Quick No-Yeast Cinnamon Rolls
Biscuit dough rolled and filled the same way as yeasted buns — on the table in about 40 minutes.
Makes 10 rolls · Prep 15 min · Bake 20 min
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 cups All-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp Baking powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 2 tbsp Granulated sugar
- 6 tbsp Cold butter, cubed
- 3/4 cup Milk, cold
Filling
- 3 tbsp Butter, softened
- 1/2 cup Brown sugar, packed
- 1 1/2 tbsp Ground cinnamon
Icing
- 3/4 cup Icing (powdered) sugar
- 2 tbsp Milk
Instructions
Prep
- Heat the oven to 200°C (400°F) and grease a 9-inch round pan.
Dough
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar together, then cut in the cold butter until it looks like coarse crumbs.
- Stir in the milk just until a soft dough forms. (Tip: Same rule as any biscuit dough — stop mixing the moment it holds together, or it bakes up tough instead of tender.)
Shape
- Pat or roll into a rough 12x9 inch rectangle, spread with softened butter, and sprinkle with the brown sugar and cinnamon.
- Roll up from the long edge and slice into 10 pieces. Arrange cut-side up in the pan.
Bake
- Bake until golden and a skewer in the centre comes out clean.
Icing
- Whisk the icing sugar and milk together and drizzle over the warm rolls.
Tips
- Manage expectations on texture: These are closer to a cinnamon-swirl scone than a yeasted bakery roll — denser, with less of that pull-apart softness. That's the trade for skipping the hour-plus rise, not a sign anything went wrong.
- Keep the butter cold: Same principle as biscuits: cold butter cut into visible pieces melts in the oven and creates steam pockets that keep this tender. Warm butter just makes it dense.