Cinnamon Cruffins
Enjoy our Easy Cinnamon Cruffins, a super delicious morning cinnamon roll made with crescent roll dough, raisins, and topped with a buttery cinnamon and sugar combo. They are baked in a muffin tin, and come out of the oven flakey, buttery, and so cinnamon-y good.
We’re not sure who invented the original cruffin recipe, but it’s been around for a long time. We are a huge fan of old-fashioned homemade cinnamon rolls with raisins, so this recipe is a quicker version of that recipe.
Cinnamon Cruffins
What is a cruffin? It’s a combo of both croissants and muffins. The ultimate easy morning treat without having to raise dough (using yeast), this recipe instead uses grocery store tubes of crescent roll dough. How simple and perfect for entertaining.
These Cinnamon Cruffins with crescent rolls are super easy to make and are often on our weekend menu! Grab a cup of coffee, set out a breakfast board, and pull these amazing pastries from the oven and enjoy!
Why I love this recipe
- Super easy to pull together with just a few ingredients.
- A quick version of homemade cinnamon rolls.
- Ready in 30 minutes!
- Best weekend or holiday treat.
Gather these ingredients
- Crescent roll dough – we love to use Pillsbury brand
- Butter
- Granulated sugar
- Dark brown sugar
- Ground cinnamon
- Cardamom – my all time fave spice, but can also leave this out
- Raisins – use regular or golden raisins
- Flour – for rolling
How to make Cinnamon Cruffins
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Lightly spray a standard 12-cup muffin baking tin with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
- Open both cans of croissants. On a lightly floured work surface, roll each tube of dough to a 12 x 16-inch rectangle, until the perforated seam is gone.
- In a small bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and cardamom.
- Spread a small amount of the melted butter on each sheet of dough.
- Sprinkle with half of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Sprinkle with the 1/2 cup of raisins (even distribute if you can).
- Top with the second layer of croissant dough.
- Slice the dough into long strips. Roll each strip up, similar to a cinnamon roll.
- Dip each roll into the remaining butter and cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Place each roll in a prepared muffin tin (there will be 12).
- Drizzle any remaining butter of the rolls.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes in preheated oven until golden brown.
- Remove rolls from the oven and immediately roll each cruffin in the remaining cinnamon sugar mixture.
Tips and substitutions:
- Optional to omit the cardamom, but it really adds to the flavor. If you do omit, you can double the amount of cinnamon.
- Make sure and spray the muffin tin well, as you don’t want the pastries to stick.
- Omit the raisins and replace with any dried fruits or nuts.
- You can use regular raisins (brown) or golden raisins.
- Baking: Bake the cruffins until deeply golden brown. If they are underbaked, they could collapse and they are gooey inside.
- Chocolate or other flavors: Spread melted chocolate or Nutella, jam, marmalade over the dough before rolling it into a log.
- Lemon: Use lemon curd, spreading it thinly before rolling. You can even add lemon zest.
- TIPS on cardamom: Cardamom is my favorite baking spice. If you combine it with lemon zest (and the sugar), it will take on the flavor of an Ocean Roll (popular in Bend, Oregon).
- Can you use croissant dough? Yes, you can. We love crescent rolls because they are a tad bit sweeter and softer and less flaky than croissants.
- Optional to add a glaze!
Serving
Enjoy these delightful pastries warm or at room temperature.
Of course these are the perfect Sunday brunch treat, so serve alongside a fabulour brunch board. How about a Virgin Mimosa and Vanilla Fruit Salad on the side?
I especially love them with my morning coffee!
Storage
- They’ll last in the fridge for 5-7 days, but you can also leave them out on the counter.
- If you are baking them first, and then freezing, they should keep for about 2 months.
- To thaw frozen rolls: Remove from the freezer and thaw at room temperature and reheat in the microwave for around 15 seconds. You can also wrap in foil and keep warm in the oven on low heat until ready to serve.
More cinnamon recipes you may want to try
Get the Recipe:
Cinnamon Cruffins
Ingredients
- 2 8 oz cans crescent rolls, dough
- 3 Tbsp butter, melted
- 3 Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp dark brown sugar
- ¾ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¾ tsp cardamom
- ½ cup raisins
- 2-3 Tbsp flour for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Lightly spray a standard 12-cup muffin baking tin with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
- Open both cans of croissants. On a lightly floured work surface, roll each tube of dough to a 12 x 16-inch rectangle, until the perforated seam is gone.
- In a small bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and cardamom.
- Spread a small amount of the melted butter on each sheet of dough.
- Sprinkle with half of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Sprinkle with the ½ cup of raisins (even distribute if you can).
- Top with the second layer of croissant dough.
- Slice the dough into long strips. Roll each strip up, similar to a cinnamon roll.
- Dip each roll into the remaining butter and cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Place each roll in a prepared muffin tin (there will be 12).
- Drizzle any remaining butter of the rolls.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes in preheated oven until golden brown.
- Remove rolls from the oven and immediately roll each cruffin in the remaining cinnamon sugar mixture.
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
