Servings: 9
Croissant Cinnamon Rolls (Crescent Cinnamon Rolls)
The flakiest, tastiest Cinnamon Rolls with an easy homemade cream cheese icing. No mixer, no rolling, no yeast, no fuss. So easy, a kid can do it! Click to watch the full video for how to make these cinnamon rolls on YouTube and make sure to give it a LIKE and SUBSCRIBE to my channel!
Ingredients
For the cinnamon rolls:
- 2 tubes Pillsbury Crescent Rolls , or use store brand 8-ounce tubes, or use about 12x14 inches of croissant dough
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar
- 1-1.5 tablespoons ground cinnamon, to taste
For the cream cheese icing:
- 3 ounces whipped cream cheese, (4 tablespoons), room temperature, or use 3 ounces block cream cheese, softened
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar, (confectioner sugar)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
- 2-3 teaspoons milk, as needed
- 8x8-inch baking dish (if you only have a 9x13, use 3 tubes of crescent rolls and multiply the rest of the ingredients by 1.5)
- Pizza Cutter or ravioli cutter, or a sharp knife
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8x8-inch baking dish.
- Pop one tube of crescent dough, remove the dough, place it on parchment paper and use your hands to gently stretch it into a rectangle. Do NOT separate it into triangles. Instead, use your fingers to pinch the seams together as much as you can.
- Repeat with the other tube, then lay the two rectangle doughs next to each other on parchment paper with the long sides touching. Overlap the two pieces by a quarter inch. Flatten the seam to join the two pieces together. You should have a square dough.
- Spread the softened butter over the dough.
- In a small bowl, combine 3 tablespoons light sugar with 1-1.5 tablespoons cinnamon. Sprinkle the cinnamon over the butter.
- Use a ruler (or eyeball it) to lightly mark 8 notches on the 12-inch side of the dough. Use a pizza cutter to cut the dough into 9 equal strips, each just over 1.5 inches wide.
- Roll up the strips, taking care not to rip the dough at the seams where the crescent rolls are. It's OK if they tear a little, but you don't want to have loose pieces of cinnamon roll dough flapping around.
- Arrange the 9 pieces in an 8x8-inch baking dish. Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown and the center is baked through. (Yes, this is longer than the crescent rolls instructions on the tube because the cinnamon rolls are thicker.)
- While the rolls are baking, combine all the ingredients for the icing except the milk in a bowl. Use a fork to mix it all together until you get a smooth icing. If the mixture is too dry, add ½ teaspoon milk at a time, but try not to add more than 3 teaspoons. It will seem like it won't come together, but just keep stirring.
- Spread the cream cheese icing over the cinnamon rolls while they're still hot. Allow to cool and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Use the butter paper to grease your baking dish, or take a piece of parchment paper, spread a tiny bit of softened butter on it, and use that to grease your dish.
- If you forgot to remove the butter or cream cheese from the fridge, read the blog post for how to quickly soften them.
- Try not to add too much milk to the icing (1-2 teaspoons is typically OK). If it looks like it's not coming together, keep stirring for a minute or two before adding that 3rd teaspoon.
Nutrition Facts
Calories 350kcal (18%)Carbohydrates 43g (14%)Protein 2g (4%)Fat 20g (31%)Saturated Fat 10g (63%)Polyunsaturated Fat 4gMonounsaturated Fat 4gTrans Fat 0.3gCholesterol 26mg (9%)Sodium 429mg (19%)Potassium 32mg (1%)Fiber 0.5g (2%)Sugar 26g (29%)Vitamin A 326IU (7%)Vitamin C 0.03mgCalcium 28mg (3%)Iron 1mg (6%)
Did you make this recipe?Tag @goodinthesimple on Instagram and hashtag it #goodinthesimple!