Can This TikTok Hack Make Your Cinnamon Rolls Taste Like Cinnamon?
Cinnamon rolls are the epitome of food redefinition. These are products with a special ability to make you say, “No, I really shouldn’t. Okay, but maybe only one”. It is quite a feat to pass Cinnabon without taking two or three additional deep breaths; the flavor of this cinnamon roll is almost thick enough to be chewed. When I heard about the Cinnabon hack for packaged grocery cinnamon rolls, I had the distinct thought, “No, that’s unlikely. Okay, maybe I’ll just try.” The results were amazing, and yet, I don’t think I would do it again.
I read about this famous TikTok Cinnabon -imitating hack on The Kitchn that accomplishes the goal in a simple way: add heavy cream to store-bought cinnamon buns and experience the crumbly magic of the Cinnabon bun. Supposedly, the quick addition of cream turns an ordinary cinnamon roll at the grocery store into a coveted food court treat. The idea is that as soon as the buns begin to bake, the cream that accumulates in the pan will soak into the dough and create the ultra-moist, deliciously underdone texture of the cinnamon treat we dream of. Other bloggers have added some cream cheese to the frosting or added an extra layer of cinnamon and brown sugar to the pan, but heavy cream has always been the go-to.
The Kitchn suggests using a tube of store-bought Pillsbury Grands cinnamon rolls rather than the original size tube of smaller cinnamon rolls. Logically this makes sense because the Grands are bigger, and since we want the Cinnabon , we need to get as close to the size of the manhole cover as possible. But for the sake of science, I took both sizes.
Armed with heavy cream and pneumatic cardboard canisters, I set to work. All the buns were placed in buttered nine-inch cake pans as if you were baking them normally. I poured half a cup of heavy cream into each pan, doing my best to cover the top of each roll. Cream accumulated at the bottom of the pans, but everything went according to plan. The rolls were sent to a preheated oven, as indicated on the package. Then I watched.
The cream began to bubble around the edges of the pan and the buns began to swell within five minutes. The typical bake time for these cinnamon buns is about 15-20 minutes, but with the addition of a liquid ingredient, I found that the center was still undercooked after 20 minutes, and I left them for another five. Once the edges of the outer buns were lightly browned and the center bounced back when pressed, I took my sliced cinnamon buns out of the oven.
I noticed that there was still some cream between the Grand buns, and some empty spots in the original size batch had leftover caramelized cream, which I found tempting. I let the rolls cool for 10 minutes in case there was some residual cream soaking (there was almost none) and then brushed with frosting. They looked amazing, smelled even better, and tasted really delicious. They were soft, moist, cinnamon-sweet delights, and I crushed at least two of them. The smaller buns had lacy, crusty edges with caramelized cream crystals, which was an unintended flavor benefit. But was it worth it to be a Cinnabon cracker? No. (However, we have some legal Cinnabon hacks if you need them.)
Let me be clear that it depends on what you consider a hack. I review this on a case by case basis and in this case the results are not impressive given where you start. This hack turns a damn fine store-bought cinnamon bun into…another delicious cinnamon bun? Both rolls are undeniably great, and Pillsbury already has a roll made with Cinnabon.
Under these circumstances, I’d be impressed if the hack addressed the two remaining differences between a food court giant and a grocery store canister: size and filling. None of them change significantly. I made a control cinnamon roll without the heavy cream and at first I thought the chopped ones were bigger, but after baking and chilling I measured them and they were the same size. Even if they have grown beyond their normal size due to the extra moisture, Cinnabons are significantly larger. The filling was also not damaged. One of the most appealing parts of a real Cinnabon cinnamon bun is its luxuriously thick and gooey filling, and until that heavy cream learns to swirl and thicken the cinnamon filling of the Pillsbury bun, I won’t care.
Is this a great way to use leftover heavy cream? Why yes! If I’m already cracking open a package of Pillsbury buns, I see no reason to resist tossing in half a glass (or less if that’s what I have in the fridge), but I wouldn’t make a special trip to get into the Shelf for heavy cream for this. I always encourage people to be curious about food, so give it a try if you like, but I would suggest unwrapping a couple of grands to roll them into one giant cinnamon roll , before decanting the cream.