Unbelievably soft, gooey and delicious Banana Bread Cinnamon Rolls with a brown butter banana dough, sticky maple sauce, cinnamon brown sugar filling, and brown butter cream cheese frosting. Let me warn you, these are sinfully good, and you won't be able to stop eating them!
Honestly, I would bet that even people who don't love banana will love these rolls. The banana flavor pairs beautifully with the cinnamon, and there's no mushy baked banana texture because the bananas go into the dough, not on it!
Why I'm OBSESSED With These
🍌They actually taste like banana bread. There's a lot of banana in the dough itself, so the first thing you taste is banana, and the second is cinnamon - exactly how it should be! They really taste as delicious as they sound
☁️The texture is to die for. I thought my classic cinnamon rolls were soft and pillowy, but these left me *speechless*. The addition of banana and the sticky sauce on the bottom makes them extra soft and gooey, and you really won't be able to get enough!
🤤They are chonky. Nice big rolls with a proper swirl in them - exactly the way I like them!
Components
These Sticky Banana Bread Cinnamon Rolls are made of 4 components:
- Brown butter banana bread dough. A simple dough with ripe bananas in it is the base of this recipe. I recommend kneading with a stand mixer for ease, but you can also knead by hand! Read my classic cinnamon roll recipe for more details on properly kneading and proofing dough
- Maple sticky sauce. A sauce made with maple syrup, brown sugar and butter goes on the bottom of these rolls, just like you see in sticky pecan cinnamon buns, and makes them even better!
- Cinnamon sugar filling. This comes together in 2 minutes with 4 basic ingredients, and you don't need to brown the butter as the flavor gets overpowered by cinnamon anyway
- Brown butter cream cheese icing. The perfect frosting to bring everything together - and boy, the brown butter makes it so good I don't think I am going back to plain cream cheese icing again!
Psst - wanna take these rolls to the NEXT level? You could replace the simple sticky maple sauce with the sticky pecan sauce from my Sticky Pecan Cinnamon Buns Recipe! Talk about yum.
Video Tutorial
Here's a short video to demonstrate this recipe for my visual people:
Step By Step Photos
Let's quickly go over the steps with photos to help you visualize everything; but the detailed instructions are in the recipe card below.
Mix the mashed banana with warm milk, sugar and yeast, and rest for 10 minutes.
When the mixture becomes foamy, add the cooled browned butter.
Mix the mashed banana with warm milk, sugar and yeast, and rest for 10 minutes.
When the mixture becomes foamy, add the cooled browned butter.
Dump in the rest of the ingredients, and knead the dough until it is smooth, soft and stretchy.
Transfer to clean bowl, cover, and rest in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size.
In the meanwhile, add all the ingredients for the sticky sauce to a saucepan and cook and stir until they have melted.
Pour the sauce into a 9x13 pan, and place in the fridge.
For the filling, add the melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt to a bowl.
Mix to combine, and set aside.
When the dough has risen, transfer it to a clean surface dusted with flour, and carefully roll into a 12x18" rectangle.
Evenly spread on the cinnamon sugar filling with a spatula.
Divide the dough into 12 equal, long strips.
Carefully roll each strip up into perfectly shaped cinnamon rolls.
Place the rolls in the pan with the cooled sauce on the bottom.
Rest for 30-45 minutes until the rolls look puffy, then it's time to bake!
For the icing, add the brown butter, cream cheese, cream and powdered sugar to a bowl.
Whisk until the ingredients are combined and there are no lumps.
Bake the rolls until golden and cooked through, rest for 15 minutes, and frost with the cream cheese icing while they're still warm.
Pro Tips
- Check to confirm your yeast isn't expired before starting - mix 1 teaspoon with ¼ cup warm water and 1 tablespoon sugar, stir, and rest for 10 minutes. It should start bubbling up
- Measure the ingredients in grams with a weighing scale for accuracy! If using cups, make sure to fluff up the flour instead of tightly packing it in
- Make sure to properly knead and proof the dough - this is crucial in achieving the soft texture. I go into a lot more detail on both kneading and proofing in my classic cinnamon roll recipe, and highly recommend giving that a read
- Be wary of room temperature. If it is colder, the dough will need longer to rise. If it is hot, it will rise quickly, and the filling might start to leak out. A warm 75-80F temperature is ideal
- Place a catching sheet on the bottom of your oven. Depending on the size of the pan you use, some of the sticky sauce might bubble and start to drip out while baking. This can burn and create smoke, so place a larger sheet on the bottom of the oven to catch it
- Don't overbake. A golden color on the rolls is what you need, and they should spring back when gently poked. Overbaking can cause them to dry out
Sticky Brown Butter Banana Bread Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
- Total Time: 2 hours 25 minutes
- Yield: 12 large rolls
Description
Soft, gooey and delicious Banana Bread Cinnamon Rolls with a brown butter banana dough, sticky maple sauce, cinnamon brown sugar filling, and brown butter cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients
Brown butter banana dough:
- ½ cup unsalted butter, browned & cooled to room temperature (113g, 90g after browning)
- 3 medium extra ripe bananas, mashed (320g)
- ¾ cup whole milk (180g)
- 4 teaspoons active dry yeast (or sub instant yeast)
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar (70g)
- 5 ½ cups all purpose flour (715g)
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons salt
Sticky maple sauce: *see notes
- ¼ cup maple syrup (60g)
- ½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar (100g)
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter (85g)
- 2 tbsp milk (30g)
- ¼ tsp salt
Cinnamon sugar filling:
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened or melted (113g)
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed (200g)
- 2 tbsp cinnamon powder
- ¾ tsp salt
Brown butter cream cheese icing:
- ¼ cup unsalted butter (56g), browned and hot
- 4 oz cream cheese, room temperature (113g)
- ¼ cup heavy cream (60g)
- 1 cup icing sugar (100g)
Instructions
Brown butter banana dough:
- Start by browning the butter. Add it to a saucepan, and place on medium low heat, and gently stir. The butter will first melt, then become foamy and start to sizzle. Keep cooking until there are brown specks in the butter and it smells nutty. This process can take a few minutes. Do not cook beyond this point as the brown butter can burn easily. For reference, the weight of the butter after browning should be around 90g. Transfer the butter to a bowl, making sure to get all the brown bits, and keep in the fridge for about 10-15 minutes until reaches a spreadable consistency like room temperature butter
- While the butter cools, prep the other ingredients. Mash the bananas, and microwave the milk for 20-30 seconds until it is warm to touch (~100-110F)
- Add the warmed milk, mashed bananas, yeast and sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer (or a large bowl), and gently whisk. Rest for 10 minutes or until the mixture looks foamy (if using instant yeast, you don't need to rest or wait and can proceed to the next step)
- Add the flour, egg, salt, and cooled brown butter from step 1 to the same bowl
- Kneading by hand: Use a large wooden spoon to mix everything and bring it into a shaggy dough. Tip out onto a clean work surface, then use clean hands to knead the dough with a push-pull motion for about 15 minutes total. The dough will be sticky to begin with, but don't add more flour and keep kneading until it becomes soft, smooth and very stretchy. After the first 5 minutes, clean your hands to remove sticky dough bits from them. If the dough still feels sticky, add just 1-2 tablespoon flour and keep kneading. Eventually the dough will not be sticky, and should pass the window-pane test
Kneading with a stand mixer: Add the dough ingredients to the bowl of your stand mixer and knead using the dough hook attachment on medium high speed for 8-10 minutes, until the dough becomes smooth, pulls away from the edges of the bowl, and becomes stretchy enough to pass the window-pane test - Transfer the dough to a clean bowl sprayed with some oil, cover with cling wrap and rest in a warm place for 60-90 minutes until the dough has at least doubled in size, and springs back partly when gently poked with a finger. Work on the other components while the dough rises
Sticky maple sauce:
- Add the maple syrup, light brown sugar, unsalted butter, milk and salt to a saucepan. Place on the stove on medium heat, and cook and stir until the butter has melted and the mixture starts to bubble. Then remove from heat
- Line a 9x13" baking pan (should be at least 2.25" deep) with parchment paper on the bottom. Pour the sticky sauce into the dish and spread it evenly. Place the pan in the fridge for 20-30 minutes until the sauce firms up
Cinnamon sugar filling:
- Mix the butter, light brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a bowl until combined
Assembly & baking:
- Once the dough has risen, punch it down and transfer it to a clean surface dusted lightly with flour. Using your hands and a rolling pin, roll it into a 12x18" sheet, trying to keep the edges as straight as possible. The dough will be really soft so won't need much pressure
- Use a spatula to spread the cinnamon sugar filling evenly across the sheet
- With the 12" side towards you, divide the dough into 12 long strips (each strip will be 1" wide and 18" long). This is easiest done if you use a long acrylic ruler and a pizza cutter
- Roll each strip tightly into a cinnamon roll, and transfer to the baking pan with the cooled down sticky sauce inside. You will arrange the rolls in a 4x3 formation
- Once all the rolls are shaped, rest the pan in a warm spot for another ~30-45 minutes until they look puffed up and spring back partly when gently poked. In the last 20 minutes of the second rise, preheat your oven to 350F (conventional / no fan)
- Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 22-25 minutes until the rolls develop a golden color and feel firm to touch. If in doubt, remove the pan from the oven and use a spatula to pull out one roll, and check it for doneness
- Remove the rolls from the oven and let them rest for 10 minutes
Brown butter cream cheese icing:
- Brown the ¼ cup butter just like you did in step 1 of the dough, but don't cool it down
- Add the room temperature cream cheese, heavy cream, icing sugar and hot brown butter to a bowl. Use an electric hand mixer to whisk on medium speed until the ingredients combine into a smooth icing and no lumps remain
- Spread the icing generously on the warm rolls. Serve & enjoy!
Video tutorial:
Notes
- Sticky maple sauce: I love adding this as it makes the rolls more gooey and indulgent, but it can tip them to the "too sweet" side for people more sensitive to sweetness. If you don't want your rolls to be too sweet, skip this
- Egg substitute: If you don't consume egg, substitute it with ¼ cup greek yogurt
- Kneading & proofing: For more details on kneading and proofing dough, read this blog post
- Baking pan: Because these rolls are pretty big and there's sauce underneath them, you need to make sure your 9x13" pan is at least 2.25" deep so the sauce doesn't overflow. Even then, I recommend keeping a large baking sheet on the bottom of the oven, below the baking pan, so it can catch any sauce that might drip out
- Make ahead / storing: Instead of making the dough in advance or freezing the rolls raw, I recommend making the rolls in one go, and then storing them. You can keep them in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 7 days, and reheat in the microwave to serve. Alternately, you can freeze the baked rolls for up to 2 months, thaw overnight in the fridge, then microwave to serve
- Scaling the recipe: You can halve all the quantities and make 6 rolls in an eighth sheet pan, or 9 smaller rolls in a 9x9" square pan. If doubling the recipe, you can use a 13x18" half sheet pan. You can also use other pan types & shapes, as long as they are big enough that you don't have to stuff the rolls into them!
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 25 min
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
More Rolls Recipes
In the mood for more yummy rolls after these ones? I have a few recipes I love:
Farah says
Omg these were absolutely amazing! I have been searching for a banana bread cinnamon roll recipe for the last few days and all of a sudden Zoha’s recipe popped up and I immediately ran to make them. Yes, each element does take time to make, but it is so worth it in the end, love the fact that the bananas are in the dough itself. Sweet, cinnamon, super soft and fluffy, and just absolutely amazing! The brown butter cream cheese frosting is the perfect topping for these. I will be dreaming of when I can make them again. Try them and you will not be disappointed!
Zoha says
Thank you SO much, Farah! I am so so so happy you loved these as much as I do!
Huda says
Disappointed !! Xxxtremely sweet !! Tooo heavy !! Not according to our taste buds. I blindly followed the recipe & nobody liked it due to its sweetness, all my hardwork went in drain.😔. Though they turned out perfectly well ,sticky maple sauce & cream cheese icing ruined the taste. I guess they are perfect without them. Oh dear me! shouldn't have put icing on all of them.😖
Sowmya says
Made them yesterday and omg it turned out amazing!! My mom who doesn’t really like sweets said “it’s really good”. My dad loves banana desserts and he absolutely loved it too. I skipped the icing since I dint have cream cheese at hand. It was so moist, and the maple syrup was beautifully absorbed. Yes, it’s a little indulgent. But once in a while, it’s okay to go that extra sweet mile..
Zoha says
Thank you so much for trying my recipe - so so glad you & your fam enjoyed them! 🙂