Cozy Cinnamon Biscuits

Craving the warm, comforting taste of cinnamon rolls but find yourself short on time? Imagine a delicious alternative that brings all that beloved flavor to your table in a fraction of the time. These incredible Cinnamon Biscuits are about to become your new favorite go-to treat, delivering a delightful blend of tender, fluffy biscuit and sweet, spiced cinnamon swirl, all topped with a luscious glaze. Best of all, they’re ready from start to finish in just about 35 minutes!

For those who adore the fragrant spice of cinnamon, these biscuits are a must-try. If you find yourself falling in love with these quick Cinnamon Biscuits, you might also enjoy exploring our Cinnamon Muffins or these decadent Cinnamon Roll Muffins for more breakfast inspiration.

Why You’ll Adore These Quick Cinnamon Biscuits

Around our home, the arrival of homemade cinnamon rolls signals a special occasion. They’re an undeniable family favorite, filling the kitchen with an aroma that promises warmth and comfort. However, we all know that true, yeast-leavened cinnamon rolls are a labor of love, demanding significant time for rising and preparation.

That’s where these delightful Homemade Cinnamon Biscuits shine! They offer all the beloved flavor and comforting texture of a classic cinnamon roll, but without the extensive wait. Imagine serving warm, pillowy biscuits, generously swirled with cinnamon and brown sugar, and draped in a sweet, creamy icing, all in just over half an hour. It’s truly a game-changer for busy mornings or spontaneous cravings.

The first time I served these, my husband was genuinely surprised, asking what the special occasion was. He honestly believed they were traditional cinnamon rolls! This recipe brilliantly bypasses the need for yeast, which means no lengthy raising time and no tedious waiting. This makes them the perfect solution when you’re craving that comforting cinnamon roll experience but don’t have hours to spare. These Cinnamon Biscuits will quickly become your ultimate kitchen companion for a quick, satisfying breakfast or dessert.

Essential Ingredients for Fluffy Cinnamon Biscuits

Crafting these delectable Cinnamon Biscuits requires a simple list of ingredients, most of which you likely already have in your pantry. Each component plays a crucial role in achieving the perfect texture and flavor:

• All-Purpose Flour: The foundation of our biscuits, all-purpose flour provides the necessary structure. Using the right amount is key to a tender, not tough, biscuit.
• Baking Powder and Baking Soda: These leavening agents work in tandem to give the biscuits their characteristic lift and incredibly fluffy texture. Don’t skip either!
• Salt: A pinch of salt is essential for balancing the sweetness and enhancing the overall flavor profile of both the biscuit and the filling.
• Vegetable Oil: We opt for vegetable oil in this recipe to ensure the biscuits remain wonderfully moist and tender. It contributes to a softer crumb compared to using solid fats alone.
• Buttermilk: Buttermilk is a secret weapon in biscuit making. Its acidity reacts with the baking soda, promoting a superior rise. It also imparts a subtle tanginess that adds depth to the flavor without being overpowering. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can easily make your own by adding 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to a measuring cup, then filling the rest with regular milk to 3/4 cup. Let it sit for 5 minutes before using.
• Softened Butter: For the irresistible cinnamon swirl filling, you’ll need butter that’s softened to room temperature. This allows it to spread effortlessly across the dough, ensuring an even distribution of flavor. You’ll also need a small amount of melted butter for the quick icing.
• Brown Sugar: The brown sugar forms the heart of our sweet filling. We recommend light brown sugar for its mellow molasses notes, which complement the cinnamon beautifully.
• Ground Cinnamon and Cardamom: Of course, cinnamon is the star spice here, providing that signature warm, aromatic flavor. Ground cardamom is an optional but highly recommended addition. Its unique, floral, and slightly citrusy notes elevate the entire experience, giving the biscuits a gourmet touch.
• Milk (The “Secret” Ingredient): This is truly the magic touch that sets these biscuits apart. Poured over the hot biscuits immediately after baking, the milk is absorbed, creating an incredibly moist, almost custard-like texture reminiscent of traditional cinnamon rolls.
• Powdered Sugar: The base for our quick and creamy icing. There’s no need to sift it for this recipe; it will blend smoothly.
• Heavy Cream: Used for the icing, heavy cream creates a rich, smooth consistency. Start with 1 tablespoon and add more as needed to achieve your desired pourable yet thick consistency.

How to Make Quick & Easy Cinnamon Biscuits

Follow these simple steps to create a batch of warm, gooey Cinnamon Biscuits in under an hour:

1. Prepare Your Workspace and Oven: Begin by preheating your oven to 400°F (200°C). Lightly grease a 9-inch round baking pan. A light coating of non-stick spray or butter will prevent sticking and ensure easy removal.
2. Combine Dry Ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. This ensures the leavening agents are evenly distributed throughout the dough. While you can use a stand mixer, mixing by hand is perfectly fine for this recipe.
3. Incorporate Wet Ingredients for Dough: Pour the vegetable oil into the dry ingredients and stir to combine. The mixture will look crumbly. Next, add the buttermilk. Mix just until the liquid has been absorbed and a shaggy dough forms. It will appear dry and somewhat stiff, but resist the urge to add more liquid.
4. Knead and Shape the Dough: Lightly flour your clean counter or work surface. Turn the dough out onto the floured surface. Knead it gently a few times – just enough to bring it together into a smooth, cohesive ball. Over-kneading can result in tough biscuits, so aim for minimal handling.
5. Roll Out the Dough: Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a rectangular shape, approximately 15 inches long by 8 inches wide. Strive for an even thickness across the entire rectangle to ensure consistent baking.

6. Spread the Butter: Evenly spread the softened butter over the entire surface of the rolled-out dough, reaching all the way to the edges. This creates a rich base for the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
7. Prepare and Apply the Filling: In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, ground cinnamon, and optional cardamom. Mix them thoroughly, then sprinkle this delicious mixture evenly over the butter-coated dough.
8. Roll the Dough: Carefully roll the dough up tightly, starting from one of the longer sides, creating a “jelly roll” shape. For easier handling and to prevent sticking, especially if your dough is a bit sticky, a bench scraper can be very helpful to lift and guide the dough as you roll.
9. Slice the Rolls: Using a sharp knife or a piece of unflavored dental floss, cut the rolled dough into 9 equal slices. For more uniform biscuits, you can trim off the slightly uneven ends first, if desired, before making your 9 main cuts.

10. Arrange for Baking: Place the dough slices, cut side up, into your prepared 9-inch round pan. Typically, this means arranging 8 biscuits around the edges and one in the center. Ensure they have a little room to expand but are still touching, which helps them bake up soft.
11. Bake to Golden Perfection: Transfer the pan to the preheated oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the biscuits are beautifully golden brown on top and cooked through.
12. Prepare the Icing: While the biscuits are baking, prepare the luscious icing. In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, melted butter, heavy cream, and a small pinch of salt until smooth and creamy.
13. The “Secret” Milk Soak: As soon as you remove the hot biscuits from the oven, immediately and evenly pour the 1/3 cup of milk over the entire pan of warm biscuits. The hot biscuits will eagerly soak up the milk, transforming their texture and adding incredible moisture.
14. Glaze and Serve: Finally, spread the prepared icing generously over the warm biscuits. You can wait a few minutes for them to cool slightly, but many prefer to add the icing while they’re still quite hot, allowing it to melt and seep into the biscuits, creating an even gooier experience. Serve them warm and enjoy!

Watch How to Make Them: Cinnamon Biscuits Video Guide

For a visual demonstration of each step, from mixing the dough to the final icing, you can watch the helpful video tutorial above. It’s a great way to ensure you’re on track to baking perfect cinnamon biscuits!

Expert Tips for the Best Cinnamon Biscuits

Achieving perfectly tender and flavorful cinnamon biscuits is easy with these insider tips:

• Don’t Overwork the Dough: This is arguably the most crucial tip for tender biscuits. Knead the dough just until it comes together and is smooth. Over-mixing or over-kneading develops the gluten too much, leading to tough, chewy biscuits instead of light and fluffy ones.
• Softened Butter is Key: Ensure your butter for the filling is genuinely softened to room temperature. This allows it to spread easily and evenly without tearing the dough, guaranteeing a consistent cinnamon-sugar layer in every bite.
• Even Rolling and Cutting: Try to roll your dough into an even thickness to ensure uniform baking. Similarly, cutting the slices into equal sizes will mean they all bake at the same rate.
• The Power of the Icing (Optional but Recommended): For years, we enjoyed these cinnamon biscuits without any icing, and they were still absolutely delicious. However, once we started adding the sweet glaze, it truly elevated them to another level of indulgence. Feel free to skip it if you prefer a less sweet option, but we highly recommend giving it a try!
• Serve Them Warm: While these biscuits are delightful at room temperature, they truly shine when warm. The heat enhances the cinnamon aroma and keeps the texture incredibly soft and inviting.
• Reheating Leftovers: If you have any leftovers (a rare occurrence!), simply pop them into the microwave for about 15-20 seconds per biscuit. They’ll taste almost as fresh as when they first came out of the oven.

Make-Ahead & Freezing Instructions for Convenience

These Easy Cinnamon Biscuits are already incredibly fast to make, perfect for when a craving strikes. However, if you’re looking for even more convenience, you can certainly prepare them ahead of time or freeze them for later enjoyment.

Make Ahead:

You can prepare the biscuits the night before up to the baking step. After arranging the sliced dough in the greased pan, cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, remove the biscuits from the refrigerator and let them come to room temperature for about 20-30 minutes before baking as directed. This helps them bake more evenly.

Freezing:

These versatile biscuits can be frozen both before and after baking:

• To Freeze Unbaked Biscuits: Arrange the sliced dough in your baking pan. Instead of baking, cover the pan very well with plastic wrap and then aluminum foil, or transfer the individual slices to an airtight freezer-safe container. Freeze for up to 1-2 months. When you’re ready to bake, thaw the biscuits completely in the refrigerator overnight, then bring to room temperature before baking, adding the milk, and then the icing as per the recipe.
• To Freeze Baked Biscuits: Allow the baked biscuits (without the milk soak or icing yet) to cool completely. Wrap each biscuit individually in plastic wrap, then place them in a freezer-safe bag or container. Freeze for up to 1-2 months. Thaw them in the refrigerator overnight. For the best results, warm them gently in the oven or microwave before adding the milk soak and icing and serving.

Explore More Delicious Biscuit Recipes

If you’ve enjoyed the simplicity and deliciousness of these cinnamon biscuits, you might be inspired to try other homemade biscuit variations:

• Chocolate Chip Biscuits with Raspberry Cream
• Savory Sausage and Cheese Breakfast Biscuits
• Bright Raspberry Lemon Breakfast Biscuits
• Classic Biscuits and Sausage Gravy
• Perfectly Fluffy Buttermilk Biscuits

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Cinnamon Biscuits

Rated 5 out of 5 stars based on 3 votes

Author: Deborah Harroun

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Servings: 9 biscuits

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

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In the mood for cinnamon roll but don’t have the time? These Cinnamon Biscuits will become your new go-to – especially since they only take 35 minutes from start to finish!

Ingredients

For the Biscuits:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom (optional)
• 1/3 cup milk

For the Icing:

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Lightly grease a 9-inch round baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Stir in the vegetable oil. Add in the buttermilk and stir just until combined. The dough will be shaggy.
3. Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently a few times until it forms a smooth ball. Roll it into a 15×8-inch rectangle. Evenly spread the softened butter over the dough, reaching the edges.
4. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and cardamom (if using). Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the butter layer on the dough. Roll up the dough tightly like a jelly roll and pinch the seam to seal it. Cut into 9 equal slices and arrange them in the prepared pan, cut side up.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the biscuits are lightly browned and cooked through.
6. While the biscuits are baking, prepare the icing. Whisk together the powdered sugar, melted butter, heavy whipping cream, and a pinch of salt until smooth.
7. Once the biscuits are baked, remove them from the oven. Immediately and evenly pour the 1/3 cup of milk over the hot biscuits.
8. Spread the icing over the biscuits and serve them warm.

Video Tutorial

Recipe Notes:

Nutrition information is provided as an estimate only. Various brands and products can change the counts. Any nutritional information should be used as a general guide.

Nutrition Information (Estimated per 1 biscuit serving):

Calories: 346 kcal (17%)

Carbohydrates: 43g (14%)

Protein: 4g (8%)

Fat: 18g (28%)

Saturated Fat: 8g (50%)

Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g

Trans Fat: 0g

Cholesterol: 32mg (11%)

Sodium: 502mg (22%)

Fiber: 1g (4%)

Sugar: 20g (22%)