Biscoff Cinnamon Rolls
These fluffy cinnamon rolls are filled with a rich Biscoff cookie butter spread, which gives them a spiced cookie flavor! Top them with brown butter cream cheese frosting while they’re still warm! These flavor combinations create the most decadent cinnamon roll ever!
While I ran my home bakery for nearly 10 ten years, I made thousands of cinnamon rolls, plus many different sweet roll variations! After a big bake, I always had a few leftover for my kids – to their delight! As I tried new variations of sweet rolls like S’mores Rolls and Orange Sweet Rolls, they enjoyed them but nothing ever compared to my Homemade Cinnamon Rolls for them. Little did I know, I was creating little sweet roll connoisseurs…They are my harshest and best critics.
So when I shared this new Biscoff Cinnamon Roll with my teenage boys, I was shocked by their reaction. They gobbled them up and quickly said, “These are the best cinnamon rolls I’ve ever had!!” I knew then that I had discovered the ultimate cinnamon roll recipe!
What you’ll love about this recipe
- It uses my classic, delicious Master Roll Dough. If you’ve used this recipe for sweet rolls and for Crescent Dinner Rolls, then you know how GOOD it is! Sometimes, I’ll make a double batch of dough and make a dozen crescent rolls for dinner and a pan of cinnamon rolls for dessert!
- Biscoff. Need I say more? Biscoff is a cookie butter spread that has this spicy, cinnamon, cookie flavor. It’s so good and makes for a very flavorful and rich cinnamon roll! If you love Biscoff, this recipe is for YOU!
- Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting. This frosting absolutely makes this recipe! The buttery, nutty flavor from the brown butter creates a cinnamon roll that tastes like caramel! It’s unbelievable!
- Make ahead options. Be sure to read about my make ahead options for these sweet rolls towards the end of this post. You can enjoy Biscoff Cinnamon Rolls first thing in the morning without having to start from scratch!
Ingredients
There are some unique ingredients in this recipe that makes it so delicious! Each serves an important role in how this dough and these cinnamon rolls will turn out. (If you’re looking for these ingredients, click on the ingredient name in bold – it will take you to an Amazon link you can purchase from)
- Biscoff Cookie Butter Spread. Biscoff has a blend of rich and warm flavors like cinnamon, brown sugar, nutmeg and ginger. It’s so incredible! Optional: use crushed up Lotus Biscoff cookies to top the frosted cinnamon rolls.
- Bread flour: Most bread recipes will use bread flour. It has a higher protein content (11-13%) than an all-purpose flour. Higher protein flours also mean a higher gluten flour – yielding a bread with a strong crumb structure.
- Powdered milk: In baked goods it provides a creamier flavor and helps yield a more golden brown color when baked. Look for powdered milk that is fine in texture. If you are looking for a non dairy option, try using a milk powder substitute like coconut, soy or rice powder.
- Instant Yeast: It can be added directly to your recipe without having to proof first. It’s a strong, fast acting yeast that will allow these sweet rolls to rise super fluffy. I like to use BellaRise instant yeast or SAF instant yeast. If using active dry yeast, you will need to proof your yeast in the water first.
- Eggs: Eggs in bread help to create a fluffy, big rise. They are perfect for these rolls, since it’s meant to be soft and fluffy.
- Potato Flakes: Potato flakes in bread make the crumb more moist and tender. The starches in the potato flakes also help the dough to retain its moisture, extending the shelf life of homemade bread. Some regions do not have potato flakes. You can substitute this with plain, boiled and mashed potatoes, cooled to room temperature. You could also swap out the potato flakes with equal parts potato flour.
- Butter Flavor Shortening: Vegetable shortening yields a roll that has a lighter, fluffier texture. It gives the rolls a more rich, buttery flavor. If you can’t find the Butter Flavor Shortening, use plain shortening – it will still turn out amazing! If you prefer to not use shortening, replace it with equal parts unsalted butter.
- Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting. Gives these cinnamon rolls a caramel flavor!
Equipment
- Must have items: stand mixer, rolling pin, one half size baking sheet (13×18-inch).
- Nice to have: silicone pastry mat, bench scraper, parchment paper.
Making the dough
This dough is so easy to work with! It’s important to keep in mind that this is a soft roll dough – it may seem a bit sticky initially, but will become much easier to work with after its first rise.
- Measure out all of your ingredients ahead of time. I always do this when making a recipe – it helps to prevent me from making any mistakes in measurements or leaving out ingredients. It also makes the mixing process go much smoother. I always suggest weighing out your ingredients with a food scale – you will get much more accurate results!
- In a large bowl, combine the warm water, powdered milk, potato flakes, sugar, salt, yeast. Whisk them together – this helps to break up the powdered milk and potato flakes and gets all of those ingredients incorporated before adding the heavier ingredients. Pour the yeast mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Add the eggs, butter and shortening. Add 3 cups of the flour (about half) and mix on low, just until all of the ingredients are combined and smooth.
- While the mixer is on low, gradually add two cups of the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. This is where getting to know your dough comes into play. You’re looking for the dough to clean the sides of the bowl as it’s mixing. It should be concentrated around your dough hook. Once you get it to this point, stop the mixer and lightly tap on the dough with your finger. If it feels soft, but not wet and sticky & is cleaning the sides of the bowl, it’s ready to knead. Return to mixing it on low and allow your mixer to knead the dough for about 6-7 minutes.
- Once the dough is kneaded, it should be smooth and cohesive. It will be a bit sticky at this point. Grease a large bowl with nonstick cooking spray and place the roll dough in the bowl. Turn the dough so that all sides of it are covered in the nonstick spray. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm place in your kitchen until doubled in size, about 60-90 minutes.
At this point, you have a few options to make parts of this recipe ahead of time. Be sure to read about make ahead options at the end of this post.
While the dough is rising
Use this rise time to prepare the filling and the brown butter cream cheese frosting. You can prepare each ahead of time as well. Both the filling and frosting could be made up to one week ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator. Allow to come to room temperature before using. It’s important to note that you’ll want your frosting ready before the cinnamon rolls go into the oven. This frosting works best when you ice the cinnamon rolls warm.
To make the Biscoff filling:
- Combine the Biscoff, softened butter, brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. This can easily be mixed by hand. Cover it and set it aside until ready to use.
Go to my Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting post to see how to make this delicious frosting!
Filling and Shaping the cinnamon rolls
After the dough has risen until doubled in size, it’s time to roll it out, fill, and shape the cinnamon rolls.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface.
- Divide the dough into two equal pieces, about 28-30-ounce portions. If you don’t have a scale you can eyeball it. Round each portion to an oval shaped ball by pulling and tucking the dough under. This will make it easier to roll out into a rectangle.
- Flour your work surface and roll the dough out to a rectangular shape, about 10 inches by 18 inches and 1/4 inch thick.
- Spread the Biscoff filling onto the dough, leaving a clean 1-inch border at the top.
- Start with the long side, closest to you and working from left to right begin to roll the dough up. You can tug and pull as you go which will tighten the roll and make more swirls.
- Once it’s all rolled up, pinch the seam shut.
- Using a piece of dental floss or bakers twine, make a light indentation where your cuts will be. Each of these roll outs will give you 9 cinnamon rolls. This will be your guide to know where to cut and to help make them all the same size.
- When ready to make your cuts, slide the floss under one end of the dough, bring the ends of the floss up, cross them over and tug to cut through the dough to make a 2-inch-wide cinnamon roll. Continue to cut to get 9 equal sized rolls.
- Place rolls on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray or lined with parchment, about 1-2 inches apart. Repeat with second piece of dough. You should be able to get all 18 cinnamon rolls on one baking sheet. Cover with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap. Let them rise until puffy and pass the Poke Test (see notes), about 45-60 minutes. During the last part of this final rise time, preheat the oven to 350°F/177°C.
Baking
Bake the cinnamon rolls on the middle rack of your oven for 18-22 minutes. The edges of the rolls should be lightly golden. The Biscoff filling will slightly crust up on the surface. Don’t worry – these cinnamon rolls are soft and gooey on the inside!
Remove them from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Allow them to cool for about 5 minutes before frosting.
Frosting
Spread the brown butter cream cheese frosting onto the cinnamon rolls. If you only wait 5 minutes, they will still be warm, allowing the frosting to melt into all the cracks and crevices of the cinnamon rolls. Let them sit another 5-10 minutes and the frosting will set and look beautiful and glossy! And you’ll be able to see all of those gorgeous brown flecks from the brown butter!
We eat with our eyes first! Let’s go all-in on the Biscoff and add some crushed Lotus cookies on top of the cinnamon rolls! This will show whomever you’re serving it to, exactly what to expect when they bite into one of these delicious Biscoff Cinnamon Rolls!
The best way to serve these sweet rolls is slightly warm – they will melt in your mouth! Each bite tastes like a caramel, cookie butter delight!
Make ahead options
Here are a few ways you can prepare ahead of time to enjoy freshly baked cinnamon rolls without having to start from the very beginning!
- You can freeze rolls to bake for later: After rolling up and placing the rolls on a nonstick cookie sheet, put the entire pan in the freezer and allow the rolls to freeze for 24 hours. Once frozen, remove the sheet pan and you can pop them off, place them in a ziplock bag, and store in the freezer for later use. When baking frozen rolls, remove them from the freezer bag and place on a baking sheet. Allow them to rise at room temperature and bake as usual. This could take 3-5 hours, depending on how warm your kitchen is. You could also let them thaw on a baking sheet in the refrigerator overnight – plan on this taking about 12 hours. Remove them from the refrigerator and let them sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes while you preheat your oven.
- Make overnight cinnamon rolls: Roll out your cinnamon rolls in the evening, place on your pan and lightly cover with plastic wrap. Place them in the refrigerator. Allow them to proof in the refrigerator overnight and bake them the next morning! Overnight cinnamon rolls are a great way to enjoy them freshly baked without all of the work! Allow them to sit on the counter for about 30 minutes while you preheat your oven. It’s important to keep an eye on them – they ideally should not be in the refrigerator for more than 8-10 hours, or they may over proof.
- Make the dough the night before and roll up in the morning: Make the dough the night before and refrigerate: This can be a better option than rolling them up the night before IF your overnight cinnamon rolls tend to over proof. After you finish rolling them up, they will rise within 45 minutes and be ready to bake and frost!
Storing
Store your cinnamon rolls in an airtight container or cover with foil to keep them from drying out. They will stay fresh for up to three days. I really like to bake them in foil pans that have the plastic lids that snap on tightly. You can bake and store them in the same pan! Plus, it makes it easier to share your cinnamon rolls without having to get your pan back!
Other recipes you’ll love
Christmas Sugar Cookies with Buttercream Frosting
The Best Homemade White Sandwich Bread
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Biscoff Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Dough Ingredients:
- 2 cups warm water about 105°F/40°C)
- ¼ cup nonfat powdered milk
- ½ cup instant boxed potato flakes
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon instant yeast* plus 1 teaspoon (12g) instant yeast*
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- ¼ cup unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup butter flavored vegetable shortening
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 5-6 cups bread flour
Filling Ingredients:
- ⅔ cup Biscoff cookie butter
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter softened
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar packed
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting:
- ¼ cup unsalted butter cubed
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 pinch fine sea salt
- 1 pound powdered sugar
- 3-5 Tablespoons milk as needed
- Optional: 2-3 Biscoff Lotus cookies to crumble on top of finished cinnamon rolls
Instructions
Prepare the dough:
- In a large bowl, combine warm water, powdered milk, potato flakes, sugar, yeast and salt. Mix well with a wire whisk. Pour into the mixer bowl and secure the dough hook attachment to the mixer.
- Add the butter, shortening and eggs. Add 3 cups of the flour. Mix on low speed until ingredients are incorporated, about one minute. Stop and scrape down sides of bowl if needed.
- Turn mixer back on low speed, add the remaining 2 cups of flour, about 1/2 cup at a time. Allow each addition to fully incorporate. After adding the 2 cups of flour, let dough continue to mix for about 1 minute. Stop and scrape down sides of bowl if needed. If dough is not mostly cleaning sides of the bowl, add 1/4 cup of flour and mix until fully combined. Stop mixer and lightly tap on dough with fingertip. If the dough feels excessively wet and sticky, add another 1/4 cup of flour and fully combine. If the dough feels soft and tacky, but not wet, knead on low for 6-8 minutes until smooth and cohesive.
- Remove dough from mixer and place in a greased bowl. Turn the dough, coating all sides in the nonstick spray. Cover with clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 60-90 minutes.
Prepare the Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Add the cubed butter to a small saucepan. Melt on medium low heat. Allow it to come to a low simmer. Stir frequently to allow the butter to cook evenly. After about 4-5 minutes, you’ll see the butter start to brown and give off a slightly nutty aroma. Once you see small, golden brown speckles, remove the pan from the heat. (avoid over browning)
- Immediately pour the butter into a heat safe bowl and refrigerate until it becomes solid, about 1-2 hours. Allow the butter to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before using.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the brown butter and cream cheese until smooth, about 2 minutes.
- Add the vanilla and sal. Add half of powdered sugar. Mix on low until combined and smooth. Misture will be thick. Add 1-2 Tablespoons of milk to thin the mixture. Continue to add the remainder of the powdered sugar, alternating with just enough milk to yield a creamy frosting. Cover and set aside.
Prepare the filling:
- In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients for the filling with a spoon or rubber spatula. Stir until fully combined and creamy.
It’s time to roll:
- Divide dough into tow equal portions (about 28-30 ounces each). Round each portion to an oval shaped piece of dough by pulling the dough and tucking it underneath itself. This will make it easier to roll out into a rectangle.
- Flour work surface and roll dough out to a rectangle, about 10×18-inches.
- Spread half of the Biscoff Filling on the dough, leaving a 1-inch border on the top edge of the rectangle. Leaving this border will help in sealing the dough shut when rolled up.
- Star with the long side closest to you, and working from left to right, begin to roll dough up. You can tug and pull as you go, which will tighten the roll and make more swirls.
- Once it’s all rolled up, pinch the seam shut by pinching the edge of the dough to the roll.
- Cut the roll into 9, 2-inch cinnamon rolls (I find using dental floss makes the cleanest cuts!).
- Place cinnamon rolls on a 13×18-inch baking sheet, either sprayed with nonstick spray or lined with parchment paper. Space cinnamon rolls about 2 inches apart. Repeat steps 2-7 with the second piece of dough. You should be able to fit all 18 cinnamon rolls on one half size sheet pan.
- Cover and let rise until puffy (see notes for Poke Test), about 45-60 minutes. Towards the end of the rise time, preheat oven to 350°F/177°C.
Bake:
- Bake for 18-22 minutes or until edges are medium golden brown. Place pan on a wire cooling rack and let cool for 5 minutes.
Frost:
- Spread the frosting over the warm rolls. Allow them to sit 5-10 more minutes, letting the frosting set up. Sprinkle with crushed Biscoff Lotus cookies. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- *You can replace the instant yeast with active dry yeast – be sure to proof it first.
- Poke Test: When trying to decide if dough has risen enough for final proof, gently press on the side of the loaf with your fingertip. It should leave an indent that slowly springs back. That indicates the dough has risen enough and is ready to bake. If it does not leave an indent, it needs more time to rise. If it leaves and indent that never springs back it has risen too long.
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- You can freeze rolls to bake for later: After rolling up and placing the rolls on a nonstick cookie sheet, put the entire pan in the freezer and allow the rolls to freeze for 24 hours. Once frozen, remove the sheet pan and you can pop them off, place them in a ziplock bag, and store in the freezer for later use. When baking frozen rolls, remove them from the freezer bag and place on a baking sheet. Allow them to rise at room temperature and bake as usual. This could take 3-5 hours, depending on how warm your kitchen is. You could also let them thaw on a baking sheet in the refrigerator overnight – plan on this taking about 12 hours. Remove them from the refrigerator and let them sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes while you preheat your oven.
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- Make overnight cinnamon rolls: Roll out your cinnamon rolls in the evening, place on your pan and lightly cover with plastic wrap. Place them in the refrigerator. Allow them to proof in the refrigerator overnight and bake them the next morning! Overnight cinnamon rolls are a great way to enjoy them freshly baked without all of the work! Allow them to sit on the counter for about 30 minutes while you preheat your oven. It’s important to keep an eye on them – they ideally should not be in the refrigerator for more than 8-10 hours, or they may over proof.
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- Make the dough the night before and roll up in the morning: Make the dough the night before and refrigerate: This can be a better option than rolling them up the night before IF your overnight cinnamon rolls tend to over proof. After you finish rolling them up, they will rise within 45 minutes and be ready to bake and frost!
i made these for my Christmas morning breakfast. They great flavor and texture but i found that 22 mins baking time is not long enough. I didn’t think i made them too big but next time i will make them smaller
So glad you enjoyed these! Every oven bakes a bit differently, but now it’s great for you to know they need to bake a bit longer. I have found that as long as I let the edges get a medium light golden color, they are baked all the way through. Hope you continue to enjoy!