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.
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
Awesome, Kathleen – this is music to my ears!! Hope you enjoy many more batches to come! :)
This recipe is so great. Easy to bake. And my whole family love it.
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!
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?
Regular Philadelphia works great!
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!
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!
So, this post is a few years old so you may not see this, but I made these on Wednesday and they were amazing! Store bought cinnamon rolls have always been a holiday tradition in my family and this year, I decided to make them from scratch. They were a huge hit! I definitely linked the recipe on my blog because it was too good not to share!
I made these yummy Cinnamon rolls from scratch this morning. They tasted kinda like biscuits but who cares. They were delicious! Another round of Cinnamon biscuits, please. :-)
Sorry, extra 5 min in the oven!
Made these about a month ago. Pretty yummy, for not a lot of work! Will be making them again in the near future! Also, I made them the night before, then just baked an extra 15min in the morning.
Have you ever tried freezing these? Only my husband and I to feed so was thinking I would freeze half the rolls for a later time.
I haven’t – has anyone else?
I just made these and they turned out great! It was a little difficult for me at first because I’ve never made cinnamon rolls before but your pictures really helped. I will definitely be making these again!
I just made this! it turned out beautiful!
Thank you so much!
<3
I am trying to make these tonight they look so good! The dough is really sticky.. I can’t get it to knead into a ball it just sticks to my hands. I have added extra flour but dont want to add too much. I just put the dough in the fridge so will see if that helps.