Three-Ingredient Cinnamon Rolls
A no-yeast cinnamon roll dough from just self-rising flour and yogurt, filled with cinnamon sugar — fast, easy, and honestly rustic.
- Total time
- 35 min
- Bake
- 18 min
- Yield
- 8 rolls
- Level
- easy
The quick answer
Stir self-rising flour into plain yogurt to make a soft dough, roll it out, add cinnamon sugar, slice, and bake at 375°F for about 18 minutes. There's no yeast and no rising, so expect a denser, more biscuit-like roll than a classic fluffy one — the trade-off for a 30-minute recipe from three ingredients.
This is the pantry-raid cinnamon roll. The dough is a two-ingredient classic — self-rising flour and plain yogurt — that comes together in one bowl with no yeast, no rising, and no mixer. Add a cinnamon-sugar filling and you have warm rolls in about half an hour. Be honest with yourself about the texture, though: these are denser and more biscuit-like than pillowy bakery rolls, chewier and a touch tangy from the yogurt. What you trade in fluff you gain in speed and simplicity — this is the recipe for a sudden craving with nothing proofing on the counter.
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 cupsself-rising flour — plus more to dust
- 1 cupplain Greek yogurt — full-fat, not runny
Filling
- 3 tbspunsalted butter, melted
- ⅓ cuppacked brown sugar
- 1½ tspground cinnamon
Simple glaze (optional)
- ½ cuppowdered sugar
- 1 tbspmilk — plus more to thin
Instructions
Heat the oven to 375°F and grease a 9-inch round pan.
Stir the self-rising flour and yogurt together in a bowl until a shaggy dough forms.
Dough clumps together and pulls from the sides of the bowl.
Turn out onto a floured counter and knead briefly until smooth; add a little flour if it's sticky.
Dough is smooth and no longer tacky.
Roll into a 12x9-inch rectangle. Brush with melted butter, then sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon to the edges.
Roll up snugly from a long edge and cut into 8 slices. Arrange cut-side up in the pan.
Bake until risen and golden.
Tops are golden and a roll springs back when pressed.
Whisk the optional glaze until smooth and drizzle over the rolls while warm.
Glaze sets to a soft, matte finish.
Make ahead, store & reheat
- Make ahead
- This dough is best mixed and baked right away — without yeast it won't benefit from resting, and the leavening in self-rising flour works best fresh. Measure your dry and filling ingredients ahead if you want a faster start.
- Storage
- Store covered at room temperature up to 2 days; these firm up faster than yeast rolls, so they're best on day one.
- Reheating
- Microwave a single roll 15–20 seconds, or warm briefly in a 300°F oven to soften the crumb.
- Freezing
- Freeze baked, unglazed rolls up to 1 month. Thaw and warm well, since the leaner dough dries out more than an enriched one.
Substitutions
- All-purpose flour plus 3 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt per 2 cups instead of self-rising flour
- Regular plain yogurt (add a spoonful more flour to firm the dough) instead of plain Greek yogurt
Troubleshooting
- Rolls turned out dense and heavy
- That's the nature of this quick dough, but avoid over-kneading and make sure your self-rising flour is fresh so the leavening still has lift.
- Dough was too sticky to roll
- Greek yogurt varies in moisture; add flour a tablespoon at a time until the dough is soft but no longer tacky.
Tools I reach for
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- Digital Kitchen ScaleWeighing flour is the single biggest fix for dry or dense rolls.
- Rolling PinRolls the dough into an even rectangle for tidy spirals.
- Pastry BrushBrushes melted butter evenly across the rolled dough.
- 9x13 Baking DishThe classic pan for a soft-sided pull-apart batch of rolls.
- Saigon (Vietnamese) CinnamonThe boldest, sweetest cinnamon for a deep filling flavor.
Frequently asked questions
- Are these as fluffy as regular cinnamon rolls?
- No — without yeast they bake up denser and more biscuit-like, with a slight tang from the yogurt. The upside is they're ready in about 30 minutes.
- What are the three ingredients?
- Self-rising flour and plain yogurt for the dough, plus cinnamon sugar for the filling. Butter and an optional glaze are the small extras that make them taste like cinnamon rolls.
- Can I make my own self-rising flour?
- Yes — whisk 3 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt into every 2 cups of all-purpose flour.
Nutrition (estimate): 1 roll (of 8) · ~230 kcal. Nutrition is an automated estimate and will vary with brands and exact quantities.
Food safety: don't taste dough containing raw flour or raw egg. Refrigerate anything with cream cheese frosting, and reheat leftovers until piping hot.
Frostings & glazes to pair
- Vanilla Bean GlazeA glossy, pourable vanilla bean glaze that sets into a thin sweet shell over cinnamon rolls, sweet buns, and scones.
- Cinnamon Roll Icing Without Cream CheeseA buttery, vanilla-forward icing made without cream cheese — smooth, sweet, and perfect when you want the classic look without the tang.
- Classic Cream Cheese FrostingThe tangy, silky-smooth cream cheese frosting that melts into warm cinnamon rolls and defines the bakery-style classic.
Helpful guides
- Why Are My Cinnamon Rolls Dry? (And How to Fix It)The real reasons cinnamon rolls turn out dry — over-baking, too much flour, and over-proofing — plus exactly how to fix each one.
- How to Store & Freeze Cinnamon RollsHow to keep cinnamon rolls fresh at room temperature, in the fridge, and in the freezer — including baked and unbaked rolls.
More cinnamon rolls to try
- No-Yeast Cinnamon RollsFast cinnamon rolls with a tender biscuit-style dough leavened by baking powder — no rising, no proofing, warm in under an hour.
- One-Hour Cinnamon RollsWarm, frosted cinnamon rolls from scratch in about an hour using extra yeast and a single warm rise — no overnight wait.
- Classic Homemade Cinnamon RollsSoft, fluffy, bakery-style cinnamon rolls from scratch with a gooey brown-sugar filling and cream cheese frosting.
- Bisquick Cinnamon RollsFast, no-yeast cinnamon rolls made with Bisquick baking mix — a soft biscuit-style dough you can roll, fill, and bake in about 30 minutes, no rising required.
- Cinnamon Roll Mug CakeA single-serving cinnamon roll cake that cooks in the microwave in about 90 seconds — soft, cinnamon-swirled, and topped with a quick cream cheese glaze.
- Keto Cinnamon Rolls (Low-Carb, Grain-Free)Grain-free cinnamon rolls built on fathead dough — almond flour and melted mozzarella — with a sugar-free cinnamon filling and cream cheese frosting, at a few net carbs each.
- Puff Pastry Cinnamon RollsFlaky, shatteringly crisp cinnamon rolls made from store-bought puff pastry in about 30 minutes — no yeast, no proofing, all buttery layers.