We know it's Eating Light month. But we've been eyeing these super fast, no-yeast-required cinnamon rolls on Fine Cooking's website for a while now, and this past weekend we caved. They were worth it. So sue us...
Recipe Review: Quick Cinnamon Rolls
Cinnamon rolls are an instant gratification kind of food. Wake up, crave cinnamon rolls. No time for letting yeasty dough rise. That's why we've eaten the Pillsbury ones that pop out of the can more times than we can count—they're an on-the-spot, Saturday morning sugar high.
Faith's recipe for Spicy, Sticky Cinnamon Rolls is great if you have time to make proper dough. But if you don't, we highly recommend these quick buns.
The dough has cottage cheese and buttermilk, which keep it tender, and it's the brainchild of a former bakery owner who was experimenting with biscuit dough to make a faster cinnamon bun. It comes together in a food processor in mere seconds, and rolling it out is pretty easy; it's forgiving and not too sticky.
We expected the finished rolls (we call them rolls, even though the recipe calls them buns...) to be chewier and more dense than typical yeast rolls. But they were actually pretty fluffy and totally delicious. We really expected them to be duds the next day, but warmed up in the microwave, they were still good. We're now thinking of more ways to use this sweet, easy dough.
A few notes:
• We'd reduce the allspice. A half teaspoon seemed minor, but it was pretty powerful (and we're iffy on allspice to begin with). We want our cinnamon rolls sugary, and the allspice was a bit jarring in the midst of the sweet. We'd go down to 1/4 teaspoon or a pinch.
• No need for a springform pan. As you can see, we used a 9-inch cake pan. While we didn't try plating the whole bunch at once, we think we could have muscled them out of there without too many casualties. And for digging them out individually, the cake pan was fine.
• Don't stress over the 12x15 rectangle. Ours was quite lopsided. Once we rolled up the dough, we just trimmed the ragged parts on each end that didn't have a ton of filling. FYI, the raw dough is a treat in itself.
• Chop the nuts into tiny pieces. We used walnuts instead of pecans, just because we had them. They worked well, but whatever nuts you use, chop them very fine. You want them to meld with the brown sugar filling and stick to each layer you peel off, rather than fall out on the plate in a big chunk.
• Finally! Here's the recipe: Fastest Cinnamon Buns, from Fine Cooking
Related: Morning Buns: What They Are, and Why We Love Them
(Images: Elizabeth Passarella)
Tags
Recipe Review, Breakfast, Quick, Baked Good, Fine Cooking, cinnamon buns, cinnamon rollsRelated Links
- Recipe Review: Blueberry Crumb Bars
- Recipe Review: Three-Bean Salad with Edamame
- Great Apple Recipe! Apple Streusel Bars
Recipe Reviews - Recipe Review: Polenta with Andouille and Broccoli Rabe
- Almost-Instant Sweet Wine Ice Cream
Recipe Review
Share
Comments (15)
Weekly Email
Top Posts
Top Recipes
- Vegetarian Thanksgiving: Nutloaf! And Leftover Nutloaf!
- Recipe: Hearty & Healthy Apple Muffins
- Appetizer Recipe: Bacon-Wrapped Potato Bites with Spicy Sour Cream Dipping Sauce
- Fall Snacking Recipe: Peanut Butter Popcorn
- Recipe: Ginger Pumpkin Pie with Graham Cracker Crust
Top Tours
- Before & After: Kelly Moseley's Calming Austin Kitchen
- Rachel's Busy Single Girl's Kitchen
- Kitchen Gallery: White, Bright, and Clean
- Karen's White and Green Urban Cottage Kitchen
- Michelle's Gracious Craftsman Kitchen
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
Oh my I NEED these. Wow. Wish I could host a brunch this weekend...
view maggie (p/c)'s profile
Oh drooling. Cinnamon rolls are my kryptonite.
view cmcinnyc's profile
I will definitely be trying these soon ... though bring on the spice for me! I'm definitely more into spice and less sugar when it comes to cinnamon buns. It's one reason I hate non-homemade ones because they always drizzle that gross icing all over them, making them too sweet.
view angorian's profile
I just went and read the recipe ... requires a food processor. I have a blender and a hand-held mixer, but usually I make breads with a bowl and spoon. What's the best way of making the cottage cheese smooth without a food processor?
view angorian's profile
@angorian, maybe a combo of mashing whisking the cottage cheese and buttermilk vigorously before adding the dry ingredients?
view Amandica's profile
This is going to be made this weekend....that is, if I get over my cold in time
view Michelle of Montreal's profile
angorian: I'd throw the cottage cheese in the blender alone, just to get it smooth. Then it should be easy to whisk in with the other liquid ingredients. And then proceed as you would with another soft dough (i.e. stirring, I assume).
view Elizabeth P's profile
Elizabeth- was the baking time the same using a 9-inch cake pan?
view jetsetter66's profile
In case any cinnamon roll lovers who have egg and/or dairy allergies (or kids that do, like mine) are sighing in self-pity over these two recipes, I recently found an outstanding egg-free cinnamon roll recipe on the Pioneer Woman's website that's easy to make dairy-free, too, without sacrificing taste.
Here's my adaptation:
http://wellfedeveryone.wordpress.com/2008/12/25/christmas-breakfast-cinnamon-rolls/
Hooray for cinnamon rolls!
view Margaret K.'s profile
Can someone remind me of the quick buttermilk substitute? The recipe calls for 1/3 c.
So would I use that much milk with a bit of lemon juice? or is it vinegar?
view leepert's profile
leepert:
Put 1 tbsp. lemon juice or vinegar in a measuring cup, then fill to the 1 c. mark with milk. Let sit 10 min. or until slightly thickened.
view Margaret K.'s profile
sophisticatedsoul: The recipe gives a pretty wide range, 20 to 28 minutes. I baked mine for 25, I think, although I might take them out a minute or two earlier next time.
view Elizabeth P's profile
leepert,
Instead of buttermilk, I used yogurt! Worked great. You may have to subtract a couple tblsp of yogurt and supplement the 1/3 with milk, depending on your yogurt's consistency.
view Mikki's profile
i made these yesterday for some friends for brunch - they were great! i tried to use a milk lemon juice substitute though, and i found the dough pretty wet to work with from the start. next time i will process a bit more in the food processor (and scrape down the bowl midway), and make sure the dough is not too sticky before i dump it out. they were also falling apart as i was putting them in the pan, but i just took the bits that fell out and sprinkled them on top.
view bokeh's profile
Has anyone tried or have advice on doubling this recipe?
Thanks,
Jennifer
view smitty2426's profile