This No Yeast Cinnamon Rolls recipe is one that is plenty acceptable for a cinnamon roll, and it’s kind of a cool option for those who fear baking with yeast.
No Yeast Cinnamon Rolls
If cinnamon rolls were kinder to my thighs and my love handles, I’d surely bake them often and nibble little cinnamon roll nibbles until my heart was content. Cinnamon rolls are a rather huge favorite of mine. My grandma Billie used to make the best cinnamon rolls ever, and I certainly use her recipe whenever I’m up for making a yeast version of these things.
I bake my no yeast cinnamon rolls in a muffin tin… for no particular reason except that I just want to keep them intact and not spreading out all over the place.
These lovelies are made just the way a regular cinnamon roll is made. The dough is rolled out into a roughly-shaped rectangle and topped with a brown sugar- cinnamon filling. Lots of it.
A note about the dough:
It will be sticky. If you find that you need to, then add an additional tablespoon of flour to it at a time to get it to a consistency that will be good for rolling.
The dough is very soft to work with. Make sure your surface is well-floured and be gentle with it and all will be right with the world.
A peek at the roll. Cut slices and try not to eat it as you go! Seriously… it’s kind of hard not to taste it.
I drop mine into greased muffin tins. If you’d like them to turn out a little more decadent and dripping in buttery cinnamon-sugar goo, put a teaspoon or so of the cinnamon-sugar topping inside each muffin tin before you put these in there. Then it will bake up all gooey on the bottom too. I don’t do that… and I love them just the way they are, but I like that gooey option idea too.
They bake up kind of muffin-like (but not muffiny in texture- they’re a bread texture instead). Note: THEY DO NOT TURN OUT LIKE SOFT CINNAMON ROLLS THAT YOU KNOW AND LOVE! They are more crusty. Read all of the comments below the recipe. People who have tried these have been happy with the results!!
Cream cheese frosting (or a glaze of some sort) is a must. A MUST.
Get wild and crazy with your frosting designs, or just spread it on top of the cinnamon rolls like a normal human being would.
Bake these No Yeast Cinnamon Rolls!
Here’s a peek at the inside too- you can see that the cinnamon layers are present throughout. The best part about these cinnamon rolls is of course the “no yeast and no rising needed” aspect of them. I sure love myself some home-baked yeasted cinnamon rolls, but these are nice to make when you don’t have the patience or time for rising. Yeast rolls turn out a little more tender than these- I’d say these are more like a bread consistency. Still good. And remember that little tip I gave you about the extra cinnamon-sugar goo. That could be all kinds of awesome. These are best eaten the same day… nice and warm out of the oven with that cream cheese frosting on top. We eat a few and give the rest to neighbors. Happy neighbors!
Here are a few more “no yeast” breakfast treats you might like to try:
- No Yeast Eggnog Cinnamon Rolls
- Portuguese Doughnuts
- No Yeast Apple Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Icing
- Banana Nut Cinnamon Rolls
- Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tarts
- Baked Chocolate Glazed Donuts
- Apple Fritters
No Yeast Cinnamon Rolls
Recipe Details
Ingredients
FILLING:
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
DOUGH:
- 2 cups bread or all purpose flour (plus more for rolling)
- 2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 large egg, beaten
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
- 2 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 2/3 cup powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons milk or buttermilk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a muffin tin with nonstick spray.
PREPARE THE FILLING:
- In a small bowl, combine the filling ingredients with a fork until a crumbly mixture is formed.
PREPARE THE DOUGH:
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Use clean hands (or a pastry blender) to work the butter into the dry ingredients. Add the milk and the egg and stir to combine. The dough will be sticky. If you find that you need to, then add an additional tablespoon of flour to it at a time to get it to a consistency that will be good for rolling.
- Roll the dough out on a floured surface into roughly shaped large rectangle (about 1/4-inch thick). Sprinkle the filling evenly over the surface of the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border all the way around. Carefully roll up the rectangle (the dough will be soft). Use a sharp knife to cut 12 rolls. If you want smaller rolls, cut them a little smaller and you'll get 18. Carefully place the rolls in the prepared muffin tin. Bake 20 to 25 minutes.
PREPARE THE FROSTING:
- While the cinnamon rolls are baking, prepare the frosting. Combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar and milk/buttermilk in a medium bowl. Use an electric mixer to combine. Add a little more milk if you wish to have a thinner frosting. Spread the frosting on top of warm rolls or drizzle on top. Serve warm.
I have not tried your recipe, but these seem very similar to the cinnamon buns that I make. I actually got the recipe for the ones made at Violet Bakery in London. Yes, these are not soft and fluffy, but more firm and bread like. They are totally delicious. I roll mine in sugar after baking, but the cream cheese idea looks awesome. They are a great alternative to baking yeast rolls.
Can you use Gluten Free flour?
Haven’t tried these with gluten-free flour.
These sound yummy!! Would you recommend adding some chocolate (like nutella) in this, perhaps into the filling? If so, would I just lessen the brown sugar, or is there anything else I should remove?
You’ll just have to experiment- I haven’t tried that!
Just made these!! Super easy n sooo delicious! I want another one and am trying to convince one was enough! Just what I wanted! Highly recommend this recipe!
OMG, cinnamon rolls are my favorite for breakfast!!! yum….. I have a recipe that my mom gave me that I make all the time.
Michael
Can I dilute cream in stead of using milk?
probably
Wow, so quick and easy. Used whole wheat flour, California real butter, 2% local milk. The dough was perfect in the bowl and hardly needed to dust the table to roll. Rising in the oven as i write. My two “little chefs” helped me, they looked beautiful as sliced roll in the muffin tin!
Could you make these the night (or even 2 days) before and keep them in the fridge? Thanks!
These are best the day that they’re made for sure.
Never made cinnamon rolls before, so this is the first cinnamon roll recipe I’v tried, fear the yeast version so this was a perfect. Made them last night and they turned out brilliant everybody loved them. I sense I will be making these on a regular basis, so addictive, he he. Thank you x
I was craving something sweet so i went online and searched for “no yeast sweet treats” , and this popped up. At first I was hesitant but then i gave in and started making them. Me and my family absolutely love these! I making them for a second time and i just had to come and leave a good review. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Lori,
can I make these in a 8 x 8 glass pan?
I lent someone my muffin tin.
I was thinking I’d grease the pan and put them in side by side but not crowded.
Your thoughts?
That will probably work… but 8×8 might be a little small. Try it and see!
This is the best cinnamon bun recipe ever! My whole family loved them so much. I was feeling a bit experimental so I saved some of the dough and made cinnamon bun timbits. They turned out great! It was love at first taste.
These were great! I made them for my mom’s birthday, and she loved them. They were so easy to make and tasted delicious. Thanks so much, Lori!
I just a made a batch of these bad boys. I’m horrible at baking but thes actually turned out awesome.
I used half whole wheat flour and half white, and Ideal no calorie brown baking sugar instead of normal white sugar.
I don’t like icing… So no icing for me. Either way they turned out awesome and I will defiantly make these again!
I am so happy that I finally found this recipe … again. I had a similar recipe years ago, lost it somewhere and am happy to say that I will be walking into my kitchen in the next 2 minutes to make them and fill my new home with their gorgeous smell. I also do them in my muffin tin and the result is a perfect little bun every time. They are just dreamy gorgeous. Thank you!!!
Made these, they came out great! Yes the dough was sticky, but just a bit more flour while working with it and it was fine 🙂
Will definitely make again!
I just made these today and they were delicious! I thought I wouldn’t be able to bake them because they were sticky but I just added more flour while rolling and they were good. For a beginner baker like me, they’re really easy. My family liked it. Thumbs up. 🙂
These are awesome, just came out of the oven and my husband and son are all over them already! I added walnuts and raisins to the filling too. Question, how would you recommend storing them? Do you think they would freeze well?
I wouldn’t think they’d freeze well since they are not soft in the first place, but let me know if you try it and have success!
AMAZING these turned out great. Definitely using this recipe again.
Hi! I was curious about cinnamon rolls without yeast and I’m glad I found this recipe! The dough was indeed really sticky but with some extra flour and plastic wrap, it all worked out. 🙂
I used mixed sour cream and powdered sugar together to get an icing.
Turned out really good! Thanks for this one.
These were fantastic!! We never even missed the yeast! I made them on a cookie sheet, not in a muffin pan, and with 1/2 whole wheat flour – consistency was very soft and “cinnamon roll like!” Icing is the best, too! I would make these over the yeast-type anytime!!
I made them and followed the instructions. I have no idea what went wrong but the dough was sticky like dough but more like a muffin mixture. So instead of rolls i used my cookie scoop and dumped them into the muffin pan. Then i swirled the filling into the dough and they turned out great. Then i topped them with frosting; i skipped the cream cheese and just used milk and powdered sugar with a touch of vanilla. Just kept adding till consistency was right. Either way it tasted great. Next time i will just makes as muffins.
Made these tonight since I had a craving for something sweet. They were good but you can definitely tell they are missing the yeast. I followed the directions and added one extra tablespoon of butter to the dough but they did not come out like regular cinnamon rolls. I like to think of them more like cinnamon roll scones because that the texture I got. Very good just not the texture I was expecting. Good recipe nonetheless 🙂