Do Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls Expire?

Pillsbury cinnamon rolls are a fantastic blend of a Southeast Asian spice and European baking. They are a popular tea-time snack worldwide. Whether you plan to get cinnamon rolls at a nearby bakery or bake up a batch in your kitchen, it is good to know how long they last.

So, do Pillsbury cinnamon rolls expire?

No one wants to eat expired Pillsbury cinnamon rolls! Cinnamon rolls stay fresh for 1 to 2 days on the counter and 4 to 5 days when refrigerated. If you need to store cinnamon rolls longer, freezing is also a good choice.

If you want to learn more about the storage and shelf-life of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls, keep reading.

Your Guide to Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls

Pillsbury cinnamon rolls need no introduction. They speak for themselves. And if you haven’t tried these doughy delights, it’s time for you to try one!

Keeping your Pillsbury cinnamon rolls fresh and moist starts with the storage process.

In general, cinnamon rolls don’t keep for that long, especially if they’re not tightly sealed and you let them sit at room temperature.

NOTE: Here, we’re talking about Pillsbury cinnamon rolls staying good quality-wise, not about them going bad after X days. In many cases, Pillsbury cinnamon rolls may still be safe to eat a few days later, but the quality might not be the best.

If you know right away that some of your rolls will have to sit around for a couple of days before you get to them, you have two options.

This short guide has the storage tactics to improve the shelf life of your cinnamon rolls. But before we learn more about storage, let’s look at the expiration date for cinnamon rolls so you can decide if it’s worth ordering bulk quantities.

Do Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls Expire? How Long Do Cinnamon Rolls Last?

If you’ve bought too many Pillsbury cinnamon rolls, then you probably want to know their expiry date and how to store them.

Or maybe you’re considering buying extra at your favorite bakery so that you can enjoy them during the weekend. But you’re not sure how long cinnamon rolls are good for.

Perhaps you even considered freezing extra cinnamon rolls, but you’re not sure how that pans out.

Here’s a quick answer to all your concerns:

Can You Eat Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls Past Expiration Date?

Although many packaged foods have an expiry date, most cinnamon rolls have a best-by date instead, which indicates how long your cinnamon roll will stay fresh. Yet, best-by dates aren’t necessary and don’t indicate safety. This means that Pillsbury rolls may still be safe to eat even after their expiration date. However, you’ll need to look out for any signs of spoilage.

How to Tell if Cinnamon Rolls Are Bad?

To determine whether your Pillsbury cinnamon rolls are fresh or spoiled, you should examine them yourself.

A few indications that cinnamon rolls are no longer fresh include:

Mold

Mold absorbs nutrients in cinnamon rolls and grows spores, producing fuzzy spots that may be green, grey, black, white, or even pink. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), you should discard the whole roll if you see mold.

Unpleasant Odor

If the Pillsbury cinnamon roll has visible mold, it’s best not to sniff it in case its spores are toxic to inhale. If you don’t see mold but notice an unpleasant odor, it’s still best to throw out the rolls.

Strange Taste

If the cinnamon rolls don’t taste right, it’s probably safest to throw them away.

Hard Texture

Pillsbury cinnamon rolls that aren’t stored properly can become stale or dry. As long as there’s no mold, stale cinnamon rolls are still safe to eat — but they may not taste as good as freshly-baked rolls.

Can Expired Cinnamon Rolls Make You Sick?

Pillsbury cinnamon rolls’ expiration date is set by the manufacturer. This is a best-buy date — indicating that the quality of the cinnamon rolls might degrade after that time. Typically, the cinnamon rolls will be safe for consumption for a good while after that date, but there are no guarantees on quality and freshness when a best-buy date passes.

You should not purchase expired Pillsbury cinnamon rolls, but if you have an unopened box that has passed its expiration date, you can sniff it before deciding to consume it or throw it away.

You should also check for any signs of mold on expired Pillsbury cinnamon rolls. Although some types of mold are safe to consume, it’s impossible to tell which fungus is causing the mold on expired cinnamon rolls. Therefore, it’s best not to eat moldy cinnamon rolls as they could harm your health.

The most common molds on cinnamon rolls and other types of bread are Rhizopus, Penicillium, Aspergillus, Mucor, and Fusarium.

Some molds produce chemical compounds, which are poisons that can be dangerous to eat or inhale. These chemicals may spread through an entire roll, which is why you should throw out the whole piece if you see mold.

Mold on cinnamon rolls can upset your stomach and cause digestive issues. They may also disrupt healthy gut bacteria, which could lead to a weakened immune system and a higher risk of infections.

Storage Guide: How to Extend Shelf Life of Cinnamon Rolls?

If you want to prolong the freshness of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls, here’s what you can do:

Proper Storage of Cinnamon Rolls

Storing your Pillsbury cinnamon rolls is important to keep them safe to eat. If you try to store cinnamon rolls properly, they’ll stay delicious and moist even when they are not fresh from the oven.

Storing Cinnamon Rolls At Room temperature

If you have bought more Pillsbury cinnamon rolls than you can eat at a time, you must find ways to store them. Storing cinnamon rolls at room temperature is one of the most obvious methods to use for most. Most people use this method without realizing it. So make your life easier and get a few more days out of the cinnamon rolls.

The point is to keep the cinnamon rolls away from anything that may speed up the fermentation, such as heat and moisture. To store Pillsbury cinnamon rolls at room temperature, place them on a clean plate and cover them with aluminum foil. They will remain fresh for three days. This method works when the cinnamon rolls are already baked. Keep the cinnamon rolls away from direct sunlight. An excellent, dry area works best.

Use Ziplock Bags

Another method you can use is placing Pillsbury rolls inside a ziplock bag. You can use a vacuum sealer to remove excess air. An airtight ziplock will help keep the rolls moist and fresh. You can store the rolls using the above methods with or without frosting.

Refrigerator

Another method to keep your cinnamon rolls fresh is to place them in the refrigerator. This has the advantage of giving the cinnamon rolls a longer shelf life. Pillsbury cinnamon rolls stored in the fridge can remain at peak quality for up to a week. Their level of moistness and taste depends on how you protect them. Keep cinnamon rolls in an airtight container, so they are dry and free from air. Remember, the longer you keep the cinnamon rolls in the fridge, the higher the chance of drying out.

Pillsbury cinnamon rolls may also have icing on them. When you put them inside your fridge, the icing may harden. So, you will need to watch over as you heat the cinnamon rolls and ensure that you don’t melt them fully.

Freezer

If you want to maximize the shelf life of Pillsbury rolls, then you need to consider freezing the cinnamon rolls. Freezing works better if the icing is firmer and can withstand being thawed and reheated. For the freezing method, you will need aluminum foil or an airtight bag.

Wrap the rolls individually and keep them if they aren’t already. For cinnamon rolls with icing, place the foil or plastic over the roll and then wrap it around the roll to keep the icing intact.

After wrapping, place the rolls in an airtight container or a ziplock bag. Containers have the advantage of being airtight but also not crushing the cinnamon rolls. You can then store them in the freezer. You can keep Pillsbury cinnamon rolls in the freezer for up to two months.

Now that we’ve covered how to freeze cinnamon rolls, we need to look at how to thaw them out and restore the taste. The first step is to remove the container from the freezer and take out just the number of rolls that you want. (This is where individual wrapping comes in handy.)

Place the cinnamon rolls out at room temperature, and let to thaw out. This will take about an hour or so for them to thaw out fully. You can then put the thawed cinnamon rolls on a baking tray and heat the rolls at around 350˚F.

Some people may skip thawing rolls and put them in the oven immediately. If you want to thaw rolls out, set it to a low setting for about 15-minutes. This method will help rolls to become soft again but not burn. If the cinnamon rolls have frosting, this may not be a good option. You will need to make sure the frosting doesn’t melt.

Storage Practices – Summary

You can store your Pillsbury cinnamon rolls at room temperature or freeze them. If you don’t plan to consume them within a few days, we recommend freezing them.

The key to storing your Pillsbury cinnamon rolls is to store them in a container like this one from Amazon.

Wrap your Pillsbury cinnamon rolls individually in foil and place them in a Ziploc bag. We recommend two layers of aluminum foil to ensure they are airtight.

Store cinnamon rolls at room temperature for 2-3 days. Keep them in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. If you need to store cinnamon for more than 7 days, you should store them in the freezer. They can stay in your freezer for up to 2-4 months.

These tips will help your cinnamon rolls stay moist and delicious. This will not guarantee they won’t go bad, but it will certainly help.

Final Thoughts

Pillsbury cinnamon rolls have a best-by date instead of an expiration date, but it’s best to examine the rolls yourself to determine whether they’re safe to eat. Throw away rolls if they’re moldy or have a strange taste or smell.

We hope you enjoyed reading this guide to keeping your cinnamon rolls fresh and extending their shelf life.

We’ve put together some related questions and answers in this section, and we invite you to check if you might find any of the information valuable.