How to Upgrade Canned Cinnamon Rolls

Co-authored by Jessica Gibson

Last Updated: March 29, 2019 References

There's nothing like the convenience of canned cinnamon rolls early in the morning. But there's also nothing like the taste of a homemade cinnamon roll. If you don't want to compromise flavor for convenience, try a few simple upgrades to your canned cinnamon rolls. Once you've unrolled the cinnamon rolls, you can easily add more filling, play with the flavors, add delicious ingredients, and mix up your own icing. Or you could use the canned cinnamon rolls to make other tasty baked goods and desserts, like bread pudding, waffles, or monkey bread.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Adding Fillings and Flavors to the Canned Cinnamon Rolls

1
Unroll the cinnamon rolls. Look for a flaky variety of canned cinnamon rolls so you can easily unroll them. Open the package and remove all of the cinnamon rolls. Carefully peel unwind each cinnamon roll and lay them flat so that the filling is facing up.
- Try to place them next to each other so you can quickly spread filling over the dough.
2
Create more filling. If you'd simply like more of the classic cinnamon roll filling, dice butter into very small cubes and scatter it over the unrolled dough. Sprinkle enough brown sugar to cover the dough. This will make more of the gooey filling. Or you could spread a different filling over the unrolled dough. Consider spreading one of these:^{[1]
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- Chocolate hazelnut spread
- Jam
- Honey
- Pumpkin puree with maple syrup
- Lemon curd
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3
Add flavorful ingredients to the filling. You can also add some delicious textures to the filling of canned cinnamon rolls. For another classic variation, add chopped pecans or walnuts. You could also scatter dried fruit (like raisins or dried cranberries) for a chewy bite. For decadent cinnamon rolls, sprinkle mini-cinnamon or mini-chocolate chips. You could also spread apple pie filling over the unrolled dough.
- Keep in mind that if you use a lot of extra filling ingredients, it may become difficult to wrap the dough back into a cinnamon roll.
4
Add an exotic flavor. Classic cinnamon rolls rely on standard spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Give your canned cinnamon rolls a unique flavor by brushing the dough with a bit of rose water, orange liqueur, or scotch. You could also try one of the following flavor combinations:
- Almond extract and chocolate chips
- Chopped dates and walnuts
- Ground cardamom and pearl sugar
- Ground ginger and chopped pistachios
5
Create your own icing. Since the icing packet or can that came with your cinnamon rolls probably isn't enough to cover the cinnamon rolls, you should make your own icing. If you'd like to keep a similar icing flavor, just mix a few tablespoons of melted butter with about 3/4 cup of powdered sugar. Add a few splashes of milk to get the right consistency. Or mix up one of these icings:^{[2]
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- Softened cream cheese with powdered sugar and a splash of orange juice
- Brown sugar heated with bourbon and butter
- Espresso powder and powdered sugar mixed with milk

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Using the Canned Cinnamon Rolls For Other Baked Goods

1
Make bread pudding. Remove all the cinnamon rolls from two cans and cut them into bite-sized pieces. Whisk together a bread pudding base of egg yolks, half-and-half, cinnamon, sugar and vanilla. Place the cinnamon roll bites in a greased baking dish and pour the bread pudding mixture over it. Bake the bread pudding for about one hour at 350 degrees F (175 C).^{[3]
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- You can also divide the bread pudding among smaller ramekins instead of one large baking dish. You may need to reduce the cooking time slightly. Check the ramekins around 20 minutes into baking.
2
Cook them as waffles. Cinnamon rolls cook up really quickly as waffles which makes them a great breakfast or rich dessert. Simply spray a waffle iron with baking spray and heat it up. Place one canned cinnamon roll on the iron and close it. Let the cinnamon roll waffle cook for 3 to 4 minutes. It should flatten and cook completely.^{[4]
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- Drizzle the cinnamon roll waffles with the icing or you could use maple syrup.
3
Try cinnamon roll monkey bread. Spray a Bundt pan with baking spray and open 2 cans of cinnamon rolls. Cut the cinnamon rolls into bite sized pieces and roll them in a cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place them into the pan and bake them at 350 degrees F (175 C) for about 20 minutes. Flip it out of the pan and drizzle the monkey bread with the icing packet.^{[5]
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- You can also make extra gooey glaze by mixing butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Spread the gooey glaze over the cinnamon roll bites in the pan before baking.
4
Bake cinnamon twists. To make long cinnamon roll sticks, unroll five cinnamon rolls into long strips. If you're going to add a filling (like shredded coconut, mini-chocolate chips, or chopped nuts), press 1 tablespoon of the filling onto each unrolled dough strip. Fold the strip of dough in half and twist it around a few times to make a spiral. Bake the cinnamon twists at 350 degrees F (175 C) for 18 to 20 minutes.^{[6]
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- While you can drizzle the twists with icing, you could also serve them with a side of icing for dipping.
5
Make one giant canned cinnamon roll. Divide one can of cinnamon rolls into five rolls. Place one of the rolls in the center of a baking pan and unroll the remaining four rolls so they're long strips of dough. Loosely wrap each of the strips around the center piece of dough so you make one large cinnamon roll. Bake the giant roll at 350 degrees F (175 C) for 20 to 25 minutes.^{[7]
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- You can drizzle the giant cinnamon roll with the icing while it's still warm from the oven.