This Cinnamon rolls recipe is made from healthy, whole wheat chocolate and peanut butter dough, has NO butter and is made lighter with Greek yogurt! They’re so moist, soft and sure to be a crowd pleaser!
Can I just barge into your head for just a wee little second, and smoosh some thoughts into that brain of yours, that you may have not been thinking about?
I know that’s kind of a little bit, rude, invasive and treading on that whole “personal space bubble” shenanigans that I know a lot of you have BUT
Chocolate. Peanut. Butter. SWIRLED. CINNAMON. ROLLS.
WITH. Peanut. Butter. GLAYZZZZEEE
A cinnamon roll recipe is, wait for it, 100% whole wheat, have Greek yogurt, NO butter, and are still SO light and fluffy.
Fluffy like those white cats that they use in toilet paper commercials. Or is that paper towel.
Don’tknowdon’tcare.
I’m planting thoughts of cinnamon rolls in your brain. Not cats. Definitely not toilet paper either.
Moving on.
I have been waiting to share these rolls of cinnamon-sugary-peanut-butter-and-chocolatey-packed goodness with you guys for SO long.
But, you can’t rush perfection. So I shared that healthy cinnamon roll protein oatmeal with you first, while I worked on this cinnamon rolls recipe until it was PUURFECT. <– Cats. Stop.
Oh, and then I made it more times because, well, YUM.
Have you ever made your own cinnamon rolls? Or have you always been in the camp that Mr. Pillsbury makes some pretty darn good one, so you may as well just let him do his thanggggg, and not upset him or anything.
Can you imagine an upset Pillsbury dough boy? Poke me. And die.
Anyway.
Today I am telling you to put your grandma panties (Yes, I am looking at you people who just decided that I wasn’t taking to you because you don’t let the Pillsbury dough boy make your own cinnamon rolls, you let grandma do it.) and make your own.
Now that we’ve spent the past 260 words invading your personal space, chatting about fluffy kittens, squishy white creatures that laugh when you poke them and grandma panties, let me tell you 10 how to actually make this cinnamon roll recipe go from thought –> oven –> faceplant.
Step 1.. Make 2 separate bowls of dough. 1 for chocolate and one for peanut butter. Knead the dough. Read: get out your Taylor-induced hatred for making you dirty 2 BOWLS.
Step 2: Let the dough RISE UP and get poofy like a cloud. If clouds were made of flour. Continue hating Taylor for making you dirty two bowls AND knead two different kinds of dough.
Step 3: DO THE TWIST. This really just means that you can now twist both doughs together, and then roll it out.
Step 4. Spread (read: slather) melted peanut butter on the dough and COVER with brown sugar/cinnamon/mini chocolate chips. You know, like a healthy chocolate chip cookie! BUT, it’s a CINNAMON ROLL RECIPE. Psych!
Also resist the urge to curl up inside and roll yourself into an edible-cinnamon-sugar-covered-sleeping-bag-and-live-there-forever.Maybe test a few chocolate chips though. Quality control. You get it.
Step 5: Use DENTAL FLOSS to cut the rolls. Yes, you read that right. It works like a charm, and you will NOT have weird minty lingering tastes in your rolls. PINKIEZ SWEARZ. Just take a long strand, slide it under the width of one roll and then cross the ends over each other and pull down so that you get a clean slice. Repeat.
Step 6: Wait again. Continue hating Taylor for above mentioned things, as well as for all this waiting.
Step 7: FINALLY, you can bake them.
Step 8. Make more peanut butter glaze than any person needs (that’s key) and then DRENCH rolls in above mentioned glaze.
Step 9: Eat all the Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirled Cinnamon Rolls in one sitting. You know, because everyone knows they’re best fresh. TAKE ADVANTAGE.
Step 10. Feel totally silly for all the hatred of Taylor that was produced during the process, because these rolls are making your taste buds fall off your face, and mail her 1 billion dollars worth of IHOP coupons to make up for it.
Step 10 was a joke.
But I might be lying.
Seriously though. BUNZ.
Ingredients
For the Regular Dough:
- 1 cup White Whole Wheat Flour Plus 1 tablespoon (5.3 ounces)
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 package Red Star Platinum yeast About 1 teaspoon
- 3 tablespoons Water
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Honey
- 1 tablespoon Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
- 1 tablespoon Coconut Oil
- 2 tablespoons Plain Greek Non Fat Yogurt
- 1 tablespoon Egg Whites
For the Chocolate Dough:
- 1 cup White Whole Wheat Flour 5 ounces
- 2 teaspoons Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 package Red Star Platinum yeast About 1 teaspoon
- 1/16 teaspoon Baking Soda A small pinch
- 3 tablespoons Water
- 2 tablespoons Honey
- 1 tablespoon Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
- 1 tablespoon Coconut Oil
- 2 tablespoons Plain Greek Non Fat Yogurt
- 1 tablespoon Egg Whites
For the Filling:
- 3 tablespoons Natural Peanut Butter
- 1 teaspoon Coconut Oil
- 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon Granulated Sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Brown Sugar Packed
- 3-4 tablespoons Mini Semisweet Chocolate Chips
For the Glaze:
- 2 tablespoons Natural Peanut Butter
- 2 tablespoons Reduced Fat Cream Cheese Softened, not light
- 1/2 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup Powdered Sugar Sifted
- 1-2 tablespoons Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk Depending how thick you want it
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, mix together the dry ingredients for the regular dough (the flour, salt and yeast.) Do the same in a separate medium bowl with the dry ingredients for the chocolate dough (the flour, cocoa powder salt, yeast, and baking soda.)
- In two separate, microwave safe, measuring cups heat the water, honey, almond milk and oil until it reaches 110-120 degrees F. You don’t want it hotter than that or it will kill the yeast. Mix each honey/oil mixture into each bowl, adding the Greek yogurt and egg white. Stir each dough until the Greek yogurt is well mixed and the dough is soft, and a little bit sticky.
- Turn the regular dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 4 minutes until soft and elastic. Spray the bowl that it was in with cooking spray and place it back inside to let it rest. Repeat the kneading with the chocolate dough* and then let rest for 10 minutes.
- Once the doughs have rested, roll them each between your hands, and then twist them together to form a rope. Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface to a 14×8 inch rectangle.
- In a small bowl, melt the peanut butter and coconut oil and smooth. Mix well and spread out onto the rolled dough, making sure to really cover it.
- Ina separate small bowl, mix together the cinnamon, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Spread the sugar mixture all over the peanut butter, using your fingers to really rub it in. Sprinkle the mini chocolate chips over top, lightly pressing into the dough.
- Tightly roll the dough up and cut into 11 buns. You can use a very sharp knife or, my favorite, dental floss. Just slide the floss under the dough, and then cross each side over top of each other at the top of the roll and pull down to make a smooth slice.
- Spray a 9inch circular baking dish (I used a pie dish) with cooking spray and place the rolls inside. Cover lightly with tinfoil and let the buns rise in a cool, dry place for 90 mins.
- Preheat your oven to 375°F and bake the risen rolls for 10 minutes, lightly cover with tinfoil to prevent too much browning, and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes until lightly browned.
- While the buns bake, whisk together the peanut butter, softened cream cheese, vanilla, powdered sugar and almond milk until smooth. Make sure the cream cheese is nice and soft or you will have chunks in your glaze.
- Pour the glaze over the buns and serve immediately!
Tips & Notes:
You can easily get away with half the glaze if you don’t like your cinnamon buns swimming.
If you don’t want to go through all the trouble of make them swirled, just double the regular dough. You can’t double the chocolate dough as any more cocoa will kill the yeast, as it is acidic.
The chocolate dough is a little bit stickier than the regular, so you may need to generously flour your surface
Nutrition Info:
Recipes written and produced on Food Faith Fitness are for informational purposes only.
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