Upgrade Store-Bought Cinnamon Rolls With One Simple Extra Step

As a kid, there was nothing like waking up to the smell of cinnamon sugar wafting through the house. That delectable aroma only meant one thing: Cinnamon rolls were on the breakfast menu for the day, and if you hopped out of bed fast enough, you'd get to pick the one with the most icing slathered on it.

Nowadays, the smell of those delectable pastries might not be the very first thing you get a whiff of in the morning. Still, given how easy it is to make store-bought cinnamon rolls, you can have yourself a batch in only a matter of minutes. You can even upgrade your canned sweet rolls by brûléeing them to add a delightfully crunchy texture to the morning meal. Once they've finished baking, simply cover the top of the rolls with granulated white sugar and lightly torch them with a kitchen blowtorch.

Don't have a kitchen torch handy? Your oven can do the trick, too. Before turning it on, move one rack to the top spot. Divvy out the cinnamon rolls on a baking sheet as normal and bake them until the five-minute mark, at which point you can remove them from the oven and sprinkle with sugar. Then, return them to the oven on the top rack and broil until the sugar is golden brown. Pro tip: This is Ina Garten's trick for making crème brûlée without a blowtorch, too.

Brûléeing the tops of your store-bought cinnamon rolls is a quick way to give them a gourmet feel. However, if you have a little extra time in the morning, you can kick them up yet another notch by swapping out the sugary icing they come with for a silky custard topping that can be made quickly using the same genius boxed pudding hack for crème brûlée. Simply mix a box of instant pudding with milk and heavy cream and allow it to set in the refrigerator. Vanilla is the best flavor option to get closest to that classic crème brûlée flavor. However, you're welcome to experiment with other flavors if you'd like.

Once the pudding mixture has firmed up, pop your canned cinnamon rolls in the oven. If you're using the blowtorch method, cook them through, then lather on the custard topping and a layer of granulated sugar, and torch away. On the other hand, if you're using your broiler, put the custard on the slightly underbaked rolls before the sugar. Make sure to keep a close eye on the rolls as they broil so they don't accidentally overcook and burn. As for what to do with that leftover tub of icing that came with your canned cinnamon rolls, you can keep it on hand to use as a topping for waffles or homemade glazed donuts.