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 unsalted 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 (190g)
- 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 5 Tablespoons of 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
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Original photos:
Valerie says
They came out delicious! Who needs Cinnabon when you can make these? Just one note – I think the grams are wrong on the powdered sugar for the frosting. I used both a scale and measuring cup and 1.5 cups is 150 grams, not 300. Will absolutely be making again, thank you!
Sam says
I’m so glad you enjoyed, Valerie! And good catch on the powdered sugar measurement, I’ve corrected that!
Kristina says
These are great. I love how quickly they can be made since they’re not using yeast. They almost taste like a cinnamon roll biscuit to me, everyone else that’s tried them say the taste just like a regular cinnamon roll. I’ve made them twice before and am planning on making some today. Thanks for the recipe
Sugar Spun Run says
I am so glad that you have enjoyed this recipe, Kristina! Thank you for coming back to try it again! 🙂
Lindsay says
These turned out so good! Instead of rolling into a log, I cut one strip off at a time with a pizza cutter and rolled it up. Quick and Easy!
Sugar Spun Run says
I am so glad that you enjoyed them. Thank you for sharing this tip with us all. Simple and sounds easy. 🙂
Amber says
I can never go back to canned rolls!! These came out so yummy!! Thank you.
Sugar Spun Run says
I am so glad that you enjoyed them, Amber! Thank you for trying my recipe and for commenting. 🙂
Alicia tapia says
Hi!! Awesome recipe but is there any chance I can replace the brown sugar for something else???
Sugar Spun Run says
Hi, Alicia! I am glad that you enjoyed it. You can substitute using all white sugar it just won’t be as flavorful.
Callie says
Can I substitute all purpose flour and baking powder with self raising flour? How will the adjustments be?
Sugar Spun Run says
Hi, Callie! I do not recommend using self-rising flour in most cases because it already contains the baking powder. If/when you use it, you need to be strategic on how much additional will need to be added. Without trying it myself, I am not certain of the amount. If you try it, I’d love to know how it worked for you. 🙂
Kate says
Absolutely amazing results, my family and I are bonkers for these! My husband is celiac so I bake with GF flour substituted but no other adjustments needed, these are perfect just the way they are! Rolling the dough up was challenging getting it not to stick to the wax paper, I will do a better job flouring the surface next time
Sam says
I am so happy to hear this, thank you for commenting and letting me know how it worked with GF flour! 🙂