Morning buns are breakfast rolls made with buttery croissant dough, covered with cinnamon sugar, and rolled up. They are absolutely decadent, and are featured at bakeries across the US and Europe. For reasons you’ll discover when you taste one, they are the latest baking craze. Whenever I’m in a bakery and see morning buns, I order at least one and take it home or to my hotel room and savor it. Parson’s Bakery, located in Bountiful, Utah, has the best morning buns on the planet. I’m not an expert, of course, but having sampled them in a lot of places, Parson’s are the best so far. I wouldn’t even try to make these at home, since croissant dough is time consuming and like most of you, I’m busy. One day I decided to try making them with refrigerated crescent roll dough, and while not as good as a real bakery version and especially not as good as Parson’s, the following Shortcut Morning Buns are pretty good and can be made quickly at home. Make sure you slather them with butter and put a generous amount of cinnamon sugar to soak it up so that they are thickly coated. Remember these are a special treat and not diet food, so don’t even think about skimping on the butter.

You’ll want to serve them as a brunch dessert or with hot chocolate, tea, or coffee. No matter how you serve them, they will be something you make over and over.

8 Servings

1 8 oz. container Refrigerated crescent rolls, preferably butter flake flavor
1/4 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment or Silpat®.
3. Open the crescent rolls and divide them into 4 rectangles; press the diagonal lines together. Brush the tops with butter.
4. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together on a large plate; press the dough into the mixture, butter side down.
5. Butter the plain side, turn over, and press into the mixture.
6. Roll up and cut in half crosswise.
7. Place each bun fairly close together onto the prepared baking sheet (so they don’t unroll).
8. Press the rolls down with your fingers.
9. Bake 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.
10. Remove from the oven and let cool at least 10 minutes before serving (they firm up as they sit). These are best served the day they are baked.

Amount Per Serving
Calories 262 Calories from Fat 107
Percent Total Calories From: Fat 41% Protein 3% Carb. 56%

Nutrient Amount per Serving
Total Fat 12 g
Saturated Fat 5 g
Cholesterol 16 mg
Sodium 292 mg
Total Carbohydrate 37 g
Dietary Fiber 0 g
Sugars 25 g
Protein 2 g

Vitamin A 4% Vitamin C 0% Calcium 0% Iron 4%