Cinnamon Rolls Without Cream Cheese

These cinnamon rolls are soft, fluffy and flavorful, with a buttery cinnamon-sugar filling and a simple icing without cream cheese. If you love homemade cinnamon rolls but don’t like cream cheese, this recipe is for you.

I remember the first time I saw cinnamon rolls at a friend’s house many years ago. They seemed fantastic and extremely difficult to make. Now I have several cinnamon roll recipes in my collection, and I’m always happy to see how a few simple ingredients and some good baking techniques can create such an impressive result.

For this recipe, I use a soft yeast dough with buttermilk and top the rolls with an easy cinnamon roll icing without cream cheese made with sour cream, powdered sugar and vanilla or cinnamon.

Want the standard dough + cream-cheese frosting? Go to the fluffy cinnamon rolls recipe.

Some people don’t like the taste of cream cheese, so this time I decided to make a simple cinnamon roll frosting without cream cheese. It’s a sour cream glaze made with just three ingredients: sour cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla or cinnamon. It’s creamy, slightly tangy, and pairs perfectly with warm cinnamon rolls.

These cinnamon rolls are made with yeast dough. If you’re not familiar with working with yeast dough, I recommend reading my article Why Yeast Dough Doesn’t Rise first.

It is best to bake cinnamon rolls in a baking dish with sides — round, square, rectangular, or even heart-shaped. The shape itself doesn’t matter. If you bake them on a baking sheet, the cinnamon rolls will spread out more and may become drier. When baked close together in a dish with sides, they stay moist, tall, and fluffy.

This recipe makes 8-15 cinnamon rolls, depending on their size.

Buttermilk Dough for Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

• buttermilk
• water
• fresh or dry yeast
• sugar
• salt
• egg
• unscented vegetable oil
• all-purpose flour

Instructions:

1. Combine the buttermilk, egg, water, yeast, sugar, and salt and mix thoroughly.
2. Add about 2/3 of the flour and mix. Gradually add the remaining flour until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the mixer or stops sticking to your hands if kneading by hand.
3. Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let it rise for about 1,5 hours. Meanwhile, prepare the filling.

Cinnamon Roll Filling Without Cream Cheese

Ingredients:

• unsalted butter
• white sugar
• brown sugar
• ground cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Melt the butter. In a small bowl, mix the white sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
2. After 1.5 hours, the dough should have doubled in size. Dust the work surface with flour and roll out the dough into a rectangle about 3-4 mm thick.
3. Brush the dough with the melted butter, leaving a clean strip along the far long edge. Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture evenly over the buttered dough.
4. Starting from the long edge, tightly roll the dough into a log. Cut it into 8-15 pieces, depending on how large you want the cinnamon rolls to be.
5. Place the rolls in a parchment-lined baking dish, leaving a little space between them. Cover with plastic wrap, and let them rise for about 1 hour.
6. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C (356°F).
7. Bake the cinnamon rolls for about 25 minutes at 180°C (356°F). The exact time depends on the size of the rolls and your oven. The tops should be lightly golden, and the centers should be fully baked but still soft.
8. Take the cinnamon rolls out of the oven and prepare the frosting.

Cinnamon Roll Icing Without Cream Cheese

Ingredients:

• powdered sugar
• sour cream
• vanilla extract or ground cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Whisk the sour cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla (or cinnamon) until smooth.
2. Spread the icing over the warm cinnamon rolls.

If you try this recipe, I’d love to hear how it turned out! Share your experience or any creative twists in the comments below. Happy baking!