These no yeast cinnamon rolls are the easiest homemade cinnamon rolls you’ll ever make. With no dough-punching & no waiting for the dough to rise, the hardest thing about these cinnamon rolls is waiting for them to come out of the oven!
This is one of my older recipes on the blog (originally published April, 2015), and also one of my favorites. My old pictures didn’t do justice to these amazing easy cinnamon rolls, so I’m updating the pictures and re-publishing today. Originally I was going to re-write the whole post, but instead I’m leaving about 90% of the original writing, because it just didn’t feel right to change it. I left the old photos at the very bottom of the post, too, in case you wanted to have a laugh.
I present to you: The lazy girl’s cinnamon roll recipe.
No yeast. No dough-punching. No two-hour rise time followed by another hour of rise time.
Nothing but cinnamon-y, gooey, need-a-fork-to-eat-it goodness <3.
I (obviously) enjoy baking, and considering that you’re reading this I assume you don’t hate spending time doing it either. I’ve even previously posted a recipe for orange sweet rolls that require all of those heinous, time-consuming things mentioned above, taking over 3 hours from start to finish.
However… if you want cinnamon rolls for breakfast on a Saturday morning, you shouldn’t have to get up at the crack of dawn just to have them ready before it’s actually lunch time. These cinnamon rolls can be ready in less than one hour (probably faster if you spend more time actually baking and less time sampling the cinnamon filling… or is that just me…).
Since these rolls don’t use yeast they have a softer, flakier texture to them, which is perfect for those of us who love melt-in-your-mouth cinnamon rolls that require a fork to enjoy.
And wait! We haven’t even discussed the frosting yet!
That lovely, crowning cream cheese-based, sticky frosting that any cinnamon roll would just be sad and naked without. Pour this cream cheese frosting on heavy over these cinnamon rolls while they’re still warm, and enjoy!
If you try these out, I’d love to know how you like them! Please leave a comment or tag #sugarspunrun on Instagram!
Easy Cinnamon Rolls (no yeast required!)
Ingredients
Rolls
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (240g)
- 3 Tablespoons sugar (38g)
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 5 Tablespoons cold butter, + additional 2 Tbsp butter for baking
- 3/4 cup milk (178ml)
Filling
- 2/3 cup brown sugar (133g)
- 3 Tablespoons white sugar (38g)
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 4 Tbsp butter melted
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Icing*
- 3 oz cream cheese softened (85g)
- 3 Tablespoon butter softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar (300g)
- 1 Tablespoon milk (15ml)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F
- Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and mix.
- Using a pastry cutter (or fork and knife if lacking) cut butter into dry mix
- Add milk and mix until all ingredients are combined.
- Dump dough onto a very well floured surface and roll until it forms a cohesive ball. Continue to flour the surface you are working with as needed.
- Generously sprinkle flour on the top of the ball of dough and place a large piece of wax paper on top. (If dough is too sticky, work in more flour until it is manageable)
- Use a rolling pin to roll dough out to roughly a 10x12" rectangle.
- Remove the wax paper and make your filling by combining brown sugar, sugar, and cinnamon and then stirring in butter and vanilla. This will be very much like a paste.
- Spread the filling over the rectangle of dough, leaving about 1/4" of space as a perimeter around the filling.
- Carefully roll dough starting with one of the 12" ends and rolling tightly.. Press the edge of the roll into the dough so that it sticks.
- Cut the log, spacing your cuts about 1" apart. If the log is not holding its shape well, transfer it to your freezer for about 10 minutes and then try to cut again (it should hold it's shape this way so you will have mostly round cinnamon rolls)
- Place the reserved 2 Tbsp of butter into a 9" pie pan and set it in your preheating oven for a few minutes until the butter has melted. Remove from oven.
- Place your cinnamon rolls in baking dish, they do not need to be touching, they will spread to fill their surrounding area.
- Bake on 375F for 28-30 minutes (beginning to lightly brown around edges). Prepare your icing while the rolls are baking.
- With mixer, combine cream cheese and butter and vanilla.
- Gradually add sugar, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add milk, stirring until combined.
- When cinnamon rolls are finished, remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before spreading icing over rolls.
- These cinnamon rolls are nice and soft. Keep in mind that the warmer they are, the harder it will be to separate one from the other. But if you go in for one cinnamon roll and end up with one and a half, it's really not the worst thing that could happen, right?
Notes
Nutrition
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase anything through these links I may get a small commission at no extra cost to you. Please view the disclosure policy for more information.
Recommended Kitchen Tools:
You Might Also Like:
Original photos:
Vienna Wilson says
Hi Sam! I made your Cinnamon Rolls today and they are a total success. Your suggestion about putting them in the freezer for 10 minuets is an excellent idea. Worked for me! Last week I didn’t do that and I wrestled with slices that had minds of their own. I did get them in the pan and I did bake them but they were not photo worthy. Today yours were so perfect I hesitated to put the yummy icing on them. My husband said he would like one without icing but I guess I don’t take special orders. He ate an iced one and was kind of speechless. He did manage to say they were excellent, the best he’s ever tasted and some other lovely compliments. Thank you for a great recipe which I will be using often in Parry Sound, Ontario!!!
Sam says
Thank you so much! Chilling them definitely helps with the handling, although it is hard to wait some times. I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Pat White says
Always find this no yeast recipe a success memorized by now. Thanks for sharing it family always loves them. Always do half the icing.
Sam says
They never last long in my house!
Kristin says
I have been tasked with making LOTS of these for a wedding weekend. The only way I can do this would be if they could be frozen. At what stage would I freeze them and then how would I cook/reheat them?
Sam says
Hi Kristin! You should make the dough slice it and then put it in an air tight container and then freeze them. 😃
Salem says
Mine turned out great. I subbed 1/3 of the milk for cinnamon applesauce in the dough and sprinkled crushed walnuts over the filling before rolling. Delicious!
Sam says
The walnuts on top sound like an excellent addition! I am so glad you enjoyed them!
Maureen says
Delicious! Satisfied the Sweet Tooth I had this morning! I would quarter the frosting recipe because it made a ton!
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Maureen! ☺️
Petite Pavlova says
These were surprisingly good! We had no yeast so this was a perfect alternative, plus it was super quick to make . 10/10 would recommend.
Sam says
So glad to hear you enjoyed them! Thanks for commenting to let me know how they turned out for you! 🙂
Tina says
My 1st time ever making cinnamon rolls. These are so easy to put together and deeliiciious!! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
I wonder if you would have a recipe of rum cake in the making. Our family loves the one from the Caribbean, Tortuga Rum Cake, but I haven’t found a recipe for this yet.
Sam says
So glad to hear you enjoyed them! And hmm I don’t currently have a recipe for rum cake but I will add it to my list and see what I can come up with (fair warning it might take a while, my list is already pretty long!)! Thank you for the suggestion, Tina!
Barbara Daddario says
These are life changing! Best cinnamon rolls ever (and I’ve made a ton of different recipes.) Very stoked to have them ready to go in the oven in under 30 minutes. ☺️
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Barbara! 🙂