Trader Joe's Cinnamon Roll Wreath

The pros: Trader Joe's Cinnamon Roll Wreath is beautiful in presentation, but in terms of taste these will actually remind you of the homemade variety (don't worry Mom, yours are still better). They are yeasty with layers of flaky, buttery dough and the distinct layer of cinnamon sugar that everyone looks forward to.

The cons:  Needs to rise overnight so some advanced planning is required.

The verdict:  For $4.99, this came out of the oven as beautifully as pictured on the box. That's a rarity these days. With the icing they look even more decadent. Beyond its appearance these are probably the closest you'll get to the homemade variety without having to dirty and entire kitchen and spend an entire day on the project. These can be a little tricky to pull apart if you've waited for them to fully cool. If you can't wait to get into them straight out of the oven they will easily pull apart. I find icing and cinnamon rolls are a must. Really great find, hard to justify the canned variety if you don't have to. Highly recommend while it's on store shelves as this only appears to be a seasonal variety. If this goes out of season you can count on Trader Joe's Jumbo Cinnamon Rolls in a can being in the refrigerated case.

The box in the freeze aisle:

The nutritional information:

The ingredients:

How to prepare:

Out of the box you get:

After rising overnight:

After coming out of the oven just before being glazed:

After Thanksgiving I might have to buy and small stockpile of these. My mother only makes cinnamon rolls from scratch once or twice a year. They're a lot of work. While these aren't Mom's, they're pretty darn good. Be ready for a different texture than the canned variety if you've never had homemade, cinnamon rolls are more bread like and less like the cakey/biscuity texture of those in a can.

Want to see more items I've tried at Trader Joe's? Click on Thoughts & Reviews of Trader Joe's for a searchable list.