With just 4 ingredients you can make the most delicious puff pastry cinnamon twists. Tasty and sweet, these make a wonderful snack. They’re also nice as part of brunch or for dessert. After adding a few ingredients to readymade puff pastry you just pop them in the oven. How easy is that!
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These puff pastry cinnamon twists are great hot from the oven, warm or even cold. I love these straight away after baking when the kitchen is still full of their incredible aroma and they’re still hot and flaky!
Grabbing one with a piece of fresh fruit for breakfast-in-a-hurry as you’re rushing out the door certainly makes life simpler on those busy weekday mornings, we all seem to have.
With this easy, fun puff pastry cinnamon twists recipe you’ll never have to stand in line at the bakery again. If you love the earthy flavor of cinnamon for breakfast or dessert, this is a winning recipe.
And if you love baking with puff pastry, then I recommend you check out this popular lemon curd puff pastry recipe. Also, one of my personal favorites is this easy apple pie puff pastry which is good any time of year, but especially great in the fall.
Main Ingredients
Seeing as there are only 4 ingredients in this recipe, you could say all of them are the main ingredients. Let’s take a closer look at what you need:
- Puff pastry: The key ingredient. A frozen box is handy to keep in the house because there are lots of recipes you can make with it. This type of pastry is basically layers of dough and butter which puff up when baked. There isn’t a substitute in this recipe, and you MUST keep it cold, or else it will turn into a sticky mess!
- Brown sugar: For sweetness. Brown sugar tastes so good in this dessert. You can use white sugar if that’s your preference or even artificial sweetener.
- Unsalted butter: To give the cinnamon and sugar something to stick to. The butter also makes the twists richer. If you prefer margarine you can use it, but butter tastes best!
- Ground cinnamon: For the perfect flavor. Although pastry twists come in different flavors, anything from apple or vanilla to savory versions with spinach and cheese, the star of the show in this recipe is the cinnamon. Not a fan? In that case, try nutmeg instead. Not enamored with that either? Then use cocoa powder for chocolate twists!
Instructions Overview
How hard can a 4-ingredient recipe be? It’s so easy to make these cinnamon twists and that’s one reason I love making these!
The first thing to do is to let the puff pastry thaw for 30 minutes. In the meantime melt your butter and measure out your sugar and cinnamon. Unroll the pastry and brush butter over it. Sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon over the pastry.
Now slice it into 12 long strips and twist each one a few times with the cinnamon on the inside. Arrange the twists on parchment paper-lined baking sheets and give them 15 minutes in the oven. Your kitchen will smell amazing while they cook! They are done when golden and the pastry is dry.
Common Questions
This is such an easy recipe it almost feels like cheating using readymade puff pastry! There isn't a lot of difference between the two although premade pastry is usually made using vegetable shortening instead of butter so it will taste slightly different.
Homemade puff pastry obviously takes longer to make than the store-bought kind takes to open but it does yield a great result. I'll stick to using the kind from the store, just because it makes these puff pastry cinnamon twists so quick and simple, but you can do whichever you prefer of course!
No, it's not, so they aren't interchangeable for this recipe. Although they're both thin types of pastry, phyllo (sometimes spelled filo) is layered for maximum flakiness while puff pastry is also made by using multiple layers of dough but it doesn't fall apart as easily as phyllo, making it ideal for cinnamon twists and other similar snack recipes.
Since this is a 4-ingredient recipe, every ingredient matters. You might be thinking that all ground cinnamon is the same but that's not quite true. There are two main categories of cinnamon: Ceylon and cassia.
Cassia is the most common type found in pretty much every grocery store. It has a more intense taste than the Ceylon variety. Ceylon cinnamon costs more and is harder to find. It's especially mild and delicate. Either kind is fine for this recipe.
They can be served with coffee, as an afternoon snack, or even for dessert. They’re really versatile and go as well with cappuccino as they do with fruit juice. I like to make a batch when friends come over since they’re a perfect finger food and once you taste one you won’t be able to stop nibbling!
They are good warm or at room temperature so, if you’re making a batch for guests, you can certainly make them a few hours ahead.
Keep them in an airtight container on the countertop. They should stay crisp for 5 days.
Wrap them in a couple of layers of plastic wrap and they will freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw them overnight. Give them 10 to 15 hours in a 350°F oven to warm them back up, if you want to serve them warm.
Although the recipe calls for long, thin twists, you can absolutely make these in a different shape. What about spirals or twists which double back on themselves? Have fun experimenting and remember you can always eat any mistakes!
Chopnotch Tips
- Puff pastry takes about half an hour to thaw, so get the other ingredients weighed and measured as it thaws out.
- You can make the twists thinner if you want, but don’t make them any thicker, or else they will unravel during cooking.
- I find it easier to use a pizza cutting wheel to cut the dough. You can use a sharp knife if you prefer though.
- Depending on your oven, the cooking time might change. They might take closer to 20 minutes so keep an eye on them.
Puff pastry cinnamon twists are so more-ish. One is never enough. They’re the ultimate cinnamon snack to pair with anything from your morning coffee to a tall glass of ice-cold lemonade.
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Recipe
How to Make
Puff Pastry Cinnamon Twists
Ingredients
- 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set them aside.
- Unfold the puff pastry sheet onto a lightly floured countertop surface and then brush the melted butter onto its surface using a pastry brush.
- Take a small bowl and mix the brown sugar and ground cinnamon in it. Then sprinkle it over the pastry and pat it down to adhere with the butter.
- Now slice the pastry sheet into 12 thin strips from top to bottom and then twist each one 6 to 7 times with the cinnamon layer facing inward.
- Place six twists on each baking sheet about 2 inches apart and bake for about 15 minutes until lightly browned then serve hot or let cool to room temperature.
Notes
- Puff pastry takes about half an hour to thaw, so get the other ingredients weighed and measured as it thaws out.
- You can make them thinner if you want, but don’t make them any thicker, or else they will unravel during cooking.
- I find it easier to use a pizza cutting wheel to cut the dough. You can use a sharp knife if you prefer though.
- Depending on your oven the cooking time might change. They might take closer to 20 minutes so keep an eye on them.
When you say cut in 12 pieces , is this just one sheet?
Hi Sherry, if your puff pastry has two sheets, then cut each sheet into 6 strips so that you have a total of 12. Each strip would be a little under 2 inches wide. Otherwise, cut the one sheet into 12 strips, in which case each strip should be a little under 1 inch wide. I hope this helps!