Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls with Vanilla Icing
Soft, fluffy, and packed with flavour, these chocolate cinnamon rolls with vanilla icing take the classic cinnamon bun to the next level. Made with a lightly cocoa-infused dough, filled with warm cinnamon spice, and topped with melted chocolate chunks, these rolls are a dream for cinnamon bun lovers and chocolate fanatics alike.
The finishing touch? A drizzle of smooth vanilla icing for the perfect balance of sweetness. Whether you bake them straight away or let them proof overnight for a fuss-free morning treat, these buns are pure indulgence in every bite.
Chocolate cinnamon rolls with vanilla icing
These chocolate cinnamon rolls put a unique spin on one of my favourites: cinnamon buns.
Cinnamon buns (kanelbullar) are practically holy here in Sweden. They even have their own dedicated day, Kanelbullens Dag, on 4th October, which should tell you everything you need to know about how much we love them. There’s something so comforting about the soft, pillowy dough, the rich scent of cinnamon, and that perfect balance of sweetness. But what happens when you introduce chocolate into the mix? Well, let’s just say it takes things to a whole new level.
In this recipe, I use cocoa powder in the dough for a subtle chocolatey depth, then finish with chunks of chocolate on top for extra indulgence. The rolls are then drizzled with a smooth vanilla icing that complements the richness beautifully. If you love cinnamon buns but also happen to be a chocolate fanatic, these might just become your new favourite.
Does chocolate work in cinnamon buns?
I wasn’t sure how cocoa would work in the buns, to be honest. Cinnamon and chocolate are undeniably glorious together, and Mexican hot chocolate is proof of that. However, I was curious to see how well they’d balance in a sweet yeasted dough. Would one flavour overpower the other? Would the cocoa make the dough too dry? I had questions.
But wow. Just wow. The result was even better than I’d hoped. The cocoa in the dough adds a subtle bitterness that contrasts beautifully with the warmth of the cinnamon, while the chocolate chunks on top create pockets of melty goodness. And when you drizzle them with vanilla icing? Absolute perfection. I make sweet buns all the time, but I think these might have just claimed the top spot.
Making the dough
I made the rolls in my bread machine because, let’s be honest, standing around kneading dough isn’t my idea of a good time. I know some people love the process, but I’m all about convenience when it comes to bread-making. My bread machine does the work while I get on with something else, and I love that.
That being said, you don’t need a bread machine to make these. A stand mixer with a dough hook works just as well, and of course, you can go the traditional route and knead by hand if you enjoy that kind of thing. But if you’ve ever found yourself wondering whether a bread machine is worth it, I talk more about it in my spelt hot dog buns recipe.
Overnight sweet buns
One of the best things about this recipe is its flexibility: you can bake the buns immediately, or you can prep them the night before and bake them fresh in the morning.
If you’ve never experienced the magic of waking up to the smell of freshly baked bread, you are seriously missing out. There’s just one problem: bread takes time. By the time you’ve had a lie-in, made a cup of coffee, and started baking, it’s usually closer to lunchtime. That’s why prepping the dough the evening before is such a game-changer. It means you can have warm, freshly baked buns first thing in the morning with minimal effort.
However, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. You can let your dough proof overnight, but it needs to be refrigerated. If you leave it on the counter, you’ll wake up to a bowl of dough trying to escape like some kind of overenthusiastic science experiment. Not ideal.
Overnight proofing is commonly used in no-knead bread recipes, such as my Swedish frallor (bread buns) because the long resting time compensates for the lack of kneading, allowing the gluten to develop naturally. But I’ve found that it works beautifully for kneaded doughs too, including my chocolate-filled overnight buns.
Can I make these with all-purpose (plain) flour?
This blog is called The Spelt Kitchen, so naturally, most of my recipes feature spelt flour. But before I fully embraced spelt, my baking experiments were all over the place. Some recipes were gluten-free, others used regular wheat flour, and I spent a lot of time tweaking and testing. These days, I often revisit my older recipes and adapt them to include spelt, like I did with this one for chocolate cinnamon rolls.
That said, if you prefer to use plain (all-purpose) flour, go for it! This recipe works well with both.
More simple sweet bread recipes
If you love sweet buns, here are a few more recipes you might enjoy:
- Cinnamon bun monkey bread
- Blackberry iced fingers
- Sticky caramel buns
- Belgian buns
- Raspberry cream cheese braid
- Coffee cinnamon buns
- Raspberry and vanilla overnight buns
- Sweet buns topped with homemade blackberry jam
Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls with Vanilla Icing
Ingredients
Dough (see note 1):
- 1 egg (medium)
- 250ml (1 cup) milk
- 50g (3 tbsp + 2 tsp) butter
- 400-450g (3⅓ -3¾ cups) spelt flour (see note 2)
- 30g (4 tbsp) cocoa
- 40g (¼ cup) brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla sugar / extract
- 7g (2 tsp) dried yeast (see note 3)
- 1 tsp salt
Filling:
- 75g (⅓ cup) butter (room temperature)
- 60g (⅓ cup) brown sugar
- 20g (1½ tbsp) white sugar
- 2 tbsp cinnamon
Additional ingredients:
- 30g (1 ounce) milk chocolate (chopped into chunks)
- 2 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla sugar / extract
- icing sugar (enough to make a thick paste)
Instructions
DOUGH
Bread Machine:
- Add the egg, milk and butter to your bread machine pan. Then add 400g (3⅓ cups) of flour, and the remaining dough ingredients, taking care to keep the yeast and salt separate as much as possible. Set your machine to make dough.
- On a very well-floured surface (the dough will be very sticky) work in just as much flour as you need to make a soft, pliable, but still a little tacky, dough.
Stand Mixer:
- Add the egg, milk and butter to your stand mixer bowl, and mix together. If the butter is straight out of the fridge, it won't combine with the other wet ingredients too much, but that's okay.
- Add 450g (3¾ cups) of flour, and the remaining ingredients. The dough should be sticky, but if you need more flour, just add a little at a time. Be careful: too much flour will result in dry bread.
- Switch to a dough hook (if you have one) and allow the mixer to knead the dough for around 10 minutes, just until soft. The dough will still feel a little tacky to the touch, but will be able to slowly drop off the hook.
- Cover the dough and leave to proof (until it has doubled in size - usually about an hour).
- When the dough is ready, knock it back, and on a floured surface, form into a rough ball.
Both Methods:
- Roll out the dough until you have a rectangle of around 37cm x 52cm (have the shorter side facing you).
- Spread the butter evenly over the dough, leaving a narrow edge (around 1cm) all the way round.
- Combine the sugars and cinnamon and sprinkle over the butter, using your fingers to evenly distribute the mixture.
- Carefully begin to roll up the dough, pulling it fairly taut as you roll.
- Place the dough, seam side down, and cut into 12 rolls.
- Pop the rolls on a lined baking tray or in a greased tin, allowing for a little space in between. Cover the dish or tray with a tea-towel.
- If baking immediately: pre-heat the oven to 200°C (400F). Cover the buns with a tea-towel, and leave them to rest for around 30 minutes.
- Overnight buns: cover the buns with clingfilm and place in the fridge. In the morning, pre-heat the oven to 200°C / 400℃ and allow the buns to come up to room temperature (I usually sit the dish on top of my oven as it's heating up).
- When ready to bake, sprinkle with the chocolate chunks.
- Bake for around 20-25 minutes.
Frosting:
- Allow the buns to cool for a while.
- Prepare the frosting by mixing the milk and vanilla essence together, then add as much icing sugar as needed to make a thick paste.
- Drizzle with a spoon or pour over the buns. Enjoy while still warm!
Notes
- I have made the dough using both a stand mixer and bread machine. Although I see no reason why you couldn't make the dough by hand, I have not personally tried it.
- You can use spelt or regular flour for this recipe (just use the same amount).
- In Sweden we have something called dried yeast. It is used both in warm liquid to proof and also added directly to flour. I am aware that the US has two options for dried yeast, and I believe instant yeast is the most similar to our dried yeast.
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