Joy the Baker

Quick and Dirty Chocolate Espresso Cinnamon Rolls

by 109 Comments

Quick and Dirty Chocolate Espresso Cinnamon Rolls

How can I do the least amount of work, but still get the most amount of cinnamon rolls into my mouth?  Super valid question.

How long would it take to go through airport security and stand in line at the Terminal C Cinnamon?  Is that time shorter than the time it would take to make yeasted dough, roll it, fill it, slice it, rise it, and bake it?  

How can I go from zero to cinnamon roll in one hour flat?  

Here’s how!  Ready.  Set.  You know…. 

Quick and Dirty Chocolate Espresso Cinnamon Rolls

There’s no time to waste here.  We have a singular focus.  

Milk is heated in a small pan with granulated sugar and butter.  Heat just until the butter melts then remove from heat and allow it to cool slightly before adding the yeast.  We want the yeast to feel warm and cozy enough to bloom and activate in the warm, sweet liquid, not hot hot hot.  Yeast doesn’t like that. 

Quick and Dirty Chocolate Espresso Cinnamon Rolls

Flour, salt, and an egg yolk are added to the milky yeast mixture.  I didn’t add all the flour at once.  I may not need the entire 2 cups. 

Quick and Dirty Chocolate Espresso Cinnamon Rolls

My handheld KitchenAid mixer has a dough hook attachment.  Thaaaaank you! 

Quick and Dirty Chocolate Espresso Cinnamon Rolls

A warm soft little dough ball with 1/4 cup flour left over.  

Quick and Dirty Chocolate Espresso Cinnamon Rolls

Because I want cinnamon rolls on the quick, the dough ball only rests for 10 minutes before being rolled out.  

Is that sort of thing even allowed?  Yes it is.  We’re the boss. 

Quick and Dirty Chocolate Espresso Cinnamon Rolls

Rolled and buttered.

Quick and Dirty Chocolate Espresso Cinnamon Rolls

Sugared with cinnamon and espresso powder and cocoa powder.  Lots of chocolate chips too.  Why not? 

Quick and Dirty Chocolate Espresso Cinnamon Rolls

Coiled up right. 

Quick and Dirty Chocolate Espresso Cinnamon Rolls (10)

And sliced! 

I placed the rolls in a lightly buttered pan, covered them with plastic wrap and allowed them to rest and rise for 30 minutes.  

Quick and Dirty Chocolate Espresso Cinnamon Rolls

In the oven for 20 minutes and ZING! 

Cinnamon rolls.  And we didn’t even have to stand in line at the airport.  

Quick and Dirty Chocolate Espresso Cinnamon Rolls

It’s not like a little espresso glazed ever hurt anyone! We’re reasonable people. 

Print

Quick and Dirty Chocolate and Espresso Cinnamon Rolls

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews
  • Author: Joy the Baker
  • Prep Time: 40
  • Cook Time: 20
  • Total Time: 1 hour
  • Yield: 6 1x
Scale

Ingredients

For the Dough

  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
  • 1 1/2 to 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 large egg yolk

For the Filling

  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 3/4 teaspoon instant espresso powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

For the Glaze

  • 3/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder
  • 3 tablespoons heavy cream or enough to make a pourable glaze

Instructions

  1. In a small saucepan combine milk, butter, and sugar. Stir until the sugar has dissolved and the butter has melted completely. Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool from hot to just warm.
  2. Place sweet milk and butter mixture in a large mixing bowl and sprinkle yeast over the liquid. Stir to incorporate. Allow mixture to sit for 5 minutes to allow to yeast to activate, foam, and froth.
  3. Add 1 1/2 cups flour, salt, and the egg yolk to the milk and yeast mixture. Use a wooden spoon or hand beaters with the dough hook attachment and stir or beat until incorporated. Add more flour, a few tablespoons at a time if the dough feels to wet. Bring the dough together into a ball and knead a few turns with your hands.
  4. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
  5. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured work surface. Roll into a roughly 9 x 12-inch rectangle.
  6. Spread with about 4 tablespoons of butter. In a small bowl stir together sugar, cinnamon, espresso powder, cocoa powder, and salt. Generously sprinkle over the melted butter. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Roll starting at the longer edge into a tight coil.
  7. Slice into 6 pieces.
  8. Use remaining 2 tablespoons of butter to lightly grease the bottom and sides of an 8×8-inch baking pan. Place rolls in the pan leaving about 1/2 inch of room between them. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 30 minutes.
  9. While the rolls rise, place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  10. Remove plastic wrap and bake the rolls for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown, puffed, and bubbling.
  11. Remove from the oven, allow to cool just slightly.
  12. In a small bowl whisk together powdered sugar, espresso powder, and heavy cream. Drizzle over warm rolls and enjoy!!

Did you make this recipe?

Share a photo and tag us — we can't wait to see what you've made!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Charly

    These are delicious. My father loves cinnamon rolls more than any other sweet thing. These are the request for birthdays, brunches, father’s day. Thank you.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  2. Jenna

    Made these today for a Christmas Eve brunch, and my husband ate three (yes three!!!) and no shame in that! Thank you for such an extra special holiday treat!

    Reply

  7. Jessica

    Hi Joy- I’m planning to make to make these for a bake sale. I was wondering if I made them the night before and waited to put the glaze on until the morning, if these would keep well either wrapped on the counter or in the fridge? Thanks!

    Reply

  8. Allysa

    I’ve mentioned this post on my blog today (and praised everything about that is awesome)! They look phenomenal!!
    (side note..I dislike the video advertisements on your posts…they make the page jump up (or down) to it ever 30 seconds when a new one starts and I have to scroll back to where I was reading…this will not, however, deter me from visiting your pages!!!)

    Reply

  12. Jenn

    So, I just made these after an hour of serious cross country skiing this morning, and they are PERFECT. I plan to eat the whole pan then take an epic nap.

    Reply

  15. Christine

    The 1 1/2 c flour in a 1/2 c of liquid left this dough crumbly and un-useable when I made this. Did I get the directions wrong?

    Reply

  17. Christina

    i made these and loved them! My hubby, though, is not a huge chocolate fan (!!!!) and likes the chai spiced cinnamon rolls better. Could you do the dough and those spices? Think it would still turn out okay?? Might just have to try.

    Reply

  18. Craig

    These take more than an hour. I like your recipes but this is misleading. I only had an hour before I needed to go out the door..

    Reply

  21. LEE @ Modern Granola

    YUM this looks fantastic. Sweet breakfast foods photograph so well, don’t they? They just draw me in, and I can’t resist pinning/saving them. But I don’t follow through and actually make them enough. Perhaps I’ll start with these!

    Reply

  24. Chelsea

    These are in my oven now and it smells amazing!! Just wondering though, do you think I could assemble these and leave them in the fridge overnight to bake the next day? Only because it still took me about an hour and a half to make including baking time.

    Reply

  29. alice gaxiola

    I made these as soon as I saw the recipe. Made some changes because I didn’t have choc chips, used finely chopped walnuts. Didn’t have espresso powder. I used a wooden spoon to mix the dough, then kneaded it by hand for a bit to lose the stickyness. I just let the ball of dough rest on the board I kneaded the dough on, covered with plastic wrap for ten minutes. I didn’t frost them either. They were the best cinnamon rolls I’ve ever had and very quick and easy. Thanks, I’ll be making them again and sent the recipe to my cousin.

    Reply

  35. Amy

    I love that I can make these for my sweetheart on a weekend, without having to get up at 4am! Thanks Joy for making every day a little sweeter!

    Reply

  39. Rose

    Perfect timing…I made these for the snow day today! I did a cream cheese icing instead, though, and left out the espresso powder (since I don’t have any!). So good!!

    Reply

  45. jesshali

    Question…I tried making the dough twice, the first time it barely rose and fell apart when I rolled it. The second time it never rose. I did everything in the steps so what would I be missing?

    Reply

  62. anna4t2014

    Omg!! I love how fast these from-scratch cinnamon rolls are! Waiting is the hardest part when it comes to cinnamon rolls, definitely!
    Ps-LOVE that dough hand mixer attachment!! :)

    Reply

  67. dc

    Yes! Yes! Yes! I’ll have what she’s having! Wish I had the dough hook thing, but a wooden spoon worked for grandma it can work for me! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

  68. Bhiravi

    I love the chocolate and espresso twist! Cinnamon rolls are my weakness. Between flights, I usually stop by the Cinnabon at Charlotte Douglas to get my fix.

    I made a batch this weekend– not this recipe, but one from Sally’s Baking Addiction. It’s a recipe that has the same 10 minute initial rest instead of a first rise. Worked like magic. I also took a recipe that usually makes 9 rolls for me and squished the dough into 4 GIANT rolls. Slathered on a thick, store-bought frosting to avoid the extra mess. Cinnamon dreams fulfilled.

    I wish I’d seen this flavor combo sooner, though. It looks so, so good.

    Reply

  69. Sharon

    Heard it was going to start snowing like crazy! Going to make these when I can be sure the power won’t go out cause they sound delicious.

    Reply

  76. Leah

    The one reason I have yet to make cinnamon rolls is because of how long they take and I just can’t wait that long in the morning. THANK YOU JOY!!!! This weekend I’ll be in cinnamon roll heaven!

    Reply

  79. Kathryn

    Whenever I visit your blog, I feel like you end up making my life easier in some way. Today you’ve solved the problem that is the major lack of cinnamon buns in my life.

    I will give any recipe that has “quick and dirty” in its title a try at least once ;)

    Happy Monday, Joy!

    xx Kathryn
    http://www.throughthethicket.ca

    Reply

  80. kirsten

    Thanks for posting this now as Feb 2 starts the new eating plan and things like this are going to become rare occasions but thank you for making them so I have great things to look forward too.

    Reply

  84. Trish

    Wow! I didn’t know cinnamon rolls would work with such a short rise.
    Your “we’re the boss” made me laugh.
    Can’t wait to try these.

    Reply

    • Trish

      I made these today and they were delicious! I left out the chocolate and espresso because I didn’t have any and was in a hurry to test the recipe. So good! The dough is really easy to work with. Thanks, Joy, for sharing the recipe.

      Reply

  90. annainternational

    Argh! Having one of those super ‘hungry’ days today, when I could eat anything and everything, and then this pops up in my Bloglovin feed! And I have all the things I need….must resist! Maybe I will make them Sunday though as a treat, as long as my boyfriend promises to eat most of them, or I’ll eat them all!

    Reply

  93. kimiko

    Joy! These look delicious… Question. I recently found out I have an intolerance to Dairy and Egg whites (not fun)… but do you think these would work with almond milk and vegan butter?? I’m thinking yes…

    Reply

    • Allison

      I just made these with coconut oil and almond milk and eliminated the chocolate chips. My kids can’t eat dairy. They are delicious. I needed more powdered sugar for the frosting, but the amount of coconut oil was an equivalent swap. The dough is easy to work with.

      Reply

  97. Sarah Dobbins

    This is great! I never think to plan ahead for making cinnamon rolls. I usually wake up and think, “self, a cinnamon roll would be nice, but you are far too hungry to wait 2-3 hours for that to happen.” I have also never had espresso in my cinnamon rolls, but I am totally on board! Thanks for sharing. :)

    Reply

  99. Girl Named Allyn

    Decided when I will make these, and whether I need to order new instant espresso powder from King Arthur (I think the answer is sadly, yes). Drooling.
    Also, even though I’ve made several delicious recipes from Homemade Decadence, I still found myself reading the whole book yesterday morning. It’s like a cozy blanket of appetite inducing idea.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Scroll Up