Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls

Can I interest you in a cinnamon roll? How about a gingerbread cinnamon roll?

This recipe is amusing to me because my husband actually had quite an opinion about it. In his mind gingerbread and cinnamon were not friends. Then we both started proving each other wrong by finding recipes and products that did or did not contain cinnamon. Apparently neither of us likes to be wrong. And I wonder why we have such stubborn kids. But we both love cinnamon rolls, so I basically ignored him and went forward with my plan. I think everyone in the house, including my husband, would agree that these were incredibly good (even with some cinnamon in them!). Even my “not so sure about gingerbread” daughter loved them.

I was inspired to go with gingerbread because back in June when I visited Duncan Hines, I got an early taste of their Gingerbread Flavor Mix for Frosting Creations. I was shocked at how much I loved it – I’m not a huge gingerbread person, but it was so good, and after months of waiting, it’s finally in stores and time to bake with it. We love the other cake mix cinnamon rolls I have made, so I stuck to that recipe with some tweaking that included the addition of ginger snaps and molasses.

Don’t forget to enter to win the Duncan Hines Frosting Creations & Wilton Cake Decorating Prize Pack that I’m giving away – you’ll get your own Frosting Creations starter and Gingerbread Flavor Mix included in the prize!

To really pack in the ginger flavor, instead of just using cinnamon and sugar for the filling, I ran some ginger snap cookies through my food processor, turning them into a fine crumb, and including them in the cinnamon roll filling. It adds a bit of texture (a little crunch) and certainly kicks up the gingerbread flavors.

You’ll have to forgive the more grainy photos – when I started to make these I realized my camera battery was completely drained and thus the cell phone had to step in for the “how to” shots. After a nice slathering of butter, a generous coating of ginger snap cookie crumbs…

Followed by some cinnamon and sugar. You can use white or brown, but I went with brown sugar for these.

 Here is the recipe…

Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls

No ratings yet

Author Christi Johnstone

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Bring the taste of Christmas to your table with these easy Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls!

Print

Pin It

Share

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 55 minutes mins

Servings 24 Cinnamon Rolls

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

Cinnamon Roll Dough

• ▢ 1 box of Duncan Hines white or yellow cake mix
• ▢ 2 packages of dry yeast approx 4 1/2 tsp
• ▢ 2 1/4 cups of warm water
• ▢ 1/2 cup molasses
• ▢ 1 tsp salt
• ▢ 1 tsp ground ginger
• ▢ 5 cups flour

Filling

• ▢ 1 1/2 cups gingersnap crumbs you will most likely need to buy gingersnaps and run them through your food processor
• ▢ 1 to 1 1/2 cups brown sugar you can use white sugar as well
• ▢ Cinnamon - go with as little or as much as you would like
• ▢ 1/2-1 cup butter softened

Frosting

• ▢ 1 can Duncan Hines Frosting Creations Frosting Starter
• ▢ 1 packet Duncan Hines Frosting Creations Gingerbread Flavor Mix

Instructions

• 1. Mix yeast and warm water until dissolved.
• 2. Combine cake mix, salt, ginger & flour in a large bowl.
• 3. Add warm water/yeast mixture and molasses to cake mix, salt, ginger and flour mixture. Mix well. This will most likely require kneading/mixing with your hands a bit to completely combine ingredients.
• 4. Cover tightly. Let rise for one hour. Punch down and let rise again for another 30-60 minutes.
• 5. On a floured surface, roll dough into a rectangle shape, approx 1/4? thick.
• 6. Once dough is rolled out, brush with softened butter. I found that about 1/2 a stick was adequate for this recipe, but you could use more (or less) if desired.
• 7. Sprinkle with crushed ginger snaps, followed by brown (or white) sugar. Sprinkle with cinnamon – use as little or as much as you like.
• 8. Starting at end opposite from you, roll the dough towards you until all dough is rolled into one long piece.
• 9. Slice dough into 24 equal sized pieces.
• 10. Place rolls in two greased 9×13 pans. Cover and let rise until doubled in size. I usually sit my rolls on my stove top while my oven preheats to 350 degrees. This allows them time to rise and provides a bit of warmth from the oven warming.
• 11. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-25 minutes or until golden brown. My rolls took approx 22 minutes. This will depend on your stove and your preference for how brown you like your cinnamon rolls.
• 12. Remove from oven and let cool slightly.
• 13. Prepare your Frosting Creations Gingerbread frosting. If you prefer your frosting to melt into your rolls, frost after rolls have cooled for about 5-10 minutes. If you prefer your frosting to stay on top of your rolls, wait until rolls have cooled until frosting. If desired top with sprinkles and enjoy!

Notes

Frosting Creations has been discontinued since this post was written in 2012. You can frost with a standard cream cheese frosting or add a touch of cinnamon and ginger to any vanilla frosting recipe.

Nutrition

Calories: 311kcal | Carbohydrates: 62g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 10mg | Sodium: 322mg | Potassium: 189mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 29g | Vitamin A: 118IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 84mg | Iron: 3mg

Disclaimer

Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Tried this Recipe? Pin it!Mention @LoveFromTheOven or tag #LFTORecipes!

And if that doesn’t give you your fill of cinnamon rolls, here are a few other recipes to try…

And don’t miss the Cinnamon Roll Bites From Other Blogs for a great collection of cinnamon roll recipes from other bakers and bloggers! And head over to this post to enter to win the great prize pack from Duncan Hines and Wilton Cake Decorating!