18 Unexpected Fillings To Add To Your Cinnamon Rolls
Cinnamon rolls are a breakfast food that's hard to dislike. What's not to love about the copious, twisted layers of soft, enriched dough, cinnamon sugar filling, and that sugary glaze on top? While cinnamon rolls are certainly a favorite for many, I find that people do not really get out of their comfort zone when it comes to making them at home. Once you've mastered a basic dough and filling, there is so much room for experimentation with a treat as simple as this one. And I'm not just talking about using a cream cheese frosting instead of the plain one. Rather, I'm talking about trying different textures, flavors, and pairings that can make a otherwise simple breakfast into something more sophisticated.
Using my experience as a home baker and cinnamon roll lover, I've compiled a list of some of my favorite fillings to use instead of (or in addition to) the classic cinnamon-sugar combo. While these suggestions may deviate from the definition of a classic "cinnamon" roll, they are nonetheless tasty, easy to make at home, and worth trying.
1. Cranberry sauce
Cranberry sauce is a Thanksgiving staple — there's no doubt about that. But it turns out that there are several better ways to enjoy this timeless spread beyond just the holiday season. When your cinnamon rolls are looking uninspired, consider giving them a step up by adding cranberry sauce to the filling. You can easily whip up a batch of extra fluffy cranberry cinnamon rolls using leftover cranberry sauce or by making your own from scratch.
The key to adding cranberry sauce to your rolls is to ensure that it's as paste-like as possible. Too much moisture will make your rolls soggy. Once your fruity filling is spread in the center, you can roll up your dough, slice it, and let it proof again. This is an excellent, tart filling to help you use up your Thanksgiving leftovers and to celebrate all this tasty fruit has to offer.
2. Crumbled Oreo cookies
The beauty of a cinnamon roll is that you can eat it for breakfast, as it's intended, or turn it into a sweet dessert just by modifying your fillings and toppings. For example, if you're after a more decadent treat, try adding crushed Oreo cookie pieces to your cinnamon roll filling. You can do this several different ways. The first is to crumble the cookies directly onto the surface and roll it up. Or you can create a cookie spread by combining the crushed cookies with a little bit of oil and heavy cream. If you're opting for the latter, you'll want to pulverize your cookies, as it makes them easier to spread on your dough.
Once your rolls are finished baking, serve them with a generous coating of cream cheese frosting and a sprinkle of cookie pieces on top. You could also use marshmallow creme instead, but I personally like the way the tangy cream cheese pairs with the sweet, cookie-filled pastries.
3. Lemon curd
"Light" is not a word that's commonly used to describe cinnamon rolls. But with a little recipe tweaking, you can easily make your cinnamon rolls fit for a springtime garden party.
Instead of turning to the classic cinnamon sugar filling, grab lemon curd instead. There are many creative ways to use this ingredient, as its creamy texture and mouthfeel makes it a great match for a whole host of desserts. Once your cinnamon roll dough is spread out in a sheet, add a thin coating of lemon curd to it. The tangy spread will contrast well with a sweeter icing, and you can really drive home the summery flavors by adding a little bit of lemon zest or candied lemon peel to the top of your pastries before serving them.
4. Cream cheese
If you've made your own homemade cinnamon rolls, you are probably no stranger to whipping up a cream cheese frosting to go along with them. But if you want to bring an extra moist edge to your recipe, the secret is to actually add the cream cheese to the inside of the pastry rather than making a topping out of it.
If you were to just open a block of cream cheese and spread it inside of your rolls, you may experience a ton of tearing and ripping. The better strategy is to whip your cream cheese in a stand mixer with a little bit of powdered sugar and butter before you spread it on the dough. These ingredients will balance out some of the tartness and will offer a cheesecake-like bite. The cheese will also help keep the buns extra moist and soft inside as they bake. Add extra cream cheese frosting on top for serving, if you'd like.
5. Maple cream and bacon
After living in Vermont for several years, I've come to appreciate not only maple syrup, but also its underutilized cousin: maple butter. It is 100% maple syrup, although its name might suggest that it also has dairy products added to it. Unlike sticky maple syrup, maple butter can be easily spread on the inside of your cinnamon rolls and rolled up. But don't just stop with this sweet addition; you may also want to consider adding a sprinkle of bacon to it to balance out those sweet flavors.
You're not going to want to add your bacon raw to your rolls as there is no telling if it will cook through in the short time that they are in the oven. Slice up some fully-cooked bacon and sprinkle it atop the maple butter before rolling the dough into a log and slicing it.
6. Peanut butter
Peanut butter is a decadently rich and creamy spread that deserves a spot in your cinnamon rolls, too. If you like things sweet, you could use the peanut butter in addition to the standard cinnamon-sugar spread. I would recommend warming up your peanut butter in the microwave so that it's easily spreadable. Chunky and creamy peanut butter are both great additions to your rolls.
The main reason why I like using peanut butter in my cinnamon rolls is because it helps contrast the sickly-sweetness of classic cinnamon roll filling. You can also pair it with chocolate chips to give your breakfast a Reese's spin. If you are a fiend for all things peanut butter, consider driving home that peanut flavor by mixing it into your icing, though this suggestion may be a little too rich for some people.
7. Blueberry compote
There are tons of fruity additions that you can use for your cinnamon rolls, but blueberries might be the best. For one, the fruit pairs well with cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves, which means you can make a more traditional cinnamon roll filling and add the fruity compote to it. Or you can skip the spices altogether and opt for a filling that's just juicy blueberry compote mixed with a little bit of lemon zest.
While compote-stuffed cinnamon rolls surely aren't "light" in terms of weight, the popping, bright notes from the blueberries will really elevate this treat and offer a sophisticated touch. If you're making your own homemade compote, you'll want to make sure that it has fully cooled down before you add it into your rolls. It will be very wet and dense, so be prepared for a little bit of a mess. I would recommend pairing your berry-stuffed rolls with a lemon glaze, as the citrus will cut through the heft of the rolls and complement the fruit well.
8. Sweetened condensed milk
Sweetened condensed milk is a great ingredient to keep on hand for a variety of recipes. But you may not have found out that you can use it for tasty cinnamon rolls until now. The key to adding condensed milk to your rolls is to use a gentle hand. The spread it already quite sweet, so using too much of it can cause your cinnamon rolls to be overwhelmingly sugary. Instead, you'll want to drizzle on a thin layer and use a spatula to spread it out across the dough — just avoid spreading it too close to the edges, as it will leak out and burn. Once your cinnamon rolls have been smothered in the sweetened condensed milk, carefully roll and cut them out.
The biggest thing you have to watch out for with these rolls is to keep an eye out for the any burning. Make sure you always bake with parchment paper, as this layer creates a buffer between the rolls and the hot metal pan.
9. Cookie butter
Is there anything that cookie butter can't do? Not only will it impart a creamy texture to your cinnamon rolls, but it will also add familiar spice notes, like cinnamon. Like peanut butter, you're going to want to warm up your cookie butter to make is easier to spread onto your dough. It has a consistency akin to natural peanut butter, so heating it up is an essential step in the process. Once your cinnamon roll dough has been doused with this spread, you can add a sprinkle of crushed Biscoff cookies for extra flavor emphasis, or throw the rolls in the oven as is.
Cookie butter is certainly sweet, so you may not need to add any extra icing to the top of these rolls. But if you do, I would recommend using something lightly sweetened or tangy, like a cream cheese icing, since it will help offset some of the sweetness of these rolls.
10. Mascarpone and coffee
Tiramisu is a classic Italian dessert, but who knew that you could blend it with a cinnamon roll and eat it for breakfast? Making a tiramisu cinnamon roll will take a little bit of effort, more so than the other selections on this list, but it will yield a pastry with a soft, cheesy bite with the familiar coffee flavors that you love.
You'll want to combine the mascarpone cream and very concentrated coffee for the filling. If you wanted to add a boozy twist, you could use a coffee liqueur like Kahlúa, but I would instead recommend just whipping a little bit of espresso powder into the mascarpone so that it doesn't make the filling too wet. You could also save some of the mascarpone for later and add it to your cinnamon rolls as a frosting; just don't forget that little sprinkle of cocoa powder on top before serving.
11. Cherries and almonds
Cherry and almond is a combination that you're more likely to find in a danish than a cinnamon roll, but you can certainly be a breakfast food trailblazer by stuffing your rolls with cherry pie filling or preserves. To infuse the almond flavoring here, you can add a little (emphasis on "a little") douse of almond extract and some slivered almonds. Almond extract is quite powerful, so accidentally adding too much can overpower the flavor of the cherries (and the pastry) entirely. You may also want to use amaretto in your cherry filling, as it will give you some beautiful, nutty notes and will complement the fruit.
Cherry filling is wet, so you'll want to avoid adding too much to the center of your rolls. These elevated cinnamon buns can be taken to the next level by adding an almond extract-infused frosting and a sprinkle of toasted almonds.
12. Caramel sauce
Cinnamon rolls normally have a sugary filling, but opting for something with a darker, more caramel flavor will elevate this treat even more. You can add the caramel sauce to your rolls in addition to, or in place of, the traditional cinnamon sugar filling. I personally like the contrast of the caramel sauce with the cinnamon (it gives it a little arroz con leche vibe), but you could cut back on the sugar by opting for an all-caramel selection.
Simply drizzle the syrup right onto the filling before rolling it up and slicing it. Like the sweetened condensed milk, you'll want to avoid adding too much caramel to your rolls, as it can leak out and burn or completely overwhelm your taste buds. If you want more balance, consider adding a little bit of salt to your caramel, or topping your rolls with chopped nuts (like pecans or walnuts) before serving them.
13. Chai spices
Chai spices are an excellent selection to add to your rolls if you want to upgrade them, but don't want to experiment to the nines with different fillings and spreads. The spices in this blend include cardamom, cinnamon, star anise, and cloves. It's much more complex than a standard cinnamon roll filling (which, as its name suggests, just includes cinnamon).
You can pick up a container of chai spices for this cinnamon roll upgrade, or opt to make your own blend. Since the only sweetness in the blend is the spices, you'll want to supplement your rolls by adding a sprinkle of sugar to them. If you want to draw out one of the flavors in this blend more than the others, like the cinnamon or the cardamom, you may want to add a little extra sprinkle of the respective spices to the rolls before you fold them. I personally would recommend trying a basic icing with these rolls, as the flavor inside of them is so beautiful and deserves to shine.
14. Apple pie filling
I'm a big fan of baking pies, and despite my years of experience making them, I always seem to end up with some leftover pie filling. While you can use your sweetened filling to make mini hand pies, the better way to make use of the leftovers is in your cinnamon rolls. Apple pie filling can impart that familiar cinnamon-sugar flavor, along with the soft bite of warm apples. Just be sure to chop your apples into small pieces for this filling, as you want to get a little piece of them in every bite.
Another reason why I like using apple pie filling in cinnamon rolls is because there is no wrong way to top them. A classic icing will elevate the sweetness of the fruit, though a maple-infused one would also be a great way to celebrate fall.
15. Edible cookie dough
I would venture to say that I like eating cookie dough more than I like eating baked cookies. As long as you make some simple swaps, like omitting the eggs and using heat-treated flour, you can easily make your normal dough safe to eat raw. And besides just eating it by the spoonful, you may also want to try schmearing it inside of your cinnamon rolls.
Edible cookie dough cinnamon rolls are bound to be a hit among the kids. Make sure that your cookie dough is well-whipped, as you want to be able to spread it easily on your rolls; using softened butter is the way to go. As long as you tuck the cookie dough well into your rolls, it should stay soft and molten, rather than turning into a cookie-cinnamon-roll hybrid bake. You can top these rolls with your icing of choice, or you may want to save some of that batter to schmear on top.
16. Jam
You don't have to spend a ton of time whipping up a fruit compote for your cinnamon rolls. The next time you want to add a fruity twist to them, just reach for a jar of jam. There are so many different types that you can use for this recipe, including raspberry, strawberry, blueberry, and peach. Jam is easy to spread and has just enough sweetness to perk up your rolls.
If you want to elevate these rolls even more, consider pairing your topping based on the fruity preserves that you use. If you use a blueberry or a strawberry jam, for example, you may want to complement your filling with a lemon-infused frosting. Or consider adding a drizzle of chocolate sauce on top of a raspberry jam-filled roll.
17. Freeze-dried fruit
Cinnamon roll filling isn't something that's often describe as being "textured." But if you can get your hands on freeze-dried fruit, you can give your pinwheels the satisfying crunch they've been craving. There are so many different varieties of fruit you can use, including strawberries, bananas, and raspberries. There's not much prep that you have to do either, just chop them up finely (if you're working with larger fruits) and add a sprinkle to your dough. Once the rolls are baked, you'll experience the colorful and flavorful pop of different fruits with every bite.
You can also double-up on the fruity flavor by adding some of the freeze-dried fruits to your dough itself, or use a compote or jam when you're ready to roll. Top your freshly-baked rolls with a decadent, gooey icing and a little bit of citrus zest to bring out the brightness of the fruits.
18. Pumpkin
There's nothing like waking up on a cozy fall morning to a batch of freshly-based cinnamon rolls. Instead of just opting for a plain Jane variety, consider adding a little bit of seasonal flair to your recipe. For your pumpkin cinnamon rolls, you'll need to combine your canned pumpkin purée with softened butter. This will make it easy to spread on your rolls. Add a sprinkle of the classic brown sugar and cinnamon filling on top, and roll and slice them up as usual. You can also use a piece of twine to create a pumpkin-shaped design, and place a little piece of cinnamon stick in the center to mimic the stem.
Pumpkin lends itself well to both regular cream cheese frosting as well as maple-flavored icings. This is one seasonal treat that you'll crave all year long.