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One of my most requested recipes is my chai spiced cinnamon rolls that I made on MasterChef during the first elimination challenge! The dough recipe I used on the show was a quick bread made without yeast for the purpose of time so they weren’t as soft as I would like! These cinnamon rolls are made with a yeasted dough which means they are super fluffy and soft.
P.S I have a cardamom and orange cinnamon bun recipe in my cookbook! One of the best parts of growing up in Jersey for me was hanging out at the mall with my friends. My teenage metabolism allowed me to indulge in mall food on a weekly basis, this included Cinnabon. Granted I could never eat one on my own and always ended up sharing it with a few of my friends, it was the best part of my week with my girlfriends.
The rolls are super soft and airy and the espresso and spices really add a nice warmness to the cinnamon roll which cuts the sweetness nicely. If you give these a try be sure to tag me or share your photos with me!
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Dirty Chai Cinnamon Rolls
- Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Soft fluffy Chai cinnamon rolls drizzled with a espresso icing
Ingredients
- 1 cup (244 g) warm milk
- 1 1/2 (6 g) tsp yeast
- 3 tbsp (43 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 3 tbsp (38 g) granulared sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 2 cups (250 g) all purpose flour
- 1 3/4 cup (240 g) bread flour
FILLING
- 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (55 g) dark brown sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 1/4 tsp freshly ground cardamom
- 1 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground clove
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
ESPRESSO ICING
- 1 tbsp milk
- 1 tbsp strong espresso
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cup (210 g) powdered sugar
Instructions
- In a small bowl add warm milk, yeast and a pinch of sugar. Mix well and set aside
- In the bowl for a stand mixer, add unsalted butter, sugar, and salt. Mix well. Add eggs and yeast/milk mixture and mix until combined. Fit your stand mixer with a dough hook. Add all-purpose and bread flour to the wet ingredients and mix for 7 minutes or until the dough is smooth and slightly tacky.
- Place the dough ball into a clean greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a tea towel. Proof for 90 minutes or until double in size.
FILLING
- Mix all the ingredients except the butter in a bowl until well combined.
ASSEMBLE
- Roll the dough out into a 15 x 12-inch rectangle. Brush with half the melted butter. Sprinkle the filling mixture over the dough into an even layer. Drizzle the rest of the butter on top.
- Roll the dough along the long side into a tight roll. Cut the roll into 1 1/4 inch slices and place the rolls cut side down onto a greased 9×13 baking pan. Cover with plastic wrap and proof for 1 hours or until it’s doubled in size.
- Bake the dough at 350 F for 30 minutes and cool for 15 minutes.
- While the buns are cooling, make the icing by whisking all the ingredients into a smooth paste. Drizzle on top of the buns and enjoy!
Notes
To make eggless, substitute eggs with 1/2 cup of silken tofu.
- Prep Time: 120 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Category: Dessert, Breakfast
- Cuisine: American, Indian
