Cinnamon Roll Wreath

Today’s review is of a holiday product – Trader Joe’s Cinnamon Roll Wreath.  We are visiting Omaha, Nebraska to have an early Christmas celebration with my family, so I thought, “Who better to invite to be guest reviewers than my dad and his wife??”.  May I present – John (my dad) and Evelyn (his wife)!!

Ho, ho, ho - MERRRRRY CHRISTMAS!  Santa stopped by early!

This photo was taken the night of our family Christmas, when Santa showed up!  Yup, the big man himself made an appearance!  It was quite fun.  We have 5 believers in our family – well, 4 believers and 1 too young to really get it…  But they all liked Santa (wellll, that is stretching it…  In all honesty, the 2 toddlers were not so fond of the jolly old fat man).  But the adults loved him! 

Tallis is one of our BELIEVERS.  She WHISPERED what she wanted to Santa!

Anyway, David and I stopped at the Omaha Trader Joe’s in One Pacific Place and picked up a few things, including a CINNAMON ROLL WREATH.  The whole family was crashing my dad’s house (uninvited) to eat pizza after a hockey game, and I thought a few cinnamon rolls after pizza sounded great.  However, I failed to read the package instructions…

Oops, I should have turned the box over and read the other side...

These suckers are not simple to prepare.  I mean, they are not DIFFICULT by any stretch of the imagination, but they are not like a tube of Pillsbury rolls that you just pop open and bung in the oven.  These need to sit and rise before baking.  Also, they do not come with the GLAZE…  Again, I should have read that and known before we bought them, but it was a “grab and run” because we are rushing around doing family things.  Had I KNOWN we needed to make glaze, we would have picked up some powdered sugar (because, let’s be honest here, my dad and Evelyn do not cook much., let alone BAKE, so finding powdered sugar that was not expired a decade ago in the pantry would have been impossible…).  In the “fly by the seat of your pants” category, David Googled and learned he could make the glaze with regular (not powdered sugar), which he found and mixed with water and vanilla to make glaze.   

So, due to these treats needing to rise before baking, having them as a late night snack was out.

Hey look - a WREATH made out of CINNAMON ROLLS!  (Pre-glaze)

But that left them for breakfast the next morning!  Evelyn had sort of a hard time waiting for them (because, like I said, they had to rise).  But when they were finally ready, she was thrilled with the results.  Here is what everyone thought:

Dad:  “These are delicious!  I give them a 4.95.  It sounds hard to make them, but it really wasn’t.  Susan is making it sound like they are very difficult to make, but they really are not (editor’s note:  Dad did not assist with the preparation… 😊 ) .  I like them WITH the frosting best – David makes a mean glaze.  If they were any better they would be perfect!  I give these a 4.95.  (Editor’s note:  I explained that normally in this blog we only use .25 variations, so he could give them a 4.5 or a 4.75 or a 5.  But he INSISTED on the 4.95.  And he is the dad, so he gets to pick his score!)

Dad loved them

Evelyn:  “I would say these are perfect!  I prefer them with the glaze.  They are perfect! Let’s have them again!  I give them a score of 5.”

David:  “The taste is nice.  The glaze is good.  They are a little under-cooked, a bit under-done tasting.  (Editor’s note yet again:  I followed the instructions and baked these right in the middle of the recommended baking range time.)  I like them.  I give them a 3.5.”

David liked 'em

Susan:  I agree with David that the centers of the cinnamon rolls were a bit underdone, but I sort of like that taste.  I agree with everyone else that the frosting/glaze is a good addition.  I think the whole “wreath” concept is super pretty.  If I got them again I would bake them a bit longer.  These would be good for Christmas morning breakfast.  I give them a 4.5.

Sweet, fluffy, and buttery - good description

There you have it.  If your Trader Joe’s still has these in stock, grab a box.  They are fun and tasty.

MERRY CHRISTMAS from Susan and David (and Santa, of course)

Price: $4.99

Rating (average of 4 raters):  4.5