For Better Canned Cinnamon Rolls, You'll Need One Homemade Addition

For mornings when you feel too lazy to whip up your favorite Greek yogurt coffee cake recipe, there's an easy way to elevate a tube of store-bought cinnamon rolls. Simply bake the rolls as directed and make your own icing with only a handful of ingredients. Since you can make delicious cinnamon roll icing in under five minutes, this smooth and creamy ingredient is the perfect way to elevate your next pan of premade breakfast treats.

Add equal amounts of room temperature butter and cream cheese to a mixing bowl, followed by a bit of salt and vanilla extract. Using an electric mixer or whisk, add in powdered sugar and then small increments of milk until the icing reaches your desired consistency. To adjust the sweetness, reduce the amount of powdered sugar or add a bit more cream cheese. The combination of creamy butter, tangy cream cheese, and powdered sugar gives canned cinnamon rolls a signature homemade taste.

To simplify this recipe even more, omit the cream cheese and make an alternative topping with only powdered sugar, milk or heavy cream, and vanilla extract. Once your cinnamon rolls are sufficiently baked, cover them with a small amount of icing as they cool. The icing will then melt between the warm folds of dough. Then, all you need to do is add another spoonful of icing upon serving and enjoy.

To use the container of icing included in your prepackaged tube of cinnamon rolls, add the icing to a bowl and mix in some sour cream, salt, and powdered sugar. Sour cream gives your icing more volume and a tangy bite. Though besides testing variations of homemade icing, you can also upgrade canned cinnamon rolls with a creamy ingredient like heavy cream.

Space out raw cinnamon rolls in a shallow rectangular baking dish and pour cold heavy cream over the rolls and alongside the base of your pan. Include an additional pour of melted butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon for a more enhanced taste. During the baking process, your packaged cinnamon rolls will soak up the moisture from the cream and melted butter and expand into bigger, fluffier snacks that seemingly taste homemade.

You can also add extra toppings to this convenient breakfast for a more complex flavor. Why not upgrade canned cinnamon rolls with a crunchy layer of nuts? Use chopped pecans and walnuts or make a caramelized nut topping made of nuts, butter, brown sugar, and heavy cream. Place your homemade caramel mixture on the bottom of your baking pan, followed by the rolls. Once baked, turn your caramel-covered cinnamon rolls right side up and serve.