This shortcut recipe for quick no yeast cinnamon rolls makes buttery, homestyle rolls that fluff up beautifully—and in record time! Since you’re skipping the yeast, you can also skip the traditional dough rising and kneading and have cinnamon rolls in about 40 minutes. They’re perfect for the times you crave homemade cinnamon rolls, and don’t want to wait!
You know when you wake up and think, “I wish I could have homemade cinnamon rolls right now,” and then you remember you have to wait a million hours for dough to rise and you cry into your boring bowl of cereal? …No? Just me?
I’ve been on a quest to develop a recipe for quick cinnamon rolls that maintain all the flavor and fluff without the patience and work that yeast requires. (Because, in reality, I’m tired but still want to bake something. LOL.) My homemade cinnamon rolls take about 4 and 1/2 hours, or need to be prepped the night before. Even my easy cinnamon rolls require patience, rising, and kneading.
So if you want from-scratch cinnamon rolls NOW, make today’s no yeast version.
These No Yeast Cinnamon Rolls Are:
- Convenient if you’re busy and tired but still want homemade cinnamon rolls.
- Ready in less than 45 minutes.
- Soft, fluffy, and buttery.
- NOT dense! Surprisingly not dense at all!
- Packed with sweet brown sugar and cinnamon spice.
- Slathered with tangy cream cheese icing.
- Perfect as a special breakfast without all the work and waiting.
Plus, there’s NO kneading, NO rising, and the dough comes together in just 1 bowl. And you can bake them in a pie dish, cake pan, or even as cinnamon roll muffins. This recipe is dynamite.
Key Ingredients & Why This Recipe Works
I used my easy cinnamon rolls dough as the starting point for today’s no yeast version. It’s a popular recipe and I knew it would be perfect as the foundation. From there, I made the following changes:
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda: Since we’re skipping yeast, we need to replace it with another leavener. (Unless you want to eat cinnamon hockey pucks for breakfast!) I tried the dough with only baking powder at first, but quickly learned the dense rolls benefitted from a little baking soda as well. With the crutch of baking soda, the next batch browned a little nicer and fluffed up more.
- More Melted Butter: Like my chocolate chip cookies, this recipe excels with melted butter! The melted butter helps create a chewy bread-like texture, plus it seeps into every nook and cranny so you can really taste the buttery goodness. Compared with my regular cinnamon rolls recipe, I added a little extra butter for more flavor.
- Cold Buttermilk: Since we’re using a little baking soda, we need an acid in the dough. Buttermilk does the job, plus it also adds a little tang, a little fluff, and a little softness. (Like it does in pancakes!) And grab the buttermilk right from the refrigerator because cold milk keeps the otherwise soft and buttery dough workable.
Baking soda, melted butter, and buttermilk are also key ingredients in my no yeast bread recipe.
After a few trials and errors, I was shocked with the final result. These no yeast cinnamon rolls taste similar to the yeasted version and only took me about 40 minutes total. Obviously they’re not as flaky and doughy as the traditional, but I don’t think anyone would EVER notice or complain that there’s no yeast. (My 10+ taste testers ooh’d and ahh’d without batting an eye!)
Here are all of the ingredients you need for the dough & filling:
How to Make Quick No Yeast Cinnamon Rolls
You can go from craving to eating warm, gooey from-scratch cinnamon rolls in record time. Here’s how my recipe works:
- Make the dough: Whisk the dry ingredients together, then add in the wet ingredients. The dough should be quite soft, but not overly sticky.
- Shape the cinnamon rolls: Roll the dough into a 10×14-inch rectangle. This measurement doesn’t need to be exact, so don’t stress. Spread butter on top and then sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar. Tightly roll up the dough and cut into 12 pieces. Place in a greased pan.
- Bake: Bake until the rolls puff up and look golden brown, about 22–26 minutes.
- Make the icing: While the cinnamon rolls bake, make the icing using cream cheese, butter, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla extract.
- Eat: Slather the icing on your warm cinnamon rolls and enjoy!
Here are step-by-step photos so you know what to expect:
The assembly steps are exactly like regular cinnamon rolls, only without the rise time.
Before cutting, you can mark the 14-inch log with a knife to ensure you have 12 even rolls. That’s what I usually do:
Success Tip: Expect a Soft Dough
Do not incorporate more flour than you need in this dough. I want you to embrace a soft dough. Instead of mixing more flour INTO the dough to make it workable, use extra flour when shaping the rolls. If the dough is sticking to your counter and rolling pin as you work, dust it all with more flour.
Bottom line: Mixing in more flour than you need could result in crumbly, dense rolls. Instead, use it when assembling the rolls.
Cream Cheese Frosting
This cream cheese icing uses a little more butter and a little less confectioners’ sugar than the icing I typically use on cinnamon rolls. But I love that it doesn’t use gobs of confectioners’ sugar; it’s a nice creamy, buttery, tangy blanket for your rolls. You could also try the maple version used on these pumpkin cinnamon rolls, or for a simpler topping, try this vanilla icing instead.
Can I Bake These as Cinnamon Roll Muffins?
Yes! If you love the slightly crusty, chewy exterior of a cinnamon roll that’s been baked closest to the edge of the pan, try baking these no yeast cinnamon rolls as muffins. After cutting your 12 rolls, place them in a greased standard 12-count muffin pan. Each roll gets that crusty edge all the way around, and they puff up beautifully when they bake. Such a fun recipe!
If you ever need an even quicker and easier option, these mini (no yeast) cinnamon buns use packaged crescent dough.
And if you’re on a roll (ha!), try these cinnamon roll cookies too. 😉
See Your No Yeast Cinnamon Rolls!
Many readers tried this recipe as part of a baking challenge! Feel free to email or share your recipe photos with us on social media. 🙂
Print
Quick No Yeast Cinnamon Rolls
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 12
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This shortcut recipe yields a dozen classic, homestyle cinnamon rolls that fluff up beautifully—without any yeast, kneading, or rise time. They’re perfect for the times you crave homemade cinnamon rolls, and don’t want to wait!
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 and 3/4 cups (345g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more as needed for rolling
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup (180ml) buttermilk, cold*
- 5 Tablespoons (71g) unsalted butter, melted & slightly cooled
Filling
- 3 Tablespoons (43g) unsalted butter, extra softened
- 1/3 cup (67g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
Cream Cheese Icing
- 4 ounces (113g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) butter, softened to room temperature
- 2/3 cup (80g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and grease a round 9-inch pie dish or 9-inch cake pan. (See Notes for muffin pan instructions.) For extra buttery rolls, I like to grease the baking dish with 1–2 teaspoons of melted butter instead of non-stick spray.
- Make the dough: Whisk the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Add the egg, buttermilk, and melted butter. Mix with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until a dough forms. Dough will be very soft and slightly sticky. If it’s too sticky and wouldn’t roll, add more flour, 1 Tablespoon at a time, until dough seems workable. Do not add more flour than you need; a soft dough is good.
- Place dough on a floured work surface and, using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll dough into a 10×14-inch (25x35cm) rectangle.
- Fill the rolls: Spread softened butter (the softer it is, the easier it is to spread!) all over the dough. Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together. Sprinkle all over the top. Roll it up tightly into a 14-inch log. Using a very sharp knife, cut into 12 rolls; each roll is slightly wider than 1 inch. Arrange rolls in the prepared pan.
- Bake the rolls: Bake for 22–26 minutes, until lightly browned around the edges. If you notice the tops are getting too brown too quickly, loosely tent the pan with aluminum foil and continue baking. If you want to be precise about their doneness, their internal temperature taken with an instant read thermometer should be around 195–200°F (91–93°C) when done. Remove pan from the oven and place pan on a wire rack as you make the icing. (You can also make the icing as the rolls bake.)
- Make the icing: In a medium bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese on high speed until smooth and creamy. Add the butter and beat until smooth and combined, then beat in the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla until combined. Using a knife or icing spatula, spread the icing over the warm rolls and serve immediately.
- Cover leftover frosted or unfrosted rolls tightly and store at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: If absolutely needed, you can make the dough and assemble the rolls the night before. Cover and refrigerate, then bring to room temperature before baking as directed. The rolls don’t puff up quite as nicely since the baking powder initially activates once wet. For best results, bake right away.
- Freezing Instructions: Baked rolls can be frozen for up to 2–3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and warm up before enjoying.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9-inch Pie Dish or 9-inch Cake Pan | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Wooden Spoon or Rubber Spatula | Rolling Pin | Cooling Rack | Icing Spatula
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk is required for this recipe, but in a pinch you can make your own DIY version of buttermilk if needed. Add 1 teaspoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to a liquid measuring cup. Then add enough whole milk to the same measuring cup until it reaches 3/4 cup. Stir it around and let sit for 5 minutes. The homemade “buttermilk” will be somewhat curdled and ready to use in the recipe.
- Cinnamon Roll Muffins: You can bake these rolls in a greased standard 12-count muffin pan. No need for muffin liners. Bake time is about 20 minutes.
- Icing Alternatives: If cream cheese isn’t your favorite, you could top the rolls with vanilla icing, the brown sugar icing from these pumpkin donuts, maple icing from maple cinnamon rolls, or even the caramel icing from apple cinnamon rolls. Lots of options!
This recipe is super easy and fast as well as delicious! I will definitely be making these again!
Can I make these gluten-free?
i am gluten free and am going to make theese now i will let you know how it goes if i remember
Made these! So delicious!
such a good receipe, but if i need to substitute baking soda, i either use self rising flour that is baking soda free, or potassium bicarbonate and salt, 1/4 tsp of salt to every potassium
bicarbonate. as some clients i have can not have baking soda, and this seems to work ok. but becareful of not using to much salt., as you will taste it, so i usually cut back on it. i have heard club soda works also as you use this in place of the liquid and work fast havent used it may . i was told and looked it up that substitute 1/4 cup club soda for an equal amount, 1/4 cup, of the liquid called for in the recipe. works but one has to work fast an put the product in the oven so the bubbles work. must try this.
What about high altitude instructions?? No one ever gives these an I live in Colorado, and my recipes from KC, MO, did not work moving here; I had to work with them over time.
Hi Phyllis, I wish we could help, but have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
What can I sub for baking soda? Or do I need it?
Hi Sims, without yeast in the dough, we need leaveners to help the dough rise. We actually tested the dough with only baking powder at first, but quickly learned the dense rolls benefitted from a little baking soda as well. So, we do not recommend leaving it out.
Is it possible to makes these in a waffle pan?
Hi Elza, you could certainly try reheating them in a waffle pan, but we haven’t tried it for the initial bake. We’d recommend making them in a pan as written and then reheating them for cinnamon roll waffles. Let us know what you try.
These are great! I make them often and they taste amazing!
These came out just right, the texture was even better than some regular cinnamon roll recipes I’ve tried.
I made this with my friend and we loved it so much. It was so fun to make and we made it GF. The cream cheese frosting was so good. I would just say one thing for next time: I think we needed to add more of the cinnamon sugar filling. Thanks for the recipe! Will be making this again 🙂
Hi can I use regular milk in place of the butter milk?
Hi Iris, buttermilk is required for this recipe, but in a pinch you can make your own DIY version of buttermilk if needed. See recipe Notes for details!
Loved this easy recipe. My Husband is gluten and dairy free! I used King Arthur’s Measure to Measure! They are wonderful! I didn’t use the cream cheese in the frosting just left it out and used a little milk to make more of a thin butter cream! Delicious! I also didn’t have buttermilk so I used Almond milk with lemon juice. They’re so very good! Thank you for an easy recipe that can be made for everyone even with dietary restrictions!
Hi Sally… Starting 2024 with a cinnamon roll is my hope for a better new year! First time making these and the family gave them 2 thumbs up! While they are not as fluffy as a yeasted roll, they have the texture of cinnamon bread and a delicious taste. Dough was soft and workable..came together quickly. I added cinnamon to the dough and increased the filling sugar to 1/2C.. 26 min was perfect. Glaze makes alot so I served the extra on the side. Great idea for a recipe like this because it’s do-able for any morning without all the prepping of a yeasted roll. There’s room for both in my book!
Happy New Year!