Biscuit Cinnamon Rolls (no yeast & no rising!)
Flaky biscuit like dough, cinnamon roll filling, rolled like a cinnamon roll with a delicious frosting. No yeast, no rising.
- Prep Time: 18 minutes
- Cook Time: 11 minutes
- Total Time: 29 minutes
- Yield: 12 biscuit cinnamon rolls 1x
Ingredients
Dough-
4 1/2 cups flour *see note (638 g)
1/3 cup white sugar (71 g)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
13 tablespoons cold salted butter *see note (182 g)
2 cups buttermilk (plus a few tablespoons more, if needed) *see note
Filling-
5 Tablespoons butter, melted (70 g)
½ heaping and packed cup brown sugar (125 g)
1 tablespoon cinnamon
Frosting-
1 cup powdered sugar (113 g)
2 tablespoons butter, melted (14 g)
2 tablespoons heavy cream
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and pre-heat the oven to 400 F.
In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt *see note for possible extra step after this. Cut butter into the flour with a pastry cutter until the butter is about the size of a pea. Make a well in the center of the mixture and pour the buttermilk in. Using a fork or spoon, quickly mix the dough until it’s shaggy, but mostly mixed together. Don’t overmix or your finished dough will be too tough. The dry parts of the dough should mix into the dough as you fold in the next steps.
Put your dough in the fridge for few minutes while you mix your filling up. Melt the butter in the microwave and add the brown sugar and cinnamon and mix until combined.
Flour your counter lightly and pour the dough onto it. Quickly pat the dough together. Use a rolling pin to either very gently roll or use it to kind of pat the dough into a rough rectangle. (you are not going for perfection at this time, you are going for quick) The key is to handle the dough as little as possible and work as quickly as possible so the butter stays cold. Once the dough is in a rectangle apx 10 in x 18 in and ¼ inch thick, fold in half or thirds and pat again quickly back to the same dimensions and fold in half or thirds one or two more times. (This is how you get the flaky layers) If the dough is sticking to the counter then lightly flour the counter before you fold each time.
Spread the filling evenly over the dough (I use a rubber spatula to gently spread evenly).
Use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to cut the dough into 12 strips (the short side) about 1 ½ inches long. Roll each individual roll up and kind of tuck or seal the loose edge under the bottom so it doesn’t come undone when you bake them. Place the cinnamon rolls about an inch apart on the baking sheet.
Bake for about 11-14 minutes.
When the cinnamon rolls come out of the oven, mix the frosting ingredients together in a small bowl with a whisk or fork. Let the cinnamon rolls cool for 10-15 minutes before drizzling with the frosting.
Notes
See the FAQ and post details for even more notes and tips on how to be successful making this recipe!
If you don’t weigh your flour, make sure you’re not packing it in the cup. If you put too much flour in, your cinnamon rolls will be too dry in the end and you’ll need to add more buttermilk to get them to come together. This will result in not having the right ratio of butter and baking powder to make them puff up right.
If you use unsalted butter, add an additional 1/2 teaspoon salt into the dry ingredients. Butter must be super cold!
Don’t use a buttermilk substitute on these. Vinegar in milk won’t make the milk thick enough lending to a very wet dough that will make it impossible to roll. If you don’t have real buttermilk on hand, I have had success in making these with 1 cup sour cream mixed with 1 cup milk instead of the buttermilk.
If you don’t have a pastry blender you can use a box grater to quickly shred frozen butter and gently toss into the flour mixture.
One of my favorite ways to ensure a flaky tender biscuit is to put the bowl of dry ingredients in the fridge or freezer before cutting the butter in, and then again after cutting the butter/before putting the buttermilk in. This gives you a bit more slack in preventing the butter from melting or softening too much.
You can prepare these the night before baking and put them in the fridge, covered. In the morning pre-heat the oven and put them directly in the oven from the fridge and cook, adding 2-3 minutes extra cooking time.
Keywords: biscuit cinnamon rolls, buttermilk biscuits, flaky biscuits, cinnamon rolls, breakfast, 30 minute meal