This month's Avid Baker's challenge is to make recipes using coffee. I searched high and low and found these Cappuccino Cinnamon Rolls from Taste of Home.
I've adapted them just slightly and think the result is delicious. Soft, buttery cinnamon rolls with a gooey, lightly coffee-flavored filling, and topped with just the right amount of icing.
The recipe is pretty straightforward and not much different than other roll recipes I've used. It does have a little stickier dough, so be prepared for that. It ends up being a nice, pliable dough.
And of course you get the wonderful cinnamon rolls as a result!
Don't use an excess amount of flour, but you'll find that the surface you knead the dough on will need to be lightly floured as you knead. I also lightly floured my hands and the rolling pin.
You can make the coffee flavor as strong or as weak as you want, or you can leave it out all together.
If you do use the instant coffee granules in the filling, just know they don't really dissolve. You'll see them scattered a little around the rolls, giving you a little burst of coffee flavor while you're eating them.
The outer rolls will bake a little more quickly than the middle ones since they're so dense.
A good way to see if the rolls are done baking, get a fork and and gently lift up the dough of the center roll to see if it's cooked through. If it's still a little under baked, let them go 4 or 5 minutes longer.
Besides these amazing Cappuccino Cinnamon Rolls, another recipe I love is my Buttery Cinnamon Rolls.
They're easy to make in a bread maker and include an interesting ingredient - instant vanilla pudding mix! You'll want to try those, too.
Cappuccino Cinnamon Rolls
Big, soft and gooey cinnamon rolls with a hint of coffee flavor.
Ingredients
- 1 pkg (¼ oz) active dry yeast
- 1 C warm water (110° to 115°)
- ¾ C warm 2% milk (110° to 115°)
- ½ C warm buttermilk (110° to 115°)
- 3 tablespoon sugar
- 2 tablespoon butter, softened
- 1 ¼ teaspoon salt
- 5 ½ to 6 cups all-purpose flour
- For the Filling:
- ¼ C butter, melted
- 1 C packed brown sugar
- 4 teaspoon instant coffee granules
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- For the Icing:
- 1 ¾ C powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon butter, softened
- 2 tablespoon milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Pour the yeast into a stand mixer bowl. Add the warm water and stir to combine. Let sit for 4-5 minutes until it's foaming a bit.
- Add the warm milk, buttermilk, sugar, butter, salt and turn mixer on low. Slowly add 4 cups of the flour and beat until smooth and blended. Stir in enough of the remaining flour to form a soft dough (about 1 ¼ to 1 ½ cups more - dough will come together but be sticky).
- Lightly flour your counter or marble and turn the dough out onto it. Lightly flour your hands as needed and knead the dough for 6-8 minutes. You may need to lightly flour your counter as you knead. Form dough into a loose ball and put into a greased bowl, turning once to grease the dough ball. Cover with a dish towel and let rise in a warm place for about an hour, until about doubled.
- Punch the dough down and turn onto a lightly floured counter or marble. Gently roll the dough into an 18x12" rectangle and brush with the melted butter.
- Combine the brown sugar, instant coffee granules, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the dough to about ½" of the edges.
- Roll up the dough starting from the long side and pinch the seams together to seal. Cut the roll in half, then into fourths, then cut each fourth into three slices for a total of 12 even slices.
- Lightly grease or spray a 13x9" pan and evenly place the slices into the pan. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Bake the rolls for 25-35 minutes or until lightly golden brown on top. Place the pan on a wire rack after baking.
- In a small bowl, beat the icing ingredients together until smooth and a pourable consistency (add a little milk or more powdered sugar as needed). Spread over the warm rolls. Serve warm.
- Refrigerate leftovers and when ready to eat, microwave single rolls for 30-45 seconds.
Notes
I used almost all of the leftover flour for the counter and flouring my hands while kneading the dough.
If you want more coffee flavor, dissolve ½ a teaspoon of the instant coffee granules into the milk (warm the milk up for 10 seconds in the microwave first) for the icing.
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