30 minute cinnamon rolls are made with puff pastry, making them soft, flaky, and buttery. Drizzled in homemade icing, they're big on cinnamon flavor and ready in just 30 minutes.
These puff pastry cinnamon rolls are the best cinnamon roll recipe for the time spent. It only takes 30 minutes and you'll have piping hot cinnamon rolls ready to enjoy.
There is a secret weapon I like to use for these cinnamon rolls - puff pastry. It is an amazing time saver in the kitchen! Puff pastry is a dough that contains layers of butter and dough that are folded many times to create the flaky consistency.
I like to make these cinnamon rolls in a muffin pan for ease of serving, consistent baking for each cinnamon roll, and less messy cleanup after breakfast. However, they can also be baked together in a baking pan.
Ingredients and substitutions
Puff pastry can be found in the freezer section of your local grocery store. It can be substituted with homemade puff pastry if you happen to have some on hand.
Brown sugar can be substituted with granulated sugar, but I prefer the caramelized flavor that brown sugar lends to this recipe.
For a different flavor, cinnamon can be substituted with a chai spice blend.
Muffin pan
If you don't have muffin pan liners, I'd suggest lining a 10 inch round baking pan with parchment paper and placing each cinnamon roll about 1 inch apart.
I do not suggest baking your cinnamon rolls on a baking sheet because with enough space, your puff pastry will unravel as it bakes.
Making cinnamon roll icing
While your cinnamon rolls are baking, prepare your cinnamon roll icing. More milk can be added as needed to make a thinner icing.
Set your icing aside until your cinnamon rolls come out of the oven. Then, drizzle over your rolls while they're still warm.
30 Minute Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 puff pastry sheet, thawed
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Icing
- ½ cup confectioner's sugar
- 2 teaspoons milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a cupcake/muffin pan with 8 liners and set aside. Or, line a 10 inch round baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- Roll thawed puff pastry sheet out with a rolling pin to about a 12 inch square. Using a pastry brush, brush melted butter over the entire surface.
- In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar and ground cinnamon. Sprinkle sugar mixture evenly over dough.
- Starting at one end, roll dough into a log. Slice log into 8 even pieces and place each into a muffin liner (or about 1 inch apart into round baking pan).
- Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until tops are lightly browned. Remove from oven.
Icing
- In a bowl, combine confectioner's sugar, milk, and vanilla. Stir until mixture is fully combined. If too thick, add more milk ½ tablespoon at a time.
- Drizzle over warm cinnamon rolls and serve immediately.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- Baking in muffin pan liners ensures your cinnamon rolls all bake evenly, and reduces messy cleanup after breakfast. I do not recommend baking cinnamon rolls without paper liners, because they are delicate and hard to remove straight from the pan.
- If you don't have a muffin pan, line a 10 inch baking pan with parchment paper and place your cinnamon rolls about 1 inch apart. I do not recommend baking on a baking sheet, because they will unravel if given too much space to bake.
- For added crunch, add ¼ cup of chopped pecans or walnuts with your cinnamon/sugar mixture.
Dear Heather,
What lucky timing for me that you posted this recipe! Today is my husband's birthday and I want to make his day as special as possible under our current conditions. Cinnamon rolls are one of his favorite treats - He woke up an hour ago to a lovely platter of these gems... and they are gone. All of them. I can attest (from the one I got to eat;) that these are swoon worthy and will make you go weak in the knees! THANK YOU!!!
Thank you for the great review, Belle! Hope your husband has a wonderful birthday!