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
- ¾ cup milk (178ml)
Filling
- ⅔ cup brown sugar (133g)
- 3 Tablespoons white sugar (38g)
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 4 Tbsp butter melted
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Icing*
- 3 oz cream cheese softened (85g)
- 3 Tablespoon butter softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 ½ 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 ¼" 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
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
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.
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Original photos:
Debbie
These cinnamon rolls are delicious!!! My family loves them. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We are so happy they’re a hit for your family, Debbie! Thanks for coming back to leave a review ❤
Blair
I made these again this morning, as a request for my daughter’s 13th birthday. She demanded that they be your recipe for cinnamon rolls. I have to say, your recipe has completely ruined us! We got a homemade cinnamon roll from a fancy coffee shop awhile ago, and it was just not the same! With every bite, I was wishing it tasted likes these. I won’t even try to set foot in a Cinnabon…your recipe is the best!
Thanks again for a simple, delicious cinnamon roll recipe and for making my daughter’s birthday extra special!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We love your daughter’s taste in birthday breakfast, Blair! Thanks so much for loving our recipe and coming back to write this review. If you ever want to try one of our yeast cinnamon rolls, our funfetti cinnamon rolls would make a lovely birthday breakfast too 😊
Kim
Could I make these ahead and give a pan of them to someone for them to just bake the next day?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Kim! That would work fine–just store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator overnight. 🙂
Anon
Hello! Can you freeze these prior to baking?
Sam
That will work just fine. 🙂
Amazingbaker.Jenny
How do you store them?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
You can store them at room temperature in an airtight container 😊
Tina
I made these this afternoon and they may well be the best cinnamon rolls I have ever tasted.
I ended up under-baking the middle ones because I was too concerned about over-baking the outside ones. I needn’t have worried because even the parts that turn brown remain soft and delicious because the dough is so nice.
I look forward to baking these for friends and family. Thank you for a wonderful recipe!
Sadie
These cinnamon rolls are sooo good and super easy to make!! Highly recommend! 🙂
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you enjoyed them, Sadie! Thanks for trying our recipe ❤
Stacy
The house smelled amazing but the rolls were a disaster. More like biscuits than soft flaky rolls. 🤦♂️ I’m sure it was some sort of error on my part. The frosting was delicious!
Sam
Hi Stacy! The texture is more comparable to a biscuit by nature but certainly shouldn’t taste like a biscuit. This is just due to not using yeast, but it should still taste good. 🙂
Tiffany Cain
This was my first time making homemade cinnamon rolls and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this recipe!!! Will be making again. So easy to follow and tastes delicious. I already had everything I needed in my kitchen! Which made my spur of the moment decision so much easier 🤗 Thank you so much for sharing this!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you love them, Tiffany! Thanks so much for giving our recipe a try. Enjoy ❤
Donnie C.
I had a thought to make cinnamon buns one morning and found this fool proof recipe. Luckily, I had all the ingredients already at home and an hour later I had cinnamon buns! Thank you for this recipe. It was easy to follow, especially for a non-baker like myself! =)
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Wonderful! That’s the beauty of this recipe 😊 We’re so happy you enjoyed them, Donnie. Thanks so much for coming back to leave a review!