By popular demand, it had to be done – the magic Soft No Knead Dinner Rolls have now been transformed into these No Knead Cinnamon Rolls!!! Soft and fluffy with a cream cheese glaze, these will change your life. No kneading, no stand mixer, no overnight rise. You’re welcome / I’m sorry….
I’m apologising for sharing these for a number of reasons. I’m sorry to all those trying to be healthy. (Me, me!) I’m sorry to everyone trying to cut down of their carb intake. (Me, me!)
I’m sorry to everyone who makes these once and are harassed to make them again and again…..
I actually wasn’t sure if I would ever share this. I had quite an astonishing number of messages here and on Facebook asking if the No Knead Dinner Rolls could be used to make cinnamon rolls. The concept sounded quite easy – just use the same dough but add a bit more flour so it was rollable into a large rectangle that could be slathered with butter and cinnamon sugar, then rolled up and cut.
The problem I kept running into – the 2 rolls in the middle of the tray just wouldn’t cook through properly. They looked cooked, but as soon as I bit into it, it was undeniably doughy.
Batches later… the answer was so simple. I ran out of bread flour and used normal flour.
Boom. It worked. Duh! Head smack! No-knead dough is more fragile than kneaded dough and bread flour makes buns slightly lighter and more tender. When you add that heavy butter / sugar slather, it weighs down the dough and adds too much moisture for the dough to rise and cook through properly.
Switch to plain / all purpose flour = slightly sturdier dough = sturdier (but still soft!) buns = fully cooked through.
Phew!
This No Knead Cinnamon Rolls recipe is also surprisingly forgiving. I’ve been amazed – you’ll see in the video that the dough looks even looser than the photos above. I’ve added flour and water right at the end to adjust the dough when it looked too thin / thick, I forgot sugar once and added that in after the 1st rise. Same result every time – couldn’t tell the difference.
As for kneaded vs no knead dough – here’s the truth. Kneaded dough makes a better bread. If that weren’t a fact, millions of bakeries around the world would be ditching their mixers. The bread is slightly more tender and keeps slightly better.
But the operative word here is slightly. The sheer convenience of this no knead recipe outweighs the small difference, and opens up a new world of possibilities for people who don’t have a stand mixer nor are inclined to knead dough by hand.
And the clincher is that when these No Knead Cinnamon Rolls are warmed slightly – just 15 seconds in the microwave – it makes them so uber soft and fluffy, you’d swear they were from a posh bakery.
Well – your family and friends will think that. You can just sit back and lap up the compliments! – Nagi x
PS You know full well these are not my Baby Hands.↓↓↓ These are my mother’s hands. She came round to be the hand model for the video. And she made these No Knead Cinnamon Rolls for the first time and specifically said that she was surprised how easy it was, even with “all that log rolling and cutting business”. 😉
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No Knead Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Buns:
- 1 tbsp dry yeast (Note 1)
- 70 g / 1/3 cup caster sugar (superfine sugar), or sub with normal white sugar
- 1/2 cup / 125 ml warm water (Note 2)
- 600 g / 20 oz plain flour / all purpose flour (4 1/2 US Cups, 4 Cups everywhere else exc Japan) (Note 3)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup / 250 ml milk , lukewarm, whole or low fat, (Note 2)
- 50 g / 3.5 tbsp unsalted butter , melted and slightly cooled
- 2 large eggs , beaten with fork
EXTRA FLOUR:
- 1/4 cup / 35g plain flour (all purpose flour), plus more as required
For Rolls:
- 90 g / 6 tbsp unsalted butter , melted
- 1 cup / 220 g brown sugar , packed
- 2 tbsp cinnamon powder
Cream Cheese Glaze:
- 90 g / 3 oz cream cheese , softened
- 50 / 3 tbsp unsalted butter , softened
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (or essence)
- 1 1/4 cups / 150g soft icing sugar / powdered sugar
- 2 – 3 tbsp milk , any (or water)
Instructions
Buns:
- Place the yeast and 2 teaspoons of the sugar in a medium bowl, then pour in water. Leave for 5 minutes until it froths.
- Place 600g/20oz flour, remaining sugar and salt in a bowl. Mix to combine.
- Make a well in the centre. Add milk, butter, eggs and pour in the yeast liquid, including all froth.
- Mix until combined with wooden spoon – it will be like a sticky muffin batter, not kneadable.
- Rise # 1: Cover with cling wrap and place in a warm place (25C/77F+) to rise for around 1 1/4 – 1 1/2 hrs or until almost tripled in volume. (Note 4) Dough surface should be bubbly (see video or photos in post).
Making Rolls & Rise #2 (video is helpful):
- Line a 31.5 x 23.5 cm / 9 x 13″ tray with baking paper with overhang.
- Mix cinnamon and sugar in a bowl.
- Uncover dough, mix with spoon to deflate.
- Sprinkle half Extra Flour on work surface, pour dough on, sprinkle over remaining Extra Flour. Use hands to incorporate the flour into the dough – it may not absorb it all (or need more), the dough will stop absorbing flour when it’s no longer sticky, should be soft, pliable.
- If work surface is now flour free, sprinkle with more flour.
- Shape dough into log, then roll out into 28 x 48 cm / 11 x 19″ rectangle.
- Pour over butter, then brush all over, then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
- Roll up firmly, then shape into an even log.
- Cut into 12 pieces (4cm / 1.6″), then place on tray (3 x 4).
- Cover with tea towel then place in warm place for 40 minutes or until almost doubled.
Baking / Frosting:
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F (standard) or 160C/320F (fan / convection). Place shelf in the middle of the oven.
- Bake for 20 minutes, rotating the tray at 16 minutes.
- Buns are ready when the middle rolls are golden and the outer ones are deep golden on the edges. Tap the middle ones – they should sound hollow.
- Optional: Brush with 1 tbsp / 15g melted butter to remove any residual flour spots.
- Use paper overhang to lift rolls onto cooling rack (key step – Note 5). Cool for 1 hour (will still be warm).
- Use a spoon to frost with glaze. Best served warm!
Glaze:
- Place butter, cream cheese and vanilla in a bowl. Beat until smooth (10 – 15 seconds).
- Add icing sugar, beat to incorporate. Add enough milk to make it a consistency that can be spooned over the buns and it drips slightly (see video).
Recipe Notes:
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
No Knead Cinnamon Rolls recipe video! Starring my mother – I’m the director/producer/cameraman/editor/screenwriter/runner/recipe developer.
Have you tried the Soft No Knead Dinner Rolls yet? 🙂
LIFE OF DOZER
You knew he’d be down there, didn’t you?
I’m confused did you use four sz 1/2 Cups or 4 1/2 cups of flour?
That’s four and a half cups ☺️
in your video the flour looks smaller than 4 1/2 cups followed your direction but it seems like to much flour and it doesn’t look wet in your video mine is a little dry
Hi Elsie, what country are you in? I used 4 cups in mine as I’m located in Australia – N x
FANTASTIC! Deliciously easy to whip up on a Sunday morning. Enjoy watching your videos…. keeping the steps so understandable. And the dryer trick, it’s now my go to!
I haven’t tried these recipes yet but I will very soon especially the cinnamon rolls. I have looked over both recipes and I don’t see where the pan that the rolls are baked in is oiled. Do they stick to the baking dish?
Just wanted to be sure before I started baking.
Making the cinnamon buns the 2nd time. I live in botswana and struggle with following cup sizes. Never works. South africa is the same like here. 1 cup packed sugar (you say 220g) is here like 2 cups. When i google australien weight for 1 cup of brown sugar it says = 155g or so. 220g is so much more. To much i think. Our cups are 240/250 ml. Very confusing. I cook so many of your receipes🤗😍 thank you for your generosity. Irene
Hi Irene, just follow the weight ratio in that case and it should be fine – N x
Hi Nagi,
First of all, thank you so much to you and your mum for both your blogs ! I love them 🙂
I have just made your cinnamon rolls but mine were a bit dry. The 2 things I haven’t done like in your recipe were :
– I have mixed the brown sugar and butter together, because I tought it would be easier to spread on the dough (huge mistake… I couldn’t be more wrong)
– I have cooked the rolls at 170°C (because my oven is a bit lazy) for 25 min (nice golden brown and hollow sound)
So I was wondering if either or both reasons would explain why the rolls were dry…
What do you think ?
Thanks for your help !
Hi Nagi! I wanted to make this ahead of time and in your notes you write Follow recipe up to rolling balls and cover with cling wrap. Does this mean to follow up to step #8 Roll up firmly, then shape into an even log, and then cover with cling wrap and place in fridge? And then I can remove the next day, cut into pieces and place in oven?
how if i wanna make half of the recipe? please help me with the measurement thanks
Hi there! Just use the recipe scaler by clicking on servings and sliding! 🙂
Hi, how if i wanna make it into 8″ pan? or how if i wanna make half recipe? please help me with the measurement thanks
Can you make caramel rolls with this recipe?
I haven’t tried but I am sure you can!! N x
These are amazing! Thank you so much xx
(Pan of rolls just out of the oven and a pan of the cinnamon rolls went right in)
Great to hear Shannon! Thank you for taking the time to let me know! N x
Made these last night for dessert, total crowd pleaser and so easy and tasty! Will definitely make again!
Please send me these recipes.
Dear Nagi,
I’m really trying hard to keep my comments as short as possible like “yummy, easy thanks” but it’s nearly impossible lol, especially that one.. just a detail which may explain the following : I’m a French expat living in Australia.
So reading the recipe I was like “hum this looks like a brioche but made simple. Is it going to be close to a brioche?”
And YES! It is! No, I wouldn’t use the dough recipe if I was going to make a plain brioche loaf or buns, I would go with the proper, messy, lengthy and a tad more technical version or invest in a stand mixer to make it easier. But to make scrolls or even what French people call a “gâteau chinois” (which is a brioche scroll stuffed with crème pâtissière and sultanas, I’ll pass the story behind its name but it has nothing to do with China!) it’s perfect!! It’s even stringy, almost like a brioche should be!
I halved the recipe and the dough was pretty thick, almost hard enough to knead. But I just left it as it was, I was tempted to add a bit more milk but I didn’t. When it was time to shape it I just lightly floured the surface and gave it a quick knead (like 1 min) and bang on it was perfect! 😅
So thank you, thank you, thank you!! A must-try-keep recipe ! I’m done with those recipes for scrolls that make that hard, sort of short crust, dough thingy! I’m going to try your no-knead bread and make savoury scrolls with it!
You can write as MUCH as you want Johanna! I love reading what you have to say – I especially love learning new things from readers 🙂 Thank you for sharing your feedback! N xx
How about sourdough rolls. I love them and have tried for sooo many years to make them but never have a lot of luck. I love your recipes.
Need a sourdough starter, do you have one? 🙂
Hai Nagi,
If i use margarin should i skip the salt?
Btw, i tried your churros recipe and it turns out amazing! Thank you for the recipe.
Yep you can skip the salt. 🙂 So glad you loved the churros! N xx
Best cinnamon rolls ever and very easy to make. My family loved them. Thanks! I’ll try you other recipes for sure. Best regards from Costa Rica.
OMG, these are insanely delicious, thanks so much for sharing!
Would it take many tweaks to the dough recipe to make it a kneaded dough? I desperately need to the practice my kneading (accidental pun there) but it’s too amazing of a recipe not to try out! Keep up the great work x
Hi Emma! Use the dough in this recipe, it’s a traditional kneaded dough: https://discountspot.info/double-cheese-bacon-rolls/%3C/a%3E N x
live in the mountains of az 7000 ft. bake 20 minutes works great
for your dinner rolls bake them for 20 min. i live in the white mountains elev. 7000ft