I made these easy biscuit cinnamon rolls a while back, and they are really great if you are in the mood for cinnamon rolls but don’t have the time or desire to make yeasted dough. Obviously they have a more biscuit texture as opposed to the bread like texture of a normal cinnamon roll, but they were still really satisfying and way quicker than traditional cinnamon rolls.
This recipe uses homemade biscuit dough, which is pretty quick to put together. You do need buttermilk for these, but a nice trick to use if you don’t have buttermilk is to mix regular milk with a tsp or two of lemon juice and let sit for 10 minutes, then use.
The filling is the same butter, cinnamon, sugar combo you’d use in regular rolls, and the icing is a simple powdered sugar glaze. You could use more traditional cream cheese icing too though if you’d prefer. These were a fun and easy little breakfast treat. They’d make a great Sunday morning baking project. 🙂
Biscuit Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
For the rolls:
- 4 1/2 cups AP flour
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 2 1/2 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 13 tbsp salted butter straight from the fridge and cut into smallish pieces
- 2 cups buttermilk plus or minus a little
For the filling:
- 4 tbsp melted butter
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 tbsp cinnamon
For the icing:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
For the rolls:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl, and whisk well. Cut the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture is like coarse meal and the butter is in small, pellet-sized pieces (slightly smaller than a pea). I like to use my hands, but you can also use a pastry cutter, or your food processor, just don't over process. You still want visible chunks of butter.
- Pour in the buttermilk and toss with a fork. The dough should start to come together but you don’t want to overmix the dough. If there are lots of dry patches throughout the dough, add a bit more buttermilk, just a tablespoon or two at a time until the dough comes together (it’s ok to have dry bits here and there). Use a bench scraper to gather up the loose bits and press them into the mass of dough Fold the dough over onto itself to help it come together and to create some layers. Work it just enough until it is a rough mass that mostly holds together with some flour spots here and there. The less you work the dough, the more tender your biscuits. Do not knead the dough or handle roughly.
- With a lightly floured rolling pin (or pressing quickly with your hands), roll the dough into a 1/4-inch rectangle, about 18X10 or thereabouts. Roll quickly – the more the dough is worked with and processed, the less flaky and tender the rolls will be.
- Spread the melted butter over the top. Combine the sugar and cinnamon and spread evenly over the butter.
- Roll the cinnamon rolls, beginning with one long edge, rolling tightly without pulling and stretching the dough. Reposition the long roll until it is seam side down.
- Use a serrated knife or a bench knife/scraper to cut into 1- or 1 1/2-inch rolls. Tuck the loose end of each roll underneath and place an inch or so apart on the prepared baking sheet(s).
- Bake 12-15 minutes until they start to brown and then cool 10 minutes. Whisk together icing ingredients and spread the icing on top.
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