Recipe Club: Semi-Homemade Cinnamon Rolls!

Hi! Happy Wednesday!!

I am so, so excited to be joining my friends Johannah and Heather for their new Recipe Club link-up!!

I shared this "recipe" here on the blog almost exactly a year ago...but it is one of our family favorites- so it deserves a repeat posting :) This is a "semi-homemade" recipe...while I make/bake many things from scratch, I have no problem using some store bought ingredients to help me make a recipe easier!

First- roll out your crescent rolls onto a smooth surface. Spread a generous amount of butter or margarine- probably 4-5 tablespoons (I use margarine just because it is softer and easier to spread) over the crescent roll dough.

(please don't judge my STELLAR food photography skills...I took these pictures at 6 am yesterday morning when I was making a batch of cinnamon rolls to bring to my doctor's office and the lighting was HORRIBLE! :)

Then- sprinkle 1/4 cup white sugar over entire, buttered dough, then sprinkle cinnamon over the sugar.  You can adjust the amount of cinnamon to your liking- I would say about 2 tablespoons.

Roll up 2 rectangle crescent doll pieces at a time, length wise, and cut into equal sized pieces. (By rolling up two rectangles together- it makes a nice, full roll :)

Put rolls in a greased dish- I like to line my foil for super easy clean up!

Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees (based on your oven).

I used to buy the icing in a can- which is very yummy- but doesn't have the best ingredients in it.  For the last couple of years, I have just started making my own cream cheese icing!  
I make a huge batch and freeze it (YES! It freezes beautifully!) in small containers for when I make cupcakes, cinnamon rolls, or a cake.  It is SO easy to make!
I know there are a lot of recipes for cream cheese icing out there- but I think this one is pretty darn tasty! :)  And I use the term "recipe" loosely since I don't have exact measurements for all the ingredients! HA!

I get all my ingredients at Aldi- so if you shop there- this is what you will need!

Cream Cheese Icing

1- 8 oz block of cream cheese (I use 1/3 less fat and you can't taste the difference!)- softened

1 stick unsalted butter- softened (use REAL unsalted butter for this- NOT margarine!)

1- 2 pound bag of powdered sugar (don't worry you won't use the WHOLE 2 pounds- HA!)

splash of vanilla extract (if you don't have any- it is not a huge deal)

In your mixer, beat softened cream cheese and butter together, until it is smooth and they are incorporated well together.  Then start to add powdered sugar.  This is where it gets kind of tricky- because I do not have an exact measurement of how much powdered sugar I put in the icing.  I just add a couple of cups, mix on medium speed, then add another couple of cups, mix again, ect.  It is totally up to how you prefer the taste and texture of your icing as to how much powdered sugar you put in. I put in about 1 2/3 lb of a 2 pound bag.  Once I have added all of my powdered sugar, I drizzle a couple of teaspoons of vanilla extract into the icing and then beat the icing on high to make it nice and fluffy.  

Then, I like to taste at least a couple of times to make sure it is super delicious- HA! 

This stuff is addictive!! :)

To ice our cinnamon rolls, I put some cream cheese icing in a bowl and add a splash of milk to it, so that I can thin it out almost to a glaze like consistency.  Since the icing and the cinnamon rolls are so sweet, a little icing goes a long way!

Here is what the semi-homemade cinnamon rolls look like, out of the oven, with some cream cheese icing drizzled over them!  

They are YUM!!

My family LOVES these! They get so excited if I tell them I am making cinnamon rolls for breakfast :) They are seriously SO easy and take no time at all!

If you end up making a batch- make sure to let me know what you think!! :)

Hope you have the BEST day!