The world’s easiest cinnamon rolls
This is a sponsored post for Pepe’s Bakery. I have been compensated, but I absolutely promise that all opinions are my own.
First, get out your yeast. Ah! Gotcha! I’m lying. The truth is you only need 5 simple ingredients for these warm, soft world’s easiest cinnamon rolls. So there’s no need to be freaking out over making dough and complicated rising times. It’s just plain old easy and plain old good.
You know those Pillsbury cinnamon rolls? The ones in the can? They’re they best you’ve ever been able to do when it came to making a warm cozy morning treat for your family. And that’s been okay. But you know it–deep down in your heart.
That those things taste like the cardboard tube they came out of.
Because they’re biscuits. Imposters.
But you never had the time to try anything else and you sure weren’t going to use yeast. Lord help us.
You did the best you could.
But the truth is, a real cinnamon roll is made from a yeasted dough. Something soft–and not made with those flaky cinnamon-chunky things on the top. And even though you doubt that there will ever be a time in your life that you’ll be that mom (or dad or grandma) who would get up on a school day and make cinnamon rolls, I’m going to let you in on the secret that will change your home-baked imposter world.
Don’t pass out.
It’s pizza dough.
Did you know that pizza dough has yeast in it? Yep. Did you know that when you use it that means you don’t have to do anything but thaw it, roll it out and put the cinnamon, butter and sugar in it?
AND…did you know you can make these in about 10 minutes one evening and have them in the fridge for morning? Just stick them in the oven and go about getting ready for your day. 30 minutes later you’re ready to eat.
Gosh Rachel…what dough should I use?
My favorite dough for this is the wonderful Pepe’s Bakery frozen dough. I use it faithfully. This dough is the perfect blend of stretchy-chewy and will pass for homemade exactly 110% of the time. It’s my go-to dough and has been for about two years now.
You should be able to find Pepe’s dough in the freezer section of your Walmart. It comes perfectly measured in 1-pound balls and only needs to thaw overnight in the fridge and will be ready to use in your world’s easiest cinnamon rolls for guaranteed “Mom these are great!” success.
For this recipe, I find it easier to roll the dough out on an un-floured surface so the dough doesn’t spring back and make you mad and cause you to call me mean names. A little sticking helps and it will work in your favor here. Once they’re rolled and sliced, they only need 30 minutes to sit out and rise a bit before you bake them, and you can make a simple glaze (see recipe below) if you want to or you can leave it off–either way it’s up to you.
So here’s to fall, warm desserts and the most versatile, amazing pizza dough you’re gonna find this side of the Mississippi.
Easy Shortcut Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 1-pound ball frozen pizza dough see note about rolled/canned pizza doughs
- 1/2 cup softened butter 8 tablespoons
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Roll your pizza dough on an un floured surface to a 12" by 8" rectangle.
- Mix the sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla in a small bowl, set aside.
- Spread the butter evenly over the dough and sprinkle with the sugar mixture.
- Starting at the long end, roll up tightly and pinch the seam shut.
- Slice 2" thick slices and place them in a greased 9" round cake pan or you can use a greased loaf pan or muffin tin. Pace the rolls about 1/2" apart.
- Let them rise on the counter for 30 minutes, then bake until golden brown and bubbly, about 20-25 minutes.
- To make the glaze, mix the powdered sugar, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, and water and spread over the warm rolls.
I tried to make them and while they were baking, they were just sitting in a pile of melted butter. Had to actually take them out of the oven and drain the butter. Rolls are just soggy and buttery.
Sounds to me like your oven runs cool Kennedy. Ovens can vary by up to 30 degrees hotter or colder than the temperature you set it to. –Rachel
My family loved them. We used Pillsbury thick pizza dough. We had them on Christmas morning! Win, win for my family!
Can these be made the night before and just slice and bake next morning??
Hey Sarah, they can but I find when you make something with sugar in it like this that as it sits it creates its own syrup if you will–you’d be better off to slice them and put them in your pan and then bake them in the morning. Any syrup will collect in the bottom of the baking dish and not run all over your fridge. –Rachel
I just made these with the Pillsbury pizza crust and they are delish! I’m veg so I substituted vegan butter and also I used monk fruit sugar instead and they turned out perfect! Mine didn’t get hard at all, so maybe try powdered sugar or monk fruit sugar if the regular sugar was too hard. Thanks for this idea, I had the crust in my fridge and wanted to do something breakfasty with it!
I recommend mixing the butter, sugar, and cinnamon together in a bowl (into a paste) and then spreading that evenly all over the dough. This way every bite has the perfect amount of cinnamon and sugar. Otherwise, this recipe was absolutely delicious!!
Yep whatever works Kayla! Glad you liked them! –Rachel
I made these at 6:30 in the morning.. my boys are early risers!!! It was so much fun and delicious ?! Thank you for this. It’s just what we needed.
Wow your boys are early risers Willow! I’m so glad you loved them. 🙂 –Rachel
My kind of easy recipe…LOVE cinnamon rolls!!
Thanks – I will try that as well!!
Why role dough on un flowered surface? It will definitely stick and be difficult to flatten?
Timothy in this case I was using pizza dough and because of the high gluten content in it, if you flour your surface it just slides around and won’t stretch like it should. It’s a pretty frustrating process when that happens. An unfloured surface is the only way to survive! That said if you are using any other kind of dough (especially a homemade one with a higher water content) you’ll certainly need flour. –Rachel
What can I do to prevent the inner ingredients from seeping through & baking to the bottom of the pan? They were delicious except for that small problem of everything on the bottom was hard as a rock because of the sugar. Thanks!!
Hey Joyce–that’s a good question and my suggestions are really just that–guesses. First you could roll them tighter. Or you could use a bit less sugar…or you could turn the oven temp down by 25 degrees in an attempt to keep the sugar from cooking so fast? Mine have never been hard as a rock on the bottom. Maybe a bit caramelized, yes but not hard. Remember that every oven can range in temperature by as much as 50 degrees (even when it says it’s the same). So my oven makes gooey sweet rolls and yours makes caramel. Just those few degrees could do that. –Rachel
Thank you – I will try oven temp first and the other suggestions to eliminate the problem! They were delicious though. 🙂
Bake on parchment cut to pan size and most importantly add a tablespoon or two of heavy cream to the filling or brush generously with cream which blends with the sugars and butter to make a caramel that doesn’t get hard on the bottom