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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Comments
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Hi Jenn,
How do you measure tablespoons of butter or cream cheese if it is not marked down on the package. Do you measure after it is melted?
Thanks,
Nargiza
Hi Ngariza, for the butter, I would recommend softening it instead of fully melting it, and then using a measuring spoon to measure out the amount you need. Regarding the cream cheese, you can use a measuring spoon as well. (If you coat the measuring spoon with a tiny bit of cooking spray, it will release more easily.)
This is a very nice easy recipe. The only thing I would mention is to leave the cloves out. Even the small amount called for is quite noticeable. I dislike cloves so that ruined the first batch I made for me. Otherwise, this recipe is one I’ll use often in the future.
Hi Jen,
If I wanted to make these ahead of time, could I roll and wrap the log in the evening and bake in the morning or do you think the filling would get pasty? I look forward to trying these!
Every time I try a new recipe, my kids first ask, “Is this from your favorite lady?!” 🙂
Best,
Veronique
Please ignore the above question. I just read some of the other reviews and you answered already. Thank you.
Absolutely delicious. My family would not comment because I’m a diabetic but, as usual, after they were devoured they couldn’t stop raving about them. And after everyone left for work, I stole one. I had no confectioners sugar so made a frosting out of cream cheese, milk and maple syrup.
Hi Jenn! Can everything be made the night before and baked off in the morning? Should it come to room temp first? Or would you not recommend that? Thanks!!
Hi Renee, Unfortunately, these cannot be prepared ahead of time because they won’t rise properly. Sorry!
I just tried making these and they turned out great! Thank you so much for an easy homemade recipe! My kids loved them! I will definitely make these again! Thanks!
Hi,
I made this cinnamon rolls this morning to surprise my hubby since he loves these kind of rolls; they turned out ok; However, I had a few problems with the procedure, I was doing fine (I think) until I had to roll them into a log, it was so sticky it adhered to the counter so I had to put more flour so that I could roll it (I had to force it literally). Also, after I cut them, every piece was kind of soggy and it was hard to press them down so that they could have the shape of a cinnamon roll. After cooking them for 23 minutes, they were a little bit burned on top and the inside was a little soggy, I even thought they were still raw but they weren’t. What did I do wrong? I am new in making these kind of rolls and I really want to learn how to make them right 🙁 Thank you in advance.
Sorry to hear you struggled with these Rita! I’m wondering if maybe you mis-measured the flour and didn’t use enough. Also, was your rack set to the middle spot in your oven? If not, they may have baked a bit unevenly.
Have never made cinnamon buns without yeast, so I was intrigued. You weren’t kidding about quick!
These turned out really well. Enjoyed the cream cheese glaze. Will definitely make these again, when I don’t want to make the yeasty ones.
My all time favourite cinnamon buns are made with Yukon gold potatoes. Are time consuming, but worth it.
http://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/cooking-tips/article/yukon-gold-cinnamon-rolls
These were incredible! Better than anything we can purchase locally. SCRUMPTIOUS!
Also, they are wonderful with snicker ice cream!
I made these today in a spelt, dairy-free version (due to allergies) and my kids and I loved them! My 6 year old wanted me to send you a message thanking you, and even reminded me as she was tucked into bed.
Hi Ruthia. Can I ask about the spelt subsitute, did you keep the measurements the same? Thanks. Col