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 (240 g) all-purpose flour
- 3 Tablespoons (38 g) sugar
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 5 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter, + additional 2 Tbsp butter for baking
- ¾ cup (178 ml) milk
Filling
- ⅔ cup (133 g) brown sugar
- 3 Tablespoons (38 g) white sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 4 Tablespoons salted butter melted
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Icing
- 1 oz (28 g) cream cheese softened
- 1 Tablespoon salted butter softened
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup (63 g) powdered sugar
- ½ Tablespoon (7 ml) milk
Instructions
Rolls
- Preheat oven to 375F (190F).
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour, 3 Tablespoons (38 g) sugar, 1 Tablespoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt
- Use a box grater to grate 5 Tablespoons of butter into the dry ingredients (alternatively use a pastry cutter to cut in the butter).5 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter, + additional 2 Tbsp butter for baking
- Add milk and stir until all ingredients are just combined.¾ cup (178 ml) milk
- Transfer dough onto a very well floured surface and use your hands to work the dough together 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 use a rolling pin to roll dough out to roughly a 10x12" rectangle. Set aside and prepare your filling.
Filling
- Prepare your filling by combining brown sugar, sugar, and cinnamon and then stirring in butter and vanilla. This mixture will be very much like a paste.⅔ cup (133 g) brown sugar, 3 Tablespoons (38 g) white sugar, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 4 Tablespoons salted butter, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 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 into 10 slices. 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.
Icing
- Use an electric mixer to cream together softened cream cheese, butter and vanilla extract.1 oz (28 g) cream cheese, 1 Tablespoon salted butter, ¼ teaspoon vanilla
- Gradually add sugar, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.½ cup (63 g) powdered sugar
- Add milk, stirring until combined.½ Tablespoon (7 ml) milk
- 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?
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.
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Original photos:
Vienna Wilson
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
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!
Christina
These turned out terrible. 30 minutes was way too long to bake them. I should have figured that myself. Definitely bake them for less than 30 minutes if you make them. The dough and filling were great, it’s just that 30 minutes is way too long to bake.
Sam
By chance does your oven run hot? Or did you cook them in a different type of pan? I just made these the other day and 30 minutes was right on the money so I’m just not sure why it didn’t work for you.
Kim
When I first saw the recipe, I did not realize that you were using a glass dish (yes I realize it shows a glass dish but I had thought that was just for presentation). But when I looked at the comments I realized that and adjusted the baking time a bit as I was using a 9′ round non-stick Metal pan. In the instructions, if you could just put to adjust the time lower if using a metal pan, I bet everyone would give you 5 stars! I think about 21-23 minutes would cook it properly as I did mine about 19 minutes and it was barely doughy. But the recipe was great! My son told me he only wanted these cinnamon rolls and no other. I told him he needed to buy me a pastry cutter then. Thanks for the recipe!
Sam
I am so happy to hear your son enjoys them so much! I will have to remake them to test how long would be optimal for a metal pan, as they normally bake a little faster. Thanks for the suggestion and I will test it out!
Lex
These are amazing! They taste better every time I make them! Thank You!
Trisha
I’m usually a good baker/cook, I’m not sure where I went wrong with these lol. the picture I took is really funny I wish there was a way I could post it on here, I messed up soooooo bad x) everything was going fine until I was about to roll it all up into a log, the dough must have been too thick because when I started to roll it, I barely made it over once before the whole thing came apart into a big sticky mess. I wasn’t able to cut it so I just put the whole log into the oven. Fingers crossed that it still tastes yummy though! x)
Dinah
These were great! I made them for breakfast and the family loved them. Thanks for the recipe!
David Bart
I’ve made these four or five times now and everyone enjoys them so much! Very good recipe!
David
I have made these 3 times and they came out excellent.very gooey.very flavorful.
Brittney
I plan on making these Easter morning. Since it will probably be crazy, can I make the rolls the night before aND put them in the fridge until I’m ready to bakeat them? TIA!
Sam
Yup, I’ve done this before and they turned out great 🙂 Just be careful if you use a glass dish as sometimes going from cold to hot temperature can make them shatter, if I use a glass pie plate I usually let it sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes before putting it in the oven.
Dawn
Made these today for a snow day treat. The hubby and son adored them!! <3
Sam
I’m so glad to hear it! Thanks for letting me know how they turned out for you, Dawn! 🙂
Serena
I just made these this morning, and they are amazing! My husband had to talk me out of eating the whole pan. 🙂 They’re fluffy, sweet, cinnamony, and everything I expect from a cinnamon roll–I didn’t even miss the yeast! I made them with whole wheat flour (that’s all I had on hand), and with an extra splash of milk to get the dough to the right consistency, they turned out great!
Tanushree
Can I use a square cake pan to make this? I don’t have any other pan to make this in.
Sam
That will work! If it’s a metal pan it may just need a little less time.
Brenda
These did not get soft and fluffy:(
JoAn
I thought they were too sweet.
ann clark
Omg these are amazing!!! Thanks for sharing this amazing recipe
Andrea
Made for the first time tonight and were soooo good. Super easy. Next time I am going to add raisens