Quick & Easy Cinnamon Buns
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Make delicious, soft cinnamon buns in no time with this easy, no-yeast recipe! Perfect for a last-minute breakfast treat—no rising time required.
I love traditional cinnamon rolls and sticky buns, but they require advanced planning and hours of rising time. I don’t know about your family, but when my kids request cinnamon buns for breakfast, they want them five minutes ago—not later in the day! That’s where this quick and easy cinnamon bun recipe comes in. Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated, it uses a fast buttermilk biscuit dough leavened with baking powder rather than yeast, so there’s no need to wait for the dough to rise. The result? Tender, golden, caramelized cinnamon buns that are as easy as they are delicious!
What You’ll Need To Make Quick & Easy Cinnamon Buns
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1: Make the Filling
Combine the brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and salt in a small bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of melted butter and mix until the mixture resembles wet sand. Set aside.
Step 2: Make the Dough
In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients for the dough. Note that it’s very important to measure the flour using the spoon and level method: spoon it into a measuring cup and level it off with the back edge of a knife. If you scoop it into the measuring cup, you will have too much flour and dry cinnamon buns.
Add the buttermilk and melted butter and stir with a wooden spoon until the liquid is absorbed and the dough looks shaggy.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Dust the dough lightly with flour and knead until the dough is almost smooth.
Step 3: Roll the Dough
Pat the dough into a small rectangle, then roll into a larger 12-inch x 9-inch rectangle. Brush the dough with 1 tablespoon of the melted butter, and then sprinkle the brown sugar topping evenly over top. Press the filling firmly into the dough.
Starting at the long end, roll the dough into a log and pinch the seam. Then cut the log into nine even pieces.
Lightly flatten the rolls with your hand to pack the filling in place.
Arrange the rolls in a 9-inch cake pan lined with buttered aluminum foil, then brush the rolls with the remaining melted butter.
Step 4: Bake
Bake the cinnamon buns for about 25 minutes, until the rolls are golden brown.
Use the foil overhang to transfer the rolls to a cooling rack. Let them sit about 5 minutes, then pull them apart.
Step 5: Glaze
Make the buttermilk glaze by whisking the buttermilk, cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar together in a small bowl.
Drizzle the glaze liberally over the buns and enjoy warm. (These cinnamon buns are best fresh out of the oven, but they can also be stored in an air tight container and reheated with excellent results.)
Note: As mentioned, this recipe is tweaked from Cook’s Illustrated. I found their recipe to be good but tooth-achingly sweet, so I reduced the sugar significantly. I also increased the salt to balance things out a bit. This version also calls for a bit more flour than the original, making the dough easier to work with.
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Quick & Easy Cinnamon Buns
Make delicious, soft cinnamon buns in no time with this easy, no-yeast recipe! Perfect for a last-minute breakfast treat—no rising time required.
Ingredients
For the Cinnamon Buns
For the Brown Sugar Filling
- ⅔ cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
For the dough
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled off with knife, plus more for dusting work surface
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1¼ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1¼ cups low fat buttermilk
- 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, divided
For the Glaze
- 1½ tablespoons cream cheese, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons buttermilk or milk
- ¾ cup confectioners' sugar
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 425°F. Line a 9-inch square cake pan with aluminum foil and brush with one tablespoon butter.
- Combine the brown sugar, 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, cinnamon, cloves and ⅛ teaspoon salt in a small bowl. Add one tablespoon of the melted butter and stir with a fork or fingers until the mixture resembles wet sand. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, remaining tablespoon granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda and 1 teaspoon salt. Add the buttermilk and 3 tablespoons of the melted butter to the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until the liquid is absorbed; the dough will be sticky and shaggy. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Knead, lightly dusting more flour as necessary, until just smooth and no longer shaggy, about 1 minute.
- Lightly dust the surface again. Pat the dough into a small rectangle, then roll into a 12x9-inch rectangle, dusting more flour sparingly if necessary so the dough doesn't stick to the rolling pin. Brush the dough with 1 tablespoon of the melted butter. Sprinkle the dough evenly with the brown sugar filling, leaving a ½-inch border. Using your hand, press the filling firmly into the dough. Starting at the long side, roll the dough, pressing lightly, to form a tight log. (If the dough sticks to the surface, use a sharp knife or dough scraper to release it.) Pinch the seam to seal. Roll the log seam-side down and, using a sharp knife, cut it evenly into 9 pieces. Turn the pieces over on their flat sides, and slightly flatten each piece with your hand to seal the open edges and keep the filling in place. Place the rolls in the prepared pan and brush with the remaining butter. Bake until the edges are golden brown, 23 to 25 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the glaze. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cream cheese and buttermilk until thick and smooth (the mixture will look like cottage cheese at first). Add the confectioners' sugar and whisk until smooth glaze forms.
- When the buns are done, use the foil overhang to lift them out of the baking pan and onto a wire rack. Let cool for 5 minutes, then carefully separate the buns, using a knife if necessary. If you find the buns are sticking a bit to the foil, transfer them to a wire rack. Drizzle the glaze evenly over the buns. The buns are best served warm; leftovers may be stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (9 servings)
- Serving size: 1 bun
- Calories: 389
- Fat: 12 g
- Saturated fat: 7 g
- Carbohydrates: 66 g
- Sugar: 33 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 6 g
- Sodium: 296 mg
- Cholesterol: 31 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I made these for breakfast on Thanksgiving day. I followed the recipe exactly and had no problem with sticky dough. They were easy and delicious!
Very disappointed. Crust comes out white and dry (not golden), tough on the outside and barely cooked inside. Waste of time and ingredients.
I wanted to update my 1star review to 3 stars but unfortunately, I can’t edit nor can I delete the older one. What I did is I put the buns in a container with plastic wrap for 16+hours and they finally became a little softer so my husband liked them. He said they were very good.
Hi Jenn, I’m sat here reading your cinnamon swirl bread recipe in the book which I love already and it only arrived yesterday. 2 questions if I may and they apply to the book in general, when you state eggs do you mean medium or large? And are the oven temperatures for a conventional oven or fan? I’m using fan and my herb & garlic roast potatoes browned much quicker than your cooking time tonight. Thanks as always, Maxine
Hi Maxine, I’m so happy you like the book. My UK readers got it first…we are still waiting here in the States! Eggs are always large and oven temperatures are always conventional, so that explains the potatoes. Hope you were able to salvage them! ❤️
Absolutely I did, just turned the oven down a good bit and cooked the fish earlier, pan roasted cod with garlicky tomatoes & basil (no halibut in my freezer!). I posted a photo on your facebook page. My 11 year old daughter loves cooking too and did most of it. Feel lucky to have your book already and can’t wait make the cinnamon bread, hope it looks as lovely as yours! xx
Such a thrill to see this on Facebook, Maxine – thank you for making my day! Good luck with the cinnamon bread – that’s a fun one to make with the kids. 🙂
Hi Jenn, I’m yet to make the bread but as my girls have a friend over I thought I’d try the quick cinnamon buns. Oh such a shame, I’ve never had a mishap with any of your recipes but these sadly were my first. The dough was extremely wet & sticky and after adding more flour I thought I may have salvaged them but when it came to rolling there was just no hope! So I just picked up lumps off he counter stuck it in tin and baked it anyway. So the flavour was amazing but I would be loathe to try them again for fear of the same thing happening. I wish I knew how some people had perfect results and some far from perfect like me!! Next time I will definitely try the bread from your book! Happy weekend from the UK 😀
So sorry to hear you had a problem with these, Maxine! The dough should be a bit sticky, but you should still be able to work with it. Is there any chance you measured something incorrectly?
These were yummy and fast! Mine cooked in a few minutes less time and had a bit of a crunch around the edges. A great substitute for more time consuming yeast rolls, though I do prefer the yeast dough. My kids were happy.
This is a wonderful modification of the Cooks Illustrated recipe, which I have also tried. You’re right, those rolls are too sweet, but I also found the dough to be way too wet. I ended up adding quite a bit of flour during the kneading process, and although the rolls were still good, they were leaning toward being tough. You’ve added flour to the initial mixture, which took away that wet stickiness and let me knead just the right amount of time. This time, the rolls were soft and tender inside. Fabulous! Thank you!
Can you prepare ahead of time and refrigerate then pop in oven to cook?
Hi Nikki, Unfortunately, these cannot be prepared ahead of time because they won’t rise properly. Sorry!
Just made these – Amazing!!! Added a bit more cream cheese to the icing to make it cheesier. My family couldn’t believe these were homemade!! Thanks for the great recipe. This is the second one of yours that I’ve made – first were the lemon squares. Also amazing!! Love how accurate and detailed your recipes are and love the step-by-step visuals! Can’t wait to make many more!!
Thanks for this! I have made the Cooks Illustrated version many times and agree completely about how sweet they are. Eager to try this!
Made these this morning! Measurements were perfect. Buns browned nicely after the minimum cook time but next time will keep buns in for the extra 2 minutes for the centres. Tasted fabulous. Texture reminds me of ikea cinnamon buns but these are 100 times more flavourful and softer. Will definitely make again. No rise time!!! Note that some ingredients are divided. I put the 1/2 tsp of salt in the filling instead of the 1/8 and ended up making four times the filling for later use. Oh well, shouldn’t be a problem. Thanks for doing all the recipe tweaking for me. This one’s a keeper!
Hi, do these need to be stored in the fridge because of the buttermilk & cream cheese ?
No, not necessary – you can just store them in an airtight container on your kitchen counter. Enjoy