Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls and Christmas morning are a perfect match. Christmas Cinnamon Rolls is an easy recipe filled with gingerbread spices and brown sugar and topped with a silky cream cheese glaze.
Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
The holiday flavor of gingerbread combines with tender sweet cinnamon buns for a delicious way to start a holiday morning.
This cinnamon roll recipe is guaranteed to become your next holiday tradition.
Holiday cinnamon rolls can be made the night before and let come to room temperature while you're opening gifts.
Pop them in the oven while the kids are playing with their new toys and you'll have fluffy rolls with a brown sugar filling bursting with gingerbread spices, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg and topped with a silky cream cheese glaze in just minutes.
Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls just made your holiday morning perfect!
Fill your holidays with deliciousness with our easy Christmas recipes.
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Can cinnamon rolls be made ahead?
Rolls can be prepared one day ahead and baked the next morning. Just follow these simple steps:
- Arrange unbaked rolls in a prepared baking dish
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight
- Before baking, let rolls come to room temperature and rise until doubled in a warm place, about 1 hour
- Bake as directed in the recipe
How to make Christmas cinnamon rolls
Scroll down for the full recipe instructions and ingredient amounts in the recipe card below
- Roll out dough for cinnamon rolls
- Brush molasses evenly over top of dough
- Sprinkle dough with brown sugar and gingerbread spices
- Beginning at long end roll up dough
- Slice the cinnamon roll loaf dough into 12 rolls
- Arrange rolls in a casserole baking dish
- Lett rise
- Bake, frost and decorate!
Swirls of Flavor Recipe Tips
- Add dried cranberries to the brown sugar filling
- Add mini chocolate chips to the dough before baking
- Add finely chopped crystallized ginger to the brown sugar filling
Substitutions
- Substitute pumpkin pie spice for the cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg and make pumpkin spice rolls
Equipment
- mixing bowl
- measuring spoons and measuring cups
- glass measuring cup
- pastry brush
- rolling pin
- 13-inch x 9-inch baking dish
- chef knife
- hand mixer
Gingerbread Recipes
- Gingerbread Butter
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- Apple Butter Gingerbread Loaf from Dizzy Busy and Hungry
Easy Homemade Bread Recipes
- Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread
- Chocolate Banana Bread
- Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread from Jersey Girl Cooks
Ingredients for gingerbread rolls
- all-purpose flour
- granulated sugar
- quick-rising dry yeast
- salt
- milk
- butter
- eggs
- molasses
- light brown sugar
- ground cinnamon
- ground ginger
- ground cloves
- ground nutmeg
- cream cheese
- confectioners' sugar
- vanilla extract
- icing gingerbread people
Christmas Breakfast Ideas
Best Ever Crumb Cake is piled high with buttery crumbs and make with simple basic ingredients from your fridge and pantry. Trust me when I tell you that this is the Best Ever Crumb Cake you’ll ever taste! Every bite of our moist crumb cake recipe is heavenly when a rich vanilla-scented cake is topped with buttery cinnamon crumbs kissed with powdered sugar!
Italian Hot Chocolate is an easy recipe for the hot chocolate served in Italy, a rich chocolate that is thick, creamy and silky smooth. You’ll need a spoon to “drink” this hot chocolate and it’s so decadent you can even call it a dessert!
Cinnamon Bun Bread Pudding is a perfect addition to your holiday brunch menu! Every bite has the flavors of a cinnamon bun! Start with a brown sugar cinnamon butter layer topped with challah bread soaked in vanilla custard and finish it off with even more brown sugar mixture on top. Oh, and don’t forget the sweetened cream cheese that’s stuffed in the middle!
Berry Pink Lemonade Prosecco Punch is flavored with puckering raspberry lemonade and bubbly Prosecco and topped off with the sweet bursts of fresh berries and is as pretty as it is delicious!
Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls
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Equipment
Ingredients
Dough:
- 4 1/2-5 cups all-purpose flour , divided
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 envelopes (1/4 oz. each) quick-rising dry yeast
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 cup milk
- 6 Tbs. butter
- 2 eggs , lightly beaten
Filling:
- 4 Tbs. butter, melted
- 2 Tbs. molasses
- 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
Glaze:
- 4 ounces cream cheese , at room temperature
- 4 Tbs. butter , at room temperature
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 12 icing gingerbread people
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Instructions
Dough;
- Combine 2 cups flour, granulated sugar, yeast and salt in a large bowl.
- Microwave milk and butter until butter is melted and mixture is very warm, 128-130 degrees. Add milk mixture to flour mixture and stir until blended. Stir in eggs and add enough remaining flour until a dough forms.
- On lightly floured surface, knead dough until smooth, about 5 minutes, adding more flour if needed. Roll dough into a 20 x 16-inch rectangle.
Filling:
- Combine melted butter and molasses and mixture brush on dough to cover.
- Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg and sprinkle over dough to cover.
- Beginning at long end, roll up and pinch seam to seal. cut into 12 pieces.
- Grease a 9 x 13 baking dish and arrange rolls, cut sides up in baking dish. Cover and let rise in a warm place 1 hour or until dough has doubled.
- While dough is rising, preheat oven to 350F. After dough has risen, bake 25 minutes or until tops are golden.
Glaze:
- While rolls are baking, beat cream cheese and butter until blended. Gradually add confectioners' sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth. Spread glaze over warm rolls and top with gingerbread people.
Notes
- Arrange unbaked rolls in prepared baking dish
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight
- Before baking, let rolls come to room temperature and rise until doubled in a warm place, about 1 hour
- Bake as directed in recipe
- Add dried cranberries to the brown sugar filling
- Add mini chocolate chips to the dough before baking
- Add finely chopped crystallized ginger to the brown sugar filling
- Substitute pumpkin pie spice for the cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg and make pumpkin spice rolls
Nutrition
I am so excited to make this recipe for breakfast Christmas morning! I love a tasty, homemade cinnamon roll! I think I love the idea of a little gingerbread to the top even more!
Can you use something other than molasses?
You can use honey although it will change the gingerbread flavor a bit.