Healthy Treat For Today: Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls
ByI’ve been baking all my life (give or take). I can bake in my sleep. I can bake along with the best of ‘em.
But I have had the hardest time coming up with a good cinnamon roll.
I’ve tried many different recipes and they always end up being too bready, too heavy, too doughy or too dry.
I just about gave up, figuring I must have the incurable CRBD (Cinnamon Roll Baking Disorder)….
But I tried just one more time.
I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before. Must be because I also suffer from GGDS (Good Grief Duh Syndrome) and sometimes have a hard time seeing the obvious.
It finally occured to me that since my homemade soft pretzels are so, so good…maybe that dough recipe would make a good cinnamon roll. And BOY was I right! Yumm-eee.
It was one proud day when I finally made a good cinnamon roll. And the fact that it was made with whole wheat and honey was an added bonus! Healthy and delicous…what a deal!
So, just in case you also have CRBD (see above to remind yourself what that is if you have GGDS and can’t remember)…here’s the recipe that finally worked for me!
Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls
1 c. water
2 T. yeast
2 t. honey
2 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup honey
4 t. sea salt
8 cups whole wheat flour
butter
salt
Ingredients for the “innerds” of your cinnamon rolls:
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup rapadura (dehydrated cane sugar juice) (you can use white sugar if you want)
1/2 T. ground cinnamon
Melt your butter and set it aside. Mix together the rapadura and cinnamon in a bowl.
Ooey-Gooey Frosting
1/4 cup butter
3 T milk
1/2 t. vanilla
1-2 cups powdered sugar to make the consistency you like
Melt butter. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, milk and powdered sugar. Whisk together until smooth.
Okay, here’s how to make the dough…
In a large bowl, mix 1 cup very warm water, 2 T. yeast and 2 t. honey. Stir this together and kind of mush the yeast around. Let this sit for a few minutes while you do the next step.
Melt a stick of butter in a large saucepan. Add 1/2 cup honey, 4 t. salt and 2 1/2 cups of milk. Heat this to 120 degrees.
Pour milk mixture into yeast mixture and stir. Stir in 8 cups of flour, 2 cups at a time. (add more if you need it)
Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes. Plop it into a bowl, cover it and let it rise for 1-1 1/2 hours.
After dough is nice and fat, punch it down and knead out all it’s bubbles. Cut the dough in half, setting one half aside.
On a well floured surface, roll dough into a nice big rectangle, about 1/4 inch thick.
Use a pastry brush to spread 1/2 of the melted butter all over the rectangle. Sprinkle 1/2 of the rapadura/cinnamon mixture all over the butter.
Roll up the dough.
Cut into thin slices, about 1/2 inch thick.
Place rolls side by side on baking pan.
Repeat process with other 1/2 of dough.
Allow dough to rise about 30 minutes.
Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown at 350 degrees.
Allow rolls to cool a bit, then drizzle lots and lots of ooey-gooey frosting all over them.
Happy cinnamon roll baking!! Be sure to look through the “Natural Sugar Treats” section of my blog for more great recipes like this one…using great wholesome ingredients to make great treats!
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This recipe is linked to Life as Mom’s Recipe Swap.
You must enjoy torture! I’m sure that’s why you keep posting pictures of those delicious looking rolls! If I wasn’t so busy this week I think I’d actually bake them! I guess I’ll just have to wait a couple of weeks and get a grano(that’s a funny spanish word, slang I’m sure, for when you want something but can’t eat it!)!!
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Thanks for the recipe. We can’t wait to try them.
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They looks so delicious! :) I’ve been hoping you would post this cinnamon roll recipe! (I think I have CRBD too…) :) I’m looking forward to trying this one out!
By the way, I have your applesauce bread recipe in the oven right now. I used Apple-Blueberry Sauce. I haven’t had the batter yet, but I licked the beaters, and it was yummy! :) Thanks!
Blessings,
Michele
http://www.frugalgranola.blogspot.com
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Oh, I’m making these tomorrow, for sure! Thanks for the tip.
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Ohhh those look delicious! Adding those to my list of recipes to try! :)
Lady, you crack me up….CRBD & GGDS!!!
Thanks for the laugh!
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Those look fantastic! I’m looking forward to trying them out (and the soft pretzels!).
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Thank you oh great one! I look forward to trying this!!
Do you have any help more CCCD (Chocolate Chip Cookie Disorder)?
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I’m pretty sure I have both of those disorders. Do you suppose there’s a government program for us sadly disabled folks that will provide a new
Suburban and annual vacations to Aruba? Hey, stranger things have happened.
But, seriously, I’m gonna try the recipe next week. Thanks!
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Thank you so much for sharing the recipe and pictures. I’ve emailed them to myself for future use. I’ve never tried making cinnamon rolls, but yours sound like just the kind I want to try.
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Looks and sounds delicious. I like that I could use the whole wheat dough to say that it went with our Weight Watchers’ plans. :)
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Thanks for sharing the fruit of all your hard work. The pictures are beautiful, makes all the difference when we can see the finished product!
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Yum! Thanks Laura for another good healthy recipe! I love your like-mindedness!
Lindsay @ Passionatehomemaking.com
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Oh MY WORD!!!!!!!!!! You can make cinnamon ROLLS with the pretzle dough?????????????????????????
And I thought the pretzles could’t get any better.
You make my life better. :)
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You know me and my sweet tooth…I could not resist giving this recipe a try today!?!?!
WOW! SOOOOOOOOO good! I love the butter in these, adds alot of rich flavor!
Every last one of these are gone, (I saw to that)! I blogged about it if you wanna have a look!
Thanks so much for sharing this with us!
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Laura-
Do you make these in the morning, or can you make them ahead of time? My kids wake up starving at 7 am so I can’t imagine waking up at 5 to start the cinnamon rolls.
Toni
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Help! I need baking 101. I tried these, and they barely rose. What kind of wheat flour do you use, b/c your pics look more white than wheat? My sweet daughter assured me that they would love them even if I wasn’t pleased with the results. :)
Thanks!
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Jan Reply:
January 10th, 2010 at 8:23 am
me too melanie – did we do something wrong? I’ve never even seen a roll
recipe calling for all whole wheat flour…
I love the idea of it but I hate wasting all the flour when my efforts
flop.
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Thank you for this! My kids have been BEGGING me to make cinnamon rolls ever since their grandma made some for them a couple months ago. I’ve never actually tried making cinnamon rolls before, but you type out all the steps so nicely that I will definitely give it a shot! I know my kids will be thrilled! (And wheat, too! HOORAY!!)
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I finally got around to using your recipe today, and took these babies to a dinner party. They went over very well, and I really enjoyed them, too!
I don’t know if I ended up over-kneading the dough, or if this is particular to whole wheat, but I found it incredibly difficult to roll the dough out into rectangles. It kept trying to snap back into its original shape. It took a LOT of effort. Even still, once I finally got them rolled out and into the pan, they did end up turning out nicely soft, instead of being tough like I was afraid they would be.
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Hi Laura,
someone once shared with me an easy way to cut cinnamon rolls, and I thought I would pass it on. If you use a non-minty dental floss and wrap it around the log, then pass each end of the floss pass eachother it works to have the perfect cinnamon roll slices.
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great looking recipe. thanks for sharing. my husband loves cinnamon rolls, and I know he’d love for me to make some “non-canned” ones.
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I am so excited to have this one! making cinnamon rolls should be easy! For the topping my sister always lightly browns her butter before you mix it and whoa! it is heavenly! Thanks for this one!
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We made the dough for these last night, then put them together for breakfast this morning. They were delicious! Thank you for sharing the recipe!
I only had 4 cups of whole wheat flour on hand, so ours were half whole wheat and half all-purpose flour. And I used regular sugar. AND I doubled the frosting… ;)
YUM!!!!!
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Laura.. I make mine using my bread dough recipe and brown sugar *Usually i make extras and freeze them not baked in pans for later use but Hubby seems to have used the last batch last weekend and *gasp* didn’t tell me* but my grandmother makes THE BEST Cinnamon Rolls.. she uses her recipe for homemade biscuits and rolls it out puts the innards on the dough she uses dark brown sugar and then rolls back up cuts them bakes them and makes this fluffy cream cheese frosting.. ummmmmm Ok Pregnant Lady cravings now kicking in..lol Almost as good as her doughnuts *Which she will only make at christmas.. beleive me we count down to doughnut day in Our family.. Its the only time she uses her deep fryer ..they are sooo good.
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Thank you they turned out great. I used xgave for the sugar {builds bones and low gycemic index} I used my meat thermometer, it starts at 130 so I just let it rise to almost that, worked great. I am trying honey powder this time, and 1/2 of the dough I made into sticky buns. Well see if everyone is happy this time?
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Hi there!
Can these scrumptious-sounding rolls be made the night before? I would love to pop them in the oven on Christmas morning! :) Love your site by the way…
Best,
August
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sorry – my computer crashed and I think I posted twice! Can you tell I’m excited about these rolls?? (ha)
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Have you ever tried freezing the second batch prior to the second rise for a later baking date?
I love to do this with bread loaves and cookie dough for fresh-from-the-oven goodness. These look like good candidates.
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Oh my gracious! I just tried these for the first time (I’ve had it bookmarked since you posted it…) and they are the best cinnamon rolls I have ever eaten!! I tried a different recipe a couple months ago and it was a total flop, but these were soooo easy and turned out wonderfully!!
Thank you so much for the recipe.
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I used my Breadman breadmaker to make mine and it came out fabulous! I didn’t alter the ingredients. I put 1st 3 ingredients in breadpan. In separate bowl, nuked the butter, added the rest & nuked some more, then added to yeast mixture. I then added flour and set to “dough”. The icing is completely essential! I had some leftover Veggies links and used the same dough to make a couple “unpigs” in a blanket and they too came out great!
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These turned out great and rose beautifully! Thanks for the recipe!
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Hi Laura!
I had a dream this afternoon while I was napping with the baby about cinnamon rolls (at McDonald’s of all places – we never go there!) and woke up wanting some. :) We just started working through the alphabet, one letter a week, with our two year old and I think this would be fun for the letter C. Quick question though….Can these be pre-made the night before? Or whenever before and then frozen? Our days start really early (the two year old gets up at 430! i don’t suppose you have any suggestions for that, do you?) and I don’t really enjoy baking at 430 in the morning. :)
Thanks!
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These rolls can DEFINITELY be made ahead of time, then be refrigerated or frozen until you’re ready to bake and serve them! If they are frozen, allow them to thaw overnight, then bake in the morning!
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Just made these and they are FABULOUS!! Any suggestions for freezing? I have baked them and was gonna freeze and reheat do you think that will be okay?
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Laura Reply:
August 3rd, 2009 at 4:14 pm
Yes, they’ll be just fine if you reheat them after freezing!
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Totally going to make these.
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These are truly wonderful cinnimon rolls.
They sure did get great reviews.
Fresh baked or frozen and thawed they are awsome
Tks for sharing
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I was so excited for this whole wheat recipe but my dough didn’t rise. Am I missing something?
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Laura Reply:
October 5th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Hmmm…did it rise the first time, but not after you shaped the rolls? Sometimes my rolls don’t rise well, but they still work okay.
Otherwise, all I can think of is that maybe the warm ingredients were too warm and killed the yeast?
Bread can be so finicky sometimes! Hopefully they’ll work next time?! :)
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Can’t wait to try these! One quick question, for the milk should you use whole milk? The recipe doesn’t specify so I was wondering what you recommend. Thanks!
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Laura Reply:
November 18th, 2009 at 11:22 am
I use whole milk.
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Also one last question salted or unsalted butter?
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Laura Reply:
November 18th, 2009 at 11:22 am
Either one is fine…I usually use salted.
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thanks! I just made these for a birthday in the morning! Can’t wait to try them!!!
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My family does not eat any refined sugar at all. Do you think it’s possible to make this 100% with honey?
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Laura Reply:
November 18th, 2009 at 11:23 am
I don’t know why it wouldn’t work! I say go for it!
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I just made these for my room mates and they were a huge hit! we had them with margaritas, delicious! Now they call me “the champ” of the kitchen
thanks!
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Thanks everyone, I will try to do you proud on this receipe…. I am bread dough challenged :)
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I am going to try this right now.
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THIS RECIPE HAS TOO MUCH BUTTER TO CALL IT “HEALTHY”!!SOME LIVE TO EAT, OTHERS EAT TO LIVE. I AM THE LATTER,
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THIS RECIPE HAS TOO MUCH BUTTER TO CALL IT “HEALTHY”!!WHILE I KNOW BUTTER HAS A GREAT TASTE, I DO LIMIT IT’S USE.ESPECIALLY WITH THE EPIDEMIC OF OBESITY. SATURATED FATS NOT ONLY INCREASE YOUR CHOLESTEROL, BUT ADD UNNECESSARY WEIGHT TO THE BODY.
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Laura Reply:
December 1st, 2009 at 2:11 pm
I realize that we are told that butter is bad for us. I disagree with that idea, even though nutritionists tell us that it is bad. Good (real) fat is not bad for us. I’ve done much research on this. Thanks for your comment and concern. I won’t eat the whole pan of these rolls…but I will still use butter in them!
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I agree on the BUTTER issue with you , LAURA, my friend is a Nutritional Therapist and she uses butter and recommends that we all use fats in the right amounts for proper vitamin/mineral balance. Again, I agree that it is HOW MUCH of these lovley rolls you eat at one TIME that is key in being HEALTHY. Really, that leaves it to our self-control :)
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Thanks for a great recipe! I just made them for the first time this morning and they turned out perfectly. I added some raisins and walnuts to the “innards” mixture. Instead of a powdered sugar frosting I used a maple syrup reduction to glaze the top. Yummy!
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Just made these this weekend and they were great! Halved the recipe to make just one pan. This recipe is a keeper!
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I am so excited to try out this recipe! My family eats cinnamon rolls (store bought)every Saturday as a tradition. My resolution this year was to try and make everything from scratch with whole and healthy ingredients. (Spurred by a passion for all things healthy and the book Hearth and Home by Karey Swan) This blog is heaven sent! Thank you!!!!! I can’t wait to add this as one more thing that I make with love for my husband and 2 little girls! :)
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How could I do everything ahead of time but the baking? Or where could I stop? I’m really only thinking overnight. or would this need to be frozen not refridgerated?
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Laura@HeavenlyHomemakers Reply:
February 23rd, 2010 at 9:51 pm
Get the rolls shaped and cut into cinnamon rolls, but instead of letting them rise, put them in the fridge or freezer. If you refrigerate them, just bake them the next morning. If you freeze them, put them on a baking pan the night before you want to bake them, cover them and leave them out overnight to thaw/rise. Bake them in the morning. :)
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