Fastest Cinnamon Rolls
After my recent attempt at non-yeasted cinnamon rolls, I had pretty much determined I would just have to bite the bullet and go the traditional route if I wanted perfect cinnamon rolls. Don’t get me wrong – that Cook’s Illustrated recipe was delicious, but the dough was difficult to work with and the end result wasn’t very pretty. So, I had pretty much stopped looking for that kind of recipe and mentally slotted cinnamon rolls as a “major plan ahead” recipe only.
Then, quite by accident, I ran across a Fine Cooking recipe called Fastest Cinnamon Buns. As previously, my hopes immediately rose. Maybe this cinnamon roll recipe would work better! Without delay, I went home and made it that very night.
I’m happy to report that this cinnamon rolls recipe really does produce excellent, beautiful and delicious rolls without any waiting around for proofing and rising and all that yeasty business. I can see using this dough for lots of variations – pecan encrusted sticky buns, orange cinnamon rolls, apple butter rolls – the options are endless.
Do yourself a favor and try this recipe asap! The dough goes together super quick, is an absolute joy to work with and the end result is deeelish!
adapted from FineCooking.com
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup part skim ricotta cheese (or cottage cheese)
- 1/3 cup low fat buttermilk
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 oz. unsalted butter
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 9 oz. all purpose flour (about 2 cups)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. baking soda
- 3/4 oz. unsalted butter
- 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. ground allspice
- 1/4 tsp. ground cardamom
- 2 ounces mascarpone cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar, or to taste
- 1 tablespoons skim milk, or as needed
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
Heat the oven to 400°F. Grease the sides and bottom of a 8 or 9″ baking pan with cooking spray.
Combine the ricotta cheese, buttermilk, sugar, melted butter, and vanilla in food processor and process until smooth, about 10 seconds. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda and pulse in short bursts just until the dough clumps together (don’t overprocess). The dough will be soft and moist.
Dump the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it with floured hands 4 or 5 times until smooth (it really only takes 4-5 times). With a rolling pin, roll the dough into a 12×15-inch rectangle. I discovered that 12×15 is exactly the size of my flexible plastic cutting board, so that’s a quick and easy way to size it.
Brush the dough with the melted butter, leaving a 1/2-inch border unbuttered around the edges. In a medium bowl, combine brown sugar and spices. Sprinkle the mixture over the buttered area of the dough and press gently into the surface.
Starting at a long edge, roll up the dough jelly-roll style. Pinch the seam to seal, and leave the ends open.
With a sharp knife, cut the roll into equal pieces (I got 8). Set the pieces, cut side up, in the prepared pan; they should fill the pan and touch slightly, but don’t worry if there are small gaps. My pan was too big, so the rolls didn’t fill it up – no big deal, the outer ones leaned over a little, but it was all good.
Bake until golden brown and firm to the touch, 20 to 28 minutes. Set the pan on a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Run a spatula around the inside edge of the pan to loosen the rolls, and transfer them to a serving plate.
In a small bowl, mix the softened mascarpone cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla to make a smooth glaze. Add milk as needed to achieve desired consistency. Spread or drizzle onto warm rolls. Let stand 10 minutes (or as long as you can stand) and serve.
http://www.dontforgetdelicious.com/2009/fastest-cinnamon-rolls/
Nutritional Info calculated with BigOven Recipe Software
| Calories: 374 |
| Fat: 12g, Sat Fat: 8g |
| Fiber: 1g |
| Sugars: 32g |
| Protein: 7g |
Thanks for making my day – I don’t have the patience to mix, knead, proof, waaaaaaaaaaaait, etc. I will give these a try, hopefully this weekend.
WOW – these look phenomenal! thanks for sharing – I can’t wait to try them!
Wowza! Where was *this* recipe when I was heading to friends for Easter brunch and thought cinnamon rolls would be a great thing to bring but googling the recipes told me “no way — way too much trouble”?!
Found you from FoodGawker and am liking the looks of your blog, now firmly bookmarked — I will definitely be back. Thanks for sharing this great-sounding recipe
Joley, Julie, Carroll – thanks for stopping by! Definitely do give these a try, they’re keepers for sure. Let me know how it goes!
Wow, these look great! Can’t wait to try them!
They look awesome and perfect for lazy day.
Those are a great way to start the day!
[...] Again, it’s breakfast time, and this picture is just too amazing. You can see the warmth of the bun itself just by the way the top layer of glaze glistens. Oh, look at me telling you how to look at a picture. Enjoy! (PicThx Don’tForgetDelicious) [...]
Looks amazing!! I am always on the hunt for an easy cinnamon roll! I will make these this weekend. Thanks for sharing! Amazing!
Oh my goodness these look too good for words! I have the biggest soft spot for cinnamon rolls and when I saw the photo on foodieviews I had to visit your blog for the recipe! This is going on my ‘must try’ list!
Great blog!
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[...] from Don’t Forget Delicious! blog. Very quick alternative to classic cinnamon [...]
Holy smoke! I have exactly 3/4 of a cup of ricotta cheese left over from a previous recipe. Now I know what I’m going to do with it. Thanks!
Hey I made them and they were delicious. The icing was so good. I made them the night before i cooked them, the ingredients did separate a little they still came great but I don’t recommend making them the night before I’m sure they would be even better made the morning of. Thanks for a great recipe.
Hey Lauren – thanks for the update! I’m glad you enjoyed them. Hope you’re all having a happy New Year!
I just tried this recipe, and it is absolutely amazing! My boyfriend is a huge cinnamon roll fan and I seriously think I’ll be engaged by the end of the week because of these rolls! Hah! Only kidding (if you’re ready, honey).
I substituted the buttermilk with 2% milk and lemon juice, and cream cheese instead of mascarpone, since that’s a rarity around here.
Thank you so much for this recipe, it’s definitely a fave! And SO easy!
Okay. that was the bomb. My only problem was getting the rolls out of my pan, they all stuck together.. But even their slightly mutilated state, they’re amazing.
Yeah, they can be sticky sometimes! Maybe a little Pam for baking or similar will help next time. Glad you enjoyed them!
Haha i am such a bad cook. I tried to make them and i got the dough pressed out( I figured out that I don’t have a rolling pin) and just as i was about to finish, I found out that we didn’t have cinnimon! So I guess I will just put the dough in the fridge and try again with the cinnamon tomorrow. The dough was good anyways!
Oh no! How terrible, to get those tastebuds all ready and then be denied! You can use a glass as a rolling pin, and it doesn’t *have* to have cinnarmon. Whatever tastes good is the key! The dough should be fine in the fridge, though. Keep trying – it’s worth it! Have fun!
I tried the recipe today but they ended up slightly burnt (after only 12 min in the oven). Though this might be because I used white sugar instead of brown. Happily parts of them remained edible so it wasn’t a complete disaster. Quite delicious once the burned bits were removed. Will definitely give this another go.
Wow, burned after only 12 minutes? You might want to check your oven temperature. That seems awfully quick. You can get an oven thermometer at Walmart or Target, pretty inexpensively, and it will let you know if your actual oven temp is the same as what you have it set for. If it’s off, you’ll know to adjust the setting accordingly. Sorry that didn’t work out for you! Hopefully the second time will be the charm.
If only we had a Walmart here, I live in Romania. I’ll just use a lower temp next time and check them every 5 min. Hopefully the second time will be better
thanks!
Didnt have a food processor so tried it with just an electric mixer for the wet ingredients (cheese still a bit lumpy but worked out fine). Added the dry ingredients and used a spatula to combine. Key here is not to overwork the dough. Try adding a half cup of crushed pecans to the sugar mixture (Mmmm). Used muffin cases and a ten inch springform tin, they seperated much easier when cooked. For the topping try 250g confectioners sugar with three tablespoons of cold milk or lemon juice + 1tsp Vanilla extract, usefull to cut down on the fat a little or if you can’t get Mascarpone.
WOWZA!!!!!!!!!!!! SO AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just made them! I’ve died and gone to heaven. I did make traditional cream cheese frosting though! Perfect snow day breakfast!
This did NOT work. The dough was liquid and it ran through our fingers. 9 oz of flour? try 200 oz. The dough was not “clumping” in any way. we practically dumped and entire thing of flour into the processor and it still would not solidify.
I don’t know why you’d have that result – it’s a soft dough, definitely, but nowhere near liquid. However, I can tell you that doing more mixing with a too liquidy dough won’t stiffen it up, but would probably just make it worse. I would probably have suggested chilling it instead. But, who knows – maybe the humidity was too high or something. Sorry to hear it didn’t work out for you, but thanks for sharing your experience.
How many cups is the 2oz of mascarpone cheese?
PLEASE HELP
Well, it doesn’t always translate exactly since ounce is a weight measurement and cups are a volume measurement. But half a cup is usually about 4 oz, so I guess 2 oz would be approx. 1/4 cup. Hope that helps!
I made these today
SUPERB! Thanks for the recipe
Had only one hour to make cinnamon rolls for my weekly brunch at my sorority house. Came across your recipe and almost didn’t try them because ingredients seemed strange. Boy I’m glad I did – these came out fantastic. Will be my go to recipe for cinnamon rolls. Thanks so much.
Hi,
As we are probably the no.1 biggest fan of the infamous “cinnamon bun”, me and my roommate tried this recipe. It was delicious, definitely resembles the original one. However, I’d recommend a bit less sugar, and writing the amounts in grams or cups as well…
Thanks!
[...] I found a recipe for cinnamon rolls that doesn’t require proofing or rising? What?!? I am going to try immediately. Also, [...]
[...] Cinnamon Rolls In my Quick Takes on Friday I noted that I had found a recipe for no proofing, no rising cinnamon rolls that I wanted to try. Lo and behold, on Saturday [...]
hi,
can i just mix everything using the kitchen aid with the hook attachment?
thanks!
Marianne,
I haven’t tried it, but I expect that would work. I can’t say that there won’t be some texture difference due to the different mixing methods, though. Oh darn, guess you’ll just have to try it! After all, how bad could it be?
Ahhhh, tried to make this using the Kitchen Aid and it still came out wonderful!!
PS: them babies just came out of the oven looking perfect!
Thank you so much!
Excellent, so glad to hear you enjoyed them.
Just made these, and couldn’t wait longer than a minute to eat one of my small end pieces. Delicious! These will become a holiday tradition in my family for years to come. Thanks!
So glad you enjoyed them!
yum! so mouthwatering, even at 1am!
[...] Don't Forget Delicious! » Blog Archive » Fastest Cinnamon Rolls Home » Bread , Breakfast [...]
easy to make! Froze them to bake Christmas morning. Hope they turn out!!
I haven’t frozen them before, but I don’t see any reason they wouldn’t freeze well. Keeping my fingers crossed they turn out for you!
[...] to drive carpool – moms in Los Angeles you can attest to the crazy. But, the recipe from a fellow blogger boasted three little words: fastest – cinnamon – buns and the challenge was on. Take [...]
Hey! I made these for breakfast this morning, and they came out pretty great. It’s important for appearances though, to fill up the baking pan; a double batch filled mine about two thirds, and the ones on the edge kind of oozed flat into the empty space of pan. They looked done after twenty minutes, but they probably would have been a little better with another five minutes. The middle ones were a little gooey.
I also made cream cheese frosting instead. What can I say? I’m still a sucker for that familiar sweet and tart combination.
So glad they worked out for you. I agree, cream cheese frosting is always great – I originally just did the mascarpone because I was out of cream cheese!
HMMM! When it finally gets cold again I’ll make these with chili..yes with CHILI! For those of you not from Kansas…try it! You will never ever want to eat Chili without cinnomon rolls again!!! I promise!
That sounds very interesting! Would love for you to come back and post a link to your recipe!
These are amazing! I just finished eating one..love a fast and easy cinnamon roll recipe
thank you!
So glad you enjoyed!
[...] and searching Pinterst, I found this that just may be my next “recipe to try” – Fastest Cinnamon Rolls – probably with just regular powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla [...]
We substituted Splenda® for sugar & Splenda brown sugar® for brown sugar also used Light I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter®. Came out good
any ideas on the carb information? you have everything i need for this in WW but the carbs……
According to my nutrition calculator (Big Oven recipe software), it says 59 carbs. Unfortunately, this isn’t exactly a healthy recipe, but is tasty for an occasional treat!
just made these today! very yummy! i was confused by what you meant when you said ‘starting at the long edge’ i might have folded them up the wrong way! my pan was also a little too big so they got a little lopsided but i felt that it added to the homemade feel. i will definitely be making these again!
also i didn’t have a food processor or even an electric mixer but they turned out just fine mixing by hand. a little more work but hey maybe i burned off some of the calories from eating them?? thanks for the recipe! 
[...] can also find another recipe for no-yeast cinnamon rolls at Don’t Forget Delicious, which look really yummy as well. Tags: cinnamon rolls, Other Sweets From: Other Sweets [...]
[...] recipe is mainly based on one I found on “Don’t Forget Delicious!” which required no yeast. That was one of my biggest requirements, was that I really didn’t [...]
These are fabulous! The teenagers couldn’t stop chewing long enough to respond to my how are they questions. I had high hopes after tasting the dough. I didn’t have a food processor so I used my stand mixer with regular beaters not dough beaters. I made them ahead and left them in the fridge. Some of the filling did liquify and made the bottom extremely sticky even though I had greased my dish. Next time I’ll make the dough ahead of time but roll them out and cut them right before I baking. So simply sweet without being sickeningly sweet.
So glad they worked out for you, Kelly!
I am making these for our Playgroup tomorrow! Wondering if I can make the dough tonight and roll them out in the morning or if I should just do it all at once?
Sorry I didn’t see your comment last night! I’m sure it would be fine to make the dough the night before. Probably just need to let the dough warm up a little to be workable for you roll it out. Let us know how it went!
I made them the night before. The first time the filling got a little runny so the second time I mixed them the night before but rolled and cut in the morning.
Just made these for a casual brunch this morning. They were delicious, but a bit too sweet for our tastes (and we don’t even eat glaze with our rolls—we’re crazy, I know!) However, the dough turned out so fluffy and wonderful, I’m thinking of making a blueberry filling with it soon. Thanks for the great recipe!
Thanks for stopping by, Trang! I can certainly understand wanting something less sweet. Your blueberry filling idea sounds great. Be sure to let us know how it works out!
Just curious, before I make these, did you use a dough blade or the regular metal blade in your food processor?
Nevermind, I got impatient and just started!
I used the dough blade first and it didn’t work. It didn’t smooth the first mixture up enough, so I switched to the metal blade and used it for the rest and it worked great! And they are super delicious! I even did mine with half whole wheat flour and they turned out so yummy! I think they taste like the pillsbury kind! We loved them! And they were SOOOO easy! Thanks so much for such an easy recipe that is still super good!
Sorry I didn’t see your comments sooner! To answer the question – I used the regular blade, like you did. So glad it worked out for you!
Hi I was just wondering if you don’t have a food processor is there anything else you can use? I really want to try these! Thanks!
Hi Jessica! I’m sure you can use just a mixer, or even just a whisk / spatula and do it by hand. The food processor just makes it super quick and easy. Make sure the liquid mixture at the beginning is smooth before you add the dry ingredients, then mix just until it’s combined – overmixing makes for tough rolls. Please come back and let us know how they come out!
Sounds delicious! I’m going to attempt to make today!
These were so wonderful! I’ve been searching for a good “go-to” cinnamon bun recipe, and I think this will be it. I used cream cheese instead of mascarpone, and it was slightly difficult to remove them from the pan, but not too bad. Thank you!
These are AMAZING!! Love on a plate. I used goat cheese instead of mascarpone and it turned out lovely. I also used an electric mixer and had no trouble.. My brother ate 4 right out of the oven! Thank you so much!
So glad you they worked out for you!
These look great! I have an extremely busy work week coming up and I’d like to make something to bring in, but I need to be at work at 4am. Can I par-bake these the night before and finish baking them when I wake up? I have experimented with par-baking before but the yeast-less dough might not like it.
thanks!
I’m so sorry Kelly-Anne, I have no idea how they will do. I’ve never tried that. I’d say they might not come out quite as well because the dough is a little softer than a traditional cinnamon bun, it doesn’t get quite as “crusty,” if you know what I mean. Be sure to let us know how it turns out, if you try it. Good luck!
Okay so I just tried these…what I did instead of par-baking them was much easier! I made these last night (made the dough, filling and icing, then rolled them into beautiful little rolls), but I didn’t bake them. I left them sitting in my fridge (the icing too!) in aluminum baking pans (Kroger, $3.47 for 3 8″ square pans with lids). This morning when I got up, I turned my oven on and baked them while I was getting ready!
The lids were great for carrying them into work, and the rolls themselves looked beautiful after I drizzled frosting on them.
Needless to say….my coworkers were ECSTATIC that I brought in fresh, homemade, warm cinnamon rolls!
Thanks for the great recipe!
My one flaw in this experience – I believe I put the rolls too close together, so when I baked them, they needed extra time. Which I realized after I got to work and we started chowing down..lesson learned!
Sitting overnight in the fridge may even improve the dough – a little extra slow rise time and time for the flavors to marry. I’ll have to try that next time! Thanks for checking back and letting us know how it went. So glad it worked out well for you. Always good to make points with the coworkers!
[...] Cinnamon Rolls Adapted from Don’t Forget Delicious, via Fine [...]
Can these be made without the ricotta or any other cheese content in the dough? Can I just leave it out or do I need to substitute something with a similar texture and/or taste?
You definitely need to use something there, leaving it out would leave it way too dry. I’m not sure what you could use to replace it other than cottage cheese or ricotta cheese. If you’re looking for a non-dairy option, and I’m totally guessing here, but maybe tofu? Be sure to let us know if you experiment, how it comes out!
Hi again! I made these at my parents’ house in Seattle over Christmas, but was apprehensive about making them at high altitude here in Mexico City (about 7500 feet). Just wanted to stop by and share that I made a batch yesterday, and they came out great! I didn’t change anything in the recipe – besides using a full 6-ounce package of cream cheese for the frosting – and they needed to bake for about 30 minutes to cook fully, but as soon as they were ready, my husband and I chowed down on two each before saving the rest for my in-laws!!! Such a great recipe! I will definitely be making these more often!!!
These are amazing! Thanks for sharing… going to try chunks of peaches in the next batch.
I was really excited to try these, but I was a bit confused about the amount of flour…9 oz is a little more than a cup, but the instructions said 2 cups. I tried 2, but the dough came out very dry and tough…I’m guessing that’s too much??
Hi Sara! Unfortunately, different flours can weigh different amounts. 2 cups is just an approximation. It’s important to fluff your flour before you spoon it into your measuring cup, then lightly scrape off any extra from the top. If you scoop directly with the measuring cup, it can get too much packed in there and you might get too much. Or it might even just be that you’re in a dry climate and it needed more moisture. Not sure, but I expect you’re right that it was too much flour. The dough should be very soft and moist, so if you want to try again, you might start with 1 1/2 cups (or even less) of flour, then slowly add more until it looks right. Different climates, types of flour, etc. can all affect baking pretty dramatically sometimes! Sorry it didn’t work out the first time!
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Just made these, they taste so soo good! mixed the wet & dry ingredients with the KitchenAid hook attachment, but did most of the mixing by hand and the texture worked out great. Used cottage cheese instead, which was still really lumpy in the dough but has made them really nice and moist!
Thanks so much for sharing!
If you dont have a food processor can you make them with a kitchen aid or would mixing by hand work better?
Never mind just read Livvy comment…thanks, cant wait to try them
Just made this delicious rolls! Didn’t have cottage cheese so I used cream cheese, and kefir milk instead of buttermilk, and they came out great. This is my first time ever baking Cinnamon Rolls, now I’m in love with this recipe!
[...] Fastest Cinnamon Rolls – Don’t Forget Delicious [...]
Ay-yi-yi! I know I can get ricotta and mascarpone (I have been dying to try the latter!), but do you know of any way at all to get info like calorie and carb-count? Because these look and sound sinfully delicious! I ask about carb count ’cause both my mom and I LOOOOOVE cinnamon rolls, but sadly, she is diabetic, and I have cut waaaaaay back on my sweets-baking as a result. (Probably saving me the horrible, awful experience that diabetes is, anyway.)
That being said–
I personally refuse to use artificial sweeteners because of the way they trick your brain into thinking you’re not full, AND because artificial sweeteners don’t work as well, chemically, as regular sugar does. And I can tell, taste-wise when fake sugars are being used, especially in sweet stuff.
But regular flour causes just as much trouble with diabetics as refined sugar does. Wheat flour, thusly, is a better choice. And I have made yeasty cinnamon rolls with wheat flour before. And they’ve turned out okay. So I am thinking I may try this recipe the normal way once, and see what I can do to rearrange the proportions to suit the use of wheat flour.
I may go whole-hog and try and make these gluten-free, just for the heck of it. I’m not celiac, but I know people who are, and lately, I’m something of an armchair chemist in the kitchen–wanting to understand how chemical reactions in food work the way they do.
But there’s no way I’d go vegan with these–I love cheese too much!
LOL! Never mind the question about the calorie and sugar count! I went to highlight the recipe for saving in EverNote and saw your Nutrition Info! D’OH!! X-P
How embarrassing!
Anyhow, like I said, I’m saving this to EverNote for printing and trying later.
Kat – just for future reference, I usually use calorie-count.com’s recipe analyzer to figure out recipe nutritional information. It’s easy to use, free and works great.
Regarding flours – try getting some White Whole Wheat Flour. It’s whole wheat and still has all the benefits of a whole grain, but it’s a different type of grain than regular Whole Wheat and has a lighter color, texture and flavor. If it still makes your rolls too tough, try doing half whole wheat and half all purpose. You can experiment with different ratios until you get the perfect combination of texture, taste and nutrition that you like. Be aware that if you sub whole wheat for regular flour, you may need to add more liquid, as whole wheat sucks up moisture more than regular wheat.
Good luck!
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