Best homemade honey buns! This easy homemade honey bun recipe makes soft sweet rolls topped with honey butter icing in about an hour. 
Homemade honey buns are dangerous! These unassuming little sweet rolls are crazy delicious.
They are are also easy to make. It looks like there are quite a few steps, but that's just because everything is really broken down.
And the buns! They are so good!
The dough is soft, and they have a brown sugar cinnamon filling. The buns are topped with a sweet honey butter icing.
All of which makes for a delicious breakfast or dessert!
How to make homemade honey buns
Begin by melting the butter and milk together. Let the mixture cool to about 100 F.
Add to a large mixing bowl, and stir in the warm water, honey, and yeast.
Gradually mix in the flour and salt until it forms a smooth elastic dough.
Cover, and let the dough sit for about 10 minutes to rest.
Meanwhile, mix the filling ingredients together until combined.
Roll the dough out into a rectangle and spread the filling over the dough.
Roll the dough up lengthwise and pinch the seam to seal.
Cut the dough into 12 rolls and place in the prepared baking pan. I use a serrated knife to help to cut the dough.
Cover, and let the dough rest for 15 minutes.
Toward the end of the baking time, whisk the icing ingredients together until combined.
Remove the honey buns from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes.
Spread the icing over the warm rolls, and let it sit for about 5 minutes before serving.
How to store honey buns
I store the honey buns, covered, at room temperature for up to 3 days.
How to reheat honey buns
I reheat the honey buns, uncovered, for about 10-15 seconds in the microwave.
More easy sweet roll recipes!
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Honey Buns
Ingredients
DOUGH
- ⅓ cup milk¹
- ⅓ cup butter
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 3 ½ teaspoons instant yeast²
- ¾ cup warm water (105F – 115F)
- 3 cups all-purpose flour³
- ½ teaspoon salt
FILLING
- ¼ cup brown sugar (packed)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ cup butter (at room temperature)
ICING
- 1 tablespoon butter (melted)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- Pinch salt
Instructions
- Grease a 9x13-inch metal baking pan; set aside.
- In a small saucepan, stir milk and butter together. Heat over low heat just until butter melts. Cool to about 100-105 F.
- Pour the milk mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Add the honey, yeast, and warm water. Stir to combine.
- Add 2 cups flour and salt to yeast mixture. Using a dough hook, mix on low speed for about 1 minute.
- With the mixer still going, add remaining flour, ½ cup at a time. Mix about 1 ½ minutes, or until dough starts to clean the sides of the bowl.
- Knead on low speed for about 2 more minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic – the dough will still be slightly sticky to the touch.
- Place dough in a greased bowl, turning it to grease the top. Cover the dough with a clean, dry dish towel.
- Let it rise in a warm place, free from draft, for about 10 minutes.
- While dough is rising, prepare the filling.
- Stir the filling ingredients together until combined. Set aside.
- Turn the dough onto a floured surface, and roll into a 12x16-inch rectangle.
- Spread filling over dough.
- Roll dough up lengthwise, pinching seam to seal.
- Cut into 12 pieces, and place in prepared baking dish. I use a serrated knife to cut the dough.
- Cover the baking dish with the dish towel, and let the dough rise for about 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 F.
- Bake at 20-30 minutes, or until the rolls are golden brown and baked through.
- Let the honey buns cool in pan for 5 minutes.
- While buns are cooling, whisk icing ingredients together. Icing will be thick.
- Spread icing over warm buns.
- Let buns sit 10-15 minutes before serving.
Video
Notes
- Anything from skim to whole milk will work. However, a milk with more fat will give you a more tender roll.
- A packet of yeast has 2 ¼ teaspoons of yeast, so you will need 2 packets to get 3 ½ teaspoons worth of yeast.
If you would like to use active dry yeast, after step 4, let the yeast mixture sit for 5-10 minutes, or until foamy.
If your yeast doesn't foam, start over or your dough won't rise. - You may need to use a little more or a little less flour. Go by the look and feel of the dough. You want the dough to be smooth and elastic.
Diane Skudlarek
My husband and I were in the mood this morning for honey buns. This recipe was PERFECT! It was fast, easy and soooo delicious. Soft warm sweet buns with Sunday coffee. Thank you!
Kate
Thank you so much!!
Helen Davies
Easy to follow recipe and the end result was a plate of yummy indulgence! I am not the best baker but these turned out so well and my family now drop hints all the time about how good ‘my’ cinnamon rolls are!
Kate
Yay!! I'm so glad that they worked out well for you!
Sam M
These taste absolutely amazing, the recipe was really clear and easy to follow. Will definitely be making these again!
Kate
Thank you! I'm so glad to hear that!
Stephanie
I never leave reviews for recipes but these were just so good that I had to! They were very easy to make and are DELICIOUS! I will definitely make this recipe again! :)
Kate
Thank you so much! I'm so glad to hear that! =)
Krista
So delicious! I have chronic medical issues and probably because of that I did find this recipe fairly labor intensive. I usually look for quick easy recipes. This took me about 3hrs start to finish and now my kitchen is quite a mess haha but my family's happy taste buds are worth it! This will be a special occasion treat for sure ;).
Kate
Thank you! =) Do you have any questions, or is there anything I can help with to make it easier the next time around?
Delphine Lopez
Could I make these with non-dairy milk and vegan butter?
Kate
Hi! I haven't tried that to say for certain.
Shon
I would say yes. I never have actual dairy products and my baking dishes always turn out perfect.
Sabina
These were my first attempt at any kind of bun and it's seriously so easy and delicious. I used creamed honey for the icing and it was so nice. I can't get over it!
Kate
Yay!! I'm so happy to hear that they turned out well for you. Thanks for commenting!
JUDY WELLS
I want to make a large amount of honey buns for my festival. What is the best way to keep them fresh and make a large amount? Will they freeze?
Kate
I haven't tried freezing these buns, but sweet rolls should freeze well. I would just wait to add any icing until after freezing.
Beverly J Whitaker
I was surprised, no eggs. Most bread uses eggs.
Kate
Hi! I have several bread recipes that don't use eggs. Were you looking for a bread dough that used eggs?
Yolanda Smith
Very delicious I used almond milk instead of whole milk and for the icing I used a tiny bit of water.
Kate
Thank you! I'm so glad that you liked them! Thanks for commenting! =)
Kelsey
These buns are unreal! I love, love, love them!
Kate
Yay! I'm so glad! Thanks for commenting! =)
Chelsea
Uh-mazing!! The recipe was easy to follow and the buns were fantastic.
Kate
Thanks! I'm so glad that you liked the honey buns. =) Thank you for coming back to comment!
Heidi Van Brocklin
Should the butter in the dough be salted or unsalted?
Kate
I use salted butter. You could also use unsalted butter and add an additional 1/4 teaspoon salt to the dough.