Does your life suck right now? Did your daughter just get strep for the third time in two months? Did your anxiety keep you from sleeping last night? Did a bunch of your coworkers just get laid off, or worse, did you? Might as well make these damn cinnamon rolls, because no matter who you are, what diet you're on, or what's going on in your life, you deserve them.
They're derived from a TikTok hack, and my baking them just so happened to coincide with some terrible news that I had no idea was coming. Would I have thought the extra gooey, Cinnabon-like rolls were great without that wrench thrown at me? Sure, but there's something about bitter moments that just make treats like this even sweeter.
@megan.hays.reid #tiktokmademedoit I had to try the #cinnamonrolls with the #heavywhippingcream #heavywhippingcreamcinnamonrolls #foodtok #desserttok #foodclub #easybreakfast #breakfastideas #kidapproved #kidapprovedrecipes #cinnabon #cinnabonhack #cinnamonrollhack #fyp #fypシ #foryoupage ♬ Famous piano songs for comedy and cooking programs - moshimo sound design
Not that these rolls need help in that department: You take canned cinnamon rolls and add even more brown sugar and frosting on top. There's also a bunch more butter, too. And in what I consider to be one of my more genius recipe modifications of all time, some rum, because why the eff not? Turned out to be a great addition that sets these apart from other buns.
The videos that have gone viral on TikTok for this hack all use two tubes of jumbo rolls, but that came to a whopping $13 for me. (And that's just Pillsbury, not even one of the more expensive brands that won our taste test.) Not that you don't deserve to spend money on nice things for yourself, but a one-tube recipe just seemed more reasonable, faster, and cheaper — all things that matter when life is rough. Feel free to double the recipe and use a 9x13 pan if you're planning to share with other people who are going through stuff — they deserve insane cinnamon rolls, too.
This shortcut recipe is about turning something good into something incredibly decadent, and it does a great job of it. Pouring heavy cream around the unbaked rolls seemed super strange to me, but it cooked up into a creamy, thick, caramel-like sauce that mixed perfectly with the butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon topping. These are soft, pillowy, restaurant-style buns with just the right amount of cinnamon gooeyness — and you absolutely deserve them.
'You Deserve These' Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients:
- 1 can jumbo cinnamon rolls (5 rolls)
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup (half a stick) butter, softened
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- handful of chopped pecans (optional, but recommended)
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon butter, softened
- 1 tablespoon cream or milk
- 1 tablespoon spiced rum, dark rum, or milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8- or 9-inch square baking pan or round cake pan with cooking spray.
- Arrange the rolls in the pan. Pour heavy cream evenly in the spaces between the rolls.
- In a bowl, whisk together the 1/4 cup of softened butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon until smooth. Spread a heaping spoonful onto each cinnamon roll. Sprinkle the rolls evenly with pecans, if using.
- Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil, then bake for another 7-10 minutes until rolls are cooked through in the middle.
- While they're baking, make the frosting: Place the frosting that came with the cinnamon rolls in a small mixing bowl along with 1 tablespoon of softened butter, 1 tablespoon of cream, rum, and vanilla. Whisk (or use an electric mixer) until smooth, then mix in powdered sugar. Add a splash more cream if it's too thick, or more powdered sugar if it's too thin. You'll be frosting these warm because you should definitely eat them warm, so you want it fairly thick so it doesn't melt all over the place.
- Let the rolls cool for a couple minutes, then frost, and eat as many as you want.