Okay, let’s just start this off right: I am not above store-bought shortcuts. Especially when those shortcuts come in the form of flaky, buttery puff pastry that saves me from turning my kitchen into a yeast-based emotional rollercoaster.
Miss Ivy, my darling daughter with a memory like a steel trap (except where she left her phone), has been dreaming—DREAMING—about the cinnamon rolls we had on our road trip to Arizona this past March. You know the kind: warm, gooey, swirled with cinnamon-sugar goodness and somehow simultaneously light and rich. She swears they were made with puff pastry, and after going on a Pinterest bender of epic proportions, she presented me with approximately 27 nearly identical “copycat” recipes. All with the enthusiasm of someone who’s positive we can recreate a magical vacation snack with nothing but a thawed sheet of pastry and sheer will.
And you know what?
We totally can.
Because what my girl wants, my girl gets. And also—I mean this sincerely—these puff pastry cinnamon twist buns are outrageously good. They’re crispy and sticky and soft in all the right places. The cinnamon-sugar caramelizes at the edges like magic. And with cream cheese frosting? Baby. We’re in bakery territory.
Honestly, this is less of a recipe and more of a how-to for winning brunch, making your child happy, and tricking people into thinking you studied under an intimidating French pastry chef named Marcel. Spoiler: you didn’t. You just bought puff pastry from the freezer section and used your hands like God intended.
Let’s do this.
✨ Puff Pastry Cinnamon Twist Buns with Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes: 8–10 twisty, gooey, gorgeous buns
Time: About 30 minutes, unless you count thawing time in which case... don’t
🧈 Ingredients:
For the cinnamon filling:
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4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
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1/3 cup brown sugar (light or dark, I’m not judging)
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1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
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Pinch of salt
For the buns:
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1 box of frozen puff pastry (2 sheets), thawed
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1 egg, beaten (for egg wash, optional but fancy)
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A little extra sugar to sprinkle (because sparkle)
For the cream cheese frosting:
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4 oz cream cheese, softened
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1/2 cup powdered sugar
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1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
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1–2 tablespoons milk, as needed to thin
👩🍳 Instructions:
1. Preheat your oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. This is not the time to test your pan’s nonstick abilities. Cinnamon sugar glue is real and unforgiving.
2. Make your cinnamon filling. In a bowl, mash together the softened butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt until it looks like gritty, delicious mud. Try not to eat it all with a spoon (I failed this test).
3. Unfold one sheet of puff pastry on a lightly floured surface. Gently roll it out just a smidge if needed to smooth any creases.
4. Spread half of the cinnamon filling onto the pastry. Edge to edge, people. Every bite deserves love.
5. Lay the second sheet of pastry right on top. Like a buttery little cinnamon sandwich.
6. Cut into strips. About 1 inch wide. You’ll get 8 to 10 depending on your geometry skills and commitment to even spacing.
7. Twist! Grab each strip and give it a few twists like you’re wringing out a tiny towel. Lay them on the baking sheet with some space between, because puff pastry likes to do just that—PUFF. You can stick with them like this, but for that cinnamon roll feel, I rolled them up pinwheel style. So pretty!
8. Brush with egg wash if you want that golden glow-up. Sprinkle with a little extra sugar if you want to sparkle like a culinary unicorn (you do).
9. Bake for 18–22 minutes, or until puffed, golden, and your kitchen smells like a cinnamon-scented candle’s much more delicious cousin.
10. While they bake, make your frosting. Beat the cream cheese until smooth, then mix in powdered sugar and vanilla. Thin with milk a bit at a time until it’s drizzleable but still lush. Try not to bathe in it.
11. Drizzle that glorious frosting all over the warm buns. Or serve it on the side for dipping. Or both. Live your best life.
🌀 Some Tips, from My Questionable Life Experience:
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Thaw your puff pastry in the fridge overnight if you’re a planner. If you’re not (hi, friend), you can leave it on the counter for about 30 minutes but keep an eye on it—it goes from frozen to melted and sad real fast.
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Don’t skip the salt in the filling. It makes everything pop and makes you feel like you’re in a pastry competition show. “Oh, that hint of salt!” the judges will say, probably.
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If you want to prep these ahead, twist and chill the unbaked buns in the fridge for a few hours before baking. Brunch party trick = unlocked.
These puff pastry cinnamon twist buns are like the culinary equivalent of showing up to a potluck in an amazing outfit you totally found on sale. Impressive, effortless, and worthy of compliments that you can accept with fake humility.
Miss Ivy declared them “basically perfect” after devouring two and licking frosting off her fingers like it was a competitive sport. She swears they taste just like the ones from our Arizona trip, which honestly feels like the highest compliment. There’s something kind of magical about taking a bite of something and being transported—back to a road trip, a memory, a bakery off a dusty highway where cinnamon dreams came true.
So yes. It’s a little recipe. It’s a little nostalgia. It’s a little sneaky shortcut. And it’s a lot of delicious.
Make them. Share them. Take a photo while the frosting’s still dripping and pretend you slaved away for hours. I won’t tell.
P.S. If you want to impress someone this weekend—your family, your friends, your future self—bake a batch of these, make some coffee, and bask in the glory of being the kind of person who makes fancy-looking treats on a whim. Or at least pretends to. 😎
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