Crescent Roll Cinnamon Rolls: This easy recipe is perfect for when you are craving a cinnamon roll because they use crescent roll sheets) and they’re ready in under 30 minutes.
We love cinnamon buns around here, and these cute little two-bite cinnamon rolls are right up there with our other favorite cinnamon roll recipes (our cookies and cream cinnamon rolls and our air fryer cinnamon rolls)!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Simple Ingredients: You don’t need anything fancy to make this, just a few simple ingredients you can find at any grocery store.
Quick: These mini cinnamon rolls are ready to eat in less than 30 minutes! No long dough rise time is needed.
Delicious: We bet you can’t eat just one of these warm, cinnamon-filled rolls. These have all the yummy flavors of homemade cinnamon rolls in a faster, bite-sized format!
These quick, 25-minute cinnamon rolls using crescent rolls would be the perfect treat to make for a baby shower, brunch, or for the kids as an after-school snack (these are the perfect size for tiny fingers)! My kids adored these little baby cinnamon rolls.
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Ingredients
10 simple ingredients are all you need to make this quick and easy dessert, and chances are you have most of these in your pantry already!
- 1 package of crescent rolls
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
For the Frosting
- 2 ounces cream cheese softened
- 2 tablespoons butter softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
See the printable recipe card below for quantities and step-by-step instructions.
Instructions
For the Crescent Roll Cinnamon Rolls
- Preheat your oven to 350F and grease a mini-muffin pan with nonstick baking spray.
- Unroll the crescent roll dough onto a lightly floured surface (no need to use a rolling pin, simply unroll) and brush each one with melted butter.
- In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over the crescent rolls.
- Roll the crescent rolls tightly from the long end into a log, pinch the seam together, and slice into ¾” thick rolls– you should have about 12 rolls per cinnamon roll log.
Fun Fact: Did you know you can use unflavoured dental floss to cut cinnamon rolls? You can! You simply slide a piece of floss under the dough and then bring it together to slice through. Check out this video on YouTube to watch it in action.
- Place one roll into a well of the prepared mini muffin pan and repeat with the remaining rolls.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes in your preheated oven, or until the rolls are set in the center and golden brown around the edges.
- Serve the cinnamon rolls warm, topped with the icing (instruction below). Store any leftover rolls in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.
For the Frosting
- In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla.
- Next, add the powdered sugar and mix until the icing is smooth. Spread the icing over the warm cinnamon rolls and enjoy.
Substitutions & Variations
These easy cinnamon rolls can be changed up in a few ways if you need to. This recipe is truly so wonderful!
- Crescent Dough – although using the crescent dough is a great way to save time, you can easily replace it with your favorite dough recipe instead.
- Brown Sugar – I love using light brown sugar for this recipe, but granulated sugar will definitely work, too!
- Filling – obviously cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar are the classic cinnamon roll fillings, but if you want to turn these into a different kind of roll you totally could! Try experimenting with Nutella, your favorite jam, or even pie filling!
- Butter – you could use salted or unsalted butter for this recipe. If you use salted butter, you can omit the salt in the filling.
Equipment
I used a mini muffin tin for this recipe!
Don’t have a mini muffin tin? You can use a regular-size muffin tin or even a 9×13 baking dish.
Storage
Store any leftover cinnamon rolls in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days (if you choose not to ice your cinnamon rolls, they can remain at room temperature).
I haven’t tried it, but these should freeze well so feel free to whip up a double batch and throw one in the freezer! The only thing that might not freeze well is the cream cheese icing, so I would recommend freezing them unfrosted. Simple wrap your cooked, cooled cinnamon rolls in plastic wrap, place them in an airtight and freezer-safe bag or container and freeze for up to a month!
Top Tip
If you want to make sure your cream cheese icing is nice and smooth, ensure your butter and cream cheese are softened at room temperature!
FAQs
You could replace the butter in this recipe with margarine or your favourite dairy-free butter alternative, but we find that butter does give it the best flavor.
The filling for these cinnamon rolls is made of butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Cinnamon is important in cinnamon rolls – obviously! Nutmeg adds a bit of earthiness to the rolls that pairs perfectly with cinnamon. And the salt helps balance out all of the sweetness in the recipe. The butter is used to help the filling stick to the dough!
In an airtight container, your cinnamon rolls should last 3-4 days. Typically you can store cinnamon rolls at room temperature, but because the frosting on these has cream cheese in it we would recommend storing them in the fridge.
Did you make this? I’d be so grateful if you left a “star” rating below to let me know what you thought! Then, the next time you need a quick and easy recipe, come back to Fantabulosity to browse all of my easy recipes!
Related Recipes
If you enjoyed this easy treat, you might like some of our other bite-sized treats like our No-Bake Mini Party Pies and our adorable mini cakes!
Recipe
Crescent Roll Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
For the Cinnamon Rolls
- 1 package crescent rolls
- 2 Tablespoons butter melted
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
For the Frosting
- 2 ounces cream cheese softened
- 2 Tablespoons butter softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
Instructions
For the Cinnamon Rolls
- Preheat your oven to 350F and grease a mini-muffin pan with nonstick baking spray.
- Unroll the crescent roll sheets onto a lightly floured surface and brush each one with melted butter.
- In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the crescent rolls.
- Roll the crescent rolls tightly into a log and slice into ¾” thick rolls– you should have about 12 rolls per log.
- Place one roll into a well of the prepared muffin pan and repeat with the remaining rolls.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the rolls are set in the center and golden brown around the edges.
- Serve the cinnamon rolls warm, topped with the icing (below). Store any leftover cupcakes in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two days.
For the Frosting
- In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla.
- Next, add the powdered sugar and mix until the icing is smooth. Spread the icing over the warm cinnamon rolls and enjoy.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
Anna says
We were craving cinnamon rolls and decided to make these mini ones. They were so fun and so tasty! Perfect little treat on a snowy day!
Jennifer Lehner says
Love how easy these were to make!!!
Kristyn says
Not sure why I always love mini desserts & foods. They are cute & maybe it’s because I don’t feel guilty eating the whole thing. These are delicious!!
April says
These are seriously soooooo great! Super easy to make, perfect for a quick sweet treat.