Ghastly Girl

August 20, 2019

How One Quick Trick Gives New Life to Store Bought Cinnamon Rolls

We’ve all had a can or two of those store-bought cinnamon rolls in our fridge. I usually try to have at least one on hand in case I need a quick and easy breakfast in a pinch. After a while, though you start to get tired of the same old thing. This tasty and super simple pull-apart cinnamon roll bake is just the thing your Saturday morning needs to bring new life to a favorite breakfast.

You can use a homemade cinnamon roll recipe to make up the dough if you have one that you prefer, or if you absolutely do not want to use the store-bought rolls. Trust me, I get it. We try to avoid processed foods as much as possible so I do use my own dough frequently. That said, I’m not above using Kroger brand’s expertise if I’m short on time or spoons. You will want to chill the homemade dough a bit so that you can cut through it to form our gooey pull-apart pieces. Other than that, there is no issue in using a fresh substitution.

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How to Make a Cinnamon Roll Pull-Apart Bake

Usually, I would do an ingredients list for a new recipe I am adding to the site. However, the ingredients list for this one is literally just a can of cinnamon rolls. You will need a sheet of parchment paper to put into your baking pan.

If you don’t have parchment paper on hand you can always use butter or cooking spray to grease your pan well. I highly recommend investing in parchment paper if you bake often, though. It is a lifesaver not only for removing your baked goods from pans with ease, but also lining your treats up for cutting. It is so much easier to divide your final product up when you can remove it from the pan in one piece with ease.

Directions to Make a Cinnamon Roll Pull Apart-Bake

Remove your cinnamon rolls from the tube and place on a cutting board. Set the icing aside to use later. ( I put mine on the center of my stovetop to let the warmth from the preheating oven soften it up a bit.)

Cut each of your cinnamon rolls in half. In doing so you should create two half-moon shapes. You want your cold cinnamon roll dough to remain as cool as possible to make it easier to work with. If you notice if getting a little stick or feel like it isn’t holding up well to being cut just pop it back into the fridge for a few minutes and try again.

Cut each of your half-moon pieces into half once again. Your final shape should look like little pizza-shaped pieces of cinnamony goodness. Carefully scatter your pizza-shaped quarters of the cinnamon roll into your parchment paper-lined (or lightly greased) baking dish. I used an 8×8 pan for mine.

You want to try to keep your cinnamon roll pieces from overlapping. Just try to fill in all of the spaces with your quarter pieces until you run out. You can use your hand or a spatula to gently smooth out any pieces that feel out of place. You don’t want a flat top here. Think more like monkey bread with haphazardly placed pieces.

Place the pan in a 350º F oven for 15-17 minutes or until the edges of your cinnamon rolls begin to brown. As it bakes your pull-apart cinnamon roll pieces will expand and combine with one another to form one piece.

Once you feel that your cinnamon roll bake has finished cooking (15-17 minutes) remove it from the oven and let cool 5 minutes. While your pull-apart cinnamon bake is cooling knead the icing in your hand to finish softening it up. You can also put the icing packet in the microwave for 10-15 seconds to thin it out more.

If you are making your own icing now would be the time to do so. If you prefer to make your own icing, or just lost the store packet you can whip up a simple one with just a few tablespoons of water and a few tablespoons of powdered sugar. You generally want just a little bit more powdered sugar than water for a thicker icing, but you can play around with the ratio easily to get exactly the texture you like for your cinnamon rolls.

How Long Can I Store a Cinnamon Roll Breakfast Bake?

It’s really best to eat this breakfast treat while it is still warm. Isn’t that always the case with cinnamon treats? They are just so much better fresh out of the oven. If you do have any leftovers, though, they will be ok stored in an air tight container for a few days on the counter.

I have not attempted to freeze these pull-apart cinnamon roll treats. However, they should freeze just fine if you place a little sheet of parchment paper between them.

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