No Yeast Cinnamon Rolls

Hi, friends! I wanted my first recipe on the blog to be something that is special to me. I had my heart set on my very special, moist chocolate cake. This cake is synonymous with Lotus in my family. I’ve made it for numerous birthdays, holidays, and graduations. However, in light of all the chaos happening around the world, I figured it would be a bit gratuitous to make a recipe that required a substantial amount of eggs and butter when we are all trying to minimize our trips to the grocery store. 
So, I present to you: No Yeast Cinnamon Rolls!

In that case, I played around with testing some no yeast cinnamon roll recipes. It requires some basic ingredients that most of you will already have at home, and it doesn’t require any special kitchen equipment (however, a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment can be used if you have one). In the quarantine stir crazy I’ve got going on, I’ve done a lot more baking and cooking than I would do in a normal week. I’m always trying to see what recipes I can make with basic household ingredients.

These rolls are fun to make and are simple enough that any of you with little ones around can have them help. They’re great to have with milk or coffee (or tea – that’s how I like it)!

Recipe Tips:

For the Dough:

When working on the dough, don’t be surprised how soft and hydrated it is. Even though this is a no yeast cinnamon rolls recipe, some kneading is required (by hand or by dough hook). So, be sure not to overwork the dough as all-purpose flour can still produce some gluten. You don’t want to have dense and doughy rolls.

When recipe testing I attempted to add more and more flour until the dough reached a consistency that seemed more manageable to touch, but in turn was less hydrated. These rolls were less than satisfactory when they came out of the oven. Don’t be alarmed at how wet the dough is! It’ll all come together in the end.

When mixing the wet and dry ingredients together, you want to ensure that the egg and milk mixture is pale yellow and frothy. Create a well in the dry ingredients that you can pour the wet mixture into.

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Can you replace the white sugar in the dough for another type of sugar? My answer is no. While I am sure it would be OK, other types of sugar (read: light or dark brown sugar) have molasses in them. This increases the water content which can lead to a more wet dough that might not hold its shape as well in the oven. Feel free to use way more cinnamon than is called for!

The recipe calls for kneading in softened butter, which is a sticky process. I don’t prefer to mix in melted butter as I feel like softened butter contributes to the structure of the rolls better than melted does.

For the Filling:

Can you replace the brown sugar in the filling for another type of sugar? Again, my answer is no. But this time it is for the inverse reasons as above. We want the hydration from the water in the brown sugar to create a really rich and moist center for our rolls.

I like a kind of crisp to my sugar center so I spread the butter on to the dough first and then pat the dry filling mixture in. You still get a gooey center (crispy and gooey seem to contradict, I know, but it still somehow turns out like that) but if you want to maximize that gooeyness, then feel free to mix the melted butter into the filling before spreading the whole mixture on. 

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For the Icing:

Depending on the consistency you want for your icing, you can choose to add more milk and more sugar as you go on. 

If you’re using kosher salt, I would recommend grinding it down a bit. The granules don’t blend into the icing and it ends up being kind of gritty.

Make sure the rolls are warm enough that the icing spreads, but not so hot that it drips off.

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Hope you enjoy these no yeast cinnamon rolls!