This Shortcut Caramel Pecan Cinnamon Rolls recipe is a simple way to make ooey, gooey, cinnamon roll perfection that starts with canned cinnamon rolls!
There are recipe posts where I work really hard to educate. I share tips and tricks to help ensure the recipe turns out perfectly for you. I work to explain the science behind a recipe because I think knowing “why” things work makes us all better cooks. Well, folks… this ain’t one of those posts.
This post is all about the looks, people. I mean, will ya just LOOK at those cinnamon rolls! If that’s not ooey, gooey, caramel-y perfection, I’m just not sure what is.
But, guess what folks!?!? They’re made with canned cinnamon rolls. {Queue the pearl clutch!}
I’m serious. These decadently rich caramel pecan cinnamon rolls start with some canned refrigerated cinnamon rolls. Yep! The ones in the refrigerated case of the grocery store over by the canned biscuits and such. No slaving away with yeast, eggs, flour, and more only to stress over making perfect dough. Nope. This cinnamon roll recipe skips over the rolling pin and the dough hook for a semi-homemade platter of cinnamon rolls no one will ever know you made with an epic shortcut.
What can I add to canned cinnamon rolls to make them better?
There are lots of different ways to dress up regular canned cinnamon rolls. These cinnamon rolls are literally swimming in a decadent caramel sauce and topped with toasted pecans.
It really doesn’t take much to make cinnamon rolls even more decadent, and my family goes absolutely bananas over these things! If you love an ooey, gooey cinnamon roll, these are the ones for you!
How to keep caramel sauce from over-cooking:
You may have seen a similar recipe on the blog before in another iteration as my Sticky Pecan Cinnamon Buns, but the recipe didn’t always turn out perfect for folks as the caramel sauce in that version can overcook sometimes and crystallize.
Now, I could go into the science of it and explain the differences between sucrose and glucose and explain invert sugars, but I won’t bore you with it. The short answer is corn syrup is glucose and prevents the crystallization of the sucrose (regular table sugar). Oh, I’m doing it anyway. Dang it. Corn syrup. Corn syrup is the answer to keeping your caramel sauce from over-cooking.
And, no. The corn syrup in your pantry isn’t the high fructose corn syrup you hear about all the time. Simply follow the recipe here, and you shouldn’t have any problems.
How to serve up these cinnamon rolls?
This really is one of the simplest recipes. You literally just stir the caramel ingredients together, bring it to a boil, pour it into the prepared baking dish, sprinkle with pecans, top with the canned cinnamon rolls, and bake.
The only real skill required here is flipping them out onto a serving platter. You can certainly serve them right from the baking dish, but they’ll be upside down. So, if you flip them out, here are a few tips:
- Allow the dish to cool for about 5 minutes before flipping. It will make handling the dish a little easier – though it will still be HOT!
- Use a serving platter that is a little bit bigger than the baking dish.
- Drape a large towel over the entire dish. The towel will protect you from the heat of the dish and will work to catch any stray caramel because it will still be pretty hot. And if you’ve ever had a caramel or hot sugar burn, you know it isn’t pleasant.
- Grasp both the platter and the dish (covered by the towel), and flip it over.
Now, y’all go make these and report back. I can’t wait to hear how much you love them!
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 4 tablespoons light corn syrup
- pinch of salt
- 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
- 2 (17.5-ounce) cans refrigerated cinnamon rolls 5 per can; I recommend Pillsbury Grands Flaky Cinnamon Rolls.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and spray a 9×13-inch glass or ceramic baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a small pot over medium heat, add the butter, cream, brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Stir until the butter has melted. Bring to a brief boil to ensure all of the sugar has dissolved. Pour the mixture into the bottom of the prepared dish. Sprinkle the pecans evenly over the caramel mixture.
- Open the cans of cinnamon rolls and set the icing aside. Separate the cinnamon rolls and place them in the dish on top of the caramel and pecans. They likely won't take up all the space in the dish, but will expand when baking. A few gaps are totally ok.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and allow the dish to rest for about 5 minutes to cool a bit. Place a large serving platter over the baking dish and invert the cinnamon rolls out onto the platter. Just be cautious as the caramel will still be very hot. I often cover the top with a large dish towel to help protect my hands when flipping it.
- Drizzle the cinnamon rolls with the icing that came in the tube, if desired. Serve warm.
Nutrition
* If nutritional values are provided, they are an estimate and will vary depending on the brands used. The values do not include optional ingredients or when ingredients are added to taste. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, I recommend grabbing your favorite brands and plugging those ingredients into an online nutritional calculator.
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Made these using regular sized canned cinnamon rolls from Aldi, still worked great. These are very delicious, thank you for the recipe!
Thanks, Sandy!
These were a huge hit at my Mother’s Day brunch this year. And easy to make. Don’t have a photo because we ate them all. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m so glad to hear they were a part of your celebration!
I make these all the time! Love this short cut recipe! Thank you
Aren’t they great!? Thanks, Jennifer!
Your recipes are helpful in this email as they can be prepared (some) without electricity. Suggestion–since you are also a southerner affected by snow and ice how about a column on getting ready for a storm–canned salmon- tuna fish canned chicken and bean salad can be made and stored outside in the cold. perhaps ask for suggestions and stories of how people survived thru this being stranded. I cooked some meals to put in fridge. If I had electricity I would reheat if not at least it wasnt frozen and inedible in the freezer. Canned soups and crackers make a good lunch even if at room temp in an emergency. Also good to have canned vegetables to make a soup if hot water is powered by gas and not electricity. Take a shower and the water is hot. remember electricity being off is the mother of invention. Good Luck!
Thanks, Janet! I’ll certainly put something thought into that! Hope y’all fared ok in the storm!
OMG! These are absolutely scrumptious. So easy. I love all your recipes but this one takes the cake. Thank you.
salut mon ami garde toujours ton sourire et ta recette est gourmande je te remercie A+ angie
Thanks so much, Angie!
I Never thought about adding to these rolls. My husband and I used to share a brand name pecan roll. Looking forward to having these for breakfast. Or dessert.
Sure hope you’ll enjoy them, Phoebe!
I can’t begin to express how happy I am to have found this recipe! I make cinnamon rolls from scratch all the time, so I still did that, and I’ve made gooey cinnamon rolls many, many times over the years and heretofore the best recipe for the gooey stuff as always one that included heavy whipping cream. I’ve done it often enough, I don’t have the trouble with the crystallization of the sugar like I had before finding out to add heavy whipping cream to it, but upon reading this blog, I decided I had to give this version of goo a go. And I am SO glad I did!!!! This recipe is seriously the BEST, smoothest, most perfect tasting caramel I have ever had on my cinnamon rolls!!! Who knew that corn syrup could make SUCH an incredible difference?!! (Obviously, you knew! lol) Thank you so very much for sharing this info/recipe!! It is now the only one I will be making when adding goo to my cinnamon rolls!! (Which I highly recommend making homemade with this as the flavor of off the charts!!)
Wow, I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe! The corn syrup really does make a big difference, doesn’t it? Thanks for sharing your thoughts and enthusiasm!
I can’t begin to express how happy I am to have found this recipe! I make cinnamon rolls from scratch all the time, so I still did that, and I’ve made gooey cinnamon rolls many, many times over the years and heretofore the best recipe for the gooey stuff as always one that included heavy whipping cream. I’ve done it often enough, I don’t have the trouble with the crystallization of the sugar like I had before finding out to add heavy whipping cream to it, but upon reading this blog, I decided I had to give this version of goo a go. And I am SO glad I did!!!! This recipe is seriously the BEST, smoothest, most perfect tasting caramel I have ever had on my cinnamon rolls!!! Who knew that corn syrup could make SUCH an incredible difference?!! (Obviously, you knew! lol) Thank you so very much for sharing this info/recipe!! It is now the only one I will be making when adding goo to my cinnamon rolls!! (Which I highly recommend making homemade with this as the flavor of off the charts!!)
I have searched and experimented several years for this recipe. It is so easy and decadent that it should be illegal. I would it 10 stars if I could. The thing that I would change is…nothing.
I’m so glad to hear you loved the recipe! It’s awesome that you found something that hits the mark for you.
Stacey, would you know the recipe for the glaze like frosting that was used on the spice sheet cake in schools?
I’m not familiar with that one. Sorry!
Can I substitute honey for corn syrup?
You can. The function of the corn syrup is to act as an invert sugar to prevent the caramel crystallizing and honey can do the same.
Easy. Delicious. Wonderful.
Thanks!!
Addendum:
Y’all this is a keeper❣️
Turned out perfect.
Thank you for the recipe Stacey.
It looks perfect, Vickie! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
OMG…pearl clutch 😉 Stacey…This recipe just answered my Christmas Morning dilemma!
Thank you in advance from me and the family. Breads and I don’t always get along(lol!).
Cheers!
This is our Christmas morning tradition! It’s quick, easy, and super delicious.
Stacey, just wanted to say I LOVE reading all your posts. You are so friendly and down to earth. I think of you as a friend of my family!!
Thanks, Linda! I’d like to think I am. 🙂
A local bakery used to make these and the pecan topping was THICK and did not run off the bun. Not set like candy, but thick and gooey staying where it was placed., and chock full of “pucans” . How would you adapt this to get that result?
I think you’d have to create more of a true caramel to get it that thick.
I am unclear on light corn syrup. Is it the light KARO brand? I desperately want to make these but puzzled by your explanation. Help!
Yes, that’s a brand name.
Karo is the most common brand of light corn syrup.
Awesome! Yummy! And fast! Loved them
So glad you liked them, JoAnn!
What brand LIGHT corn syrup did you use.
Yes I made them ! They were wonderful !
They look perfect, Liz! Glad you enjoyed them!
Ooey gooey goodness! I saved a step by using my #8 cast iron skillet to make the caramel and baking in that. Cut recipe in half for one can of rolls which was just right for that size skillet. Will never make them any other way again!
Thanks, Dee! So glad you enjoyed these!
Do you have recipes for caramel precancinnamon rolls from scratch. I’m not a big fan of ready made cinnamon rolls
Hi Jean! Unfortunately, I don’t have a scratch version on the blog as of yet.
Haven’t tried them yet as I just saw this. They look delicious!! Gonna try them on my Bible study ladies!!
Hope they’ll enjoy them!
I have made these several times now. Very good! Very gooey and rich!
So glad to hear it!
These were great! Will make them again! A big hit at Easter brunch!
So glad to hear y’all enjoyed them!
i MADE YOUR DANISH Tea rolls today and they turned out perfect I love the dough I will use it again for buns,I am 79 and have been baking for over 60 years and this was the nicest dough to work with IT was a huge tea ring Thank you Stacy for all your good recipes
Thank you so much, Edna!
This was so easy and delicious. Better than sticky buns i have bought from high price bakery in my area. Give ’em a try.
Sorry. It is diffently a five star. But could not edit after post.
So glad you enjoyed them, Nina!
I only had one can of cinnamon rolls so I halved the recipe…this was phenomenal! Thank you!
So glad you enjoyed them!
Absolutely fabulous!!! From us, our friends, family, and work Everyone Loves these cinnamon rolls. My one question is: could the small cinnamon rolls work? My granddaughter wants to make some to take to school on Valentines Day?
I don’t see why not. The cook time might need to be reduced a little, though.
I made these today and they did not disappoint! I’ll keep this in the repertoire for sure! Thanks, Stacey!
Thanks, Denise! Glad you enjoyed them!
Hey Stacey. Just wanted to say that I tried your 5 ingredient Enchiladas and they are wonderful ..
Thank you for sharing your recipes with us …
So glad they turned out great for you!
Absolutely delicious and effortless!
So easy and so rewarding.
Thank you
Glad to hear you enjoyed them!
Simple to make , my husband absolutely loves them
So glad to hear y’all have enjoyed them!
These were amazing. I was skeptical, but you were right! So good and easy too.
Thank you so much Sonya!
Stacy, Just wondering if I can make the Carmel and use frozen roll dough instead of the refrigerated cinnamon rollsl ? Can I let the Carmel cool in a baking pan till just lightly warm, add the nuts and frozen dinner rolls, let rise and bake ?
Look forward yo your answer.
Hi MJ! I can’t say for sure. It seems like it should work, but being that I’ve not tested it, I can’t give you an answer I’m confident with.
The frozen roll dough should work just fine. I do a recipe with my homemade caramel sauce and pecans using Rhodes frozen cinnamon rolls and they are heavenly. I pour the caramel sauce in the baking pan, sprinkle the pecans over it and place the frozen rolls on top. Then just follow the directions on the package for defrosting, rising, and baking.
Stacey, I love your blog. It’s one of my favorites.
Thanks, WAC! I appreciate you jumping in to help out!
Okay, I made the shortcut caramel pecan cinnamon rolls and have not stopped making them since! My son loves them and my neighbors love them and my boyfriend loves them! Who doesn’t love them??? Thank you again Stacey for the great recipe and all the recipes you provide for my cookin’ enjoyment! Love your site so much!
Ha! Love hearing that! So glad y’all have enjoyed them!!
OMG….!! I have made these twice now. All I had on hand were the cans of cinnamon rolls that had 8 in a roll.. I used 2 cans… in the 9X13 and they were amazing.. and so easy! Everyone loves these. Thanks so very much. Will be making again and again. Not too often though.. I can’t stop eating them. But often enough. Going to make your Southern Pecan Pie next for Thanksgiving. Love your recipes. Thanks again!
Awesome! I’m so glad you enjoyed these. It’s one of my favorite recipes! Hope you’ll enjoy the pie just as much! Happy Thanksgiving!
Made the cinnamon rolls over the weekend. They were so easy and so delicious! Will definitely make again!
So glad to hear you enjoyed them!
Love, love, Cinnamon Rolls! Can’t wait to try’ em! Look amazing!
Thanks! Hope you enjoy them!
Love these short cut recipes for busy days. These look YUMMY, and I can’t wait to try!
So glad I found ‘you’ – delish recipes and stories that make me smile. Would love some recipes for two for us empty nesters too.
Thanks so much, Felicia!
This sounds delicious , going to make it over the weekend!
Sure hope you enjoy them!
Can’t wait to try this! Looks amazing 🤩
Enjoy!!
Super recipe, they look like they just came out of the oven at the bakery
Thanks, Charlie!
I cannot WAIT to make these! Your post is so funny you made me laugh out loud today! I like you Stacey. I have many of your recipes I make on rotation regularly. Always look forward to your emails and open them first. Just keep on being you and doing what you do cause I am lovin it!
Thanks so much, Harriet! Love hearing that!