9 votes
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
rising time 1 hour
Course Breakfast, Brunch
Servings 12 Servings
Calories

Ingredients
  

  • 1 packet fast acting yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
  • 1 cup almond milk
  • 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
  • cup sugar
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 2 mashed ripe bananas + 1 banana for slicing thin to put in cinnamon rolls (2 ripe bananas = 1/2 cup)
  • 2 ¾ cups flour

For the filling

  • ¼ cup butter melted, reserve 1 tablespoon for top of rolls before baking
  • cup sugar , reserve 1 tablespoon for the top of rolls before baking
  • 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 banana for slicing thin to put in cinnamon rolls
  • ½ cup pecans rough or finely chopped (optional)

Frosting

  • 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter softened
  • 2- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
  • 4 ounces cream cheese softened
  • ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • pecans chopped, optional

Instructions
 

  • In a large mixing bowl, heat the almond milk and 3 Tablespoons butter in the microwave in 30 sec increments, until warm and just melted. Let cool to 110 degrees. If milk mixture is too hot it will kill the yeast.
  • Sprinkle yeast on top of milk mixture and let activate for 10 minutes. Then add 1 Tbsp sugar, salt and stir. Next add in 1/2 cup mashed ripe banana and stir.
  • Add flour 1/2 cup at a time, stirring as you go, as the dough will be sticky. When it is too thick to stir, transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead for a minute or so, adding more flour as needed to form a ball. Only use as much flour as it will take.
  • Rinse out your mixing bowl, coat it with canola or olive oil, and add your dough ball back in seam side down.
  • Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place to rise for about 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
  • On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a long rectangle ~1/4 inch thick. Brush with 1/4 cup melted melted butter (reserve 1 tablespoon for top of rolls) and sprinkle with 1/3 cup sugar (minus 1 tablespoon sugar for top of rolls), cinnamon and nuts. Then add about 20 very thin banana slices so it's easy to roll.
  • Slowly roll up the dough and place seam down. Start with left corner of long side of rectangle when rolling up.
  • Using a thread, or a sharp knife cut the dough into 1 - 1½ in slices. and place in lightly buttered baking pan. Brush the top with remaining 1 Tbsp melted butter and sprinkle with reserved tablespoon of sugar.
  • Cover with plastic wrap and set on top of the oven to let rise again while you start oven to preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Once the oven is ready, bake rolls for 28-35 minutes or until slightly golden brown. Let cool for a few minutes, then frost with cream cheese frosting.

Frosting

  • While they are baking combine frosting ingredients. Beat butter and cream cheese together, then add vanilla and beat again. Add powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time until you reach desired consistency and sweetness. It should be fairly thick but still spreadable, Add more powdered sugar, or a little milk if needed to get the right texture.
  • Add pecans if desired.

Notes

You can also do 1/2 granulated sugar and 1/2 brown sugar if you want the rolls to be a little more caramel-ey.
Keyword banana, breakfast, cinnamon roll, cream cheese, yeast
Tried This Recipe?Let us know how it was by commenting below!

32 Comments

  1. Hi Kim,
    The dough ingredients list 1/3 c sugar. The instructions for the dough only account for 1 Tablespoon of that sugar Is the 1/3 cup sugar a typo?
    Deb

  2. I was ready to make these but have a question. Ingredients says 2 cups mashed banana, but directions says add 1/2 cup before the flour. Then nothing about the rest (1 1/2 cups) of the mashed bananas. Am I missing something? Thanks.

  3. Thanks for the wake up call Kim. I bake yeasted dough so much that i always buy yeast from Costco. But, for some reason haven’t baked any for more for months now. I’m gonna get back with these fluffalicious rolls:)

  4. Mine family eats bananas like crazy around here too! I baked them for the time suggested and they baked up beautifully. WootWoot!

  5. you had me at fluffy! i made cinnamon rolls last year at some point, but my yeast was a little dead –> the cinnamon rolls were doughy ): will have to try again though!! after i hide some bananas in the freezer (my family eats so. many. bananas).

  6. Kelly I just bought 2 jars of yeast off of Amazon! Planning on doing more because who doesn’t love home-made cinnamon rolls?? 😀 Happy MOnday to you too!!

  7. Thank you Daniela! I tried to comment on your page for that tasty Chicken Fried Rice, but for some reason it thinks I’m spam… 🙁 Oh…and no it’s way too hard to stop at one!!

  8. Thanks so much for these specific directions. My waistline may not thank you but my taste buds surely will!
    Are you sure you are only a Chocolate Countess and not a Chocolate Goddess??? haha!

  9. Hi Maureen,
    Roll out dough to a large rectangle, about 1/4-inch thick about 10″x16″ or around there. Place the cut rolls in the 9×9″ pan, round or square. The cut rolls only have to rise 5-10 minutes. I would do two separate batches, these are soooo good! You will get 10 -12 rolls. You will love them!!

  10. Sounds delicious. What are the dimensions of the rectangle to form the dough into? How long do you actually let the cut rolls rise. Just saying let them rise on top of the stove while the oven heats to 350 does not help much since many ovens vary. Must the double in size in the pan before baking? Also what size pan did you use for baking? Was it square or round? How many rolls should I expect to net out of this recipe? I may need to double it for a large family gathering. If I do double it can I do the dough all in one bowl or is it better to do two batches and let it rise in two separate bowls. Thanks so much for this yummy recipe.

  11. Oh my goodness these sound delicious. I loved your “behind the scenes” comment haha!! Too funny. I love cinnamon rolls so much, and I can only imagine how yummy they’d be with that banana flavor. So good!! Cheers Kim!

  12. It’s been WAY too long since I made homemade cinnamon rolls. Next time I do, I’m making these! Are you even kidding with this recipe? It’s two of the best foods in the world combined into one gorgeous breakfast :). NEED IT! Happy Monday, Kim!

  13. Yes!!! All you need is those five words! These cinnamon rolls look amazing….and with the flavors of banana bread?!!! Yes! Yes! Yes! I haven’t made cinnamon rolls from scratch yet….it’s on the list 🙂 Happy Monday Kim! Xoxo

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