air fryer cinnamon roll

One Can, One Giant Cinnamon Roll, Zero Stress

Name: How To Make Air Fryer Giant Cinnamon Roll From Can
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 1(5) Deluxe Cinnamon Rolls with cream cheese icing (I used 4 out of 5).

A single can of Pillsbury deluxe rolls turns into one showstopping cake-sized cinnamon roll, and your air fryer does all the work.

Dowell CooksAugust 7, 20265 min read Print this post

Save recipe

The finished giant cinnamon roll, glazed and sliced like a cake.

Four rolls, one pan, one giant cinnamon roll. That's the whole trick.

Hey, welcome back to Dowell Cooks! If you have ever wanted a cinnamon roll big enough to slice like a cake, this is your sign. One can of Pillsbury deluxe cinnamon rolls, an air fryer, and about twenty minutes gets you a golden, glazed roll that looks like way more effort than it actually is. No fancy technique, no extra shopping list, just a fun little kitchen trick for a Saturday morning.

Mise en place

25 minutes, and you’re ready to cook.

Here's the order that gets you from can to air fryer with zero backtracking.

Gather EquipmentGather an air fryer, an air fryer-safe baking pan, cooking spray or butter for greasing, aluminum foil, a toothpick or food thermometer for doneness testing, and a small spoon or brush for applying glaze.
1 min
Preheat the Air FryerSet the air fryer to 300°F and preheat for 20 minutes.
Prepare the Cinnamon RollsOpen the can of Pillsbury Deluxe Cinnamon Rolls and carefully separate all four rolls. Arrange them into a giant roll by placing one roll in the center and wrapping the three remaining rolls around it in a spiral pattern, pressing gently to adhere them together.
2 min
Stage the Pan and FoilGrease the air fryer-safe baking pan with cooking spray or butter. Tear off a small piece of aluminum foil (about 4–6 inches square) and place it near the pan, ready to cover the roll during cooking.
1 min

Active time~25 min · hands-on

Folding cinnamon rolls while preparing How To Make Air Fryer Giant Cinnamon Roll From Can — Wrapping three rolls around a center roll to build the giant spiral before it goes in the pan.

When you're really in a hurry

Skip the foil-and-check dance if you're truly pressed for time by setting your air fryer a touch lower, say 275 degrees, and just letting it run the full time without opening it up. You lose a little control over the color, but you also skip the extra step. Either way, this whole recipe is already the shortcut version of homemade cinnamon rolls, so don't feel bad taking it even further.

Let the roll actually cool for the full 7 to 10 minutes before you glaze it. I know it's tempting to hit it with icing the second it comes out, but warm dough will just melt the glaze into a puddle instead of that nice, drippy coating you want. Patience for ten minutes gets you a much better looking slice.

Common questions

Can I make this without an air fryer?

You can bake it in a regular oven at around 350 degrees, checking for doneness a bit earlier since ovens don't circulate air quite the same way. Expect it to take a little longer than the air fryer time, so lean on the toothpick test rather than the clock.

Why does the center take so much longer to cook than the edges?

Wrapping four rolls into one thick spiral means the middle has a lot more dough to heat through than a single roll would. That's exactly why the foil-then-uncover method and the toothpick check matter here.

Can I use a different brand of cinnamon rolls?

Yes, any refrigerated cinnamon roll dough with a similar roll size should work, just make sure you've got enough icing to cover the whole thing since some cans include less than others.

Do I have to use all the icing that comes in the can?

Not at all. Some people like a lighter glaze and save the rest, others go heavy and use every drop. It's your cinnamon roll, glaze it the way you actually want to eat it.

That's it, one can, one pan, one giant cinnamon roll that looks like you spent all morning on it. Give it a try this weekend and let it be the easiest impressive thing you make all month. Browse all recipes for more like this.

The recipe

How To Make Air Fryer Giant Cinnamon Roll From Can

Serves 425 minAmerican

The Quarterly

Seasonal recipes, notes, and the issue links worth saving.