No Yeast Required Cinnamon Rolls are pillowy, sweet, and require no yeast to make them! Easy, tender, and so satisfying.
Today I spent a grey and drizzly afternoon whipping up a recipe from In Jennie’s Kitchen that’s been burning a hole in my back pocket for a few weeks now — dense, gooey, mouthwatering no yeast required cinnamon rolls!
I am obsessed over this recipe! I’ve baked with yeast several times in the past year, and the recipes have turned out well, more or less, but sometimes I just don’t have the time or patience to deal with it, ya’ know?
Homemade cinnamon rolls without the hassle of making sure the milk’s the right temperature? The yeast is activating? The dough has doubled in size?
They exists, my friends, and here’s how you make them:
Start by combining the cinnamon roll filling ingredients in a medium-size mixing bowl: brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, salt & butter.
Mix it up with s whisk until combined.
In a larger bowl, combine flour, more sugar, and salt, plus the leavening agents that let us ditch that pesky yeast.
Baking powder and baking soda.
Whisk together more butter with buttermilk, then pour the mixture into the dry ingredients.
Stir with a stiff spoon or spatula just until the dough comes together. If you over-mix, you will have hard cinnamon rolls, and we can’t have that.
Gently knead the dough into a ball, then divide into two halves.
Turn each half onto a flat, floured surface, then press on half the filling mixture.
Roll the dough up like a log, then pinch the top seam shut. This is the part where I noticed the biggest difference between a yeast-required vs. non-yeast-required cinnamon roll dough. This dough is MUCH easier to handle. Not as sticky, and more firm.
Slice, slice, baby!
Oh yeah!
The recipe says to place the cinnamon rolls into a greased 11×8″ pan. I seemed to have misplaced mine sometime in the last month, so I spit the rolls between 8×8″ and 6×4″ non stick sprayed pans. Now pop those puppies in a piping hot oven.
In the quick 15 minutes they take to bake, whip up some cream cheese icing.
Mash together powdered sugar and cream cheese with a fork, then drizzle in buttermilk and whisk until smooth.
Next take those GORGEOUS, bubbly, golden-brown rolls out of the oven, (ahhh!)
and pretend you live in a world where Grandmas still place hot pies on their windowsills to cool. Place yours on a wooden stool in front of the open back-porch door instead…
Then breeeeeathe in the Heavenly, sweet aroma that’s swirling around your kitchen.
Now spread the cream cheese icing over the top and spread into an even layer.
I can’t remember the last time I was this excited about a recipe! I just can’t get over how much easier these were than cinnamon rolls made with yeast-required dough. So rich and scrumptious too!
Here are the differences between yeast-required & no yeast-required cinnamon rolls, in my experience/opinion:
- No yeast dough is much more firm and cooperative than sticky, yeast-required dough – which makes it much easier to handle, roll out and cut.
- The texture of a baked no yeast roll is more dense than a yeast-required roll. Not better or worse, just different. Allllmost like a heavy pancake?!
- I saved HOURS in the kitchen by ditching the yeast!
Now YES, there is definitely something to be said about baking with yeast. It’s very rewarding, and I’m not giving it up for good.
BUT, if you get a craving for warm, fresh cinnamon rolls that needs to be squashed NOW, then you need to make these!
Ingredients
For the Cinnamon Filling:
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 Tablespoons butter, melted
For the Cinnamon Roll Dough:
- 2-1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus more for rolling out dough
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 5 Tablespoons butter, melted and divided
For the Icing:
- 3 oz cream cheese, softened
- 4 Tablespoons buttermilk
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Directions
- Preheat oven to 425. Combine filling ingredients in a small bowl, then mix with a fork until well blended.
- In a another, larger bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk together buttermilk and 4 Tablespoons melted butter in a separate bowl, then pour into the middle of the dry ingredients. Stir together until dough just comes together (do not overmix.) Kneed slightly with your hands until the dough forms into a ball, then slice it in half.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll each half into a 12x8" rectangle (think slightly longer than a sheet of paper.) Press half the filling mixture into the center, leaving 1/4" of the dough clear on all 4 sides, then roll like a sausage. Pinch together seam, trim ends and cut into 8 slices. Repeat with the other dough half, then place rolls in a non-stick sprayed 11x8" pan, or an 8x8 and 6x4" pan. Brush cinnamon rolls with remaining Tablespoon of melted butter and bake for 15 minutes, or until tops are golden brown.
- Meanwhile, to make the icing, mash together softened cream cheese and powdered sugar with a fork until smooth. Whisk in buttermilk, 1 Tablespoon at a time, until creamy. Drizzle onto hot cinnamon rolls and spread evenly.
Notes
- From In Jennie's Kitchen
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
Yum! Just made these but subbed the buttermilk in the frosting for Rumchata!
Just made these for my crew of 6 kiddos and they are gone in a flash. Took a little longer than Pillsbury canned cinnamon rolls ;) but worth it. They seemed to go farther & were more filling than the store-bought kind anyway. Didn’t have buttermilk on hand so added 2 T lemon juice to 1 c milk and was an easy substitute. Will double the recipe next time so we’ll have some leftovers to snack on. Delicious!
My hubby woke up with a hankering for cinnamon rolls. And I wasn’t going to spend all morning making them so this was the perfect solution! They turned out fantastic! My husband said they “hit the spot” and were really good! He also wants me to hang onto the recipe; so you know I’ll be making this one again. Thanks for a delicious, easy, and quick to make recipe. :)
Just made these and they were amazing! Boyfriend said “this is the best thing you’ve made”, and I agree. I was not paying attention while making these and ended up rolling them the long way instead of the short way, accidentally put the extra T of butter in with the frosting instead of on the rolls before baking, might have put too much buttermilk in the dough bc it was very sticky, but I added more flour to get the right constancy. I thought they would turn out horrible after all my mistakes, but they were perfect! Definitely will make again, thank u for the recipe!
Well, Im glad I didnt try yeast for my first cinnamon rolls. I was a HUGE failure with these. Im not even quite sure how, or what went wrong. I followed th directions and took my time.
My dough was sticky as anything, my filling was dry, they fell apart as I tried to roll them and I ended up with an 8×8 pan of teeny cinnamon biscuit type… things. They smell good and the little piece I pulled off tasted good, but Im at a loss.
Just found this recipe & I am so psyched to try these! Also, your To Do pad-is thete an app for that?
ummmmm.. I used this recipe to make the rolls. how do I prevent the top of the rolls from being hard, also the dough taste weird, is it because i used too much baking powder?
These were amazing! We are currently living in South Africa and always miss the Midwest baking.
Hi, the rolls look great! But when they came out of the oven, the insides were very mushy, almost raw. Is there something that caused this?
I would just bing them until cooked way through. If the rolls on the edge of the pan are browning before the center, just lay a piece of foil on top!
This was my first time making cinnamonrolls from scratch and these were delicious! Very easy and sooooo good. Didn’t have buttermilk, but they turned out great with regular milk. Thanks for the recipe! :)
I have no baking powder is that okay?
Hey Samantha! The baking powder is what makes the cinnamon rolls light and fluffy. I wouldn’t recommend making them without it!
When a recipe calls for all purpose flour it also calls for baking powder and baking soda and salt. I have used self rising flour instead and I don’t have to put in the added baking powder and baking soda or the salt, it is already in the flour. So no you do not have to use it, just use self rising flour.
These are AMAZING. Made them this morning for the family and they were a huge hit. So easy and fast, and made with ingredients I always have on hand. I’ll definitely be making these again and again! :)
Easy and wonderful! Thank you!