I am a huge fan of cinnamon rolls, so much so that I have several recipes for them here on my website. Here is yet another awesome cinnamon roll recipe. This 2-ingredient dough cinnamon rolls recipe is the easiest and quickest of all of my other cinnamon roll recipes. They do taste different than a classic Cinnabon-style yeast-based roll, but they are still tasty.
These are so fast to make and the recipe makes a small batch which is perfect for just a few people. And you can always double or triple the recipe if you would like to make more. From start to finish you can be eating them in around 40 minutes or so.
Let’s get to it, time to make some awesome quick and easy 2-ingredient dough cinnamon rolls.
Ingredients
In order to make 2-ingredient dough cinnamon rolls you need just a handful of ingredients. 2 ingredients for the dough, duh, haha, and then a few ingredients for the filling and the glaze:
Dough
- Self-rising flour – This is a great use for that bag of self-rising flour that you might have. Self-rising flour already has baking powder and salt in it along with the normal plain or all-purpose flour.
- Yogurt – I always use plain Greek yogurt. If you can’t get your hands on yogurt, you can use sour cream as well.
Filling
- Brown sugar – Check out this awesome homemade brown sugar recipe. That is what I used in the picture above.
- Butter – You can use salted or unsalted butter.
- Cinnamon – The star of the filling. If you want to learn how to make your own ground cinnamon follow this ground cinnamon from cinnamon sticks tutorial.
Glaze
- Milk – You can use whatever milk you want, whole, skim, almond, etc.
- Powdered sugar
Tools/Equipment
- Bowl
- Spoon
- Fork
- 6 or 7-inch round or square baking pan
- Cooking spray for pan
- Kitchen towel
How to make 2-ingredient dough cinnamon rolls at home
Begin by preheating the oven to 375F/190C.
Next, time to make the simple dough. Combine the self-rising flour with the yogurt and mix it first with a spoon, fork, or pastry blender. Then come in with clean hands and kind of knead the dough until it comes together in the bowl.
If you don’t have self-rising flour use:
- 1 cup of all-purpose (plain flour)
- 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder, and
- 1/4 tsp of salt. But then it wouldn’t be 2-ingredient dough, haha.
You may also use sour cream instead of yogurt.
Once the dough comes together, it will feel a little dry. Knead it on the counter for 3 to 4 minutes or so.
Shape it into a disc and then let it rest, covered with a kitchen towel, for 10 to 15 minutes. If you are in a hurry you can skip this step.
Finish making the quick cinnamon rolls
Making the filling is super easy. Melt the butter, or if it is already super soft you can use it as is. Combine the brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon in a small bowl and mix until it forms a paste.
Roll the dough out into a rectangle shape about 1/4 inch thick. And around 10 to 12 inches long by 8 or so inches wide.
Spread the filling “paste” evenly. Then roll it up tightly lengthwise.
Time to cut the rolls. A trick I learned over 30 years ago was to use floss to cut the rolls. Place the floss under the “log” then cross the two ends of the floss and pull. It creates a really nice clean cut.
You can certainly use a knife as well, but sometimes a knife smashes the dough a bit.
Baking the 2-ingredient dough cinnamon rolls
Spray a 6 or 7-inch round cake pan with cooking spray or use a small 6 or 7-inch square pan. Parchment paper will work as well.
You can use a larger pan, but the rolls are liable to open up or uncoil when baked unless they are smooshed together. For that reason, I usually use the 6-inch pan, unless I am doubling the recipe.
Add all the rolls and then bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown.
Allow them to cool for about 10 minutes, then created the simple 2-ingredient glaze. Combine a little milk with the powdered sugar, and then add more milk a little at a time until you get your desired thickness for the glaze.
Drizzle the glaze on as desired.
You can also make a cream cheese frosting if you like.
Now all you need to do is serve them. Enjoy!
How long do these homemade cinnamon rolls last?
They will last a few days at room temperature in an airtight container, and a little longer if stored in the fridge. They taste the best when freshly made and eaten.
Here are some other recipes you may like:
How to Grind Wheat Berries into Flour
How to Make Sourdough Bread an In-Depth Guide
2-Ingredient Dough Cinnamon Rolls
Equipment
- Bowl
- spoon
- Fork
- 6 or 7-inch round or square baking pan
- Cooking spray for pan
- Kitchen towel
- Floss or knife
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 cup of self-rising flour 120g
- 5.3 ounces approx 2/3 cup of plain Greek yogurt (150g)
Filling
- 1/3 of packed brown sugar 66g
- 2 Tbsp of butter melted (25g)
- 2 tsp of ground cinnamon 6g
Glaze
- 1 cup of powdered sugar 120g
- 2 to 3 Tbsp of milk 26 to 39ml
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F/190C
- In a medium bowl mix together the yogurt and the self-rising flour until it forms a dough.
- Knead the dough for 3 to 4 minutes. Cover and let it rest 10 to 15 minutes.
- Make the filling by combining the brown sugar, melted or softened butter, and cinnamon in a small bowl.
- Roll the dough out on a counter in the shape of a rectangle with a rolling pin until the dough is about 1/4 of an inch thick and 10 to 12 inches long by 7 to 8 inches wide.
- Spread the filling evenly onto the rolled-out dough using a cake spatula or the back of a spoon.
- Roll the dough up tightly lengthwise.
- Then use floss to cut the rolls. Place the floss under the "log" then cross it over the top and pull each end, it will make a nice even cut. Or you can just use a knife. Continue until all the rolls are cut.
- Spray a 6 or 7-inch round cake pan with cooking spray and then add the cut rolls. Bake the rolls for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown. Once baked allow the to cool for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Make the glaze by adding the powdered sugar to a small bowl. Then add some milk a little at a time blending it in until you get your desired consistency for the glaze. You may not need all the milk or you may need a little more.
- Drizzle the glaze over the cinnamon rolls. Then serve! Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Do you like this easy cinnamon roll recipe? Please give it a rating and comment down below, I really appreciate it. Save the Pin to Pinterest! If you make it tag me on Instagram @inthekitchenwithmatt. Also, sign up for the newsletter so you won’t miss out on any of my new posts and recipes.
Can I substitute sour cream for the yogurt?
Hello, yes you can substitute with a plain yogurt, a greek yogurt would be ideal.
What will happen if I use plain yogurt, not greek?
You can use pretty much any yogurt, just make sure it is plain, so it doesn’t add any other flavors, unless you want that.
I used plain soy yogurt, not a thick Greek style version. With a bit extra flour, the dough worked out just fine. I made mine with cocoa powder added to the filling.
Awesome! I am glad you tried it and liked it!
how can it have that many calories for one serving. the flour is a little over 400 and the yogurt under 150 so how can it have that many calories
You are forgetting the butter and sugar for the filling and the milk and the powdered sugar for the glaze. That amount includes everything. And that is not per cinnamon roll that is per serving, 3 servings, meaning it will feed 3 people. With that said you can also serve less per person and call that a serving.
The dough was super sticky and hard to roll and spread the filling. I ended up using almost a whole stick of butter for the filling. I was kinda worried about the end result because while cooking the whole house smelled like sour cream. But I was super impressed by the results they came out tasting very moist and a little gooey like the canned cinnamon rolls. This recipe doesn’t yield very many rolls but I will definitely make this recipe again. Bravo!
Glad you tried it and liked it! The dough should’t be super sticky and make sure you are adding a little bit of flour when kneading the dough and that will cut down on the stickiness.
this dough was so simple and so amazing! thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe, it has become a staple in my house!
You are welcome! Glad you made it and liked it!
I think this is the easiest cinnamon roll recipe out there & they taste like you’ve spent all day & so many ingredients in them!!
So glad you like it!
Love super simple recipes! This was fantastic, and I loved that I didn’t have to wait hours for the dough to rise – we got to have a delicious breakfast with minimal effort!
Thank you, April! 🙂 This is my go-to cinnamon roll recipe when I don’t want to make traditional yeast-based cinnamon rolls.