Cinnamon Rolls

Easy and hassle-free recipe for soft buttery eggless cinnamon rolls right from the scratch without any eggs.

Jump to Recipe

Cinnamon rolls remind me of Ikea.

You wonder why? What’s the connection between a Swedish furniture store and a buttery sweet roll?

Many years back, when living in the US, my husband and I often visited Ikea on weekends – I love home décor and so Ikea was my happy place (still is!) It was on one such visit, that I happened to try out my very first cinnamon roll at the Ikea café. Sweet, buttery, delicate and so delicious! It became a staple each time we visited and it’s a memory I preserve because I would really look forward to our trip and getting that cinnamon roll pack. Of course I could get them elsewhere too but you know how you come to associate some things and places together? Well Ikea and cinnamon rolls became that to me. 

Years later, I tried to recreate the recipe at home with much trepidation only to realize that it was actually far easier than it looked. While it did involve some proofing time the end results were so worth the effort because the cinnamon rolls turned out

• soft and fluffy
• buttery but light
• not too sweet
• easy-to-make

with only a few ingredients, namely

• Flour
• Butter
• Yeast
• Salt
• Sugar
• Yogurt
• Cinnamon
• Milk

…nothing that you won’t easily find in your kitchen.

I used the yogurt to replace the eggs in the original recipe that I used as inspiration. Over time now, I’ve made these cinnamon rolls both ways – with yogurt and without and I prefer the one with it because it lends just the slightest tang to the dough while lending such great softness to the rolls. However, if you would rather just skip it, you could simply use a little extra water or milk to knead the dough.

But before we get to the kneading, it’s important to proof the yeast.

• In a bowl, take lukewarm water (not hot!) and add the sugar to it.
• Sprinkle the yeast and stir with a spoon.
• Set this aside for 5-10 minutes.
• You will notice the water becoming frothy and cloudy. If it doesn’t, throw it and start over with a new pack of yeast.

Watch this fascinating 30-second time-lapse of this process.

You could refer to this detailed guide on working with yeast. 

The proofed yeast when combined with the correct kneading technique, will result in a soft supple dough, that bounces back when pressed but doesn’t stick to your hands.

Proofing the Dough

Another important step in the recipe is to let the dough rest and rise for the required time. For this it’s important to place your bowl in a warm place away from direct breeze. Depending on your ambient environment, this process could take anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour or more.

Rolling and filling

The proofed dough is easier to work with as it doesn’t stretch as much when rolled. You could make cinnamon rolls the size of a standard burger bun or make them smaller if you prefer. Either way, you’ll start by rolling a rectangle, spreading the butter and sprinkling it generously with the cinnamon sugar.

Then you’ll roll this (longer side) into a tight log. I recommend keeping some paper napkins next to you during this process as your fingers may get some of that buttery filling on them during the rolling. Seal the edges well by pinching them together or they’ll open up during the baking process or even when cutting.

Second Proofing

Since the rolls will be proofing again, you should take a pan a little bigger than you think you need for the size of the rolls.

This is when things really start to feel real! Those little rolls that you put in the pan, will rise and double up in size, filling up the pan and sticking to each other.

Since most of the doubling action has happened here, the rolls will not rise much during the baking itself and it shouldn’t take more than 25-25 minutes to get your rolls baked and get all golden.

Glaze

Now it’s really upto you whether you want to glaze these cinnamon rolls or not but then are you crazy to not? Haha!

The glaze is what truly makes these cinnamon rolls irresistible and there are a couple of ways to do this. You could make a simple vanilla sugar glaze like I have in this recipe or even just a slather of sweetened cream cheese will work well. If you’re too lazy even for that, try your tolls with a dollop of honey or maple and some ice-cream on the side!

Yummmmm!

While these cinnamon rolls are best served hot, there’s no reason to not make them ahead if you need to do some planning. They keep well refrigerated for 4-5 days but I should warn you that I’ve never been able to really check that because they never last that long in my house.

Have you tried making these? Tell me what you thought! I’m on Instagram at loveandflourbypooja

Also try these recipes

• Mini Whole-wheat Cheesy Buns 
• Dominos style Cheesy Garlic Bread 
• Potato Jalapeno Focaccia 
• Instant Yeast-Free Pizza Dough