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    Home » Traybakes » Easy Cinnamon Swirls

    Published on Nov 23, 2020. Modified on Nov 26, 2020 by bakingqueen74. This post may contain affiliate links. 2 Comments

    Easy Cinnamon Swirls

    17 shares
    Jump to Recipe

    When you want cinnamon swirls but are short on time, these easy cinnamon swirls will hit the spot, with their tasty cinnamon sugar filling and drizzles of icing!

    Close up of cinnamon swirls with icing drizzled over in baking tin.

    Jump to:
    • Ingredients
    • Step by step
    • Frosting variations
    • Freezing
    • More to try
    • Recipe
    • Reviews

    Some days you want to bake cinnamon rolls for breakfast, brunch or just to enjoy but you don’t have the time or energy to wait for the dough to rise!

    These easy cinnamon swirls are perfect for days like these, as they are made without yeast so you don’t have to allow for proving time at all.

    Unlike puff pastry swirls these are soft and buttery, perfect as a contrast to the sweet icing.

    A single cinnamon roll on a copper cooling rack.

    Based on an easy scone dough using self-raising flour, these swirls are so easy to prepare and you’ll end up with tasty soft rolls with a cinnamon filling, delicious with a simple icing drizzled over the top.

    Better still they’ll be ready in half an hour!

    If you love cinnamon then you’ll love these swirls. My children love them and even my husband who isn’t fond of cinnamon normally was a fan!

    Cinnamon rolls with icing in baking tin.

    The lovely people over at Divertimenti, a premium bookshop and cookery school in South Kensington (London) sent me a Nordic Ware Cake Pan to try out this week.

    These cinnamon scones were the perfect opportunity to try out the pan, as at 9 x 13 inches it is well-sized and perfect for a traybake like this. What I loved is that it has deep sides, is made of aluminium so it ensures your bakes brown evenly and consistently, and it also has galvanised edges to prevent it from warping.

    I found the pan really easy to prepare for baking just by lightly oiling it, and also so easy to clean afterwards. As it will never rust it is a great addition to my baking arsenal. I look forward to using it for more bakes soon, I think a millionaires shortbread or an old school traybake cake might well be on the cards!

    Ingredients

    • self-raising flour
    • butter
    • caster sugar
    • milk
    • cinnamon
    • granulated sugar – used for the filling
    • icing sugar – used for the simple icing

    Step by step

    1. Sift the self-raising flour into a large bowl.
    2. Cube the butter straight from the fridge and add to the flour.
    Flour and cubes of butter in a bowl.
    1. Rub it into the flour until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
    Flour with butter rubbed in to coarse breadcrumb stage in a bowl.
    1. Stir in the caster sugar.
    2. Pour in the milk and stir with a spoon until it comes together as a dough.
    Scone dough in mixing bowl.
    1. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and bring it together in a ball so you can roll it out.
    Scone dough in a ball on wooden chopping board.
    1. Roll the dough into a large rectangle using a rolling pin.
    2. Mix the granulated sugar and cinnamon for the filling in a small bowl.
    3. Sprinkle it all over the dough, spreading it equally around so it covers it evenly.
    Rectangle of dough with cinnamon sugar topping on a wooden board.
    1. From the long side of the rectangle, roll up the dough carefully and tightly into a large roll, as if you are making a Swiss roll.
    2. Cut the roll into 12 equal pieces.
    Roll of dough for cinnamon rolls cut into equal pieces on a wooden board.
    1. Grease your baking tin with a little oil, ensuring you cover all sides and edges, to prevent sticking.
    2. Arrange the swirls in 4 rows of 3, leaving a little room between each roll as they will rise as they bake.
    Cinnamon swirls before baking, in baking tin.
    1. Bake for 25 minutes at 180 degrees C or until light golden in colour and cooked through.
    2. Remove the baking tin from the oven and allow to cool.
    Baked cinnamon swirls in baking tin.
    1. In a separate small bowl, mix the icing sugar with the 2 tablespoons of milk to make a smooth, not too runny icing.
    2. Drizzle the icing over the cinnamon swirls and serve!
    Close up of cinnamon rolls with icing drizzles.

    Frosting variations

    • If you prefer a cream cheese frosting for cinnamon rolls and swirls then my favourite recipe is this one from Kerry Cooks, it is no fail!
    • If you’d prefer not to use icing (powdered) sugar in your frosting then this frosting based on a roux is another option.

    Freezing

    You can freeze these swirls un-iced. Let them cool after baking then wrap well in clingfilm or a freezer bag and freeze for up to 6 weeks. To defrost, thaw them overnight in the fridge. Reheat in a low oven for 5-10 minutes then ice before serving.

    More to try

    If you love cinnamon you might also like:

    • cinnamon and raisin bread
    • cinnamon shortbread
    • apple and cinnamon madeleines

    Recipe

    Close up of cinnamon swirls with icing drizzled over in baking tin.

    Easy Cinnamon Swirls

    These easy cinnamon swirls are based on a scone dough so need no rising time. You can have them ready to eat in about half an hour so they are great for a lazy breakfast or brunch.
    4.67 from 3 votes
    Print Pin Rate Save Saved!
    Course: Baking
    Cuisine: American, British
    Prep Time: 5 minutes
    Cook Time: 25 minutes
    Total Time: 30 minutes
    Servings: 12
    Calories: 281kcal
    Author: Lucy Allen | BakingQueen74

    Ingredients

    • 450 g self-raising flour
    • 110 g butter I prefer unsalted
    • 60 g caster sugar
    • 300 ml milk I use semi-skimmed

    For the filling:

    • 4 tbsp granulated sugar
    • 2.5 tsp ground cinnamon

    For the frosting:

    • 85 g icing sugar
    • 2 tbsp milk
    UK Measurements – US Measurements

    Equipment

    jug
    mixing bowl
    rolling pin

    Instructions 

    • Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
    • Sift the self-raising flour (450 g) into a large bowl.
    • Cube the butter straight from the fridge.
    • Rub it into the flour until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
    • Stir in the caster sugar.
    • Pour in the milk and stir with a spoon until it comes together as a dough.
    • Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and bring it together in a ball so you can roll it out.
    • Roll the dough into a large rectangle using a rolling pin.
    • Mix the granulated sugar and cinnamon for the filling in a small bowl.
    • Sprinkle it all over the dough, spreading it equally around so it covers it evenly.
    • From the long side of the rectangle, roll up the dough carefully and tightly into a large roll, as if you are making a Swiss roll.
    • Cut the roll into 12 equal pieces.
    • Grease your baking tin with a little oil, ensuring you cover all sides and edges, to prevent sticking.
    • Arrange the swirls in 4 rows of 3, leaving a little room between each roll as they will rise as they bake.
    • Bake for 25 minutes or until light golden in colour and cooked through.
    • Remove the baking tin from the oven and allow to cool.
    • In a separate small bowl, mix the icing sugar with the 2 tablespoons of milk to make a smooth, not too runny icing.
    • Drizzle the icing over the cinnamon swirls and serve!

    Notes

    Tin size: I used a 9 inch by 13 inch cake pan for this recipe.
    Freezing
    You can freeze these swirls un-iced. Let them cool after baking then wrap well in clingfilm or a freezer bag and freeze for up to 6 weeks. To defrost, thaw them overnight in the fridge. Reheat in a low oven for 5-10 minutes then ice before serving.
    Did you try and love this recipe?Then please leave a review and rating in the comments at the bottom of the post. If you post your creation on Instagram, tag me @bakingqueen74 or use hashtag #bakingqueen74!

    Disclosure: Divertimenti sent me a cake pan for the purposes of a review. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this post.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Mrs Wren says

      March 12, 2022 at 9:58 pm

      I made these cinnamon swirls today for my husband and we both loved them.
      Thank you so much for sharing your yummy recipe.

      Reply
      • bakingqueen74 says

        March 13, 2022 at 12:35 pm

        Great, thanks so much for letting me know!

        Reply

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    Hi, I'm Lucy! I'm a slow cooker addict, food blogger and also a busy working mum of two. I hope you'll enjoy the recipes I create and post which are perfect for busy families.

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