These cinnamon rolls don’t require any yeast or proofing and are easier to make than traditional cinnamon rolls. They are soft and flaky, with swirls of gooey cinnamon sugar filling, and topped with cream cheese icing.
I don’t make cinnamon rolls from scratch often because they are a lot of work. But these cinnamon rolls are much easier than traditional ones. I’ve made half a dozen batches this week to perfect them.
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder aluminum-free
- Granulated white sugar
- Salt
- Unsalted butter cubed
- Plain Greek yogurt
- Large egg yolks
- Vanilla extract
- Light brown sugar
- Cinnamon
- Melted unsalted butter melted
- Water
- Cream cheese
- Unsalted butter
- Powdered sugar
- Milk as needed
If you want a low-carb recipe, I also have a keto cinnamon rolls recipe you might like to try.
No Yeast Cinnamon Rolls
Because this recipe doesn’t use yeast and doesn’t allow the dough to proof, the end result won’t be the same as classic cinnamon rolls. However, they are still delicious.
The exterior of the rolls have a firmness to them similar to biscuits. The inside is flaky, soft and sweet.
However, this recipe is not quite as biscuit-like as some of the other no yeast cinnamon roll recipes out there. The few recipes I tried resulted in a dry biscuit texture that reminded me too much of canned biscuit dough. Those versions tasted fine but if I’m going through the trouble of making something completely from scratch, I need it to taste better than premade dough I can buy.
Greek Yogurt
One of the key differences in this dough compared to many other no yeast doughs I’ve tried is that it contains Greek strained yogurt. Greek yogurt keeps the dough moist and soft. I used nonfat Greek yogurt but I think low fat and full fat should work as well. You do need to make sure to remove any water or moisture from the Greek yogurt before using it.
No Yeast Dough Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375°F and line the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add the butter and then use your hands to work the butter into the flour mixture until it looks like coarse crumbs.
In a small mixing bowl, whisk the yogurt, egg yolks, and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until a dough forms.
Use your hands to knead the dough until it’s evenly combined. The dough should only be a little sticky.
Place a large piece of parchment paper on a work surface. Place the dough on top and roll it a little bigger than a 12×16″ rectangle. If the dough is sticking, lightly flour the rolling pin.
Cinnamon Sugar Filling
In a medium bowl, combine light brown sugar, cinnamon, melted butter, water. Mix until a smooth paste forms.
Using a spatula, spread cinnamon sugar on top of the dough leaving about a 1/2 inch border around the edges. Try your best to spread the filling as evenly as possible. It will start to dry our and harder to spread as you continue working it.
Rolling and Baking
Starting from the long end of the dough, roll it up tightly like a jelly roll. Slice off the uneven ends with a serrated knife. Then slice the roll into 12 equal-sized pieces. I Use a ruler to make them all the same. Wipe your knife blade after each slice to keep the cuts clean.
Place the rolls in the prepared baking dish. Bake the cinnamon rolls for about 30 minutes or until they are golden brown.
Cream Cheese Frosting/Icing
Combine the cream cheese, butter, and powdered sugar into a mixing bowl and mix at high speed until the mixture is smooth.
Add the milk, one tablespoon at a time, to thin the icing until it reaches your desired consistency. If you prefer a very thin, glaze-like icing, you can use just half of the icing recipe to yield enough glaze for your rolls.
Spread icing over the tops of your cinnamon rolls after they have cooled.
Make Ahead and Storage Tips
What I like about this yeast-free cinnamon rolls recipe is that you can make the dough and assemble the rolls the night before. Place them in the baking dish, cover them tightly, and then you can bake them in the morning.
You can store the baked rolls at room temperature for a day or so. To extend their shelf life, store them in the refrigerator.
More No Yeast Recipes
No Yeast Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Cinnamon Roll Dough
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ tbsp baking powder aluminum-free
- 6 tbsp granulated white sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter cubed
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 tsp vanilla
Cinnamon Sugar Filling
- 1 ¼ cup light brown sugar
- 1 ½ tbsp cinnamon
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter melted
- 1 tbsp water
Cream Cheese Icing
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- milk as needed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Line the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl add flour, baking powder, sugar, salt. Whisk until evenly combined.
- Add in butter. Using your hands, crumble the butter into the flour until the flour looks like coarse crumbs.
- In a small bowl, whisk together yogurt, egg yolks and vanilla. Add wet mixture to the flour bowl. Make sure to use a spatula to scrape your bowl to get all of the yogurt egg mixture because otherwise your dough will be too dry.
- Stir wet ingredients into flour until a dough forms. Use your hands to knead the dough a few times until all the ingredients are evenly combined. The dough should only be slightly sticky.
- Line your rolling surface with a large sheet of parchment paper (slightly bigger than 12 x 16 inches). Place your dough on top of the parchment paper and roll it out to a 12 x 16 rectangle. If the dough is sticking to your rolling pin, you can lightly flour it. It is okay if your rectangle does not have straight edges, a free form rectangle is fine. You should try to roll slightly beyond the 12 x 16 so that you can trim off the ends later.
- In a medium bowl, combine cinnamon sugar ingredients. Mix until a smooth paste forms.
- Using a spatula, spread cinnamon sugar across the dough, leaving about 1/2 inch around the edges free. Try your best to spread the filling as evenly as possible across the dough. The filling will start to get dry and harder to spread as you continue working it.
- Starting from the long 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 12 same-sized rolls (Use a ruler to make them all the same). Wipe your blade after each slice to keep the cuts clean.
- Place rolls into prepared baking pan. Bake for about 30 minutes or until rolls are golden brown.
- While rolls are cooling, make your icing. Combine cream cheese, butter and powdered sugar into a mixing bowl and mix on high speed until smooth. Add milk, one tablespoon at a time, to thin out icing until it reaches your desired consistency. If you prefer a very thin, glaze-like icing, you can use just half of the icing recipe to yield enough glaze for your rolls. Spread icing over the tops of your rolls after they have cooled.
Notes
- Dough slightly adapted from Bigger Bolder Baking
- I used nonfat Greek yogurt but other varieties of greek yogurt should work. Make sure to remove any water/moisture from your yogurt before using.
- If your dough is too sticky, you can lightly flour the surface and rolling pin. Be careful not to use too much flour as it will make the dough dry.
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.
