Cheater "Cinnamon Rolls"

Full disclosure, these are nothing like normal cinnamon rolls but they are still delicious!  Cinnamon rolls were requested but I wanted to make an easier version with things that we already had on hand.  We had a couple of tubes of crescent dough in the fridge, so I thought it would be perfect for these cheater cinnamon rolls.
 

I didn't have a recipe that I followed, I just made it up as I went along and I think it turned out really well!  I'm sure there are recipes that you could find online for this but I know the basics of cinnamon rolls and just made it to my taste.

The rolls are simply the crescent dough rolled out with the seams pressed together.  You then brush on melted butter and then sprinkle brown sugar, cinnamon, and walnuts (this is optional and I only sprinkled on half of the rolls).  Are you team nuts or no nuts?

You then roll up your dough starting at the bottom until you reach the top.  Once rolled, you cut it into 8 pieces and place into a greased cake pan.

While your rolls are baking, you will want to put together your icing.  The icing I made is just some powdered sugar, vanilla extract. and some milk.  You could easily double the icing recipe if you like more icing on your cinnamon rolls!

You will want to make sure to frost your rolls while they are still warm, but you don't want them to be too hot otherwise the glaze will melt too much and run off.  If your rolls are too cold then the glaze will not melt into cinnamon rolls.

Let me know what you think if you make these cheater cinnamon rolls!

 Cheater "Cinnamon Rolls"

Makes 8 rolls

Ingredients:

Rolls

• One tube of crescent rolls
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4-1/2 cup chopped, roasted walnuts (optional)

Icing

• scant 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 T milk (any kind you'd like)
• splash vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375℉, grease a round cake pan with butter (I brushed on a little bit of the melted butter).
2. Working on parchment paper, open the tube of crescent rolls and unroll the dough towards you.  Pinch together all of the seams and make sure there are no holes or gaps.
3. Brush on the melted butter all over the dough.  Sprinkle on the brown sugar, cinnamon, and walnuts (if using).
4. Roll up the dough starting at the end closest to you and roll away from you.  You will want to roll the dough fairly tightly so that it will stay together.  If needed, you can use the parchment paper to help roll up the dough.
5. Cut your roll into 8 pieces.  I like to cut in half, then each half into half, and then each quarter into half to get fairly even pieces.  Place each piece cut side down into your prepared cake pan, making sure to leave space between the pieces so they have room to expand.
6. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.
7. While your rolls are baking, mix together all your ingredients for the icing.  
8. Let your cinnamon rolls cool for 3-4 minutes before spreading on the icing.

Enjoy!