Start your morning with a delicious coffee-infused twist on the classic breakfast favorite. These coffee cinnamon rolls are the perfect way to begin your day. This post has been sponsored by The Folger Coffee Company. All thoughts and opinions are always my own!
So, when I started this blog, I was not much of a coffee drinker. It was an occasional drink for me, and I didn’t really know what I was doing. Now, almost three years later, coffee has become a part of my daily ritual and is an integral part of my morning routine (I am drinking some now as I write this!).
A big part of this is the fact that I love coffee in my desserts. I always loved coffee ice cream as a kid and after making my coffee cupcakes, I realized how amazing coffee is in baked treats too. A friend of mine shared muffins that used real coffee grounds to impart a delicate coffee flavor to them and I was immediately in love with the concept. The trick is to heat the coffee grounds which softens grounds so it doesn’t feel gritty when you bite into your treat. I decided to try this technique with coffee cinnamon rolls.
Not only does it work, but it gives these coffee cinnamon rolls a delicate coffee flavor in every bite. It isn’t gritty and the coffee flavor isn’t overwhelming. Instead, it rounds out the overall flavor of the cinnamon rolls and complements the cinnamon wonderfully. The trick is to make sure you add the grounds to the milk and butter before you begin warming it up.
I used Folgers ® coffee which is a staple in our household and has been for years. What I love now is that Folgers ® released vintage-styled coffee cans that resemble some of their first packaging. As a collector of all things vintage, I was so excited about this because I love the nostalgia aspect. I love thinking about what things were like “back then” I feel like packaging was so much more fun before and the need to stay modern has been such a big focus, that it is so nice to celebrate origins and the notion of simpler times. For anyone who is as obsessed with Target and the cartwheel app (I am one of those people who has to stop and scan everything at Target before putting it in the cart), there is a 5% off offer on the app now for Folgers®! Also, these cute vintage cans are only being sold at Target, so get on that!
What I love to do when making these coffee cinnamon rolls is start the dough the night before, then finish in the morning. So, I will make the dough as normal, but instead of letting it rise for an hour in a warm, dry area, I tightly cover it and place it in the refrigerator to rise overnight. Placing in the refrigerator slows down the yeast, so it takes a lot longer for the dough to rise. I do this because A. I don’t want to wake up super early in the morning to make coffee cinnamon rolls and B. I feel like the slow rise really enhances the flavor of the dough. It’s completely up to you on what you want to do!
Coffee Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole milk
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoons Folgers® coffee grounds
- 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Filling
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 ¾ tablespoons Folgers® coffee grounds
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup lightly packed brown sugar
- 1 tablespoons ground cinnamon
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 oz cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon brewed Folgers® coffee room temperature
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream as needed
Instructions
- Add the milk, butter, sugar, and coffee grounds to a microwave safe bowl.
- Heat in 30 second increments until the butter is completely melted and the mixture is hot. Stir well to combine, then leave to cool to just above room temperature.
- Add the active dry yeast to the milk mixture and allow to sit for 10 minutes, or until a foam forms on top.
- While the yeast is proofing in the milk, add the flour, baking powder, and salt to a mixing bowl of a stand mixer. Once the milk mixture is ready, add it to the flour mixture and mix until well combined. Use a dough hook to knead the dough on medium for about 10 minutes.
- Lightly grease a large bowl and add the dough. Cover tightly with a plastic wrap and leave in a warm, dry place for one hour, or until doubled in size.
- While the dough is rising, mix together the butter and coffee grounds to the filling and heat until the butter is melted. In a separate bowl, mix together both sugars and the cinnamon for the filling together.
- Lightly flour a flat surface and place the dough on your surface. Roll out until it is roughly 16 x 11 inches – this does not need to be accurate.
- Stir the butter mixture vigorously, then spread on the dough, leaving a small border around the edges. You won’t need all the butter, reserve the remaining butter. Spread the cinnamon sugar mixture over the butter and gently press down to adhere.
- Roll the dough along the long side so you have a long log in front of you. Cut the log into 8 equal pieces. Take the leftover coffee butter mixture and grease a 9 x 13 baking pan with the butter and place the cinnamon rolls cut side down in the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 30 minutes.
- While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Bake the rolls for about 25 – 30 minutes, or until fluffy and a light golden brown.
- While the rolls are baking, mix together the ingredients for the frosting. Add the heavy cream if you want a thinner frosting.
- Serve with a cup of coffee!
Toni says
I made this yesterday, although I live with coffee snobs so I used Death Wish instead.
Everyone thought they were amazing, thank you for sharing.
Making my second batch today so the kid can run them again.
Amanda Powell says
I am so glad you enjoyed them! I’ve tried it with a few different types, the only kind I did not enjoy were blonde roasts (but I am biased because I do not like blonde roasts in general!)
Julie says
These turned out fantastic, and pretty much exactly what I was hoping for. The frosting was especially good.
I just had two issues - one with getting the grounds to melt with the butter in step 6 (I tried twice, although wasn't using Folgers brand), and two with the listed time of 58 minutes. I didn't read the directions beforehand close enough to realize that I should add another 90 minutes for the dough - silly mistake, but had to rush and skip the second 30 minutes of rising, fortunately still worked out.
Amanda says
I am so happy you enjoyed the rolls! The grounds don't exactly melt into the butter, I am sorry if the instructions made it sound that way - I will update it. Instead, it is meant to simply soften the grounds so they don't come out gritty when you are trying to eat them.
Mary K says
These look and sound fantastic! I just had a few quick questions before my attempt. How much butter do you use in step 1 since it is divided in the ingredients for the dough? Did you leave the coffee grounds in the dough or strain them out? Thank you so much, can't wait to try this recipe!
Amanda says
Hi Mary, Sorry for the confusion, that was a mistake I made while typing things out in haste! Use just four tablespoons of butter in the dough. (The remaining butter was saved for the filling, but I listed that in its own separate section.) I left the coffee grounds in the butter mixture in the dough. It doesn't affect the texture of the dough, but does add some really nice flecks in the finished product!
Talia B. says
This looks yummy! Well, except for the Folgers, because the coffee snob in me has to say that is not even considered coffee. Ha. But I will try these with some real coffee. 🙂
Amanda says
Haha, I am definitely not a coffee snob then, because I do love my Folgers. It's what we always had in the house as I was a kid so it reminds me of home :0 I hope you get a chance to try these rolls though!
Dalila G. says
WoW!!
How deelish are these beauties, sweet Amanda! 😀
I make rolls all of the time, but I have never made them with coffee....wild idea!
Hubby will definitely be eating one or two of these for breakfast soon.
Thank you for another wonderful recipe Amanda!
Pinned!
Amanda says
It's really good! The coffee isn't overpowering at all, it just complements the cinnamon cream cheese goodness! I hope you enjoy!
Phi @ The Sweetphi Blog says
Oh! My! Goodness! Seriously, I just can't! Your work is so beautiful, and coffee in cinnamon rolls? SWOON! I cannot wait to make these during the holidays for my family at breakfast, I say that because if I made these for just my husband and I, I would definitely eat the whole thing lol.
Amanda says
I definitely had more than my share of these rolls when I made them!