Julie Clark
Updated:
Crescent Roll Cinnamon Rolls
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Use store bought crescent rolls to make this under 30 minute breakfast recipe. We’ll show you how to make Crescent Roll Cinnamon Rolls two ways.
This crescent cinnamon rolls recipe you want when the kids want something special for breakfast and you have about 30 minutes to spare. The treat you need when you sit down to watch a movie at 8pm and start craving a snack. The cure to your cinnamon sugar cravings.
We have just about every type of cinnamon roll you could ask for on our blog. Puff pastry cinnamon rolls, traditional cinnamon rolls, Bisquick cinnamon rolls and even no yeast cinnamon rolls. But cinnamon rolls made with crescent rolls are quick. And they’re delicious.
About Crescent Roll Cinnamon Rolls:
- Flavor: Buttery, rich and full of cinnamon sugar mixture. What’s not to love?
- Texture: The texture of the traditional rolled cinnamon rolls are a little gooeyier than the crescent roll styles. However, the flaky crescent roll style is completely portable and easy to grab and go. Both are soft and flaky.
- Method: Whichever way you choose to make these easy cinnamon rolls, you’ll bake them in the oven. One needs a baking sheet and the other needs an 8×8″ square pan.
Ingredients Needed
For this sweet treat, you’ll need the following simple ingredients:
- Store bought crescent roll dough. Traditional flavor works best. An 8 ounce Pillsbury crescent rolls package has 8 rolls in it. Or you can make homemade crescent rolls.
- Butter. 100% butter works best in this rather than margarine.
- Sugar. Both light brown sugar and white sugar make the best filling.
- Cinnamon. Saigon cinnamon is our cinnamon of choice. We buy large containers at Costco so we never run out.
- Flour. We’ve found flour helps the filling thicken and stay inside the crescents a little bit better than without.
- Powdered sugar. This is for the powdered sugar glaze.
- Maple extract. Or vanilla extract…or almond. It’s your choice.
- Heavy cream. Heavy cream makes glaze rich and creamy. You can use regular milk but it will be thinner.
How to Make Crescent Roll Cinnamon Rolls
We’ve seen that there are two popular methods for making crescent cinnamon rolls. One is quick and easy. The other takes a little more time, but looks more like a traditional roll…and you can use our secret ingredient on it for the ultimate in a gooey roll.
For both methods, mix together the cinnamon butter filling. Then prepare your crescents as follows.
As Crescent Rolls
- Open the crescent roll tubes and separate out each crescent roll into triangles along the seams.
- Spread cinnamon filling onto the top of each crescent triangle. Sprinkle another teaspoon ground cinnamon over the cinnamon butter if you like more cinnamon flavor. Then roll it up tightly. Pinch the ends if you’d like to help prevent the melted butter and sugar from oozing out.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cinnamon crescents are golden brown and puffed up.
Watch how to do it:
As Traditional Cinnamon Rolls
- Open the tube of crescent rolls, unroll the crescent dough sheets, but do not tear along the perforations. Leave it as a rectangle.
- Spread the filling over the rolls, then roll up in a tight log along the long end jelly roll style.
- Slice the roll with a sharp knife into 9 pieces. Spray an 8×8″ baking dish with non-stick cooking spray, then place them cut side down in the pan.
- Pour ⅓ cup heavy cream over the rolls…our secret cinnamon roll ingredient works for these, too!
- Bake at the same temperature as above, but they may need an extra minute or two of baking time.
Watch how to do it:
Powdered Sugar Glaze
Although with our homemade cinnamon rolls we use a cream cheese frosting, in this recipe we thought a sweet vanilla glaze might be better since crescent roll dough is lighter and flakier.
Whisk the powdered sugar glaze ingredients together in a bowl until it is smooth. Add enough cream so that is is the drizzling consistency that you’d like.
Recipe Variations
- Add finely chopped nuts to the filling before rolling the crescent rolls.
- Mini chocolate chips inside give a great chocolate flavor.
Storage Instructions
Although these cinnamon crescent rolls are best eaten fresh from the oven, we realize you may not be able to eat them all at once.
Store any leftovers in an airtight container or wrapped in plastic wrap in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can also place them in the freezer for up to 4 weeks. Warm them in the microwave to reheat when you are ready to eat them.
Other Crescent Roll Recipes
Crescent Roll Cinnamon Rolls
Use store bought crescent rolls to make this under 30 minute breakfast recipe. We'll show you how to make Crescent Roll Cinnamon Rolls two ways.
Servings 16
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Total Time 27 minutes
Ingredients
- 16 ounces refrigerated crescent rolls 2 8 ounce packages for a total of 16 rolls
For the filling:
- ½ cup salted butter room temperature, 4 ounces
- ¼ cup packed brown sugar 50 grams
- ¼ cup granulated sugar 50 grams
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon 7 grams
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 32 grams
For the glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar 125 grams
- 1 teaspoon maple flavoring
- 5-6 tablespoons heavy cream or whole milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Mix the filling: In a medium bowl, mix together the butter, sugars, cinnamon and flour.
- Assemble the rolls: Open the crescent roll tubes and separate out each crescent roll into triangles along the seams. Spread cinnamon filling onto the top of each crescent triangle, then roll it up tightly.
- Bake the rolls: Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cinnamon crescents are golden brown and puffed up.
- Make the glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, maple flavor and heavy cream until smooth and to the consistency of a drizzle. You can make it thinner or thicker by adding more or less milk. Drizzle the glaze over the warm rolls.
For traditional cinnamon roll style:
- Open the tube of crescent rolls, unroll the crescent dough sheets, but do not tear along the perforations. Leave it as a rectangle.
- Assemble the rolls: Spread the filling over the rolls, then roll up in a tight log along the long end jelly roll style. Slice the roll with a sharp knife into 9 pieces. Spray an 8×8" baking pan with non-stick cooking spray, then place them cut side down in the pan.
- Heavy Cream: Pour ⅓ cup heavy cream over the rolls…our secret cinnamon roll ingredient works for these, too!
- Bake the rolls: Bake at the same temperature as above, but they may need an extra minute or two of baking time. Then drizzle with powdered sugar.
Video
Notes
Refer to the article above for more tips and tricks.
The calories shown are based on the recipe making 16 crescents, with 1 serving being 1 crescent. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate. **We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information. The information in the nutrition box are calculated through a program and there is room for error. If you need an accurate count, I recommend running the ingredients through your favorite nutrition calculator.**
Nutrition
Calories: 230kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 21mg | Sodium: 271mg | Potassium: 17mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 249IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 1mg
It’s not cinnimon-y enough. It mostly tastes like brown sugar… not cinnamon. And why do we put flour in the mixture ?
The ingredients include granulated sugar but the instructions don’t say where to use it. You do have a note earlier before the recipe where you say the filling has brown and granulated sugar so I assume that was supposed to be listed in the filling step in the recipe.