Easy Cruffins
These easy puff pastry cruffins are flaky, buttery, and rolled in sweet cinnamon sugar for a bakery-style treat made right at home in minutes. There's no yeast needed, no kneading, and only a few ingredients for big cinnamon roll flavor in a lightly puffed pastry.
I love working with frozen puff pastry dough to make easy homemade treats that look so fancy your family assumes they were a ton of work.
These warm cinnamon sugar cruffins use premade puff pastry and an easy cinnamon sugar blend to make a fun muffin-shaped breakfast pastry that mimics the texture of a flaky croissant.
If you love my chocolate croissant puffs, you'll fall in love with this fun cinnamon sugar variation!
Why This is the Best Recipe
- Flaky and Sweet: All the best parts of a croissant in a fun muffin form, these light and flaky cruffins are dusted with cinnamon sugar.
- No Yeast or Proofing Required: Using simple puff pastry sheets, even a beginner baker will have fun with this easy recipe.
- Impressive Brunch Treat: Take these to a potluck or save them for a holiday brunch, they look so fancy that no one will guess how easy they were to bake.
Ingredients
Just 3 ingredients for easy cinnamon-swirled pastries:
- Frozen Puff Pastry Sheets
- Cinnamon
- Sugar
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Assemble the Puff Pastry
Grease a 12-well muffin tin with cooking spray or softened butter and set aside.
In a small bowl, mix together the cinnamon and sugar.
Thaw the puff pastry according to the package directions.
Lay the two sheets of pastry out on a baking mat and gently press them into 8x18-inch rectangles. I gently patted the seams to smooth out the dough a little but do not overwork the pastry.
Sprinkle 1/4 cup of the cinnamon sugar mix over one of the squares of pastry and smooth it out so it coats the entire surface from edge to edge.
Place the second square of pastry over the first one, offsetting the placement by just 1 inch so one edge of the cinnamon peeks out.
Use a pizza wheel to cut 1-inch wide strips starting from the exposed cinnamon side and working away. You should be able to get 10 - 12 strips if you cut carefully.
If the dough moves a little as you slice it, you can always nudge the pastry strip back into place when you roll them in the next step. Just focus on getting your widths nice and even.
Roll the Cruffins
Working one strip at a time, start at the exposed cinnamon side and roll the strip in a pinwheel.
Tuck the remaining edge underneath and place the pinwheel in the prepared muffin tin, cut side up.
Repeat with the remaining strips.
Baking Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Bake the cruffins at this high temp for 12 minutes.
Then without opening the oven door, reduce the heat to 350°F. Continue to bake the cruffins for an additional 12 minutes or until they've puffed up, become golden brown, and are cooked through.
While the cruffins are still hot and fresh from the oven, use a fork to roll them in the remaining cinnamon sugar mix.
Transfer the sugared cruffin to a wire rack to cool while you coat the remaining rolls.
NOTE: I placed a piece of parchment paper underneath my wire rack so that the excess cinnamon sugar would collect on that instead of my counter. It made clean-up much easier!
Make Ahead Tips
Cinnamon sugar cruffins are best served the day they've been baked, I love them still warm from the oven.
If you want to cut down on prep time, just be sure to thaw your puff pastry and mix the cinnamon sugar, the rest of the recipe will be easy to assemble at the last minute.
Alternatively, you could assemble the puff pastry pinwheels and place them in a greased muffin tin covered with plastic wrap and chill them in the fridge up to 12 hours before baking. This is a great strategy for serving them on Christmas morning.
Variations
- Chocolate Cruffins: Sprinkle mini chocolate chips before rolling.
- Strawberry Cruffins: Spread strawberry jam and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
- Lemon Cruffins: Sprinkle lemon zest and spread lemon curd over the pastry.
- Nutella: Spread Nutella over the pastry and sprinkle chopped hazelnuts for crunch.
Serving Suggestions
These sweet and flaky cinnamon cruffins are a perfect tea party recipe. Make a big pot of tea or enjoy them with hot coffee for breakfast or brunch.
They would make a perfect make ahead breakfast for Christmas brunch or as a fun treat for the kids to make for mom for a Mother's Day brunch.
More Cinnamon Breakfast Recipes
If you love how delicious these cinnamon sugar cruffins are, you will also love these cinnamon flavored goodies:
📖 Recipe
Easy Cruffins
Ingredients
- 1 (17.3 oz) box frozen puff pastry sheets thawed
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
Instructions Start Cooking
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Spray a 12-well muffin tin with cooking spray or grease it with softened butter and set aside.
- Place the thawed puff pastry sheets on a baking mat and gently press them into 2 8x18-inch squares.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon with a fork until well combined. Spread 1/4 cup of the sugar mixture over one of the squares of dough. Save the remaining cinnamon sugar for rolling the baked cruffins when they are hot from the oven.
- Place the second square of puff pastry over the cinnamon sugar-dusted square, offsetting the placement by 1-inch to expose just one edge of the cinnamon sugar.
- Use a pizza wheel to cut the layered dough into 1-inch wide strips starting from the exposed edge and rolling down. Roll one strip at a time starting from the exposed cinnamon edge and rolling away. Tuck the final end under the roll and place it one well in the greased muffin tin. Repeat with the remaining strips.
- Bake the cruffins for 12 minutes at the high heat, then without opening the oven door, reduce the heat to 350°F and bake for 12 more minutes. The cruffins should be puffed up and cooked through.
- Remove the pan from the oven and use a fork to lift one cruffin at a time and roll it in the reserved cinnamon sugar mixture. Transfer the sugared cruffin to a wire rack to cool and repeat with the remaining cruffins.
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