Hawaiian Roll Cinnamon Rolls (Easy Shortcut Recipe)
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These Hawaiian Roll Cinnamon Rolls are soft, buttery, sweet, and incredibly easy to make. Using soft Hawaiian rolls as a shortcut yields fluffy cinnamon rolls with warm cinnamon flavor and gooey sweetness, without the time required for traditional yeast dough.
This easy breakfast recipe comes together quickly, making it perfect for holiday breakfast recipes, weekend brunches, family gatherings, or last-minute sweet cravings.
The soft texture of Hawaiian rolls pairs perfectly with cinnamon sugar and icing for a semi-homemade cinnamon roll recipe that tastes comforting and bakery-style with minimal effort.
These Hawaiian Roll Cinnamon Rolls have been a favorite recipe from readers of Call Me PMc since I first published them way back in 2015. Yes, they were here before the TikTok viral videos, which actually brought them to the attention of more readers. I hope you enjoy my recipe!
Why Hawaiian Rolls Make Great Cinnamon Rolls
Using Hawaiian rolls saves time while still giving the rich flavor and texture people expect from cinnamon rolls.
Hawaiian rolls are soft, slightly sweet, and buttery, which makes them perfect for shortcut cinnamon rolls. Because the rolls already have a fluffy texture, they create soft cinnamon rolls without needing homemade yeast dough.
Quick Cinnamon Rolls. Cheater Cinnamon Rolls, 15-Minute Cinnamon Rolls, or King’s Hawaiian Cinnamon Roll Sliders – Whatever it is you want to call these, they are the best cooking hack ever!
Tips for the Best Quick Cinnamon Rolls
Don’t overbake
Hawaiian rolls bake quickly and can dry out if overcooked.
Use softened butter
Soft
Let the rolls absorb the filling
Resting briefly before baking helps the cinnamon flavor soak in.
Add icing while warm
Warm rolls help icing melt into the cinnamon layers.
Can You Make Hawaiian Roll Cinnamon Rolls Ahead?
Yes. You can assemble the rolls ahead of time and refrigerate them before baking.
This makes them especially popular for Christmas morning breakfasts and brunch gatherings.
What Makes These Cinnamon Rolls So Easy?
Traditional cinnamon rolls require yeast dough, rising time, and kneading. Using Hawaiian rolls creates a shortcut version that keeps the soft texture and cinnamon flavor while dramatically reducing prep time.
What to Serve with Cinnamon Hawaiian Rolls
The great thing about these shortcut cinnamon rolls is they go with anything! Try:
- coffee
- fruit salad
- breakfast casserole
- scrambled eggs
- bacon
- brunch cocktails
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Sweet or savory Hawaiian rolls can both work depending on flavor preference.
Yes. Freeze after baking and reheat gently.
No. Hawaiian rolls eliminate the need for homemade yeast dough.
Yes. Pecans, walnuts, or raisins work well in the filling. I recommend adding one cup of chopped nuts to the cinnamon
Yes, the recipe can easily be doubled or tripled. If you notice in my recipe card where ‘servings’ is displayed, you can +/- that to adjust the servings you want to make.
Yes, you can use any rolls. King’s Hawaiian is perfect because they’re slightly sweet. I used Toll House rolls before. Any dinner roll will work, especially if you don’t like really sweet food. Obviously, don’t use rolls with rosemary, onions, or garlic.
Quick Cinnamon Hawaiian Rolls
I used a 12-count package of Hawaiian rolls, but you can use any premade, precooked roll. However, I like the King’s Hawaiian rolls best because they have a subtly sweet and light texture. In fact, I first bade similar shortcut cinnamon rolls back in 2015, Sister Schubert Pull-Apart Cinnamon Rolls. That’s how this original recipe came to be.
You can easily double or triple this recipe.
I always, always use real
For the drizzle!
These easy cinnamon rolls are pretty sweet without the glaze. However, they’re cinnamon rolls and cinnamon rolls have icing.
I mixed powdered sugar and heavy whipping cream for the glaze. For my 12-count rolls, I used 3 cups of sifted powdered sugar and three to four tablespoons of heavy whipping cream. Sifting the powdered sugar is necessary; otherwise, you’ll have lumps that are impossible to whisk out. I much prefer heavy whipping cream over whole milk for a glaze. It’s creamier and, frankly, tastes better in my opinion. However, if you don’t have heavy whipping cream, use whole milk and add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
Another option is cream cheese glaze or frosting.
While you’re here, check out these recipes
- Birthday Cake Cinnamon Rolls
- 5 Ingredient Puff Pastry Pineapple Upside Down Cinnamon Rolls
- Carrot Cake Cinnamon Rolls
- Snickers Bars Cinnamon Rolls
- Cinnamon Roll Cherry Cobbler
- Old Fashioned Cinnamon Rolls
- Quick Biscuit Dough Cinnamon Rolls
Quick Cinnamon Hawaiian Rolls
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Ingredients
For the rolls
- 12-count package Hawaiian Sweet Rolls
- ½ cup butter softened
- 1 tablespoon butter to spread in bottom on the pan
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
For the glaze
- 4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- 1.5 – 2 cups powdered sugar (aka confectioners) sifted then measured
Instructions
- Bloggers and creators, please be a good human and don't copy my recipe.
For the rolls
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a small bowl, mix the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon together with a fork.
- Spread 1 tablespoon of the butter on the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking pan.
- Cut the rolls in half horizontally and place the bottom half of the rolls in the 9×13-inch pan.
- Spread half of the cinnamon butter mixture evenly over the rolls in your pan. Replace the top half of the rolls. Spread the remaining cinnamon butter mixture evenly over the top of the rolls.
- Bake for 12-13 minutes.
For the glaze
- While the rolls are baking, mix the cream cheese, heavy whipping cream, and powdered sugar together. Stir until smooth.
- When the rolls are cooked, drizzle the glaze of the top of the rolls. Serve warm.
Hi
This sounds so good! I will make some for my mom. She’s not a high breakfast eater, but does enjoy her sweets!
Thank you for sharing!!
I don’t always have hvy cream on hand, but I do have half n half. Has anyone tried subbing half n half for the cream?
You can use half and half.
I typically make cinnamon rolls from scratch but today my son requested cinnamon rolls and we are all sick so I didn’t feel up to all the effort making them. I found this recipe and had Hawaiian rolls in the freezer, they were amazing and so fast to put together. They will definitely be in regular breakfast rotation!
I did too. Cinnamon rolls are my VERY FAVORITE – but they take so long. I still love the process of making cinnamon rolls but I adore this quick method now.
the amount of cinnamon filling is not enough. i dont know why
Could these be baked in a casserole crockpot? When it’s hot out I hate to heat up my RV oven but love these rolls.
I haven’t tried it but I’m sure they could. You could omit the egg in the cream cheese filling and heat until they’re warmed through.
Soooo good!!!!
Can anyone help me figure out what I did wrong with my glaze I made it with milk nd cream cheese and powder sugar (I didn’t have heavy whipping cream) but I keep having this powder suger taste to it that is slightly off putting (love this recipe btw I’m a baker in a small business and sometimes just want easy to make cinnamon rolls at home without all the hassle of rolling dough and stuff lol )
Maybe try a bit of vanilla and slightly decrease powdered sugar. Good luck!
I’ve been there before…I think the cornstarch just doesn’t blend in as well, plus milk is more bland. Heavy cream naturally gets thicker, and adds that creamy flavor.
Just buy a Holstein and you’ll always be ready 😉
Wonderful!! I’m making these for the 4th time in about 6 weeks. We have a lot of weekend visitors and this is so good and easy to make ahead of time. We all love cream cheese frosting, so that’s what I top these with. I also have frozen a few leftovers for my husband and I to enjoy later, even with the frosting on.
This makes me so happy!! Thank you for commenting! I’m glad you like them!