These Old Fashioned Cinnamon Rolls are ridiculously easy to make and ready in under 45 minutes. They are packed with cinnamon sugar and taste amazing.
“Old Fashioned Cinnamon Rolls, where have these been all my life?!” and “Why haven’t you ever made me these before?!” These were the first words out of Big Daddy’s mouth after he stopped eating long enough to breathe and say something. That was confirmation enough for me that this recipe is a keeper!
I have to admit, one of my favorite things about traditional cinnamon rolls is the pillowy soft dough. These are the complete opposite of that, but, wow they are still so good.
I’m sure when you see that these Cinnamon Rolls don’t have yeast you probably think the dough is similar to biscuit dough. However, that’s not the case. This dough is like a pie crust. It’s tender and flaky and really just amazing!
Old Fashioned Cinnamon Rolls
Desserts have pretty much been my favorite thing to eat my whole life, in particular Cinnamon rolls. However, my mother didn’t make anything with yeast- no bread, no cinnamon rolls, no rolls. Therefore, every time we went ‘into town’ I wanted to go by the bakery and get a Cinnamon roll. Isn’t it funny how you want/crave what you can’t have?
Unlike Mom, I do make all the yeast recipes. I make homemade bread weekly. My boys love it. Additionally, they think every mom makes homemade bread. They don’t know that other kids don’t have hot homemade bread with melted butter for an after school snack. 😎
After many years of eating Cinnamon Rolls from a lot of different bakeries and trying numerous recipes myself, I have become quite the Cinnamon Roll aficionado.
Check out these recipes while you’re here
- M&M Cinnamon Rolls
- Birthday Cake Cinnamon Rolls
- 5 Ingredient Puff Pastry Pineapple Upside Down Cinnamon Rolls
- 14 Delicious Coffee Cake Recipes
Old Fashioned Cinnamon Rolls
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Save To Your Recipe BoxIngredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
- 1 cup cold water
- 1 cup butter softened (not margarine)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3 Tablespoons cinnamon
Glaze - optional
- 2 cups powdered sugar sifted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 4 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 11x8.5 inch casserole dish with non-stick spray.
- In a small bowl, combine cinnamon and sugar, set aside.
- In a large bowl combine the flour and salt.
- Cut the shortening into the flour mixture until crumbly and it resembles wet sand.
- Stir in the water and form a dough.
- Dump the dough onto a floured surface.
- Separate the dough into 2 even portions.
- Roll each dough ball, one at a time into a rectangle. The dough should be thin. Try to get it to be 13 x 9 inches or larger. It should be about 1/8 inch thick.
- Spread 1/2 cup of softened butter over rectangle then sprinkle cinnamon sugar evenly over butter.
- Roll jelly-roll style into a log.
- Pinch ends closed and place in prepared pan seam side down. Repeat process with the second ball of dough.
- Place the second 'log' in the same casserole dish. Decorate the top with dough scraps if desired.
- Bake at 350°F for 40 to 45 minutes or until the top of the roll is golden.
Glaze - optional
- Mix glaze ingredients and whisk until smooth. Drizzle over top of rolls.
Nutrition
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Anne says
My mom used to make something like this. totally different from yeast based cinnamon rolls and delicious! Seeing this brings back lots of memories, thanks for the recipe.
Robin Donovan says
These are so easy and good!
Cindy says
This is like the ones we used to make out of pie dough. We loved them when I was a kid.
Linda says
I’ve eaten and/or made these all my life. We never made a special dough for them, we just used pie dough scraps! Yum!!!!
BJ says
I made them today and thought they were very good.
Marilyn says
I will try this for sure. Thanks so much
Marty Buckingham says
Thanks Paula for clarifying. I never would have guessed side by side, lol. I did think maybe on top of each other. Will try it this weekend.
Paula says
Let me know how you like them! I tried to rewrite the directions more clearly.
Marty Buckingham says
I know this is probably a silly question, but I wanted to make sure I did this right. Each rectangle makes one pan 8 x 11.5 correct?
Paula says
oh wow I need to clarify those directions better. So sorry about that Marty! No both rolls will go in the same 11×8.5 inch pan. I cut the dough into 2 sections so that it’s easier to work with so I have 2 long ‘logs’ when I’m done, but they’ll be right at 8 inches long so I put them side by side in the 11×8.5 inch casserole dish. If you think it crowds an 8.5×11 inch pan, I’ve also used a 9×13. They tend to get browner in a 9×13 since there is more surface space. I’m going to clarify the instructions right now, but please message me back or email me callmepmc(@)gmail(dot)com
ally says
I’ll be making this…thanks for sharing and for your creative culinary mind! 🙂 ~~ally
Paula says
You’re welcome, thanks for visiting! Have a great week!
Cindy ~Hun... What's for Dinner? says
In my family, we make these with leftover pie dough. SO yummy!!!
Paula says
This dough is basically the same as pie dough. Aren’t they delish? I’d rather have them than the pie! 🙂
Vivian says
Yes, we have been doing this for many, many years. They are sooo good, sometimes we just mix up a batch of pie dough and make the rolls! Everybody loves them.
Jamie @ Coffee With Us 3 says
What a great idea- I’ve never heard of cinnamon rolls made without yeast, but just for the amount of time saved I would definitely try these. And I couldn’t agree more- raisins in cinnamon rolls should not be allowed!
We will miss you at Saturday Dishes, but we hope you’ll continue linking up- you share such amazing recipes!
Paula says
I will keep linking up, can’t wait to see your themes! Happy holiday!