We taste-tested five brands of cinnamon rolls you’re likely to find at your local supermarket. To find the very best ones, we sampled each without knowing which was which. Our winners are Immaculate Baking Co. Cinnamon Roll Dough and Annie’s Organic Cinnamon Rolls With Icing.
My perfect Christmas morning is one where I’m awoken by the smell of cinnamon rolls baking in the oven. But because I happen to be both mom and the resident baker in my family, I’m usually the one who’s up early preparing breakfast for my family so they can sit down to warm, fluffy cinnamon rolls complete with cream cheese frosting. I realize, however, that might not be realistic for everyone—especially during the holidays, when you might be hosting friends and family, or just want to get some sleep. Fortunately, there are many store-bought options. The question is: Which brands are worth buying?
To find the best cinnamon rolls, our editors taste-tested five widely available brands you’re likely to find at your local grocery store. We baked them according to package directions, then sampled them in random order, without knowing which was which. We then tabulated the results and crowned two winners and a runner-up.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
The Criteria
Cinnamon rolls should be tender and light. A good cinnamon roll is doughy without being heavy: When you pull it apart, the inner coil of dough should stretch slightly and release a waft of steam (if it’s fresh from the oven), and it should be large enough to offer a generous portion of that treasured sugared-and-spiced interior. They should be sweet but not overly so. The icing should be balanced: It should have a hint of tanginess from the cream cheese, with just enough salt to counter the sweetness of the sugar.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
Winners
Tasters were divided between the two brands. Immaculate Baking Co. earned a slightly higher average score than Annie’s, but not by enough to declare a clear winner.
Immaculate Baking Co. Cinnamon Roll Dough
“The doughiest of the bunch, in a good way,” our editorial director, Daniel, wrote. Our associate editorial director, Megan, thought these were “pretty good,” describing them as “tender, moist.” Similarly, both our associate culinary editor, Laila, and our associate visuals director, Amanda, liked that these were soft and sweet, but not cloying.
Annie’s Organic Cinnamon Rolls With Icing
Megan marked this one as her personal favorite. “By far the best,” she noted. “I like the cinnamon bun flavor, though I don’t love the glaze.” Like Megan, this was also Amanda’s top pick. “This is the only one I would like to eat a whole one of,” Amanda wrote. “Airy, buttery, and cinnamon-y with a good icing.” Though our visuals editor, Jessie, thought these were “not bad” and enjoyed the noticeable cinnamon flavor, they thought the rolls were ultimately a bit dry—a sentiment Laila shared. Daniel also noted a subtle off flavor he couldn’t quite put his finger on: “mammalian” was the word he chose to describe it.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
The Contenders
- Annie’s Organic Cinnamon Rolls With Icing
- Immaculate Baking Co. Organic Cinnamon Rolls and Icing
- Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls With Icing
- Trader Joe’s Organic Jumbo Cinnamon Rolls
- Stop & Shop Cinnamon Rolls With Icing
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
Key Takeaways and Conclusion
Homemade cinnamon rolls are typically made with flour, sugar, salt, yeast, butter, milk, and cinnamon. Most ready-to-bake cinnamon rolls, however, are made with vegetable shortening and/or fats, such as palm, sunflower, and/or soybean oil. None of the brands we sampled used real butter. Both our winners, Immaculate Baking Co. Organic Cinnamon Roll Dough and Annie’s, use a combination of palm and sunflower oil. Our tasters were not thrilled with the overall quality of the store-bought cinnamon rolls, and even the winners did not equal a good homemade one (or one from a decent bakery). Still, the tasters would be willing to eat one of the winners in a pinch.
Opinions varied on how sweet a cinnamon roll should be: While Amanda enjoyed most of the icings, Laila and Megan often found them too sweet. Nothing beats a homemade cinnamon roll, but if you go the store-bought route, consider seasoning your icing to taste with additional lemon juice or salt to help balance the sweetness of the packaged frosting—or whip up your own frosting from scratch.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
Our Testing Methodology
All taste tests are conducted with brands completely hidden and without discussion. Tasters taste samples in random order. For example, taster A may taste sample one first, while taster B will taste sample six first. This is to prevent palate fatigue from unfairly giving any one sample an advantage. Tasters are asked to fill out tasting sheets, ranking the samples according to various criteria. All data is tabulated, and results are calculated with no editorial input to provide the most impartial representation of actual results possible.
