No-yeast Cinnamon Rolls

Okay, so Snigdha and I share a weakness for certain ingredients. Cinnamon is our favourite when it comes to baking/desserts. Snigdha is so gaga over cinnamon, that she did a mini-version of the Cinnamon Challenge without even realising it. No, really. In fact, we went a bit overboard with this recipe too, but we have a fix for that so no worries!

Cinnamon rolls are usually made with yeast but I know a lot of people (including me) are too impatient to wait for the dough to rise. So this recipe is brought to you by...the magical properties of baking powder! It's not perfect because the yeast makes a more spongy roll, but hey, it's delicious!

We'd both been craving cinnamon rolls for months (months!) but there isn't any place around that makes it. I finally looked it up and, honestly, if I'd known it was so easy, we would have made this ages
ago.

Dough 

2 cups flour 

2 tablespoons sugar 

4 teaspoons baking powder 

1 teaspoon salt 

3 tablespoons butter 

3/4 cup milk 

Filling 

4 tablespoons butter 

1 cup brown sugar or 1 cup white sugar 

3 teaspoons cinnamon 

Glaze 

1/2 cup powdered sugar 

1/4 cup milk

Method

In a small bowl combine softened butter, brown (or white) sugar and cinnamon to form a crumbly mixture.

Sprinkle half of the mixture over the bottom of an oven-proof pan. You can line the pan with aluminium foil for easier cleaning later.

In a large bowl mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the butter and add the milk to form a dough. Use your hands for best results! The dough is going to be a bit crumbly so don't expect elasticity.

On a floured surface, roll the dough into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick (too thin and it becomes crisp) and spread the remaining filling on it. Roll this dough into something resembling a swiss roll. Again, be careful as the dough is very crumbly.

With a sharp knife slice into small rolls – as thick as you want. 

Bake for 20-25 min at 200°C.

Meanwhile, mix the powdered sugar and milk in a bowl and stir. 

Pour over the freshly baked rolls and attack!

Tip:

- If you end up putting too much cinnamon, add more glaze to counter the strong taste. We had to learn this the hard way.