I don't know if I will ever go back to classic cinnamon rolls again. These Mexican chocolate cinnamon rolls are something else! Atop of the traditional cinnamon-sugar mix lies a cinnamon dark stone ground chocolate that gives the rolls extra oeey gooey goodness. This is the perfect recipe to make for Thanksgiving or Christmas morning. You can even make them the night before, so right when you wake up, all you have to do is bake them, and voila'... perfect homey cinnamon rolls.
Am I the only one who used to take about 5 samples from Cinnabon at the mall while shopping? Especially around the holidays, it seemed like the sample station was always stocked. I would go gift shopping with my mom, pass Cinnabon, and say, let's get a dozen rolls for Christmas morning! Spoiler alert, we never did. With all the holiday hustle and bustle, we would forget.
Well, this year, I will be making these Mexican chocolate cinnamon rolls. It just means so much to make something homemade for your family. Doing this food blog has made me think a lot about family lately. It is really special to me that I am able to develop recipes that I genuinely love and become a staple in my house. These recipes are then extended to all my family and friends in a forever place. Although the delivery is a little different... these recipes do feel like little handwritten recipe cards that will always be around. I hope that you feel the love that I put into these recipes when you create them on your own... from my family to yours.
Mexican Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls
Equipment
- Rolling pin
Ingredients
Dough
- ¾ cup whole milk
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast
- 2 tablespoons honey
- ¼ cup butter
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4-4 ½ cups all purpose flour plus more for work surface
Filling
- 6 tablespoons butter softened
- ⅔ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
- 2 discs Taza Cinnamon Dark Mexican-style Stone Ground Chocolate
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
Icing
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened to room temperature
- 2 tablespoons butter softened to room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Prepare the dough
- Warm milk, heavy cream, butter, and honey until lukewarm, about 30 seconds in the microwave.
- Sprinkle yeast and sugar over the mixture and allow to sit for about 5 minutes.
- Mix in eggs, vanilla extract, and salt.
- Add in 4 cups of flour. In either a stand mixer with the dough hook or your hands, mix for about 5-7 minutes. The dough should be tacky but not sticky. If the dough feels too sticky, add in the remaining ½ cup of flour.
- Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface and form a smooth ball. Place the dough ball into a lightly oiled bowl and place a towel on top. Allow to rise in a warm place for 45 minutes, until doubled in size (I like to rise mine in my oven off).
Prepare cinnamon rolls
- Once the dough has doubled, place it on a lightly floured work surface and roll into a rectangle, about 20x15 in size.
- With a rubber spatula, spread the butter over the dough.
- Mix together the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and cinnamon together. Generously sprinkle the mixture over the butter. Using a grater, grate all of your chocolate evenly over the sugar mixture.
- Carefully roll the dough into the shape of a log (roll the long side of the rectangle). Pinch the seams together and place the seam side down on the log.
- With a sharp serrated knife, cut the log into 8-12 even rolls (I like to do 8 rolls, so they are oversized).
- Place cinnamon rolls in a 13x9 baking dish if doing more than 8 rolls, or a 9.5-inch pie pan if doing 8 rolls.
- Cover the baking dish with a towel and set in a warm place to rise for about 30 minutes, until doubled in size.
Bake and finish
- Preheat the oven to 375F.
- Before baking the rolls, drizzle ⅓ cup of heavy cream over the cinnamon rolls.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown. Cool for about 5 minutes.
- While the rolls cool, make the icing. In a medium bowl, mix cream cheese and butter together. Once combined, add powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla together and mix until smooth.
- Spread the cream cheese icing over the warm cinnamon rolls. Enjoy!
