My Easy No-Yeast Cinnamon Rolls are thickly iced and ready to eat in under an hour! This soft and fluffy cinnamon bun recipe is no knead, no rise, and insanely delicious ~ I’ve never met anyone who can resist.
Do one hour cinnamon buns sound too good to be true?
Sink your teeth into one warm from the oven…you’ll get it. I love to bake and I’m a sucker for those mall Cinnabons just like everybody else, but honestly, I’m never tempted to fuss with the full on yeasted recipe, no matter how strong my craving, it’s just not worth the effort. But these almost-too-easy cinnamon rolls made with lightly sweetened biscuit dough are a game changer, I literally can’t stop thinking about other flavors to make next. Fresh raspberry, anyone? Apple butter? Pumpkin?? Don’t worry, I’ll make sure they all come your way!
A warm pan of freshly made cinnamon buns is just what we all need right now.
And this recipe delivers, without adding any stress to your life in the form of “is my yeast fresh?” or “wait do I even have yeast?” or “HOW long do I have to wait for these cinnamon rolls to be ready??” They’re pretty much instant cinnamon bun gratification.
The secret to amazing no-yeast cinnamon rolls: a buttery biscuit dough.
It’s the perfect alternative to a traditional yeasted bun recipe, and, I’m not kidding, I like it even better because it’s so soft and cushiony. I’ll never do them any other way! And don’t worry, I didn’t forget the thick creamy frosting, it’s half the fun, for sure. Slather it on while the rolls are still hot for the best effect.
I first played with this idea as a cobbler topping in my Peach Cobbler with Cinnamon Swirl Biscuits. For that recipe I slice the rolls thinner and use them as a topping for fruit. It was only a matter of time before they went solo.
This recipe makes 12 rolls that fit perfectly in my 11 inch oval baking dish from Staub. No need to even grease the pan, so it’s easy peasy. If you want to use a different pan, just find one with a similar capacity. The rolls should fit loosely together to allow for expanding in the oven.
Cinnamon rolls are welcome any time of the year, but would be great for a cozy Easter morning or Mother’s Day brunch. If you’re at home with kids, it’s a perfect baking project to do together because you’ve got the fun of rolling up the spiral of dough, and the slathering on of all that frosting, but none of the boring waiting bits.
More cinnamon sugar deliciousness ~
- Super Easy Cinnamon Coffee Cake
- Apple Cider Doughnut Muffins
- Chocolate Dipped Churro Shortbread Cookies
- Easy Oat Muffins with Cinnamon Sugar
Easy No-Yeast Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Cinnamon filling
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
Rolls
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces
- 2/3 cup milk, (or half-and-half, or buttermilk)
Glaze
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
- 4 Tbsp milk or cream to thin
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400F and butter an 11 inch oval baker. See notes for alternatives.
- To make the filling, melt the butter in a small saucepan or in the microwave. Remove from the heat, add the sugar and the cinnamon and mix together. You should have a sandy, clumpy mixture. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and butter. Pulse until the mixture is evenly crumbly. You can also do this by hand using a pastry cutter to combine the butter with the dry ingredients.
- Add the milk to the food processor (or by hand to to the flour mixture), and continue to mix until a soft dough forms.
- Remove the dough to a lightly floured surface and briefly knead it. It should feel soft and pliable, but not too sticky.
- Divide the dough in half, and roll out one half into a rectangle about 9 x 12 inches (or just a little larger than a sheet of paper). Add more flour if needed to keep the dough from sticking.
- Sprinkle one half of the cinnamon sugar filling over the entire rectangle, and pat it down lightly. Sprinkle it as evenly as you can but don't worry about perfectly covering every square millimeter–it will be fine.
- Roll up the dough from one of the short sides of the rectangle to form a log. Using a sharp knife or a piece of clean dental floss, cut the dough into 6 rolls about 1 1/2 inches long. Place them into your prepared baker.
- Repeat for the 2nd half of the dough.
- Decrease the oven temperature to 375F, and place the rolls in the oven.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, until starting to turn golden brown on top and cooked through.
- Meanwhile, make the glaze by whisking the powdered sugar with the melted butter, salt, vanilla extract and milk, until smooth.
- Remove the rolls from the oven, and while still warm, brush or spoon the glaze over them.
Notes
Nutrition
I constantly find myself on your blog trying recipes lately. Thanks for another delicious one! This was so easy to follow. I made it for my husband’s birthday breakfast and he loved them! So did my 3 yr old. 🙂
First, I just wanted to say that I’ve been a fan of your site for some time now- it feels so cozy and the photos are beautiful. I don’t know why it took me so long to try one of your recipes, but I’m so glad I did! I just made these cinnamon rolls this afternoon & they are so good! I skipped the glaze and they’re the perfect sweetness. Bonus that there are so few ingredients- as a uni student I don’t keep a lot of baking ingredients in the pantry, and even subbed the baking powder for baking soda + vinegar and it turned out fine. Thanks for the recipe- can’t wait to try others!
You’ve got a lot of recipes to catch up on Kie 😉
Hi Sue! I’m making these the night before. What would be the best way to reheat them? Add icing after reheating? LOVE the recipe
Yes, you could gently reheat under foil and then add the icing. You can also make ahead, unbaked, and bake in the morning.
Quick, easy, delicious!
These are in the oven now! I’m so excited; they truly are the easiest sweet rolls I’ve ever made. Thank you!!
Dangerously easy 😉
I’ve had a disastrous 3 attempts at hot x cross and now have no yeast so I tried these today. They’re delicious, very easy, and lasted such a short time it looks like I will be making more tomorrow for Easter Sunday! Thanks for the recipe …
Yay ~ thanks Wendi, and have a wonderful holiday 🙂
I would like to make these for my children and grandchildren for tomorrow. Could they be made up today and baked in the morning?
I haven’t tried that Jackie but since this is basically a biscuit dough, I believe you can!
Thank you for a no yeast and not having to have biscuit dough in your home already. There are tons of those recipes out there. I will make these tomorrow. I really like MANY of your recipes even though I have never left a comment before.
Thanks Karen, I appreciate your support, and thanks for commenting 🙂
These look terrific and perfect for Easter. Is there any reason to not mix them in a stand mixer with a dough hook? Thanks!
Because this is a biscuit type dough you don’t want to ‘work it’ too much, and the cold butter needs to be cut into the flour, so a dough hook wouldn’t be appropriate. I would use the processor, or do by hand with a pastry cutter, or two forks and/or your fingers.
Made these this morning. Absolutely terrific. What caught my interest was NO YEAST! My local market has no yeast so I looked on line. Yeast is available but at almost 3 TIMES normal! I’m now a “no yeast” baker. Thanks for this post.
Wow you’ve set a new record for feedback ~ I guess it’s proof that they really are super quick!