The Hands Down Best Fresh Grocery Store Cinnamon Rolls (They're In A Pool Of Frosting)

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Unless you're a proficient baker or have a real passion for it, making cinnamon rolls from scratch can be a needlessly long and complex affair. There are several steps involved and the dough must be allowed to rest twice, meaning you're going to spend hours preparing a single batch. Besides, when you consider just how many great ready-to-eat options are out there, you'll find that there really isn't any need to go through all that hassle. 

To make things even easier, Mashed tasted and ranked seven store-bought cinnamon rolls to find the best one, so you can cut to the chase and get straight to the fluffy, gooey, spicy goodness. And, sitting right at the top are the cinnamon rolls from Sprouts. They hit all the right notes, and are the perfect embodiment of what truly tasty cinnamon rolls should be. When it comes to defining a good cinnamon roll, there are a few crucial characteristics to keep in mind and, unsurprisingly, the Sprouts variety have them all and then some. 

These cinnamon rolls boast a nicely tight spiral, while the spicy sugar and cinnamon filling inside is generous and gooey, and the dough itself is soft and fluffy but with just enough flakiness to ensure the rolls don't feel mushy. The best part is the thick blanket of frosting covering the cinnamon rolls. This delectable topper keeps the dough moist and soft, and its subtle notes of vanilla complement the cinnamon sugar, making for a tastier bite. 

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Fans on Sprouts' website similarly praise the cinnamon rolls for their deliciously soft and gooey texture. Despite the generous amount of frosting, the rolls themselves aren't excessively sweet either, with one shopper pointing out that they actually "tasted like they were made with croissants." At just $5.99 per pack of four, which works out at about $1.50 per roll, these store-bought cinnamon rolls are pretty good value for money. Moreover, some fans love the taste and texture even more considering that the cinnamon rolls appear to be dairy-free. Though Sprouts doesn't explicitly label them as such, so there could still be a risk of cross-contamination, the ingredients list does seem to be free of any obvious dairy items, such as milk or butter. 

That said, there are some shoppers who aren't quite sold, finding them to be bland, dry, and even too doughy. However, others argued that the trick is to heat them in the microwave for a few seconds before digging in. You could even turn Sprouts' cinnamon rolls into a full blown dessert by adding a scoop of ice cream to those warm, gooey rolls or some chopped pecans on top. It's worth noting that we didn't microwave them, and still found Sprouts' to be the best cinnamon rolls.