No Oven Needed: The Appliance That Makes Bakery-Soft Cinnamon Rolls

Whether you've found yourself in a vacation rental with limited kitchen amenities or your own oven is undergoing repairs, your dreams of biting into fluffy weekend cinnamon rolls don't have to be abandoned. Just pull out your rice cooker; the handy appliance can yield soft, gooey treats that taste just as good as the traditionally baked ones. After sampling one of these golden delights, you may be convinced that cinnamon rolls must be added to the list of the absolute best uses for a rice cooker.

Both homemade cinnamon rolls and canned cinnamon rolls can be cooked in the appliance. If you've tried baking a cake in a rice cooker, you understand that the appliance works similarly to an oven for baked goods, building a warm, contained environment that allows dough to rise. Your rolled and sliced cinnamon rolls can be placed into a well-greased rice cooker unit, forgoing the typical baking sheet. While you can use parchment paper to make cleanup easy, letting the bottom of the cinnamon rolls come into contact with the hot metal will result in sticky, crusty, and caramelized undersides. Those who have tried the approach have described the result on YouTube as "crazy fluffy, moist and soft with only the bottom part that is crispy."

While cooking times can vary depending on the machine, most rice cooker cinnamon rolls will be ready to serve in around an hour. Keep in mind that some appliances may switch off or to "keep warm" mode automatically, so you may have to restart the cook setting. The "keep warm" setting can also be used intentionally at the end of cooking to prevent any pieces from getting overdone. It is helpful to leave some space between the cinnamon rolls so that the pieces can expand. Should the rice cooker pan be packed full, the pieces may not cook evenly, and the rolls may need to be cut apart after baking.

After nailing the cooking method, recipes can be doctored up and customized with sugary glazes or frostings made from cream cheese. The filling can also be customized, with espresso powder or a sprinkle of your favorite spices added into the cinnamon sugar mixture — think freshly ground pumpkin pie spice, cloves, or nutmeg. Orange zest can be included for a punch of brightness. Fruit lovers may want to add banana, sliced apples, raisins, or spoonfuls of strawberry jam to the filling for natural sweetness and fresh flavor. Leftovers can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature for one day, or the cinnamon rolls can be frozen for an extended shelf life.