Store-Bought Cinnamon Rolls Become 10x More Flavorful When You Add This One Fridge Staple

Always having a canister or two of store-bought cinnamon rolls is an excellent way to stay prepared for everything from unexpected brunch guests to spontaneous movie nights. Especially since it's so easy to make canned cinnamon rolls taste homemade, they're perfect for satisfying most dessert cravings, even if you prefer more decadent treats, such as cheesecake. In fact, stuffing store-bought cinnamon rolls with sweetened cream cheese may just become your favorite fusion dessert.

Though it's a little more work than just peeling and plopping them into a baking pan, stuffing cinnamon rolls full of decadent goodness is an excellent reason to unroll them. Once filled with rich cream cheese, rolled back into aromatic spirals, and baked, the cream cheese lightly melts into a dense, almost fudgy texture that plays perfectly against the fluffy, tender pastry. Additionally, there's absolutely no reason to eschew the crackly icing on top. It's an excellent sweet contrast to the tangy cream cheese, and the perfect finishing touch to achieve that classic cheesecake flavor.

To ensure the filling is the perfect texture, we recommend beating together equal parts softened cream cheese and room temperature butter with your favorite sweetener to taste. This makes the cream cheese soft and spreadable, so it's easier to apply evenly to the inside of your cinnamon rolls. The butter is also the secret to the aforementioned fudgy texture because it helps the cream cheese meld with the pastry.

The most important part of making these cheesecake cinnamon rolls correctly is avoiding the most common mistake when baking with cream cheese: using it at the wrong temperature. "Softened" cream cheese means it's pliable and easy to spread, but still holds its shape. The same goes for butter; hard, cold butter doesn't whip smoothly into cream cheese, and warm, melty butter creates a drippy, soupy cheesecake filling. When both ingredients are lightly soft at room temperature, they blend easily into a fluffy, aerated mixture that remains smooth and creamy.

The other trick to making the best ever cheesecake cinnamon rolls is to play with flavors as you would with traditional cheesecake. For instance, you could coat the inside of the cinnamon rolls with a layer of raspberry jam before adding the cream cheese mixture, or whisk some strawberry preserves into the icing to drizzle on top. Using lemon curd or warm, pourable marmalade on cinnamon rolls, in place of the traditional icing, is also delicious, especially if you sprinkled a layer of crushed graham crackers on top.

You also have the opportunity to flavor the cream cheese filling by adding cinnamon and vanilla extract, crushed pecans and butterscotch chips, or dark chocolate gems to create cannoli-style cheesecake cinnamon rolls for three desserts in one. Cocoa powder and a pinch of espresso powder are also delicious, creating a kind of "dirty mocha" flavor profile.