Easy Cinnamon Rolls

Easy cinnamon roll ingredients

So, what’s the trick to making cinnamon rolls with just four ingredients?

It’s pizza dough!

You know the pizza dough they sell in the refrigerated section of stores like Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and Wegmans? This same dough can easily be used instead of homemade dough for cinnamon rolls.

You can buy regular or whole-wheat pizza dough. It’s also often vegan, although vegans should always check the ingredients to be sure.

Or you can make your dough at home – I like this Vegan Pizza Recipe – and freeze it for a rushed morning or rainy day.

I even succeeded when I made the rolls with gluten-free pizza dough. That doesn’t necessarily mean every gluten-free pizza dough will work, but it proves it can make gluten-free cinnamon rolls using the pizza dough trick.

I haven’t tried the easy cinnamon bun recipe with almond flour pizza dough and don’t currently have a keto cinnamon roll recipe on the blog (maybe I should make one?!). However, you can add cinnamon to these Keto Muffins’ batter and ice them with cream cheese frosting for a fantastic and easy low-carb cinnamon roll without yeast.

Cinnamon roll icing recipes

You have many options here.

Cream Cheese Frosting: Beat room temperature 8 ounces of cream or vegan cream cheese with 4 ounces of butter, 2 cups of powdered sugar, and one teaspoon of pure vanilla extract. Add a little milk of choice as needed.

Basic Cinnamon Roll Glaze: Mix 1 1/2 cups of powdered or sugar-free sugar with 2-4 tablespoons of milk. Whisk ingredients to form a glaze. Drizzle over the rolls with a spoon.

Nutella Cinnamon Rolls: Instead of icing, top with Homemade Nutella or any chocolate hazelnut or peanut butter spread.

Other Easy Frosting Ideas: Feel free to top the rolls with store-bought frosting, melted almond butter, or Coconut Butter (my favorite). Or you can leave them plain for a healthy breakfast with a similar sweetness to a muffin.

The quick cinnamon bun secret

This is my favorite trick for easy cinnamon rolls:

Cut slices before rolling.

After spreading the filling on top of the dough, cut it into slices before rolling it up so you won’t have to worry about the filling oozing out and getting all over the place.

Once you try it this way, you will never return to the thread or floss method because this simple change makes the entire cinnamon roll baking process much more manageable. Plus, it’s so much less messy!

How to make easy cinnamon rolls

Start by rolling the dough out on a floured surface. Any flour works here.

If it is too sticky to roll, add more flour of choice, a little at a time. Roll the dough thinly; just under one-fourth of an inch works well. Then, spread the remaining ingredients on top.

Cut long strips of dough with a sharp knife. Roll each strip up as tightly as possible, and arrange the unbaked cinnamon buns in a greased baking dish. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Bake for twenty minutes, then frost the cinnamon rolls using either your favorite icing or one of the homemade cinnamon roll frosting recipes written out above.

Ingredients

16 oz pizza dough

2 tbsp softened butter co, coconut oil, or applesauce for low-fat

3 tbsp sugar, unrefined or sugar sub if desired

2-3 teaspoons cinnamon

Instructions

See the post notes above for what types of pizza dough will work. To make the cinnamon rolls: Roll out dough on a floured surface (any flour works, even coconut flour). If the dough is too sticky to roll, add more flour of choice a little at a time. Roll very thinly (just under 1/4-inch is perfect). Spread the remaining ingredients on top. Cut long strips, then roll each up as tightly as possible. Put in a greased baking pan. Preheat oven to 400 F. Bake 20 minutes. Frosting recipes are listed above. If you try the recipe, review or rate it below!