Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls
It’s Day 4 of the 12 Days of Christmas, and I’ve got something MUCH better to share/talk about than four calling birds:
Cinnamon rolls.
But not just any cinnamon rolls; GINGERBREAD cinnamon rolls.
Considering I’ve been doing this blog/holiday series for ten plus years now, I’m a little surprised it’s taken me THIS long to make these. I’ve definitely made breakfast rolls before, both for the holidays and for normal days. But never cinnamon or gingerbread rolls. Like gingerbread, cinnamon rolls are a staple for the holiday season, and putting them together is just seems like an obvious choice. But the truth is, I don’t make cinnamon rolls very often. The main reason is because not everyone in my household likes them, and I have to be mindful of everyone’s tastebuds when I cook/bake meals for the family so as not to be wasteful/inconsiderate.
The holidays give me a perfect excuse though, because I usually end up giving away most of what I make for the 12 Days of Christmas and so before I even got started, I knew that whatever didn’t get eaten here, would definitely be wanted and eaten by other people.
The gingerbread flavor in gingerbread typically comes from blackstrap molasses and a combination of spices; both of those are in this enriched dough that comes together relatively quickly and easily. I did have to give mine a little bit longer to rest/prove on the first rise, but that’s just because it was very cold that day and I had to find a particularly warm spot of my my home to place the dough.
Like the best cinnamon rolls, these have a LOT of filling. The only modification that I made was to add generous portion of dried cranberries to the mix, as I thought it would add a nice sweet/tart flavor to balance out the sweetness and spices of the rolls.
You see how perfectly round the rolls are? That’s because this time, instead of my standard practice of just baking the rolls in an 11 x 13 baking dish, I opted instead to bake them in several mini aluminum tart pans I had leftover from a previous year because I really wanted them to be able to grow as big as possible and maintain and a circular shape. After GENEROUSLY greasing the pans, I was thrilled to see that the rolls both rose and baked BEAUTIFULLY in the tins.
My preference for cinnamon rolls is a very thin, but saturated glaze that’s gotten into every little nook and cranny of the roll. In order to do that, you have to ice them very soon after they come out of the oven. So if you’re like me, you’ll want to stick around once they’re done baking and have your icing ready to go and slather all over them. Be patient for just a little while longer, and you’ll have the most delicious reward waiting for you to eat.
I was so pleased with how these turned out. The flavors of spices and sweetness from the cranberries were perfectly balanced, and the bread itself was soft and slightly chewy. Just what a good cinnamon roll ought to be.
The best part? The person in my house who doesn’t even like cinnamon rolls loved them.
Day 1: Browned Butter & Sweet Potato Biscuits
Day 2: Biscoff Dipped Butter Cookies
Day 3: Holiday French Toast
Day 4: Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls
Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls
Recipe Adapted from Bake From Scratch
Ingredients
For Dough
- 4⅔ cups (586 grams) all-purpose flour, divided
- 4½ teaspoons (14 grams) active dry yeast
- 4 teaspoons (8 grams) ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons (4 grams) ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon (3 grams) kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon (1 gram) ground mace or 2 teaspoons (4 grams) ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon (1 gram) ground allspice
- 1½ cups (360 grams) whole milk
- 6 tablespoons (126 grams) unsulphured molasses
- ¼ cup (57 grams) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for brushing
- ½ cup (100 grams), plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
For Filling
- 1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (220 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar
- 2½ teaspoons(5grams) ground ginger
- 2½ teaspoons (5 grams) ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon (1.5 grams) kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon (1 gram) ground mace
- 1/2-2/3 cup dried cranberries (Depending on how much you prefer them to be filled)
For Glaze
- 2 cup powdered sugar
- A few tablespoons of milk, or Holiday Flavored liquid coffee creamer
Special equipment: 12 5 oz. disposable aluminum pie/tart pans. (I used these.)
Directions
In a small microwave-safe bowl, stir together milk, molasses, and melted butter. Microwave on high until an instant-read thermometer registers 120°F (49°C) to 130°F (54°C).
Sprinkle the active dry yeast on top of the milk-butter mixture, and then sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the sugar on top of that. Allow to sit/proof for about 10 minutes, until frothy.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or using a handheld mixer with the bread hooks), combine 3 cups of the flour, ginger, cinnamon, salt, mace (or nutmeg), and allspice.
With mixer on low speed, add warm milk mixture to flour mixture, beating until combined. Increase mixer speed to medium, and beat for 2 minutes. If need be, add the remaining flour until a mass of dough forms.
On a lightly floured surface with lightly floured hands, knead dough until smooth and elastic, about 6 minutes. Spray a large bowl with cooking spray. Place dough in bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place (75°F/24°C) until doubled in size, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Make Gingerbread Filling: Stir together all ingredients except for the dried cranberries in a medium bowl and set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Spray between 6-8 pie/tart pans with baking spray GENEROUSLY and place them on a sheet pan you’ve lined with aluminum foil. (Just in case the filling overflows.)
Note: You can also just make these in a standard 11 x 13 baking pan if you don’t have/do not want to use the aluminum foil tins.
Divide dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll half of dough into a 16×12-inch rectangle. Spread half of Gingerbread Filling onto dough, leaving a ½-inch border around the edges. Sprinkle half of the dried cranberries on top.
Starting with one long side, roll dough into a log. Using a serrated knife, cut log into 6 (2½-inch-thick) slices.
Repeat with remaining dough and remaining Gingerbread Filling. Place rolls in prepared pans. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place (75°F/24°C) until doubled in size, 20 to 30 minutes.
Bake until golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes. Let cool slightly, about 2 minutes then quickly spread the glaze on top, ensuring it gets into the tight crevices and swirls of the rolls.
Allow to sit for about 15-30 minutes before serving, just until glaze begins to set.
Sharing at Fiesta Friday #566.
Oh, I can smell their aroma from here!
They smelled SOOO GOOOD. I couldn’t wait to get them out of the oven 😀
I haven’t been by for awhile and now that I’m here, this is making me crazy! I want one so bad! I had pretty much resigned myself to no holiday baking (traveling and an upcoming surgery) but this is going on my make it as soon as I can list!
Mollie
Hi Mollie! Great to see you around these parts again. I’m so sorry that you can’t do any holiday baking for the time being, but I do hope you can soon, and that you enjoy these if they happen to make it to the top of your baking list 😉
Cheers!