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!
Fastest Cinnamon Rolls (cinnamon Rolls without yeast)
Print This Recipe
adapted from FineCooking.com
Makes 8-12 (depends on how you slice ‘em)
– For the Dough —
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
– For the Filling —
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
– For the Glaze —
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.
Nutritional Info calculated with BigOven Recipe Software
| Calories: 374 |
| Fat: 12g, Sat Fat: 8g |
| Fiber: 1g |
| Sugars: 32g |
| Protein: 7g |
Cinnamon
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!
Stacey’s last blog post..Teaching an old pony a new trick
[...] 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.
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