Homemade Cinnamon Rolls Just Got Better With One Bread Swap

It may seem impossible to improve cinnamon rolls — which are already the perfect, gooey, cinnamon-y sweet treat — but there is actually a bread swap that can make the dessert even better. Instead of using a traditional dough, use Hawaiian sweet rolls. Anyone who has enjoyed a Hawaiian sweet roll — or two or three or four — knows that they're fluffy, soft, just the right amount of sweet, and irresistible. So, why not combine them with another irresistible treat?

The process isn't too different from normal cinnamon rolls. In fact, you can use your favorite cinnamon roll recipe for the cinnamon-brown sugar mixture that makes up the interior of the rolls. As for the Hawaiian rolls, you'll cut the entire pack in half horizontally, then open it up and add the cinnamon-brown sugar mixture to the inside of the rolls. Place the top of the rolls back on top of the bottom half and, to turn them into cinnamon rolls, use a rolling pin to flatten the entire loaf. From there, continue as if this was a traditional batch of cinnamon rolls: Roll up the flattened rolls and then cut them into smaller sections to make each individual roll.

The result is a batch of cinnamon rolls that have all of the flavor that you love from traditional cinnamon rolls but with some extra sweet fluffiness from the Hawaiian rolls. You may just want to make them this way every time.

If you don't care about the aesthetic of the cinnamon rolls — as in, you don't care about them looking like a traditional "roll" — then you can actually use the Hawaiian sweet rolls for a faster way to make the sweet treat. Simply add the cinnamon-brown sugar mixture to the inside of the rolls, just like described above, and instead of rolling them up, just bake them as is — you can even add more of the mixture on top of the rolls for extra cinnamon-y sweetness.

This method allows you to bake fewer cinnamon rolls if you don't want to bake a whole batch — maybe you live alone or you simply don't want to have too many leftovers. You can pull apart the rolls and just make a handful instead. If you do this, you may want to halve the recipe for the cinnamon-brown sugar mixture, so you don't end up with too much leftover.

Making a smaller batch gives you an opportunity to get creative and try adding some flavors to your cinnamon rolls — without the risk of ruining a whole batch if it doesn't work out the way you want. For example, you can try turning them into pumpkin pie cinnamon rolls by adding pumpkin spice into the mix or maybe you try drizzling caramel over the top, a gooey addition that will make the treats taste divine.