Hazelnut Cinnamon Rolls

Hazelnut Cinnamon Rolls Recipe by The Wood and Spoon Blog by Kate Wood. A simple yeast dough inspired by The Pioneer Woman Cinnamon Rolls filled with a hazelnut brown sugar and cinnamon crunchy filling. The whole thing is topped with a cream cheese frosting. You can make giant cinnamon rolls or make it into a find cinnamon roll cake in a springform pan. Find the recipe for these fabulous fancy brunch or breakfast menu item at thewoodandspoon.com

I’m really into the term “Throwback Thursday.” 

For most of us, Throwback Thursday is an opportunity to post 10 year old bikini shots from before we had stretch marks, or the photo from that time we ran into some obscure daytime television star in the airport, but Throwback Thursday can also be used as an opportunity to reminisce on on fun, tasty memories. While I know today is not Thursday, we can totally pretend it is, or, if you’d prefer, we can say today is “Throwback Tuesday.” Cool? OK, awesome.  

Hazelnut Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

Hazelnut Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

Today I’m throwing it back to  my early teenage years (mentally wincing). As a now late 20-something, my teenage years were heavily characterized by AOL instant messaging via my dial-up desktop computer, making up dance routines to N’Sync songs in my best friend’s bedroom, and trolling the mall for cute boys and a Cinnabon. Thank God, I’ve since moved on from instant messaging and checking out long-haired, pimpled skater boys, but I am still 100% into Cinnabons. Let’s be honest- you didn’t go to a shopping mall 10 years ago without stopping at Cinnabon, did you? If I close my eyes and think hard enough, I can still smell the scent of warm Cinnabons wafting through the heavily perfumed entryway of Abercrombie and Fitch, while a friend and I try to decide on which matching polos we’re going to buy for the upcoming weekend’s JV basketball game (pause for more mental wincing). I can remember as a kid being able to put away 2 or 3 Cinnabons in a day (assuming I had saved enough babysitting money to purchase that many) with little to no effort. There’s something super nostalgic about those flavors for me and while I have yet to find a recipe that comes close to those gooey, giant rolls we all know and love, I’m still really OK with logging the man hours required to whip up those hot little buns. Today, I’m sharing a recipe for a grown up cinnamon roll: hazelnut cinnamon rolls

Hazelnut Cinnamon Rolls Recipe 
The recipe for this dough is adapted from The Pioneer Woman, and if you know ANYTHING about her, it’s that she makes ridiculously awesome breakfast rolls. This dough is buttery, soft, and the perfect platform for a a variety of fillings and toppings. My take on her rolls is prepared with a crunchy hazelnut filling that is sweetened with brown sugar and warmly scented with cinnamon. Instead of cutting smaller, shorter rolls, these buns are closer in size to a traditional Cinnabon: large and in charge. Once risen and baked, they’re topped with a sweet, cream cheese glaze that can easily be thickened or thinned out according to your preference.
 
I’ve also prepared this dough into a hazelnut cinnamon roll cake by rolling 2″ strips of dough into one giant cinnamon roll that I let rise and cook in an 8″ springform pan. If you get ambitious, I highly recommend it. A great tutorial for this method can be found here.
Giant Hazelnut Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
 
Hazelnut Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
 
If you’re wanting to go even more next level, I would totally try out a Nutella cream cheese glaze. Whisk a couple of tablespoons of Nutella into the cream cheese and butter and thin out with milk as needed. YUM. If you try this, you better send me one in the mail because I’m dying to taste it.
 
Give hazelnut cinnamon rolls a try and proudly re-live your version of Throwback Thursday. If you need me, I’ll be attempting to recall my original choreography to Christina Aguilera’s “What a Girl Wants.” Don’t judge. 
 
Giant Hazelnut Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
 
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Hazelnut Cinnamon Rolls

These hazelnut cinnamon rolls have a sweet, buttery dough, with a crunchy hazelnut and cinnamon brown sugar filling.

  • Author: Kate Wood
  • Prep Time: 90
  • Cook Time: 60
  • Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients

For the dough

  • 2 cups (480 mL) milk (whole or 2%)
  • 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick, 85 gm)) unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup (100 gm) granulated sugar
  • 21/4 teaspoons (1 package) active dry yeast
  • 41/2 cups (540 gm) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

For the filling

  • 1/2 cup (60 gm) hazelnuts, finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup (100 gm) brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup (50 gm) sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick, 110 gm)) unsalted butter, softened

For the glaze

  • 4 ounces (110 gm) cream cheese, room temperature
  • 4 tablespoons (55 gm) butter, room temperature
  • 2 cups (250 gm) powdered sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 tablespoons (30 mL) of milk or cream, plus more as desired

Instructions

To prepare the rolls

  1. In a large pot, combine the milk, butter, and sugar over medium heat and allow to warm just before the milk is scalding. Remove from burner and allow to cool until luke warm. Add the yeast and allow to dissolve, about 2 minutes.
  2. Add 3-1/2 cups of the flour to the milk mixture and stir to combine. Cover with plastic wrap or a tea towel and allow to rest and rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour. If your dough hasn’t doubled in size within that hour, place the dough in a slightly warmer spot of the kitchen.
  3. Combine the remaining flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and add to the risen dough. Stir to combine. At this point, you can refrigerate the dough overnight or roll out to use immediately. If you decide to save it, punch dough down into bowl if it over-rises.
  4. Roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface to a 12×14″ rectangle. Combine the hazelnuts, brown sugar, sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl. Spread softened butter out across the dough , leaving a 1/2 inch border around the sides. Evenly sprinkle the hazelnut mixture over the dough.
  5. With one of the long ends closest to you, begin to roll the dough away from you, pinching the dough together at the end to seal your roll. Trim off any shaggy ends (no more than 1 inch) Using a sharp knife, cut 8 equal slices buns from your log of dough.
  6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Space out buns on a large sheet pan and cover again with a sheet of plastic wrap or a tea towel. Allow to rise for 25-30 minutes, or until buns are puffed and rounded. Bake in the oven until buns are golden brown, about 30 minutes. Allow to cool on pan for 10-15 minutes and then top with glaze.

To prepare the glaze

  1. Beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Add sugar and vanilla, beating until evenly combined. Add milk slowly, 1-1/2 teaspoons at a time, until desired consistency is reached. Add extra liquid to thin out frosting to a drizzling glaze.

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Recipe Adapted From: The Pioneer Woman

6 thoughts on “Hazelnut Cinnamon Rolls”

  1. Pingback: Bananas Foster Cinnamon Rolls - Wood and Spoon

  2. I’m chuckling to myself right now — as I too can smell the Cinnabons, amidst the scent radiating out of A+F. Oh the good year.
    Love your more mature rendition here, and though I’m a huge HUGE fan of cinnamon buns, I have yet to make them at home. I’m sensing a weekend project coming up soon….

    1. YOUTH!!!! WHERE DOES IT GO???? You should totally make some bunzzz, and check out TPW website for photos on assembly. She does a great step by step.

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