Just the thought of cinnamon rolls- warm, gooey, soft, sweet- makes me literally swoon. I love them. If I were a baking superhero (I’m working on it) my weakness would be cinnamon rolls.
As much as I love the little devils (and I hate to say this) I hate to bake them. The problem is not the sweet yeast dough or the rolling or the slicing. I simply have no patience for the waiting that is required of me during the proofing, rolling, slicing and proofing again process. I realize this is totally unreasonable, but it’s just the truth.
Nicole at Baking Bites seems the understand my need for instant, yet stubbornly homemade cinnamon roll goodness.
I’d like to introduce you to Cinnamon Roll Muffins- add the yeast, subtract the long rising.
Imagine my glee when I had cinnamon roll-esque goodness coming out of my oven in well under an hour. These muffins rise for a short 15 minutes in the bowl and then are placed into a cold oven to cook as the oven preheats to 350 degrees. After 20 minutes in the oven, they’re risen and golden and bubbling with cinnamon and brown sugar.
Easy Cinnamon Roll Muffins
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
4 tsp active dry or rapid rise yeast
2/3 cup warm milk (100-110F; low fat is fine)
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
Filling/Topping
2 tbsp butter, room temperature
2/3 cup brown sugar
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch ground cardamom
Icing
1 cup powdered sugar
1-2 tbsp milk or cream
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt. Dissolve the yeast in a measuring cup filled with the warmed milk, then stir milk mixture, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and egg into the flour mixture. Mix well, until very smooth. Pour into prepared pan and let rest for 15 minutes.
While the dough rests, mix together butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and cardamom in a small bowl using a fork until all the butter has been incorporated into the sugar and mixture is crumbly. Divide the batter between 12 greased muffin cups. Sprinkle evenly on top of rested dough and press the mixture down into the dough with your fingertips (or swirl in with a spatula.)
Place pan into a cold oven, then set the oven temperature to 350F.
Bake for about 20 minutes, until bread is lightly browned at the edges and the center of the bread springs back when lightly pressed. Some of the sugar mixture on top may still be bubbling.
Cool for at least 30 minutes before whisking the powdered sugar and milk together to form an icing and drizzling it onto the bread.
Serve warm. Leftovers can be reheated in the microwave.
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Hi! I made these this weekend – what a hit! I loved them and they tasted great. But I noticed the faint smell/taste of yeast… is there any way that this recipe could still come out as good without as much yeast?
and there went my diet, baking them in the morning……………….for after the work-out :)
I just made these, only to realize I didn’t have any confectioner’s sugar…at 11pm. Fortunately they are still very good minus the icing! :)
good!
if u dont have confectioners sugar you can blend regular white sugar for a few seconds and vwala, u have confectioners sugar. I had to do this once when I didn’t have enough confectioners sugar… hope this helps
Holy Schmoly these are soooo goood. Am typing with oily fingers and have just downed two of these. Gotta stop myself from reaching for more. For those who had the problem of brown sugar falling off, I think the idea is to get the sugary bits INTO the dough, so you have to poke em in, and leave only just a bit at the top.
I’ve not put any icing on them yet, they’re already so good, I’m wondering if I should “tamper” with them. How do you get the icing on to look so pretty Joy? I’m just worried I’ll make a big mess.
I just read this after having already eaten lunch. I started to salivate just reading the preceding description… I will have to try this recipe! (If I use it and write about it I will, of course, give you credit – but I’m generally too lazy/forgetful to write about things I bake)
YUM YUM YUM YUM YUM! These were scrumptious and easy (truth in advertising)! A group of us made them for a class project to show what we had learned about baking, and everyone loved them! We got an A, of course. Thanks Joy!
I made these this week and they were absolutely incredible! Got so many compliments!!
My cousin and I made these today for my boy. They turned out fabulously. :)
Wow these were good. As soon as I took these out of the oven my kids were hovering waiting to try them. These were devoured in record time. Thanks so much.
Cilantro
Ahhahahaha….I forgot to set the timer, so now I have to guess, and to add to that, the brown sugar is oozing and smoking all over the oven. Heeheeheeheehee. Ohhhh…..if only I had a blog.
Making these right now! I’ll have happy children when they get home from school!
Any chance these could be made without yeast? They look yummy!
probably not.
I read this recipe while I was at work…and then made them an hour later when I walked in the door. Cinnamon rolls in less than an hour? Pretty dangerous for me, but my kids were happy!
I am making these right now and put two packages of yeast in my milk….measured out 4 tsp. However, the yeast isn’t disolving in my milk like it does with water. Should I start over? or is it supposed to be that way? Help!
it’s not dissolving? it should.. work it with a spoon? if it’s still foaming up a bit.. .your yeast is alive and you’re good. if there are no bubbles you might have dead yeast on your hands, and you’ll have to start over.
Oh wow, these look incredible.
I just made these but instead substituted whole wheat flour and they turned out nicely. I only needed half the amount of topping called for but still found them very cinnamon-y and sweet :)
I never cook and I just tried making them! first time baker and they were so easy and SO Yummy!!! Thanks for the recipe!!
I just read this, printed it, and now my daughter is in the kitchen mixing them up! What a great recipe. I can’t wait to taste them. Our guitar teacher will be pleased when he arrives. They should just be warm from the oven about the time he gets here! Thanks!
I just made these delicious cinnamon rolls, and was wondering if the brown sugar and cinnamon was supposed to bubble and spill over onto the oven. It caused a lot of smoke, is there a way to avoid this?
Hi!! I found your blog the other day and loved it!
I tried them today and they are delicious! and super easy..i used a little bit more cinnamon and we dont have cardamon here so used a pinch of nutmeg! Amazingly yummy!!
Thanks for posting aall your recipes.. will keep following you and try them myself!
You have a fan down here in Costa Rica!! :)
I made these this week and they were fantastic! I layered the cinnamon sugar with the dough/batter–yum!
I noticed one comment mentioned the taste of yeast. Have you noticed that yourself? Looking at the picture of the finished muffins, the crumb doesn’t look like it has the texture of a yeasted bread, but rather of a cake batter using baking powder. Does it taste like a yeast bread or more like a standard muffin? If it does taste like a muffin, do you think 2 teaspoons of baking powder would substitute? I don’t have a problem using yeast, but I don’t think I’d like to taste the yeast, which maybe is happening because of the low rising time. Thank’s! Regardless, I hope to make these tomorrow for my grandson’s birthday party.
good
This has truly made my life a better one. I too can not wait for all of that rising etc etc etc for cinnamon rolls because the smell grabs me by the nose and yanks me around the whole time! Thank you!!!
At 8.5 months pregnant, I have to say that these filled two of my food requirements: they tasted like cinnamon rolls and they were almost instant gratification. Not to mention that they were delicious!
The baby and I thank you!
Just took a batch of these out of the oven and oh WOW! does my flat smell yummy! I dont even care if they dont taste good the smell is divine!
But fingers crossed my bread tastes like bread (I have extreme issues with Yeast breads… as in every one Ive tried to make has failed, I blame the cold here in Scotland! ) since I have a certain boy coming round to watch a film tonight…
What? Im totally not trying to seduce a boy with cinnamon roll muffins *cough* I totally am *cough*
P.S
Joy you were totally right about boys loving warm choc chip cookies! :P
Is it possible to make these at night, stick them in the fridge, and bake them in the morning?
Hm. I haven’t tried that preparation with these muffins. I don’t think they would be a good fridge dough.
Hi, I have just found your site and love this recipe along with a few others I am going to try ASAP.
Do you think it would be possible to omit the egg and milk? I so what could I use to replace…oil? My toddler has a suspected daily intolerance but would love these.
Thanks!
These look SO amazing! I wish I had some right now. May have to make a batch for tomorrow morning… Hope you have a healthy, happy, and prosperous 2012! xo style, she wrote
Hey! You maybe won’t get this in time for me to know the answer… But would it be bad to double this recipe and bake it in two batches? I am thinking that might now work as well with the oven already warm… Hmm maybe I can squish them all into the oven at the same time…
Four teaspoons of yeast to 1 11/2 cups of flour does sound like rather a lot but I am going to try these today anyway. Wish me luck! :)
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