Crock Pot Cinnamon Roll Casserole is an easy and delicious brunch recipe or simple stress free Christmas Morning breakfast. It takes less than 10 minutes to prep and will help your holidays run smoother while making a new delicious (and easy) holiday tradition!
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I’ll be honest, I don’t know what your Christmas mornings look like.
Perhaps your house is like a Hallmark film and is perfect decorated and your family in matching pj’s all open presents while you sit back with your perfect hair and makeup sipping your coffee from a generic coffee mug with some basic ass quote on it like “live laugh love”.
Or perhaps your morning is chaos with children running rampant, a dog puking on the carpet, and you panicking because “how are you supposed to get all these heathens to grandma’s on time today“.
Or maybe your Christmas mornings look more like mine. You’re childless so the house is quiet except the mighty roar of the hungry cats. You feed them, have some caffeine and savor being the first one awake. It’s peaceful which is great because you are feeling lazy.
All of those scenarios are very different. But you know what all of them require? A tasty and special breakfast that requires zero hassle.
Crock Pot cinnamon roll casserole. That’s the bad boi that you’re going to need.
Crock Pot Cinnamon Roll Casserole is obviously delicious but it’s also easy that you can focus on the other things (like your picture perfect morning, the dog vomit clean up, or the comfortable silence).
It’s low maintenance and makes your house really smell like the season. How can anyone resist the smell of baking cinnamon wafting through a home? Not even your Aunt Karen can complain about that. (okay, yeah sorry Karen will always find something to complain about…but it’s worth a shot).
Just throw it in the crock pot when you wake up and spend the 2 hours of cook time getting anything done before your Christmas Day celebrations.
Seriously, is it even possible to have a bad day when your apartment smells like heaven?
Crock Pot Cinnamon Roll Casserole
Look the holidays can be stressful. I don’t think anyone will ever deny that. But whether you’re trying to make memories or gather your mental strength to handle your racist uncles, a crock pot cinnamon roll casserole won’t let you down.
I won’t say it’s health food. But if you get stressed out by the holidays or simply have too much to do on Christmas morning…this is soul food.
Egg free and super duper easy to work with no matter your diet restrictions, this recipe is sure to delight anyone and everyone (especially yourself).
Plus! It’s super easy to modify to be gluten-free or vegan! So essentially, it really is a recipe you can design to fit your needs just right.
Cinnamon rolls are my fiance’s absolute favorite food in the world. Not favorite dessert but favorite edible thing in the entire universe. Which puts a lot of pressure on me as a baker because it’s hard to live up to those expectations.
Also cinnamon rolls take so much time. There’s proofing and kneading, and then proofing again. They take forever. They’re worth it, but oh my god, I’m not getting up that early to make those delicious pastries.
Materials For Crock Pot Cinnamon Roll Casserole
This Christmas Morning breakfast is designed to make your life way easier.
Applesauce: I highly recommend making your own applesauce! It’s super tasty and is actually healthy without any added sugar. Check out my Crock Pot applesauce recipe!
Your favorite refrigerated cinnamon rolls. I used Kroger brand because they are cheapest haha!
Real Maple Syrup. Don’t sacrifice on quality syrup! It’s not worth it.
Milk. Any kind will do. I normally use almond milk but I have used coconut and cow milk in the past.
Vanilla and extra cinnamon. Not necessary but fantastic for sure!
Serving plates. Obviously, we all probably have plates and such. But I just wanted to share these with you because they’re so lovely. The ones I used in these photos are actually made completely from wheat by product.
Meaning, they took the stuff from wheat that can’t be used for food and what not and turned them into plates.
This means that they’re eco-friendly, compostable, and safe for kids. They feel like plastic but aren’t an eco-disaster. WHICH MEANS….you can use an eco friendly alternative for kid-friendly (or in my case clumsy adult friendly) plates that won’t break or destroy the planet.
It’s a Christmas miracle.
Plus I also love them because they’re small. Which is great for food photography as well as serving desserts.
Ps. Did I mention that these are also dishwasher safe? Yeah, seriously, these are actually really, really awesome!
Essentially, I use these plates for serving all of my desserts (this cinnamon roll casserole included) and they make clean up simple and your kitchen sustainable
Tips for The Perfect Cinnamon Roll Casserole
Tip #1
Remember, every slow cooker is different. Depending on its wattage and/or age, your casserole may cook faster or slower than this.
So make sure you check on it periodically.
Tip #2
Wondering about the applesauce? Yeah, many people do.
It’s a great moisture adder so that your casserole doesn’t burn as well as a tasty add.
Many cinnamon roll casserole recipes use eggs instead, but since applesauce is a great and common replacement for eggs, this is what we went with.
Tip #3
This recipe is meant to be E.A.S.Y. Nothing fancy. Nothing difficult. We’re busy enough on Christmas morning, why would we need to make life harder?!
So no. This is not a fancy shmancy cinnamon-rolls-from-scratch thing. This is a quick recipe hack to make store bought cinnamon rolls a little more unique and make your house smell delicious.
And if people try to shame you for making an easy Christmas morning recipe instead of waking up at the ass crack of dawn to make homemade rolls, inform them that they are more than welcome to come to your house at 4am on Christmas morning and make those cinnamon rolls “the right way”. H*ck with the Scrooges.
Christmas morning is about working smarter, not harder…and girl, you deserve a break and an easy dessert for breakfast.
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Crock Pot Cinnamon Roll Casserole
Ingredients
- ¾ cup applesauce
- 2 cans refrigerated cinnamon rolls
- ½ cup almond milk
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1½ tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Grease your CrockPot in some non-stick spray or with some butter. Cut your cinnamon rolls into quarters and layer them in the bottom of your slow cooker.
- Mix together your other ingredients well into a separate bowl. Once well combined, pour this over the cinnamon rolls. Gently mix it all together with a silicone spatula, cover, and turn on high for 2 hours-2½ hours.
- Turn off the heat and drizzle the icing packets over the casserole. Serve immediately on its own or with topping such as vanilla bean ice cream, whipped cream, or some fresh fruit.
- Store any extras in an air tight container in the fridge for up to a week (if it can even last that long).
Notes
Nutrition
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Need some other easy Christmas Recipes? Check out some of these ideas
Pie Crust Cookies
Crock Pot Christmas Cider
Final Notes…
Holidays should be simple. Sadly, often times they’re not. But with a little determination and super easy start to the day, you can keep the holidays full of joy and simplicity.
Don’t be silly. Make life simple for yourself. Make the best Christmas morning Crock Pot Cinnamon Roll Casserole and then enjoy the best Christmas yet.
Christmas morning, birthday mornings, Sunday mornings, any morning, cinnamon roll casserole is an amazing thing.
So once you’ve made this crock pot cinnamon roll casserole, take a pic, post it on the gram and make sure to tag me (@handheld_eats)! I love seeing you creations and really, if you don’t post it on Instagram, did it even happen?
Sharing is caring! Do you know someone who would love this recipe? Share it with them!
See you soon, friends!
xoxo,
Angel
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After 2 hrs on low I have a soggy, wet, inedible, gooey mess. Should the recipe say 2 hrs on high?
Inedible is never good! Slow cookers apparently have varying cooking speeds (i just recently learned that…oops) so I would suggest cooking it for another hour or 2 on low or of course you can bump it up to high for a bit. Thanks for helping me clarify this! 💙
What can you substitute for almond milk?
Hey Mary! You can use any type of milk instead of almond milk 🙂
What’s with the applesauce?
Hey Bill! The applesauce is just to help keep it moist and help hold it all together. It also is just a simple egg replacement (which is what it’s replacing in this recipe). I think it makes the whole thing taste more Christmas-y and is easier for anyone with food sensitivities or allergies. Thanks for reading!