Easy Cinnamon Cruffin Recipe Using Pre-made Croissant Dough
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If you’ve never had a cruffin before, oh man. Get ready. It’s basically the love child of a croissant and a muffin. They remind me of a traditional morning bun if you have ever had one. If you live in Phoenix and know La Grande Orange (who doesn’t?), I LOVE their morning buns. These taste JUST like them. But, here’s the best part: you don’t need to spend hours making them. This easy cruffin recipe uses pre-made crescent roll dough, LOTS of cinnamon sugar and butter, and a muffin pan. That’s it.
I tried making these last weekend with my kids, and wow. They were SO good. Flaky, sweet, buttery, and rolled in plenty of cinnamon sugar. I mean, look at these! They look like they’re straight from a bakery, but they really took almost no effort. My kids devoured them, and honestly, I was shocked at how simple and good they were. They definitely didn’t taste like regular old tubed crescent roll dough. These taste like the real thing.
What Makes This Cruffin Recipe Special
There are a million cinnamon roll and croissant hacks out there, so what makes this one stand out? A few things:
- It tastes like a bakery pastry without the effort. Seriously, these look like you picked them up at a fancy bakery for a million dollars, but they’re just crescent roll dough, butter, sugar, and cinnamon. That’s the magic.
- The texture is next level. Flaky like a croissant, a little softer like a muffin, and somehow doesn’t taste like premade crescent roll dough in any way.
- They’re kid-tested, mom-approved. My kids ate these so fast, I had to hide one for myself. Marlow wanted at least 3 on the day we made them, but I had to say no.
- Customizable. Keep it classic with cinnamon sugar, or fill them with Nutella, jam, cream cheese, or custard. Or, even make them savory! (New recipe idea loading…)
- No pastry chef skills required. If you can roll dough, spread butter, and sprinkle cinnamon sugar, you can make these.
Basically, this easy cruffin recipe is the perfect shortcut to impressing people without actually doing that much work.
Cruffin Ingredients Breakdown
Let’s talk about what you’ll need for this cinnamon cruffin recipe:
- Crescent roll dough – This is the main ingredient of the recipe. I used refrigerated Pillsbury crescent dough sheets (so you don’t have to deal with perforated triangles). If that’s all you can find, just pinch the seams together.
- Butter – Softened butter is brushed onto the dough before adding the cinnamon sugar and rolling. I like softened butter rather than melted, because it keeps the butter contained to the dough, and I think the cinnamon sugar sticks to it a little better.
- Sugar – White granulated sugar works perfectly for this recipe. You’ll mix it with cinnamon for the filling and use more to coat the outside.
- Cinnamon – The star spice. Warm, cozy, and the reason your kitchen will smell like heaven.
Optional extras: Substitute a little bit of brown sugar for a little extra caramelization, a drizzle of glaze for a sweeter finish, or cardamom/nutmeg if you want to play with the spice mix. Ooh! Pumpkin Spice would be amazing!
How to Make This Cruffin Recipe with Crescent Roll Dough
These cinnamon cruffins are deceptively simple. Here’s how you make them:
Step 1 – Roll out the dough. Start with your crescent dough sheet. If you’re using perforated crescent roll dough, pinch the seams together. Roll it into a rectangle on a lightly floured surface. It starts as a rectangle already; you’re just rolling it a little bigger.
Step 2 – Butter. Brush the softened butter all over the dough. I used the back of a spoon to spread it on the dough.
Step 3 – Cinnamon sugar. Sprinkle generously with your cinnamon sugar mixture. No bald spots. Cover the whole thing. Add extra. Have fun.
Step 4 – Roll + Cut. Roll up the dough tightly from the long edge, like you’re making cinnamon rolls. Slice the roll in half.
Step 5 – Roll + Cut. Cont’d. Slice each of the two pieces in half lengthwise, exposing those beautiful layers. You’ll repeat this step 3 times to create 12 strips of cut dough.
Step 6 – Wrap + Prep. Take each strip of dough, and with the lines of cinnamon sugar on the outside, wrap the strip of dough around your finger into a pinwheel. Tuck the end into the bottom, and put it in the pan. Repeat 11 more times.
Step 7 – Bake until golden. Bake at 350°F until the cruffins puff up and turn golden brown, about 18–20 minutes. They’ll look like little cruffin masterpieces when they come out of the oven.
Step 8 – Cinnamon sugar finish. As soon as they are cool enough to handle, put the remainder of the cinnamon sugar on a plate, and roll the outside and top of each cruffin in the cinnamon sugar. Feel free to sprinkle more cinnamon sugar on top!
These cruffins come out tall, flaky, and dusted in cinnamon sugar just like you would get at a bakery.
Why You’ll Love These Cinnamon Cruffins
- Cinnamon sugar and carbs. Duh.
- Bakery-style pastries at home.
- The whole process takes less than 30 minutes.
- Easy enough that you’ll actually make them again (and again).
- No yeast or dough making.
- Easier than making cinnamon rolls.
- Perfect for holidays, brunch, or weekends.
- Guaranteed crowd-pleaser!
Easy Cinnamon Sugar Cruffin Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 8 ounce cans of refrigerated crescent roll dough sheets
- 1/2 cup salted butter completely softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 12-cup muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- On a slightly floured surface or silicone baking mat, roll out the crescent dough sheet. If you’re using perforated crescent roll dough, pinch the seams together. Roll it into a rectangle. It starts as a rectangle already; you’re just rolling it a little bigger.
- Using a spatula or the back of a spoon, spread the softened butter all over the dough rectangle.
- Sprinkle the buttered dough generously with some of your cinnamon sugar mixture so it is fully covered without any empty spots.
- Starting on the long edge of the dough, roll the dough tightly into a log. Slice the roll in half.
- Then slice each of the two halves in half again lengthwise, creating 4 strips. You’ll repeat this step 3 times, once with each tube of dough, to create 12 strips of cut dough total.
- Take each strip of dough, and with the lines of cinnamon sugar on the outside, wrap the strip of dough around your finger into a pinwheel. Tuck the end into the bottom, and put it in the muffin pan. Repeat 11 more times.
- Bake at 350°F until the cruffins puff up and turn golden brown, about 18–20 minutes.
- As soon as they are cool enough to handle, put the remainder of the cinnamon sugar on a plate or on the baking mat, and roll the outside and top of each cruffin in the cinnamon sugar. Feel free to sprinkle more cinnamon sugar on top!
Notes
Cruffin FAQ’s
Think if a cruffin and a muffin had a baby. Cruffins have flaky pastry layers baked into muffin form in a muffin tin. If you have heard of a morning bun, they are very similar. Cruffins typically have some kind of filling, whether it is cinnamon sugar, chocolate, jam, or custard.
Absolutely! You can shape them the night before, pop the pan in the fridge, and bake fresh in the morning. Perfect for brunch without the morning chaos.
You can make your own croissant dough for cruffins, but pre-made store-bought dough is just as good. Pre-made crescent roll dough, like Pillsbury Crescent Roll Sheets, or frozen puff pastry sheets, both work great!
They’re best the day you bake them, but you can store cruffins in an airtight container for up to 3 days on the countertop. They’ll be gone by then, though!
I haven’t tried it, but I suppose you could freeze cruffins. I would reheat them in the oven at 375 until toasty again and sprinkle them with a little more cinnamon sugar.
Sound Bite – These Easy Cinnamon Cruffins Pair Well With ‘Cinnamon Girl’ by Lana Del Rey
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