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, mouth-watering no yeast required cinnamon rolls!
I am dying over this recipe! See, 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. They exist! And here’s how you make ’em: Start by combining the cinnamon roll filling ingredients: brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, salt & butter.
Mix it up.
In a separate, larger bowl, combine flour, more sugar & salt, plus the leavening agents that let us ditch that pesky yeast.
Baking powder and baking soda. Booyah.
Whisk together more butter with buttermilk, then pour the mixture into the dry ingredients.
Stir with a stiff spoon or spatula juuuuuust until the dough comes together. If you over-mix, you will have hard cinnamon rolls. Then, to quote Dave & Sarah, everyone will laugh at you. And we can’t have that.
Gently kneed 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″ pans. MAKE SURE YOU GREASE THEM FIRST! If you don’t, you’ll be sorry! 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 ice, ice,
BABY!
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No Yeast Required Cinnamon Rolls
Description
No Yeast Required Cinnamon Rolls are pillowy and sweet, and require no yeast to make them!Â
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:
- 3oz 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
This recipe is courtesy of Iowa Girl Eats, http://iowagirleats.com.
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!
Ok, ok – bakers – please don’t get angry with me. There is definitely something to be said about baking with yeast. It’s very rewarding, and I’m not giving it up for good (I still need to try and make homemade bread!) it’s just that – if you don’t have a machine or anything, it takes time.
So if you get a craving for warm, fresh cinnamon rolls that needs to be squashed NOW, then you need to make these!
~~~~~
Do you prefer to cook or bake (or just eat!)?
I think I get more tickled about baking – as in seeing something look one way when it goes into the oven and seeing it transformed into something completely different when it comes out – but I love the fun of being able to throw this, that and the other into a pan without having to measure, and calling it dinner!
Seiriah 01.20.2017
I was looking at every picture and the recipe but I was not able to find the max time spent on these… Anyone know? Sorry if I missed it. Not the best eyes.
Julia 12.21.2016
I just have to tell you, this is my go to cinnamon roll recipe! I always come back to it when I want to make cinnamon rolls. I’ve been making these since I was a freshman in college in 2011! Anyway, I make these a few times a year for guests, especially around Christmas, and just had to say thanks and let you know that it never fails to taste AMAZING! :)
Kristin 12.27.2016
Love it, Julia! So wonderful that it’s a keeper for you, and that you’ve been making them for so many years. Thanks for sharing! :)
Anna Pyers 12.19.2016
I am a baker, that is my college major. i decided to make christmas breakfast for my family and I really do not want to deal with the irritating yeast, I will try this and hope it works
shoni 09.22.2016
can you sub buttermilk for regular milk?
Kristin 09.22.2016
Hi Shoni! I haven’t tried that swap myself so unfortunately I can’t say for sure if it’d work the same!
rainysunshine 05.19.2016
I just baked this today using all the same ingredients and following all the instructions…but it came out bad! batter is so wet & sticy that it stick into my rolling pin, very difficult to roll. i ended up spreading it with a spatula. the taste is like a cinnamon biscuit…. not the cinnamon roll that im expecting. it’s either because of how/what i did or must be the recipe.
Lexie 03.29.2016
Can I make these the night before and then keep them in the fridge overnight? Also, how long do you think the dough would be able to stay in the fridge before cooking? Planning a weekend visit but I will not be able to bring my mixer with me so I wanted to make these ahead of time and cook them there! Thank you
Kristin 03.30.2016
Hi Lexie! I haven’t personally tried this, but I think it would work just fine. Will you come back and let us know how it goes?
Liz 03.03.2016
1) can you place them in the fridge over night for convenience sake to bake them in the morning 2) do you have a favorite buttermilk substitute you can recommend!
Freya 02.02.2016
Hi Kristin, this is Belgium (Europe) calling! ;) I was wondering if you could use self rising flour instead of the all purpose kind, the baking powder and soda. Do you need to make any other adjustments to the amounts of flour, milk etc? Love the recipe!
Amy mcnitt 12.17.2015
Hi! Just made the no yeast required Cinnamon rolls and they are amazing btw! Is there any way that you could make these ahead of time? Would they be ok to put in the frig the night before and cook the next morning?
Kristin 12.20.2015
Hi Amy! I haven’t tried but I tend to think it would work if tightly covered with saran wrap and refrigerated overnight!
Patti Linnane 11.20.2015
Is there any way to prep these ahead of time or make part-way and freeze? I want to do these for day after T-giving brunch
Kristin 11.23.2015
Hi Patti! I haven’t tried prepping or making these ahead of time, but it could work! Let me know if you give it a try!
Hilary 08.09.2015
Loved these. Had to add quite a bit more flour (1/4 cup or so I’d estimate) to get the dough past the “so sticky it sticks to every surface” stage, but after that they rolled up very nicely and are bubbling away in the oven. Thank you! :)
Kathleen Cole 07.27.2015
I got up early like my european grandma and had to finally try this recipe. Oh my!!! Talk about perfection. I cant keep my hands out of these rolls. And your so right..what a timesaver. I swear its the buttermilk. Everything I make with buttermilk comes out heavenly. Thank you thank you Iowa Girl Eats. I love all your other recipes and seriously funny when your excited about something posts too. That’s me. I love to be a part of the transformation. Making another batch in the a.m. for my work crew. They will think they have gone to heaven or close to it. Bring on the coffee!
Kathleen
Steger, IL
Kristin 07.28.2015
Awesome, Kathleen – this is music to my ears!! Hope you enjoy many more batches to come! :)
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MsPieceofPie 03.24.2015
This recipe is so great. Easy to bake. And my whole family love it.
Rachel 02.28.2015
I made these a couple of days ago and wanted to provide some quick feedback.
First, I LOVED these. I’m always one to grab for a can of Pillsbury rolls because they’re tasty and easy, but this was pretty worth the small bit of added effort.
I split mine between two 8″ round cake pans and just spaced them evenly in the pans (they weren’t touching). This had three effects: they had room to expand, the outsides were a little crunchy, and (best part) the spilled cinnamon filling oozed out onto the metal pan and crystallized. So delicious.
I froze one of the pans because I was just making them for my husband and myself. I lined the pan with foil and placed the whole thing in the freezer so I could remove the rolls/foil packet if I needed the pan before I got around to baking them. This morning I made them. I just set them out at room temp for about an hour and a half and then baked them. There was no difference in taste, consistency, etc.–they baked up exactly as they did the first time.
Thanks for the recipe!
Syd 02.22.2015
These cinnamon rolls look absolutely delicious!! Quick question though, with the cream cheese used in the icing will it make the icing taste bitter or too cheesy? What cream cheese would you recommend using?
Kristin 02.22.2015
Regular Philadelphia works great!
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Julie 12.22.2014
These looked so delicious so I just made some this morning! My results did not come out as pretty. My dough was extremely sticky. It wouldn’t hardly roll out for me, then when I went to put them in the pan they just fell apart. When I went to take them out at 15 minutes they were still doughy. Any ideas what I did wrong??
Thanks!
Kristin 12.23.2014
Hi Julie! I usually add a bit more flour if the dough is sticky. Putting it in the refrigerator to firm up a bit would help, too!