These easy fluffy cinnamon rolls use a dough that needs just 2 ingredients and tastes like banana bread. The dough does not require any yeast. This dish is a combination of two delicious breakfast favorites rolled into one. The rolls are soft and fluffy and filled with cinnamon sugar.
I love making cinnamon rolls for a special brunch occasion but they can often be time consuming. These rolls are not. The dough only needs 2 ingredients and doesn’t require any yeast. I also love that these rolls are banana bread flavored so it’s like combining two baked goods into one.
Ingredients
- Dough:
- Self-rising flour
- Bananas
- Filling:
- Cinnamon
- Sugar
- Butter
Self-rising flour: Self-rising flour is flour that already has baking powder and salt added to it. The baking powder contained in the self-rising flour is what is going to allow the bread to rise. If you don’t have self-rising flour, you can also make your own by combining all purpose flour, baking powder and salt.
Bananas: You will need very ripe bananas for the dough. The bananas are pureed before being used.
Ground cinnamon, regular granulated sugar and unsalted softened butter are used to form a cinnamon sugar paste that is added to the dough for the cinnamon roll filling.
How to Make Banana Bread Cinnamon Rolls
- The flour and pureed bananas are first mixed together until a dough forms. The dough is placed into the fridge for about 20 minutes so that it becomes firm enough to roll out.
- While the dough is chilling, make the filling. Mix together the cinnamon and sugar. Then add in the softened butter and mix until a soft paste forms.
- When the dough is ready, roll it out into a rectangle. Then spread the filling over the dough. Roll up the dough and cut rolls with a sharp knife. Place rolls into your prepared baking pan and then they are ready to go in the oven and bake.
- When the rolls are done you can spread icing on top or you can leave them plain.
Texture and Sweetness
These rolls have a soft and fluffy texture. The rolls taste like banana bread mixed with cinnamon and sugar. They really are the perfect combination of banana bread and cinnamon rolls. The rolls are already sweet by themselves so the icing isn’t needed but if you love your cinnamon rolls with icing, you can definitely add it.
More Banana Recipes
2 Ingredient Banana Bread Dough Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Cinnamon roll dough
- 1 cup (242 g) pureed bananas
- 2 cups (257 g) self-rising flour see note before starting
Filling
- 6 tbsp (85 g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (82 g) packed light brown sugar
- 2 tsp (6 g) cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease an 8-inch round baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, add in banana puree and flour. Use a spatula to scrape the sides of your measuring cup to release the puree stuck to the sides of your measuring cup to ensure all the banana ends up in the bowl. Use spatula to mix the banana puree into the flour. Continue to stir until a dough forms. If needed, knead a few times to make a cohesive dough.
- Transfer to the fridge until chilled and firm enough to roll out, about 20 minutes.
- While the dough chills, make the filling. In a small bowl, stir together the softened butter, brown sugar and cinnamon until evenly combined and a smooth paste forms. Set aside.
- Once the dough has chilled, lightly sprinkle your work surface with flour. Add the dough and roll out into an approximate 9x12 inch rectangle, about ½-cm thick.
- Using a spatula, spread cinnamon sugar across the dough in an even layer.
- Starting from the short end of the dough, roll it up tightly to form a log. Using a serrated bread knife, first slice off the uneven ends. Then slice log into 7 same-sized rolls (use a ruler to make them all the same). Wipe your blade after each slice to keep the cuts clean.
- Transfer the cinnamon rolls to the prepared baking pan. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until rolls are puffy and a light golden brown around the edges. Let rolls cool a little before eating. If desired, you can spread icing on top of the rolls before serving.
Notes
- You can use a solid 8 inch cake pan or a springform pan. If using a springform pan, I recommend putting it on a baking sheet because some of the filling may leak through during baking.
- The 1 cup of bananas is measured after they are pureed. You will need 3-4 bananas.
- Self-rising flour: There are 2 main kinds of self-rising flour sold in the US. One that is a lower protein flour (2 grams per 1/4 cup serving) and one that has a regular amount of protein or the same protein amount that is in all purpose flour (3 grams per 1/4 cup). Brands like King Arthur Flour and White Lily make the low protein flour. Brands like Gold Medal* and Amazon Fresh* contain a regular protein amount. The amount of protein affects how much liquid is absorbed. For this recipe, a regular protein self-rising flour was used. If you have a self-rising flour with low protein, I recommend you make the homemade self-rising flour below for this recipe because otherwise your dough will be too sticky. We did try making this with low protein self-rising flour and it did not work well.
- *This product link is an affiliate link. This means I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
- Homemade self-rising flour: Combine 2 cups of all purpose flour, 3 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt. Whisk to evenly combine.
- You do want to work quickly once the dough is out of the fridge so that it doesn't get too soft. If you find your dough is too soft to cut, you can put it back into the fridge for a few minutes to firm up again.
- Optional Icing:
- 1 cup (100 g) powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) whole milk
- 1 tablespoon (14 g) melted butter and slightly cooled
- Whisk together the powdered sugar, milk and butter until evenly combined. You can add more sugar to make the icing thicker or add more milk to make it thinner.
- Estimated nutrition is for the rolls only and does not include icing. Some of the filling does run out of the rolls as they bake so the estimated nutrition is going to be a little higher than the actual amount since it assumes all of the filling is consumed.
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
My dough was really sticky. I had to add a lot of extra flour. Any tips?
It may be the flour you used. If you have a self-rising flour with low protein, I recommend you make the homemade self-rising flour listed in the recipe notes for this recipe because otherwise your dough will be too sticky! You could also try adding some flour to your hands or work surface while rolling the dough out.
Hey! I found this recipe after wanting to use up some Whole Foods cream cheese frosting I had and voila! Your recipe was the perfect balance. I used monk fruit sugar for the rolls since the frosting was full force debauchery! They came out great. I can’t wait to ignore more bananas until they brown in the future! lol
We are so glad you loved this recipe!!
Mouthwatering and easy to make recipes.
thank you!
I make banana bread with oat flour. Do you think this recipe would work with oat flour salt and baking powder ! Those ingredients are already in my banana bread. Would it roll out ok to make your recipe ? My husband is diabetic and I cannot use white flour for this.maz
You could probably get it to work but the amount of oat flour would and baking powder would not be the same
This 2 Ingredient Banana Bread Dough Cinnamon Roll recipe is absolutely MAGICAL! It’s easy to make, faster than yeast rolls, & completely delicious! I used plant butter to make them DF. THANK YOU so much for sharing this!
I’m so glad you liked them!
Excited to try! Any tweaks you’d suggest if using a gluten free flour?
Sorry we haven’t tried working with gluten free flour for this recipe
Perfect combo.so delicious!
So glad you like them!