These Crescent Roll Cinnamon Rolls start with refrigerated crescent dough, a cinnamon-sugar butter filling, and a vanilla icing drizzle. Each triangle rolls into a filled crescent, so there’s no kneading or waiting for dough to rise.
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I love these tender and fluffy crescent rolls; they have lots of cinnamon-y goodness inside and are topped with a simple powdered sugar glaze. They make a delicious pastry for breakfast, brunch, or dessert.
I’m all about homemade rolls, but let’s be real, sometimes life’s too crazy for all that yeast and rising business. That’s when I make this gem of a recipe. It uses refrigerated crescent dough, so it’s amazingly easy. They’re my secret weapon when I want something that tastes homemade but doesn’t eat up my whole day.
For something similar but in loaf form, bake this Cinnamon Pull Apart bread recipe, or make these homemade Butterhorn Rolls made with cottage cheese for another type of crescent roll.
Recipe Highlights
- Type of recipe: Cinnamon-filled crescent rolls with vanilla icing.
- Yield: Eight rolls from one tube of refrigerated crescent dough.
- Cooking method: Oven baked
- Skill level: Beginner, with no homemade dough to mix or knead.
- Flavors & textures: Buttery crescent pastry with a sweet cinnamon filling.
- Best for: Breakfast, brunch, or an afternoon snack with tea
What You Need For The Rolls and Icing
- Use an 8-ounce tube of refrigerated crescent dough containing eight triangles. The filling uses softened butter, granulated sugar, and cinnamon. For the icing, you’ll need powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract.
- The butter should be soft enough to stir into a paste, which makes the filling easier to spread over the dough.
How To Make Crescent Roll Cinnamon Rolls
Use a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Some butter will melt out of the rolls as they bake, and the rim helps contain it.
Step 1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Step 2. Prepare the cinnamon butter by mixing softened butter, granulated sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl until it forms a paste.
Step 3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, open the tube of crescent rolls, unroll the dough and separate it into eight wedges.
Step 4. Spread the cinnamon butter mixture on top of each crescent wedge.
Step 5. Starting at the wide end of the dough, tightly roll each wedge into a crescent shape and space it out on the baking pan. Place each crescent with the pointed tip underneath to help keep it from unrolling.
Before baking: For an optional chilling step, refrigerate the shaped rolls for 15 minutes to firm the butter filling. Some butter will still melt out during baking. If the baking sheet won’t fit in your refrigerator, chill the rolls on a plate, then transfer them back to the sheet.
Step 6. Bake the rolls at 375 degrees F for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown. Let the rolls cool on the baking pan for 15 minutes, then remove them to a cooling rack.
How To Make The Vanilla Icing Drizzle
Step 7. Stir the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla together until smooth. The icing should drizzle off the spoon. If it is too thick, add a little more milk at a time. Drizzle over the cooled rolls.
These rolls are just so good. I love that they only make eight, and if I want more, I can buy two tubes of crescents and double the ingredients.
Simple Ways To Change The Filling and The Icing
- Add some additional spices along with the cinnamon, like nutmeg or cardamom.
- Add some cinnamon to the powdered sugar icing.
- Instead of vanilla extract in the icing drizzle, add other flavors like almond extract or maple extract.
- After spreading the cinnamon butter on the crescent wedges, sprinkle them with chopped pecans or finely chopped dried cranberries.
More recipes with cinnamon
- For a quick cinnamon treat, make my Broiled Cinnamon Toast with butter, cinnamon, and sugar. It takes just a few minutes under the broiler and is easy to make for one or for a crowd.
- Apple Cider Bread made with oatmeal and spiced with cinnamon
- A fall favorite is Pumpkin Bread with cranberries; this bread is super moist with lots of amazing flavors
- This Vanilla Bean Cake is baked in a cast-iron skillet with a simple sprinkling of powdered sugar and cinnamon on top
- These delicate Cinnamon Madeleines are the perfect little dessert with your afternoon tea or coffee
- Need a snack for a movie or game night? Make a big bowl of this Cinnamon Apple Caramel Corn; it’s sweet and perfectly crunchy
- Baked Apples filled with pecans, cranberries, and plenty of cinnamon are simple to make.
- Try these Air Fryer Cinnamon Rolls for a tasty treat.
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Recipe
Tried it? Rate ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ & comment below—your feedback keeps the oven mitts flying here at One Hot Oven.
Crescent Roll Cinnamon Rolls
Equipment
Ingredients
Crescent Rolls
- 1 can Refrigerated crescent dough such as Pillsbury 8 ounce (8 count)
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon you can add more or less
Icing Drizzle
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
The oven and the baking pan
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Making the cinnamon butter paste
- In a small bowl mix the softened butter with the sugar and cinnamon until it is smooth and creamy.4 tablespoons unsalted butter, ¼ cup granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Making the Crescent Rolls
- Open the tube of crescent rolls and unroll the dough on the baking sheet, then separate the dough into the 8 wedges where the perforations are.1 can Refrigerated crescent dough
- Spread the cinnamon butter paste over the wedges.
- Starting at the wide end of the dough, roll the dough into a tight crescent shape and space the crescents out on the baking pan. Place each crescent with the pointed tip underneath to help keep it from unrolling.
- Optional: Refrigerate the shaped rolls for 15 minutes before baking to firm the butter filling.
- Bake for 10–12 minutes, until golden brown. Let the rolls cool on the baking sheet for 15 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack.
Making the Icing
- In a small bowl, mix the powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk. Stir to combine to a drizzling consistency. Add additional milk if the icing is too thick.½ cup powdered sugar, ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract, 1 tablespoon milk
- Once the rolls have cooled, place parchment or wax paper underneath the cooling rack. Use a spoon to drizzle the icing over the rolls.
Notes
Crescent Rolls baking tips
- Timing: The total time includes an optional 15-minute chill and 15 minutes of cooling. Skipping the chill reduces the total to about 37 minutes. Allow additional cooling time before icing if the rolls are still hot. Baking: Some butter will melt out during baking. Use a rimmed baking sheet to contain it. Storage: These rolls are best the day they are baked. Cool leftovers completely and store in an airtight container for up to one day.
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Nutrition
First published: Oct. 16, 2020; last updated: Oct, 14, 2026, for better readability.
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Hello there, I’m Jere’
From learning to cook on a farm in Indiana to culinary school in California, my passion for food is never-ending. Turning on my oven to bake something for friends and family is my happy place, and I am glad to be here at One Hot Oven sharing sweet and savory family-friendly recipes for your cooking and baking inspiration.
I made them with the crescent roll sheet. I spread the sheet with the cinnamon/butter/sugar mixture, rolled it up and sliced like cinnamon rolls. They are so good! The bottoms get slightly caramelized. Yum! I’ll make them again.
Thanks for the kind comment on the cinnamon rolls. I love these too, and that carmelization that happens when they bake is like the icing on a cake.
Thanks for visiting my blog, I greatly appreciate it.
The icing drizzle is the perfect finishing touch. It adds just the right amount of sweetness without overpowering the cinnamon flavor. Yum!
YAY, I’m making it for the second time today! Definitely going to be a requested dish! Thanks for the recipe.
Once a week, my kids and I spend an afternoon or evening in the kitchen learning how to bake something new. They are young, so the recipe has to be both easy enough for tiny fingers and something they are excited to eat. These cinnamon rolls fit the bill! The kids had so much fun making them and we all had fun eating them!
These are so easy, but taste like they took a lot of time and effort. light, flaky, lots of cinnamon goodness!
Glad you enjoyed the rolls.
I’ve made many yummy breakfast treats using all the various Pillsbury rolls. I have rolled them out and made various breakfast breads and muffins using nuts., fruits , fruit spreads, slivered apples and the list goes on and on. Soften cream cheese frosting in microwave to make a tasty drizzle. All you need is a little imagination and a sweet tooth.
So true, these rolls can be made into so many tasty recipes. The cream cheese drizzle sounds delish.
Such a neat idea for a quick treat!
I think these would be great as more of a savory pastry. I thunk in my rolls, the texture of the cottage cheese was old in a sweet pastry. it felt almost like melted cheese, so it was weird for me to think of a sweet treat. I think the taste was good with abs without the icing. I would make again, but only as a savory roll.