Cinnamon Drop Biscuits with Vanilla Glaze

These dreamy cinnamon drop biscuits with vanilla glaze are one of my favorite lazy weekend treats when I want something indulgent and delish with minimal effort. They are ready in under 30 minutes and no rolling is required!

About the recipe

Cinnamon Drop Biscuits are probably the recipe that I make most often from this blog. I crave them often, they are ALWAYS on the menu when I have company, and they are just too easy and simple not to make. It's a breakfast recipe that's easy enough to make on a lazy weekend morning, and indulgent enough to serve to company for brunch.

This recipe was inspired by two things that have played significant roles in my life:

Bojangle's cinnamon biscuits - growing up, my parents loved to treat my siblings and me to hot cinnamon biscuits from Bojangle's on a Saturday morning from time to time. We LOVED those biscuits, and to this day, I remember exactly what they tasted like.

Sadly, Bojangle's no longer sells cinnamon biscuits, so I wanted to figure out a way to make my own version at home. I'm happy to report that these are a close copycat - maybe with less butter, but still delectable!

Cook's Illustrated Best Drop Biscuit recipe - their method of making biscuits changed my life. Truth be told, I've never been a good biscuit maker. I refuse to use lard/Crisco, and often found that my biscuits would be too wet or too dry and crumbly. I don't like the messiness of rolling them out and cutting them either.

This recipe changes all of that - you don't have to roll out or cut, and the technique for adding melted butter to the buttermilk instead of cutting cold butter into flour is pure genius. Buttery, light, flaky biscuits every time without fail. That's my jam!

Another nice thing some of you may be excited about is that this cinnamon sugar biscuit recipe does NOT require any eggs. That seems to be a factor that's important to many for various reasons!

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Ingredients

For the drop biscuits:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon table salt
• 1 cup cold buttermilk
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter

For the cinnamon filling:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly for 5 minutes
• ⅓ cup dark brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

For the glaze:

• ½ cup powdered sugar
• 1-2 tablespoons half and half, more as needed 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Mix the dry ingredients - combine the flour, baking powder, soda, sugar, and salt.
2. Mix the wet ingredients - add the melted butter to the buttermilk.
3. Add the wet to the dry ingredients - you'll fold everything together gently until a dough forms.
4. Drop the biscuits - I use a 3-ounce ice cream scoop for this.
5. Make the brown sugar topping - stir together brown sugar, melted butter, and cinnamon together in a bowl. It will look like wet sand.
6. Spoon topping onto biscuits - each biscuit will get about 2 teaspoons of brown sugar topping.
7. Bake and make the glaze - while the biscuits bake, whisk together a quick glaze of powdered sugar, vanilla, and half & half.
8. Enjoy while hot!

Top tips

Give the buttermilk time to clump - the recipe calls for you to add still-warm melted butter to the buttermilk so that it forms clumps. It likely won't do this right away, so let the melted butter sit in the buttermilk for 2-3 minutes before you stir it.

If the butter is too hot, it will not clump. Place the butter + buttermilk in the freezer for 10 minutes and then stir to form clumps.

Baking - you can bake these on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet like you would scones, or you can bake them in a greased pie or casserole dish like cinnamon rolls.

Possible modifications

• Reduce the butter - I have made these successfully reducing the butter in the biscuits from 8 tablespoon to 5 tablespoon without noticing too much of a difference.
• Replace all-purpose flour with white whole wheat flour - doing this will give the biscuits a nice nutty flavor. They will still be very light and fluffy!
• Make them gluten-free - I would recommend Cup 4 Cup gluten-free flour blend for this recipe.

Similar recipes to enjoy:

Are you ready to make these cinnamon drop biscuits? I’m so excited for you to try this recipe! Once you get the chance to make it, please let me know how it turns out for you! Leave a comment and rate the recipe below. This will help me with the creation of future recipes! I’d also love to feature your creation in my monthly newsletter, so you can upload a photo to Instagram or Twitter with the tag @sweetcayenne5 to be featured!

Recipe

Cinnamon Drop Biscuits with Vanilla Glaze

These dreamy cinnamon drop biscuits with vanilla glaze are one of my favorite lazy weekend treats when I want something indulgent and delish with minimal effort. They are ready in under 30 minutes and no rolling is required!

Tried this recipe?Mention @sweetcayenne5 or tag #sweetcayenne!

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Servings: 9 Biscuits

Ingredients

For the drop biscuits:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon table salt
• 1 cup cold buttermilk
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly for 2 minutes

For the cinnamon filling:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly for 5 minutes
• ⅓ cup dark brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

For the eggnog glaze:

• ½ cup powdered sugar
• 1-2 tablespoons half and half, more as needed (substitute w/ eggnog, coffee, or apple cider)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (omit if using eggnog or apple cider)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 450℉. Grease a deep dish pie pan or 9 x 9 square baking pan or pie dish with cooking spray or line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt.
• Add the melted butter to the buttermilk and let stand for 2 minutes. Stir to combine until small clumps form into the mixture.
  https://vimeo.com/412823336
• Add the clumped buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Use a rubber spatula to lightly fold the ingredients together until just combined. Be careful not to overmix.
• Use a 4-ounce dough scoop or a ⅓ cup measuring cup to drop the dough into the prepared pan or baking sheet, placing the dough mounds about ½’’ apart. You should have 9-10 biscuits.
• In a small bowl, stir together the 2 tablespoons melted butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Drop about 1 teaspoon of this mixture into the center of each biscuit mound, using the back of a spoon to gently press into the dough.
• Bake the biscuits for 12-15 minutes until the biscuits are set and the edges are golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside while you make the glaze.
• In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar, half and half, and vanilla by stirring with a whisk. Add more half and half as needed until the glaze is the consistency of honey.
• Drizzle the glaze on top of the still hot biscuits. Serve warm!

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Notes

Biscuits are delicious reheated - place on a baking sheet in a 375°F oven and reheat for 8 minutes. 

Serving: 1biscuit | Calories: 274kcal | Carbohydrates: 35.3g | Protein: 3.9g | Fat: 13.3g | Saturated Fat: 8.3g | Cholesterol: 35mg | Sodium: 250mg | Potassium: 84mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 13.6g | Calcium: 490mg