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:
carri
I just made these and the flavor is incredible, however they seem like biscuits and quite firm on the outside. The inside is soft, but Im wondering if you have a suggestion to help the outside be a bit softer? I put them in for 29 minutes at 375 in a 9x 12 pan. Could cutting more butter into the flour mixture help or brushing butter on the rolls before the oven? Wanted to see if you had any thoughts. Thanks!
Sam
Hi Carri! This recipe is going to be similar to a biscuit recipe. They may have needed a little bit less time in the oven but cutting more butter into the batter won’t help. I’m not sure that the butter would help here either. 🙁
Sheep
I realized I have no powdered sugar to make the frosting. Is there a way to turn regular sugar into powdered sugar? I heard that if you take 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and a cup of sugar and blend it up it would turn into powdered sugar.
Sam
Yes that will work, and your ratios are correct. It is 1 cup of granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch. It can take up to 5 minutes to get it nice and powdery. 🙂
Lottie
Hi there! I’m really excited to try these. I know for the rolls themselves you specified unsalted butter, but for the filling and icing, is it salted or unsalted butter? Thank you so much!
Sam
Hi Lottie! I am so sorry for the confusion. There isn’t very much butter used here so it really doesn’t matter which one you use. I will make sure to go in and correct it so it’s not so confusing. 🙂
Ally
I love this!!! The first time I used flour like this whatsoever, and they turned out PERFECT. This is my absolute go to icing from now on also 💜 plus I was so glad I actually had enough for once! I recently decided to take up baking again, I used to make cheesecakes all the time so I decided to start genuinely learning how to bake. And I am so glad I’ve found this place! You’re instructions are super easy to follow and the videos help me with any doubts.
Sam
Thank you so much, Ally! I am so glad you enjoyed them so much! 🙂
Win
This looks very good, but I am wondering if you have to use baking powder. I’ve made cookies without baking powder before, but I am taking a precaution becuase this is a whole different recipe. Can anyone tell me? Thanks
Sam
I would not recommend leaving the baking powder out of these cinnamon rolls.
Andrea Pereira
Very simple and you have delicious cinnamon rolls ready in an hour.
For some reason my rolls ended up tasting very salty. Will reduce the amount of salt the next time.
But this quick no-yeast cinnamon roll recipe is definitely a keeper!
Thanks Sam 🙂
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Andrea! I’m sorry they were salty. Did you use salted butter by chance? 🙂
Jennifer Talbot
I am at a total loss? I followed everything exactly, but I wasn’t watching them bake, I just set the time for about 20 minutes so I could check them, and they BURNT. like brown all over burnt. My girls were waiting and now want to know if we have the stuff to try again. I feel like that took a while. But I just have no clue what I did wrong.? They were messy, but I didnt think it would affect anything. But how they looked
Sam
Hi Jennifer! I am so sorry this has happened! Is it possible your oven is running hot? They should take longer to bake all the way through. Also, if your rolls weren’t as thick as mine they could have cooked a little bit quicker. I hope this helps. 🙂
Amelia Ward
SO AWSOME!!!! Love this recipe! So delicious and easy!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it, Amelia! 🙂
Hazel
My first time making it and it was perfect!!!!! I’m so happy with it! And it taste so good too!!!! Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Hazel! 🙂
Valerie
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
I’m so glad you enjoyed, Valerie! And good catch on the powdered sugar measurement, I’ve corrected that!
Kristina
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
I am so glad that you have enjoyed this recipe, Kristina! Thank you for coming back to try it again! 🙂
Lindsay
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
I am so glad that you enjoyed them. Thank you for sharing this tip with us all. Simple and sounds easy. 🙂
Amber
I can never go back to canned rolls!! These came out so yummy!! Thank you.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed them, Amber! Thank you for trying my recipe and for commenting. 🙂
Alicia tapia
Hi!! Awesome recipe but is there any chance I can replace the brown sugar for something else???
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Alicia! I am glad that you enjoyed it. You can substitute using all white sugar it just won’t be as flavorful.
Callie
Can I substitute all purpose flour and baking powder with self raising flour? How will the adjustments be?
Sugar Spun Run
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
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
I am so happy to hear this, thank you for commenting and letting me know how it worked with GF flour! 🙂