Cinnamon Crescents

(Originally posted 7/29/2019; Edited 1/26/2022)

So I know it’s way past National Cinnamon Crescents Day (which was April 10), but this recipe was so simple and easy that I just had to share it anyway.

As much as I love making more involved, complicated desserts, like cheesecakes or my lemon bars, I also really appreciate having a quick and easy recipe to whip up when I want something NOW.

Crescent Roll Dough Amazing-ness!

And that’s why I love crescent roll dough! Crescent rolls are super versatile so it’s a really good idea to stock up when they go on sale. And then if you have a craving for something like chocolate croissants, pizza pockets, or, well, cinnamon crescents, you can grab a can of crescent rolls out of the fridge and whip up something delicious! Or of course, you could use them for dinner rolls…

I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned it before, but I’m a bit leery of baking with yeast. I’m sure once I do it once or twice, I’ll be fine. But the whole idea just makes me a bit nervous. So because of that, I’ve never made homemade cinnamon rolls. Even though cinnamon rolls are amazingly delicious!

And that’s how this recipe was born – the desire to eat cinnamon rolls plus the crescent roll dough in the fridge which were just begging to become something yummy then morphed into these simple, buttery cinnamon crescents.

Cinnamon Crescents

Buttery cinnamon crescents with a delicious glaze

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Prep Time 7 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

Total Time 19 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Servings 8 crescents

Ingredients

  

• 1 package crescent rolls
• 4 tbsp butter, softened
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 to 2 tbsp milk

Instructions

 

• Combine 4 tbsp softened butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a medium sized bowl. Mix with a hand mixer until well combined.
• Unroll crescent rolls and separate into 8 triangles. Spread a scant tbsp of the cinnamon sugar butter on each wedge. Roll up each wedge beginning at the wider end. Place on a baking sheet.
• Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 12 minutes.
• Combine melted butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Add milk as needed to make the glaze easy to pour. Place into a ziptop bag and cut the tip off to drizzle over the crescents, or just use your spoon to drizzle the glaze.

Notes

If you don’t want to use a mixer to combine the butter, sugar, and cinnamon, use a spoon, or just spread the plain butter on the crescents and sprinkle the combined cinnamon and sugar on top. Either of those should work just fine.

If you want to make a simpler glaze, mix together powdered sugar and milk until you get the right consistency. Add vanilla as well if you wish. But personally, I think the butter adds a bit of richness and cuts the powdered sugar flavor a bit.

This cinnamon crescents recipe is super easy to make with chocolate chips instead of cinnamon as well. I use 1 tbsp mini chips (because I know they’ll melt during the baking time), about 1/3 of a tablespoon of butter, cut up into small pieces, and a pinch of brown sugar to each crescent, roll them up, and throw them in the oven. So easy and so delicious! The only problem is that it’s so hard to not eat them all yourself.

Do you have any simple yet delicious go-to recipes?