Gooey, sweet, and oh-so-simple, these viral TikTok Cinnamon Rolls are the canned cinnamon roll hack that you didn’t know you needed. So easy to make using canned Pillsbury Grands cinnamon rolls, we’re taking these refrigerated favorites to the next level with just a few extra ingredients that make them extra delicious and taste like they are homemade with just 5 minutes of prep.
I followed the recipe to the dot just halved it. It was great. My family loved it. Sorry to say, it’s way better than Cinnabon😂😂😂 ~ Benny
Table of Contents
I’m all for making things from scratch but every now and then a semi-homemade treat like this canned cinnamon roll hack just hits the spot with way less effort than making a full batch of regular cinnamon rolls that require kneading, rising, and shaping.
Besides, everybody agrees that the center of the cinnamon roll is the best part, and this approach makes the whole thing taste like the center of the cinnamon roll!
TikTok is such a fun platform for creative content. Another new TikTok favorite that you should try if you like these cinnamon rolls are the Cookie Croissants.
Not that adding heavy cream to cinnamon rolls is the newest trick – it’s actually been around for years – but TikTok helped bring this canned cinnamon roll hack to the masses once again using gold old Pillsbury cinnamon rolls.
I tried tracking down the original viral video to figure out where this trend started, but that can be really hard to do! @Kotagilley has a post from June 2022 with over 1 million likes and 11 million views. But @mississippi_kween‘s video from May 2022 predates it. And she credits another TikToker @manthacancook as her inspiration, who said in her January 2022 video “TikTok made me do it” and later said in a comment that she thought the trend started a year earlier!
So if you know who started the TikTok cinnamon rolls recipe trend, please reach out so I can give credit!
This hack makes the cinnamon rolls softer and more gooey throughout. Like the inside of the cinnamon roll except the WHOLE THING is that way. Trust me, they are the easiest cinnamon rolls you will ever make!
TikTok Cinnamon Roll Ingredients
Scroll down to the recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
- Refrigerated jumbo-sized cinnamon rolls – It doesn’t have to be Pillsbury Grands! Rhodes frozen cinnamon rolls are awesome (but hard to find in my area). You can also use Trader Joes cinnamon rolls or basically any refrigerated cinnamon rolls in a tube that you like.
- Heavy cream – This is the not-so-secret ingredient that makes regular cinnamon rolls extra gooey. The added moisture is absorbed into the cinnamon rolls for a soft, fluffy result that is amazing.
- Cream cheese – We’re elevating regular Pillsbury cinnamon roll icing by adding some softened cream cheese.
- Powdered sugar – This also helps stretch the cinnamon roll icing that comes with the tube of refrigerated cinnamon rolls since there never seems to be quite enough.
- Vanilla extract – A little vanilla balances the cinnamon flavor and makes it more interesting.
- Salted butter – Another trick that is mentioned in some of the viral TikTok videos is to drizzle melted butter mixed with ground cinnamon and brown sugar over the cinnamon rolls before baking to make them that much more extra. It works.
- Brown sugar – For the buttery, cinnamon-sugar drizzle.
- Ground cinnamon – Keeps the cinnamon flavor front and center for these sweet rolls.
How to Make TikTok Cinnamon Rolls
- Unwrap cinnamon rolls. Peel the paper off the tube of whatever cinnamon roll dough you are working with and arrange them in a large 9×13-inch baking dish. You can also easily halve the recipe and use a smaller baking dish if you don’t want as many cinnamon rolls.
- Drizzle heavy cream. Go ahead and pour the heavy cream right over and around the cinnamon rolls. The goal is to cover the bottom of the pan and make sure there is a little cream between each of the rolls.
- Make brown sugar cinnamon topping. Melt butter in a medium bowl, then stir in the brown sugar and ground cinnamon to create a slurry. Spoon this over each of the cinnamon rolls.
- Cover and bake. Cover the pan with a large piece of aluminum foil, then bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 to 40 minutes. The timing can somewhat depend on the brand of cinnamon rolls, how tightly spaced they are in your pan, and your oven. They should be golden brown on top and cooked through but still very moist when done.
- Make frosting. Meanwhile, beat cream cheese with the icing that came with the can of cinnamon roll dough until smooth. Add powdered sugar and vanilla extract and beat again.
- Cool, then frost. Once the cinnamon rolls are done, remove the foil and let them cool for about 5 minutes before frosting. This prevents the frosting from being completely absorbed by the cinnamon rolls, but they are still warm enough for the frosting to sort of melt around and into them, which adds another layer of gooeyness that we love.
- Serve warm!
Recipe FAQ’s
Nope! It just makes them extra gooey, like Cinnabon.
Absolutely! You can make this recipe in a 9-inch round or square cake pan using just one can of refrigerated cinnamon rolls if you don’t want as many.
You can assemble them 1-2 days ahead of time and cover well with plastic wrap. Store them in the fridge until you are ready to bake. They really are best when made fresh.
Yes, actually! If you want to make these completely homemade, use your favorite cinnamon roll recipe and just pour ¾ to 1 cup of heavy cream around them before baking and you’ll get the same extra moist result.
Tips for Success
- Leave some space between the cinnamon rolls so they can expand while they bake. If you crowd the pan too much, they won’t bake as well.
- Be sure to cover with foil. This allows the cinnamon rolls to soak up the cream better without drying out on top or burning before they have a chance to cook all the way through.
- Let the cinnamon rolls cool a few minutes before frosting. If you frost them right away the frosting will melt right into the cinnamon rolls. I actually like that to some extent so I still frost them while they are warm, but not piping hot right out of the oven.
Variations
- Add fruit. Add some fresh peach slices, apple pie filling, cherry pie filling, blueberries, raspberries, or sliced strawberries right on top and down between the cinnamon rolls before adding the cream and baking.
- Go nuts. Add ¾ cup chopped pecans to the brown sugar and butter mixture. You could even do this first, then place the cinnamon rolls on top. After baking, flip the whole thing upside down for easy pecan sticky buns.
- Try maple icing! Add ½ teaspoon of maple extract to your frosting for a delicious maple icing twist!
What to Serve With Cinnamon Rolls
Whether you are serving these for a weekend family breakfast or a brunch with friends, don’t forget all the delicious sides along with glasses of cold milk! Here are some of our favorites.
- Green Chili Egg Casserole
- Oven Baked Bacon
- Smoked Salmon Scrambled Eggs
- Hashbrowns
- Fresh Fruit Salad
- Easy, Ultimate Breakfast Frittata
Storage & Freezing Instructions
Although these are best eaten fresh, they will keep at room temperature on the counter in an airtight container for 2-3 days.
You can also freeze the baked cinnamon rolls for up to 2 months. Thaw completely on the counter and reheat. Keep in mind that the frosting will sort of melt into the cinnamon rolls, so if your plan is to freeze them you might want to freeze the frosting separately (it freezes great!) then thaw and add it when you are reheating the cinnamon rolls before serving.
More Sweet Roll Recipes
- Caramel Apple Pie Crescent Rolls
- The BEST Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
- Cranberry Orange Monkey Bread
- Hot Cross Buns
- Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls
More Favorites from House of Nash Eats
Did you make this recipe?
Let me know what you thought with a comment and rating below. You can also take a picture and tag me on Instagram @houseofnasheats or share it on the Pinterest pin so I can see.
TikTok Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
Ingredients
Cinnamon Rolls
- 2 (17.5-ounce) cans refrigerated cinnamon rolls (Grands or similar)
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 6 Tablespoons salted butter, melted
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Icing
- Icing from cinnamon rolls (from above)
- 2 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 2 Tablespoons salted butter, softened
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with baking spray.
- Open cinnamon roll dough and arrange in the prepared pan, spacing them apart so they have room to rise. Set aside icing.
- Pour heavy cream over and around the cinnamon rolls until it covers the bottom of the pan.
- Combine melted butter, brown sugar, and ground cinnamon in a small bowl. Stir until combined, then spoon or pour over the cinnamon rolls. Cover the pan with aluminum foil.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes until lightly browned on top and cooked through. You may want to remove the foil during the last 5-10 minutes if they aren't brown enough for you.
- Beat softened cream cheese and butter with a hand mixer until creamy and smooth. Add vanilla extract and the icing from the cinnamon rolls, mixing well. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, then mix in the powdered sugar until combined.
- Let the cinnamon rolls cool for 3-5 minutes before topping them with the prepared icing. Serve warm.
Notes
- Amount adjustments: Many popular versions of this recipe use 1 cup of heavy cream, but I found during recipe testing that ¾ cup was plenty while the full amount was just a bit too much.
- Icing: The extra icing can be omitted, but I found making the extra icing helped it taste even more homemade. You can also add ½ tsp maple extract for a yummy maple version.
- Storage: Although these are best eaten fresh, they will keep at room temperature on the counter in an airtight container for 2-3 days.
- Freezing: You can also freeze the baked cinnamon rolls for up to 2 months. Thaw completely on the counter and reheat. Keep in mind that the frosting will sort of melt into the cinnamon rolls, so if your plan is to freeze them you might want to freeze the frosting separately (it freezes great!) then thaw and add it when you are reheating the cinnamon rolls before serving.
- Add fruit: Add some fresh peach slices, apple pie filling, cherry pie filling, blueberries, raspberries, or sliced strawberries right on top and down between the cinnamon rolls before adding the cream and baking.
- Add nuts: Add ¾ cup chopped pecans to the brown sugar and butter mixture. You could even do this first, then place the cinnamon rolls on top. After baking, flip the whole thing upside down for easy pecan sticky buns.
These were a huge hit in our house!! I halved the recipe — amazingly delicious!!
Why are the pan sizes not increased with doubling or tripling the recipe?
That feature unfortunately only adjusts the cup/teaspoon measurements. So far the recipe plug-in developer that I use hasn’t been able to fix it to be able to adjust additional items like weights or pan sizes. Sorry!
Oh I suppose if the original recipe calls for 9 x 13 pan – and you double the recipe then you would need “2” pans.
I don’t believe that this is an oversight or error in the recipe per se
The heavy cream made them alot fluffier. However, they were way too sweet for my taste
Yes, they are definitely on the sweeter side. You can go ahead and skip the extra brown sugar layer but keep the cream. The cream is a must. Or just adapt the frosting to the way you like it! I just love this recipe because it is so easy!
You can add a pinch of salt to cut the sweetness to the brown sugar mixture.
This was an instant hit with the whole family. Will definitely make again and add some pecans.
Thank you! I’m glad you liked it! Pecans would be delicious!
Do these work with the regular size rolls or do you have to use the grands?
I have only made them with the grands. Theoretically the technique of adding heavy cream should work with any cinnamon rolls (including your favorite homemade ones).
I just did this with regular sized ones because they were out of the grands size at my store, and they swelled up to bigger than grands. So yes, it works wonderfully! Great Christmas morning hit! I added chopped pecans.
OMG this is one of the best recipes I have found on Pinterest! (And it coming from House of Nash Eats makes it dependable). I changed nothing except to halve the recipe. I’ve made it many times since discovering this little jewel. It’s a great go-to when you need something for a sick friend. I keep the rolls on hand and typically have everything else anyway. Ultimately, I’m always asked for the recipe. Thanks HONE!
You just made my day! I wish I could give you a huge hug! So glad you love this one!
Sweetie, I would like for my Five Star Rating to apply to your entire Blog Site (is that the correct term? Site? hmmm.. well you get my drift) Your communication is so perfectly understandable and most of all, kindness and thoughtfulness comes across in your words. And to top that off, your recipes are fabulous and I love that you explain what you do. It’s all very refreshing. You shall remain at the top of my favorite Baking Blogs.
Oh gosh, this is the best comment I have received all week! Thank you so much! You just made my day!
Hi there, just letting you know about the typo in the notes section. It says 1/2 cup instead of 1/2 teaspoon. Although I’m sure most will know the difference, thought you may want to fix that. My daughter bought 2 extra cans of the grands so I’m going to try your version soon, thanks for sharing.
In my recent comment, it was 1/2 cup maple extract instead of 1/2 teaspoon. Forgot to mention that it was maple syrup.
Ha ha yes that would be a typo. Unless you want to basically put maple syrup on your cinnamon rolls 😉 I went ahead and fixed it. Thanks!
Delicious!!! A new family favorite!
Awesome
I followed the recipe to the dot just halved it. It was great. My family loved it. Sorry to say, it’s way better than Cinnabon😂😂😂
LOL. I’m glad they were such a hit!
Can you make this with regular sized cinnamon rolls? Would the measurements be different?
Same measurements.
Has anyone replaced the heavy cream with a coffee liquor such as Baileys or Bourbon Cream by Buffalo Trace?
Hi there,
I have added a splash of salted caramel whiskey to the heavy cream and it turned out great. I have also used Starbucks caramel creamer instead of heavy cream in the past so I’m sure there are many variation options. Just don’t let the cream get too thin.
Can I use the regular size cinnamon rolls? My store didn’t carry the “Grands” variety.
Yes, you can.
Could I prep this recipe the night before and leave it in the fridge overnight?
Yes! When I have prepped these the night before I just add the cream and let it sit overnight. I then spoon the brown sugar mixture over them right before baking.
Can you substitute anything for the heavy cream?
You could try using coconut cream or possibly evaporated milk, but I haven’t tried either of those myself.
Can you prep these the night before and just bake them in the AM?
Yes, you can.
The hack is great, they are definitely huge, fluffy, soft & delicious! However for those that aren’t into extra sweet, cut the brown sugar/cinnamon/butter mixture by half or skip that step entirely. The icing is wayyyyy too sweet, add in more cream cheese (make it 1/2 cup, 2 ounces is way too little) and cut the icing sugar down to only 1/2 cup max if you are using the cheap Pillsbury icing. Honestly, I would just make cream cheese buttercream from scratch, so it’s more of a home style taste!
Not one left, huge hit with the family brunch. Many went back for seconds.
Thanks for making me an all star!
Make this recipe a lot and every time everyone raves about them. So much better than Cinnabons.
Best cinnamon rolls ever my girls love them this will be our new Christmas breakfast tradition
Can you make a few hours ahead? Then remove from fridge when oven preheats to bake?
Yes, absolutely!
Very good and easy to make. VERY SWEET!!!
These for our family were a total hit! Better than a CINNABON! A little less sweet since I think the cream cuts that heavily sweet flavor even though you are adding sugar in a few places. My family raved to other family we saw later Christmas Day that these were great so I know we have a keeper! And so easy. I have tried other homemade cinnamon buns that turned out much less impressive with five times the effort! This is my go to cinnamon buns!
I’ve made it these 3 times already! I keep getting requests to make more and have been asked to share the recipe every time. It’s these are so fluffy and moist
This recipe was simple, yet impressive when I served it. My family loved it! I served the frosting on the side so each person could put as much or as little as they preferred. Also, the leftovers can easily be warmed up in the microwave. Yummy! I will make these again!
Hi! Can you substitute the heavy cream for half & half?
I haven’t tried it but it would probably be okay.
Yes, I have used 1/2 n 1/2 or heavy cream since I was a child when making homemade. Only difference is we always used room to luke warm temp cream. Only canned ones I would ever use are Annie’s. All I taste in Frankenfoods are the chemicals.
Absolutely delicious!
The entire point of buying them in the tube is so you don’t have to do all of this extra work with more ingredients.
Definitely making this !
Trisha
I made a test batch and decided they would be too big for what I was serving them for. I unrolled the dough , cut it in half, rolled again and placed in baking pan. Perfect size!
Can I halve this recipe to one package of rolls and just half the ingredients?
Yep just half the ingredients.
These are now our official holy grail cinnamon rolls! Everyone said they were the best they ever tasted. One declared we’d never need to go to Cinnabon again. Thanks for sharing!
Just made these and inhaled the first one in under 30 seconds. I was on the phone with my brother and said “about to eat these cinnamon rolls I just made.” When I told him how good it was he said “wait, you’re done already?” LOL! I halved both the powdered and brown sugar so they weren’t too sweet. My wife and son both said these are the best cinnamon rolls they’ve had in their lives. I agree!
Very similar to Cinnabon. Love how soft it made the cinnamon rolls come out. It was a little too sweet for me.
I made these and they were gone in 2 days. My wife and son said they’re the best cinnamon rolls they’ve ever had!
Loved the recipe! I add roasted, chopped pecans to the brown sugar mixture. The rolls were perfect!
Great! I love adding chopped pecans.
I made a half batch, but forgot to halve the cinnamon topping and icing until I was putting them on. I was a bit heavy handed with both (along with the heavy cream) and ended up with caramel cinnamon rolls. They were delicious!
So good!
Use coconut milk as I was out of heavy cream.. left out powdered sugar in icing.. was delicious!
BEST cinnamon rolls I have EVER had!!!
Oh wow thank you!
The best version! Taste just like Cinnabon!
Thank you!
I’m not sure if I’m doing something wrong but 2 cans of Grands don’t really fit in a 9×13 pan. They were so squished in that they didn’t cook. After 40 min they were still almost raw dough
Hmm, that definitely sounds like something went wrong. A regular can of Grands only has 5 cinnamon rolls. 10 cinnamon rolls should definitely fit a 9×13 pan without a problem and without being squished at all.
WOW. These turned out Aaamazing. I actually used 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, which left a gooey caramel bottom. Lightest, fluffiest cinnamon roll I have ever eaten. I also doubled the frosting recipe, and who doesn’t like extra frosting. I left plenty of room between the rolls to allow them to expand to their maximum.
Great! This is so easy for great tasting cinnamon rolls. And I will never complain about having too much frosting!
Perfection!! Second time this week I have made them!