cinnamon rolls

Look, I'm all for making traditional homemade-dough cinnamon rolls, but sometimes you just want the piping hot buns, dripping with butter and brown sugar, ASAP. When you're experiencing an uncontrollable jonesing for a homemade batch, but don't want to go through the whole trouble of making the dough, you'll want this easy cinnamon roll recipe that gets the job done in 30 minutes.

The secret's in the refrigerated crescent roll dough, which is the perfect cocoon for your cinnamon-brown sugar filling.

That — and drizzling lots of melted butter to ensure the filling will stay in place as you tightly roll the dough into a swirled log. Are you dizzy with desire yet?

Once you've cut the eight slices, the buns will fit snugly in the pan.

The cinnamon rolls will emerge from the oven sizzling and cracking, and that's when you should immediately cover them in a tangy vanilla, lemon, and cream cheese glaze.

I'll bet these cinnamon rolls will be eaten so quickly, the glaze won't even have a chance to ooze onto the napkin.

Keep reading for the quick cinnamon roll recipe.

Cinnamon rolls are a prized breakfast possession in America, yet few families will attempt to make them from home. It's understandable why. Who wants to wake up before the crack of dawn to let dough rise for several hours? Ahem, well maybe me, but I'm in the vast minority. Luckily, I've included instructions to prep certain items the night before, so the cinnamon rolls will be ready to eat (the morning of) in one hour.

Like many Americans, I don't have childhood memories of anyone in my family attempting to make homemade cinnamon rolls — just memories of the Pillsbury canisters popping open to unleash the leaven dough. However, I learned the magic behind homemade rolls when I started a job at a bakery in high school.

Making the dough is fairly easy using a food processor. The hardest part is waiting the two hours to let the dough double. The moist, pliable dough rolls out to form a thin rectangular shape, which you slather with butter and cinnamon sugar. The cinnamon roll shapes are made by rolling the dough into a tight log, then cutting it into slices. As the dough bakes, your kitchen will be filled with the most excruciating scent that is sure to send even your farthest neighbors flocking. Once the buns come out of the oven, top them with the sticky cream-cheese icing. Watch it melt into every crevice of the steaming hot buns, and then get ready for everyone to take a dive for the spatula.

Nothing compares to homemade cinnamon rolls. It's mighty satisfying to unravel the seemingly infinite layers of the brioche-like bun to uncover the melted cinnamon sugar that has seeped into the buttery dough. While some people will add in nuts or top the buns with an orange glaze, I prefer to keep my cinnamon rolls this way — plain and simple — to evoke nostalgic memories of Winter mornings with my family.

Ready to put those buns in the oven?

There's nothing like ooey-gooey cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and this recipe guarantees they'll be ready in just 20 minutes, making them perfect for an easy morning treat. With an assist from refrigerated bread dough, you are on your way to sweet rolls in just minutes; plus, this recipe is so easy the kids can help make them. Using a muffin tin bakes things up quickly and creates adorable individual sticky cinnamon rolls. You'll be licking your fingers in no time.

Keep reading for the quick and easy directions.