8 Grocery Store Bakery Cinnamon Rolls, Ranked

It's hard to be upset when you're sinking your teeth into a cinnamon roll. As many people do, I associate these spiced, icing-covered buns with family and good times. They have always been a part of our holiday morning traditions and never failed to follow up a sleepover at grandma's house. They'll forever hold a place in my heart as spiraled dough pockets full of sweetness and love.

In my family, Pillsbury has always been our store-bought cinnamon roll of choice. We are all for that convenience and classic taste. But, there's also something to be said for the kind that you don't have to make at all. The ones that don't require turning on the oven. Maybe just a quick turn in the microwave — but even that's optional. Cinnamon rolls like these are a quick and easy fix, and they're readily available at your local grocery store.

Supermarkets like Walmart, Kroger, and Meijer churn out tantalizingly fresh recipes. Even stores like Aldi, Target, and Trader Joe's that don't have in-house bakeries offer fresh cinnamon rolls of some kind. I know because I stopped in and recently picked up a collection of eight different store-bought cinnamon rolls to try for myself (I was literally rolling in the dough). I judged them the only way that felt right — through a mix of nostalgia and flavor — from the pastry to the cinnamon filling to that all-important icing on top. Ranked from least to most irresistible, here's how each roll held up.

The price is certainly right for Aldi's Bake Shop brand cinnamon rolls. An eight-count package rang up at just $3.69 in the checkout line, working out to under $0.50 per roll — the kind of price you would have expected to pay at a 50s diner. Aldi's pastries also promise to be the "ultimate indulgence for your mornings" with a "soft, fluffy" texture and finished off with a "sweet cinnamon glaze". Take all this into consideration — plus the fact that this looks like a tray full of iced Hostess Honey Buns — and you think you're in for a real treat. But, that wasn't my flavor experience.

These cinnamon rolls suffer from a very packaged and artificial kind of taste. A reality that makes a lot of sense when you think about it. Aldi's small-scale stores do not come equipped with an in-house bakery. So, like all other Bake Shop items, these come instead from a commercial, wholesale bakery. The result is a clear lack of freshness. Sure, you can warm them up to bring out those cinnamon flavors. But, that doesn't fix the ultra-chewy texture or the uber-boring icing, which seems to be made from a bare-bones mixture of powdered sugar and liquid.

I appreciate Aldi for giving us something to work with in the ready-to-eat cinnamon roll category. But, these packaged rolls simply can't compete against the freshly-made, cream cheese-topped confections from other grocers.

Yet another store missing an on-site bakery is Trader Joe's, which is unfortunate. If Trader Joe's already spins up top-tier baked goods, like pancake bread and Chocolate Brooklyn Babka, just imagine the damage it could do to your diet with an in-house oven. It would be quite dangerous. But, then again, maybe it would also churn out a better cinnamon roll recipe.

I truly expected the store's cream cheese frosting-topped cinnamon buns to blow me away — that's just the Trader Joe's effect. However, they were hardly an improvement from Aldi's overly processed rolls. The four buns congeal into one large blob in the box, so you have to cut out your own square from the sugary mass. It turns out to be rather flat, and the flavor follows suit. Even though cinnamon sugar is applied well to each layer, the dough is dry in most bites, and the icing is another separate problem. Instead of rich and tangy, it's more sour, and the texture is gritty. I found myself happy that it was applied more sparingly than the frosting you would find on most cinnamon rolls.

Would I eat these buns again? If they were offered to me in a workplace break room, yes. But, I wouldn't seek them out on my own. I think I would rather stick to the market's organic jumbo cinnamon roll tubes. They require a little extra effort, but your taste buds will thank you.

Kroger's bakery section lands somewhere in the middle. You can order a custom cake at the counter, buy fresh-baked bread, and some locations even have display cases full of donuts where you can assemble your own half or full dozen. At the same time, there are plenty of packaged pastries and desserts that also line the self-serve tables. The single vanilla-iced cinnamon roll from the store's private label Bakery Fresh brand falls into the latter category, and, as such, has a bit of a stale edge to it. It masks it better than Trader Joe's or Aldi, but still works out to be an average-at-best cinnamon roll.

Even though it looks picture perfect (almost like one of those cinnamon roll candles), the flavor isn't quite as quintessential. The texture is soft, but not overly fluffy or gooey at the core. The cinnamon sugar is spread out among the swirls of dough, yet it isn't overwhelmingly flavorful. And, the vanilla frosting tastes as though it was spooned on from a store-bought tub. You could have told me Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker were involved in the making, and I would have believed you.

It also has a close relation to Pillsbury cinnamon rolls. But, the nostalgia is missing, along with those crave-able crisp edges and pull-apart center.

Target's cinnamon rolls made it further than I thought they would. Admittedly, I was judging a book by its cover, and their generic appearance and lightly drizzled icing didn't inspire much confidence. I still wouldn't say they're the crème de la crème of cinnamon rolls, but they did surprise me in a good way.

I like that they conveniently come in an aluminum tray so you can plop them right into the oven to warm, just as the packaging suggests. I did just that and was happy that I did. The rolls are rather bread-heavy, but when they're warmed up, they turn softer and squishier with a light chew. The cinnamon paste smeared inside the roll also transforms from gummy to more liquified. Yes, it creates more of a sticky mess as you eat it with your hands, but it's well worth it.

The icing is just so-so. It's such a make-or-break part of a cinnamon roll, and here it's just not cutting it. There's not nearly enough of it, as you can immediately tell just by looking at it. And, what's there doesn't taste like cream cheese frosting in the slightest. It has a similar taste to Kroger's sugary vanilla icing, maybe even a little worse than that. I still like Target's cinnamon roll better, though, because of its texture and superior cinnamon filling.

For you non-Midwesterners out there, Meijer is a supermarket much like a Walmart Supercenter, but with a Kroger-style grocery section. That means it has a pretty solid in-store bakery where you can find tasty goodies, like these glazed cinnamon twirls (the store's fancy name for cinnamon rolls).

If you like homemade-style cinnamon rolls that could have come straight from your grandma's kitchen, these are for you. They really get back to cinnamon roll basics, starting with the signature swirl shape. It looks like great care was given to placing each piece of dough in a tight spiral. Then, you have the deep, spiced flavor of cinnamon that accompanies every bite of sweet bread. As the name suggests, a light layer of white icing coats the top and drips down the sides like a glaze. But, the focus here remains on the cinnamon-blasted dough.

I don't think anyone would be disappointed with this roll. It also reminded me a bit of Pillsbury, but the Grands version from the brand this time. However, I do have a few notes. Even after I warmed one up in the microwave, it turned out crumblier than I would have liked, rather than being doughy. I also think it would have benefited from a more robust icing. It's good, but it doesn't compare to the next few picks that are crowned with mouthwatering cream cheese-based frostings.

No, that's not a mini-sheet cake with frosting. It's one giant cinnamon roll slathered with a hearty layer of cream cheese icing. It's one of the largest cinnamon rolls I've ever laid my eyes on — big enough for you, plus a friend or three to share. It comes from Giant Eagle Market District, where the bakery is well-stocked with quality breads and gourmet-style confections — one of those store bakeries that you peruse during every visit, even if you're not in the market for a sweet treat.

This monstrosity isn't your average cinnamon roll. But, it is a great pick for anyone who doesn't like their morning pastries overly sweet. The base is made of brioche, so it's extra thick, dense, and yeasty. There are plenty of bites along the outer edges that don't touch cinnamon or frosting at all, so they taste more like a dinner roll than a sweet cinnamon roll. Eventually, you get to the cinnamon sugar hiding in pockets at the bottom, but as a whole, it's not terribly cinnamon-forward.

The cream cheese icing is the component that Giant Eagle absolutely nails. It's more like a mix of buttercream and cream cheese frosting, where you get the best of both worlds. Buttery, sweet, and smooth meets thick and tangy. When it's warmed up, the combination here reminds me of Texas Roadhouse rolls dipped in cinnamon honey butter. Delicious, but not quite as scrumptious as the next two recipes.

Marketside's offering doesn't look like cinnamon rolls either, but in a completely different way than Giant Eagle's. Whereas the last pick was just one giant cream cheese-covered mass, this one reminded me of four fluffed-up pancakes, each with its own dollop of butter on top. They look rich and heavenly, and I can report, they absolutely are.

As soon as I opened the plastic lid, I was accosted by the smell of sweet cinnamon crumbles. They're baked into the middle of each roll and on top. Plus, those drizzles you see are also a cinnamon-based icing. The dollops that look like butter are actually a cream cheese icing. The spiced taste is just like that of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and the icing is perfection. It's not the most authentic kind of cream cheese icing, but it tastes whipped, sugary, and extra buttery, so you won't hear any complaints from me. I made sure to spread it out evenly on the top of the roll so that no bite had to go without.

These toppings are all great, and somehow manage not to turn the roll into a sweetness overload. Hands down, my favorite part, though, is the texture of the roll. It's just about as doughy as a cinnamon roll can get, to the point that it tastes underbaked. Personally, I think that's a sweet treat dream come true, but for anyone who prefers their baked goods baked all the way through, there's another roll that may entice you.

The most delectable cinnamon rolls come from the depths of Whole Foods' extensive bakery. Of course, they ring up at the highest price point (coming in at about $2.50 per roll), but it's well worth it — trust me.

Here's the thing: These are very unique cinnamon rolls. They look more like circular croissants than a bready roll, and they're extra weighty. Whole Foods certainly goes against the normal cinnamon roll grain, but it's a risk that pays off, mostly because it has quality on its side.

The outsides of the roll do, in fact, taste flaky and buttery, like a freshly-baked croissant. As you make your way to the center, though, everything begins to soften, and you're met with that more familiar, tender, and pillowy cinnamon roll texture. It turns out to be the best of both worlds. The cinnamon sugar is more standard for a cinnamon roll and is baked just below the point of being burnt, so it has deep flavor, yet no signs of bitterness. Then, everything is topped off with a generous layer of the best cream cheese icing yet. Smooth and rich, it's just like the kind you'd find on top of a red velvet cake, and even gives the roll a sugar cookie-like taste. This may just be another tasty baked Whole Foods good, but compared to other grocery store bakeries, this is a top-tier batch of cinnamon rolls.

I traveled from grocery store to grocery store, eventually winding up with eight total cinnamon rolls to try. Some were fresh from an in-store bakery, while others were closer to packaged confections, but I gave each a fair shot, judging them based on taste and quality rather than where they came from.

I was actually surprised by the diversity in this cinnamon roll collection. Each one had its own unique flair, whether it was the icing, cinnamon mixture, or dough. There was no cinnamon roll that was just like the next or the last one I tried. That said, I looked first and foremost for a satisfying, all-around flavor in each roll. Cinnamon rolls should be sweet,m but not cloying, with a rich cinnamon spice. The icing — many people's favorite part — was also a huge deciding factor. Some stores boasted cream cheese icing that lacked that signature tang, while others fell behind with ultra-simple, forgettable frostings. I wanted one that not only held its own but elevated the entire pastry. From there, the dough was a big consideration. I loved a bit of doughiness, especially at the center, and didn't prefer anything too dry or crumbly. In some cases, I didn't mind a more neutral, bread-like base, but I gave more favor to those with a touch of sweetness.

My favorite cinnamon roll ended up being something that was one-of-a-kind, but still had that classic cinnamon roll charm. An unbeatable slather of authentic cream cheese icing sealed the deal.