This Cinnamon Biscuits Recipe is full of great cinnamon roll flavor in every bite. An easy 30-minute recipe to make hot-out-of-the-oven cinnamon pastries for breakfast.
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It is easy and quick to have a great cinnamon roll flavor in a biscuit with vanilla, cinnamon, and sugar. They do not crumble like some biscuits due to strengthening with an egg, and they are topped with delicious vanilla frosting. Think of them as the lazy man's cinnamon rolls.
Even an inexperienced cook can make these biscuits with simple step-by-step photo instructions with pantry ingredients and only 10 minutes of prep time and 20 minutes in the oven.
They have a great homemade taste, unlike Pillsbury biscuits, and are easy to make into copycats of Hardee's Cinnamon Raisin Biscuits or Bojangles Cinnamon Biscuits,
Serve with a side of breakfast meat, like Oven Bake Bacon or Bake Breakfast Sausage Patties. Or try some other great breakfast recipes like Cinnamon Roll Cake, Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake, Cinnamon Swirl Bread, or our favorite Old Fashion Banana Nut Bread.
My "inspiration" recipes are my biscuit recipe and Cinnamon Biscuits at food.com, which helped with some refinements.
Ingredients
- Flour
- Baking powder—aluminum-free baking powder
- Milk—or buttermilk
- Egg
- Butter
- Pantry ingredients—salt, cinnamon, sugar, vanilla extract, powdered sugar
- Nuts (optional)—chopped pecans or walnuts
👨🍳How to Make Cinnamon Biscuits
- Mix flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and sugar.
- Cut in ¼ cup butter, then mix in milk, egg, and vanilla extract.
- Roll into a log and cut into eight equal slices.
- Place on a baking sheet coated with PAM cooking spray and brush with melted butter.
- Bake in a preheated oven until golden brown—about 18-20 minutes.
- Mix the frosting of powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk.
- Allow the biscuits to cool for 5 minutes before frosting.
Variations
Copycat of Hardee's®️ Cinnamon Raisin Biscuits
- Add ½ cup of raisins.
- You can make these as a drop or cut biscuits.
Copycat of Bojangles®️ Cinnamon Biscuits
- Skip the cinnamon and vanilla in the biscuit dough (I suggest keeping them).
- Mix a cinnamon filling of 2 tablespoons of melted butter, 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, and ¼ cup dark brown sugar.
- Press a well into the center top of each biscuit and add 1 teaspoon of the mixture.
✔️Tips
- Cutting in the butter puts most people off from a recipe like this. It is easier to cut in cold butter, chop the butter into small cubes or shred it with a box shredder.
- Using buttermilk will make the biscuits slightly lighter.
- The biscuit dough can be adjusted with a bit more flour or milk.
- You can make this a "drop biscuit." That will cut out a few steps but not much.
- The frosting is optional, but you want it. Adjust the thickness of the frosting by adding a few drops more milk or extra powdered sugar.
- Make the frosting slightly thin so it will easily spread over the warm biscuits.
- These are a nice size, but you can make them bigger by dividing the dough into 6 equal parts.
- You can use self-rising flour to replace the flour, salt, and baking powder. Use Bisquick®️ , similar to the self-rising flour but also has fats, so it also replaces the butter. I don't recommend either for this recipe. They will work, but the results will be better with the recipe as written.
Make ahead and leftovers.
You you can make your biscuits a day or two ahead. Make out the biscuits, cover them tightly on a pan with plastic wrap, and refrigerate them for 1-2 days. Let set at room temperature for 15-20 minutes before baking.
You can also freeze uncooked biscuits. Make individual biscuits and freeze them on parchment paper. When frozen, move to an airtight container. They can be stored for 2-3 months. Spread on a tray and cover refrigerated overnight—then bake.
Fresh is best but will be good for up to about 2 days at room temperature if sealed airtight.
You can freeze cooked leftovers, but I'm not a fan of freezing the frosting. So freeze for up to 3 months without any frosting. And then make a bit of frosting when needed.
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
Preheat oven to 425°.
Mix dry ingredients of 2 ¼ cups flour, one tablespoon baking powder, one teaspoon salt, one teaspoon cinnamon, and ½ cup sugar. Mix well. Cut ¼ cup butter into the flour with a pastry cutter or fork.
Add ¾ cup milk, one egg, and one teaspoon of vanilla extract. Add optional nuts if using.
Mix until completely combined. Then roll the dough into a log on a lightly floured surface and cut it into eight equal slices.
Spray a baking sheet with PAM. Place biscuits on a baking sheet. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter and brush tops.
Bake until golden brown—about 18-20 minutes.
While baking the biscuits, combine 1 cup of powdered sugar, ¼ teaspoon vanilla, and 1-2 tablespoons to make the glaze the thickness you want.
Remove from the oven and allow to cook for about 5 minutes before frosting.
📖 Recipe
Cinnamon Biscuits with Vanilla Frosting
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cup flour
- 1 tablespoon aluminum free baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ cup sugar
- ¾ cup milk
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup butter - cut in
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon butter - melted for top
- ½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts - Optional
Glaze
- 1 cup powder sugar
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°.
- Mix dry ingredients of 2 ¼ cups flour, one tablespoon baking powder, one teaspoon salt, one teaspoon cinnamon, and ½ cup sugar. Mix well. Cut ¼ cup butter into the flour with a pastry cutter or fork.
- Add ¾ cup milk, one egg, and one teaspoon of vanilla extract. Add optional nuts of using.
- Mix until completely combined. Then roll the dough into a log on a lightly floured surface and cut it into eight equal slices.
- Spray a baking sheet with PAM. Place biscuits on a baking sheet. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter and brush tops.
- Bake until golden brown—about 18-20 minutes.
- While baking the biscuits, combine 1 cup of powdered sugar, ¼ teaspoon vanilla, and 1-2 tablespoons to make the glaze the thickness you want.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cook for about 5 minutes before frosting.
Your Own Private Notes
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- The "cutting in" of the butter is what puts most people off from a recipe like this. Use cold butter and cut into small cubes or shred the better before cutting in with a pastry cutter or fork.
- Always use aluminum-free baking powder due to after-taste issues.
- Do not knead or refrigerate the dough. Just cook biscuit style.
- You can make this a "drop biscuit". That will cut out a few steps but not much.
- The frosting is optional, but you really want it.
- You can make them bigger by dividing the dough into 6 equal parts.
- Fresh is best but will be good for up to about 2 days at room temperature if sealed airtight.
- Freezing instructions are in the post.
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Originally Published May 8, 2016. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Dawn
It was very sticky and impossible to roll into a log. I ended up using a lot more flour on the board and used a biscuit cutter. Next time I will adjust amount of flour and milk.
Matt
No mention of butter in the ingredients... Then boom instructions mention butter...
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Matt,
Welcome to the blog.... puff.. butter suddenly appears on the ingredient list- twice.
Thanks for the proofread. It has been like that for only 4 years. Nutrition adjusted also.
Dan
WT
You can freeze the butter and grate it on a cheese grater. Really fast and easy
nina
we would make these cinnamon biscuits again needed more flour because unable to form log but modification is the key
DrDan
Hi Nina,
Welcome to the blog.
The flour to fluid ratio can vary some when the flour is measured by volume (like we do in America) vs weight like Europe. If your flour is "fluffy" the you have less wt in a cup. This recipe is based on my drop biscuit recipe. Mostly, right on but sometimes it needs a bit more milk or flour.
Thank for the note and rating.
Dan
Jill G
Great recipe, will definitely make these again. I also had issues trying to roll the dough into a log, but the drop biscuit method worked fine - thanks for that tip !