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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These were delicious and easy! I love yeasty cinnamon rolls, so I was surprised at how little I missed the yeast. I didn’t use all the sugar filling, seemed like too much to fit inside. The clove was a nice subtle touch, and the cream cheese frosting was wonderful. Loved by all.
Made these today, and like so many of your recipes that I’ve tried, I was happy with the results. One suggestion I have, however, is that the ingredients list could be modified to indicate that like the salt, both the butter and the sugar quantities have a divided use. The division of the melted butter became clear after I read through the recipe, but even after reading the recipe, I missed the fact that, although 1/4 cup of sugar was listed, only 3 tablespoons of that quantity was used with the brown sugar. The remaining 1 tablespoon had to be added to the flour mixture. Other than that, the recipe worked well. Warning…you’ll be tempted to eat two of these. Don’t do it!
Great point – I just updated the recipe (so glad you enjoyed them)!
Like the rest of the world, we are spending a lot of time baking these days (something I’ve just never had much patience for). Made these this morning and they were so easy and so delicious – will make anyone a superstar of their house. Followed recipe exactly – try them!
Dear Jenn, can I replace unbleached all-purpose flour with regular all-purpose flour?
I love your recipes, many of them are my family favorites (for example, Banana pancakes, Amish-style bake oatmeal, Chicken Marbella, Homemade naan, Pumpkin bread and many more). Thank you for the fabulous work!:)
So glad you like the recipes! And yes, it’s perfectly fine to use regular all-purpose flour in these. 🙂
Hi Jenn – love your cookbook! I don’t have buttermilk on hand, can I use the milk and vinegar trick? Thanks!
Definitely – and glad you like the cookbook! 🙂
Hello – do you have a weight measurement for dry ingredients (or a conversion table you prefer)? TY
Hi Marcy, If you look in the top right corner of the recipe, you’ll see a button that allows you to toggle between metric and cup measures. Hope that helps!
Hi there,
Should I bake these first and then freeze them? Or can I freeze before baking? Thanks!
Elizabeth
Kamloops, BC.
Hi Elizabeth, I’d bake them first and then freeze. Hope you enjoy!
Delicious – my 14 yr old son made these today. The glaze turned out a bit clumpy b/c of the cream cheese. He said it was soft – so I’m wondering if you know what he should do differentlynext time. Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed them, Jen. Next time, try warming the cream cheese in the microwave for 5 to 10 seconds — that should do the trick.
I made these a couple of years ago and thought they were dry. Today (winter dreary) I found I had 1 cup of buttermilk that I didn’t have a plan for SO I said, “I’ll give this recipe a try again”. I am glad I did! Tender, moist and not TOO sweet PLUS super easy to make. By time yoga practice in the living room was done, so were these little yummies were ready in the kitchen. I think that last time I might have over worked the dough, much like I would with yeast dough. This time I just worked dough until it just “clung” together and then rolled out. Turned out great!
These were delicious although they didn’t turn out perfect. I think I didn’t wrap them tightly enough because the brown sugar mix leaked out of the bottom of the buns quite a bit. They were a little dense (per my husband)- is it possible that I overdid it on the kneading? Despite these hiccups they were so good and I’m looking forward to making them again. 5 stars because I think this has the potential to be excellent (if you don’t make the same mistakes I did). Oh btw I didn’t have cloves (& refused to purchase a $10 spice that I never use) so I ended up using allspice instead-seemed to be a good swap.
Side note- I liked the glaze but felt there wasn’t enough. Maybe that’s just my sweet tooth talking or the fact that I lost some of that brown sugar gooey goodness to the bottom of the pan. Either way I might add a bit more cream cheese and buttermilk next time to increase the amount of glaze (possibly a couple of tbsp extra confectioners sugar too).
Hi Susie, Glad you enjoy them! Yes, overworking the dough can cause the rolls to be a little dense. Although keep in mind that these are not as light and airy as yeasted cinnamon rolls.
Made these for the second time yesterday as a Christmas breakfast. They were amazing. I also loved that the glaze wasn’t gritty which is a problem that I usually have. Thank you!
Thank you for brightening our Christmas morning – these were perfect!!!!
We made them with the kids today and had fun making and eating them. They were good, although a bit too hard for my taste. Are they supposed to be soft? Maybe I should bake them for a shorter period of time or at a lower temperature next time?
Hi Olga, They should be soft; try baking for less time next time.