The Trader Joe's Hack That Gives You Easy Cinnamon Rolls

There's nothing quite like waking up and enjoying a warm, gooey cinnamon roll. However, no one's pretending whipping up a batch from scratch is an easy task. Unless you've had the foresight to prep your rolls ahead of time and leave them in the fridge until ready to bake, it's quite a heavy lift — and it's certainly easier and quicker to just pop open a can of cinnamon rolls

When you're craving the undeniably supreme taste of homemade cinnamon rolls, but the ease of popping open a can of store-bought ones, meet somewhere in the middle. Using hacks like pre-made dough eliminates most of the heavy lifting in the kitchen, drastically cutting down on the prep work and wait time for the dough to rise. Trader Joe's sells such a pre-made pizza dough  — usually you'll find it in along the perimeter of the store in the produce or prepackaged food sections. 

Its obvious intended use is, of course, for pizza nights, but it can just as easily be rolled out, stuffed with butter, cinnamon, and sugar, and rolled up into the breakfast treats. Next time you're making a Trader Joe's run, grab a package or two of the ready-to-use dough — just make sure you get the plain variety without garlic and Italian seasoning, so you can easily take the yeasty, spongy dough in a sweet direction.

Follow your cinnamon roll recipe as usual, after rolling out dough

This pizza dough hack sounds unexpected on its face, but really, there's no significant difference between pizza dough and the dough you'll roll out for cinnamon rolls, which is why this works. The basic pre-made Trader Joe's dough is made with a short and sweet list of ingredients — essentially just flour, yeast, water, oil, salt, and sugar — the same few you'd use if making rolls fully from scratch (though some cinnamon roll dough will also have added milk, eggs, and such).

Package directions instruct you to let the dough sit at room temp for around 20 minutes, and you should heed this advice no matter what finished product you're using it for. As it sits, the yeast has a chance to activate, causing the dough to expand, fluff up, and become soft and kneadable, creating light and fluffy rolls. As with homemade dough, if you find it's fighting you or sticking to your rolling pin, you may need to add some flour to the dough and your working surface.

When you have your other ingredients assembled, just roll the blob of dough out into a thin rectangular shape and follow your favorite cinnamon roll recipe, spreading on butter, cinnamon, sugar, and other desired add-ins. Add this to the ever-growing list of must-try Trader Joe's hacks and secrets you wish you knew sooner, and treat yourself to a decadent comforting breakfast without the hours of work.

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