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Quick and easy Cinnamon Rolls made using store-bought pizza dough, ground cinnamon, butter, sugar, and cream cheese frosting.
When I first moved to America, I was obsessed with Cinnabon. I would hang out at the mall and spend about 10 minutes watching the guys at Cinnabon make those buns. They were my absolute favorite, especially the pecan version.
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What are Easy Cinnamon Rolls?
I call these rolls my Easy Cinnamon Rolls because they’re basically a shortcut version of Cinnamon Rolls.
For this recipe, I used store-bought fresh pizza dough which reduces to effort of making the dough from scratch and you don’t have to work with yeast. Honestly, it saves you time and effort.
With that said, I made the cinnamon sugar filling and cream cheese frosting from scratch – these ingredients make all the difference.
My Easy Cinnamon Rolls are easy to make, are not time-consuming, and taste amazing. Hope you give these Easy Cinnamon Rolls a try for the holidays.
Ingredients for Easy Cinnamon Rolls
Store-Bought Pizza Dough – To make life easier, I just used store-bought pizza dough (Trader Joe’s) which tastes fresh and delicious. You can also try a pizza shop and see if you can buy a pound of dough. Make sure the dough is at room temperature so it’s easy to roll out.
Brown Sugar – You’ll need brown sugar to make the filling.
Sugar – You’ll also need some regular white sugar for the filling.
Ground Cinnamon – We need lots of ground cinnamon since we are making cinnamon rolls.
Butter – We are going to need room-temperature butter for the filling and the frosting.
Salt – This will help bring out the flavor of the cinnamon roll.
Cream Cheese – We need room-temperature cream cheese for the frosting.
Vanilla Extract – Make sure to use pure vanilla extract for the frosting.
Powdered Sugar – This is necessary to make the cream cheese frosting.
Milk – Just a teaspoon of milk to help with the frosting texture.
Why You’ll Love these Easy Cinnamon Rolls
- Because they’re EASY to make!
- No Yeast Recipe since we are using store-bought dough
- Makes the home smell amazing
- Perfect for Christmas morning
- They’re Soft and fluffy
- They’re Buttery and sweet
- They go well with coffee
How to make Easy Cinnamon Rolls recipe
The Dough
1. Dust all-purpose flour over your kitchen counter.
2. Leave store-bought pizza dough at room temperature. Work the pizza dough so it’s soft.
3. Roll out the dough as follows:
4. Getting there.
5. This is what we want. Don’t roll out the dough super thin.
The Filling
1. Combine brown sugar, sugar, and ground cinnamon in a bowl.
2. You’ll need 6 tablespoons of room-temperature unsalted butter.
3. Using your fingers or a spatula, spread out the butter all over the pizza dough.
4. Spread the filling all over the butter.
5. Staring from the longest side – roll the dough lengthwise.
6. This is what you should have.
7. Cut into 9 cinnamon rolls roughly 2 inches apart.
8. Place the cinnamon rolls on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Let the rolls sit for 45 minutes before baking. This will allow them to expand.
9. After 45 minutes, top each cinnamon roll with 1 tsp of heavy cream. This will help keep the rolls moist. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Do not overbake else the rolls may harden. If you need to bake them for 5 additional minutes though, that shouldn’t be a problem.
The Frosting
1. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese and 2 tablespoons of butter. Mix until fluffy.
2. Add powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Beat until light and creamy.
3. This is what you should have.
4. Add a teaspoon of milk, or more if needed to make the perfect frosting.
5. Once your cinnamon rolls are out of the oven, you may have additional liquid in between rolls, using a spoon, spoon the sauce all over the cinnamon rolls.
6. Now spread the frosting over warm cinnamon rolls.
7. Seriously so decadent and good with hot coffee. Enjoy!
Tips to make Easy Cinnamon Rolls
- Use fresh store-bought dough.
- Bring the dough to room temperature.
- The butter should be at room temperature.
- Roll out the dough into a rectangle.
- Also, roll the cinnamon roll into a log starting from the longer side.
- Frost the cinnamon rolls when warm.
Serving Suggestions
Enjoy a cinnamon roll with coffee, ideally on Christmas morning. Additionally, if you prefer warm rolls, you may microwave them for about 15 seconds.
Substitutions
For a vegan option – use vegan butter, vegan cream cheese, and non-dairy milk. Additionally, you’ll need to use pizza dough that is vegan or make it from scratch.
Storage
Place Cinnamon Rolls in a glass dish. They can last up to 4-5 days outside the fridge provided you live in a cooler climate. Where temperatures are warm, place the rolls in the fridge.
Top Tip
Make sure the butter and pizza dough are both at room temperature.
More Christmas Dessert Recipes
Pin & Enjoy!
Easy Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Pizza Dough
- 1 pound store-bought white pizza dough
Cinnamon Sugar Filling
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 tbsp white sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- pinch of salt
Assemble Cinnamon Rolls
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- spread cinnamon sugar filling
- 9 tsp heavy cream, 1 tsp for each cinnamon roll
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp milk
Instructions
The Dough
- Dust all-purpose flour over your kitchen counter.
- Leave store-bought pizza dough at room temperature. Work the pizza dough so it’s soft.
- Roll out the dough as follows:
- Getting there.
- This is what we want. Don’t roll out the dough super thin.
Cinnamon Sugar Filling
- Combine brown sugar, sugar, and ground cinnamon in a bowl.
Assemble Cinnamon Rolls
- You’ll need 6 tablespoons of room-temperature unsalted butter.
- Using your fingers or a spatula, spread out the butter all over the pizza dough.
- Spread the filling all over the butter.
- Staring from the longest side – roll the dough lengthwise.
- This is what you should have.
- Cut into 9 cinnamon rolls roughly 2 inches apart.
- Place the cinnamon rolls on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Let the cinnamon rolls sit for 45 minutes before baking. This will allow them to expand.
- After 45 minutes, top each cinnamon roll with 1 tsp of heavy cream. This will help keep the rolls moist. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Do not overbake else the rolls may harden. If you need to bake them for 5 additional minutes though, that shouldn’t be a problem.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a large bowl, combine cream cheese and 2 tablespoons of butter. Mix until fluffy.
- Add powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Beat until light and creamy.
- This is what you should have.
- Add a teaspoon of milk, or more if needed to make the perfect frosting.
- Once your cinnamon rolls are out of the oven, you may have additional liquid in between rolls, using a spoon, spoon over this cinnamon sauce over the cinnamon rolls.
- Now spread the frosting over warm cinnamon rolls.
- Seriously so decadent and good with hot coffee. Enjoy!
