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These Gingerbread Spice Cinnamon Rolls have a maple frosting and are the perfect way to get in the spirit of the holidays!
Do y’all do anything special on Thanksgiving morning? Watch the parade? Play a game of family football? Make a special breakfast?
You see, we’ve never had any Thanksgiving morning special traditions. It was always about the getting ready for dinner: getting the turkey ready, watching my mom and dad make knoepfle (spatsul). Since we’ve lived here in Northern California, we usually travel on Thanksgiving Day to whichever set of grandparents is hosting dinner.
When I asked Facebook last week, so many people said they make cinnamon rolls, watch the parade, and look at the ads for Black Friday. I never thought about cinnamon rolls on Thanksgiving. But now? Now I will.
And I think these Gingerbread Spice Cinnamon Rolls need to be the first traditional Thanksgiving breakfast we make. Because what better way to get in the holiday spirit than with gingerbread?
These cinnamon rolls are made using my favorite dough recipe. I’ve made Peanut Butter Cinnamon Rolls and Zucchini Cinnamon Rolls with this same dough. It works perfectly every time I make it. It’s a rich buttery egg dough, perfect for a cinnamon roll.
My favorite part of these cinnamon rolls is the filling: it’s gingerbread spice. Brown sugar, molasses, allspice, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger all mix with butter and are rolled inside the dough. The filling really does taste like a gingerbread cookie!
The hardest part about making cinnamon rolls is waiting for the dough to rise, especially in the morning. Here’s a trick for you: I make my rolls the day before. This dough rises in about 2-4 hours, depending on the warmth in your house. It needs to double in size. If your kitchen is warm from baking or it’s summer, it’ll take less time than if your house is cold in winter. Start the dough midday sometime before you want them served. Once it’s risen, roll it out and fill it. Slice your rolls and add them to your pan.
Note on roll size: you can make 9 larger rolls in a 9×9″ pan, or 12 smaller ones in a 9×13″. Your choice!
Then, usually around dinner time, the rolls are done and in the pan. I cover them with plastic wrap and place them in the refrigerator. In the morning, I take them out of the fridge and uncover them. Preheat the oven and set the pan near it, so they can start to come up to room temperature. Then you bake them – without having to get up at 3am. This is especially helpful on Christmas morning!
You can also make your maple frosting ahead of time. I love, love, LOVE maple. I think the combination of gingerbread + maple is amazing for these rolls. The frosting is super simple to make and really takes them to the next level. If you make it the day before, store it in the refrigerator. Take it out when you take out the rolls. If it’s still too hard to spread when the rolls are ready, you can heat it for about 5-10 seconds in the microwave. Stir, then see if you need to heat it again. Don’t heat it too much though, or it’ll melt!
These rolls are perfect for any occasion!
Especially for reading Black Friday ads. Now that’s what Thanksgiving is all about, right? #not
Enjoy!
Gingerbread Spice Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
For the Dough:
- 1 package active dry yeast about 2 1/4 teaspoons
- 3/4 cup warm non-fat milk heated to about 120 degrees, about 30-45 seconds in the microwave
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons butter softened
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 3 cups all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
- Paddle attachment & dough hook for your mixer
For the Filling:
- 6 tablespoons butter softened
- 1 tablespoon molasses
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 tablespoons flour
- For the Frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- 2 tablespoons butter softened
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon maple extract
Instructions
- Make the Dough: Place milk in a microwave safe measuring cup. Heat for 30-45 seconds in the microwave, until it’s about 110 degrees. Add yeast and stir. Let it sit for a few minutes.
- Place sugar, butter, salt, and egg in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix until the butter is distributed throughout the liquids, although it may be chunky. Pour in the milk/yeast mixture and stir for a few seconds.
- Add flour and stir with the paddle attachment just until the mixture starts to stick to the paddle. Then replace the paddle with the dough hook. Continue mixing on low speed until the dough forms a ball in the center of the bowl.
- Spray a large bowl with cooking spray and place the dough ball in it. Spray the top of the dough ball with cooking spray (lightly) and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let sit for 2-4 hours until it doubles in size.
- Note on rising: if your house is warm, it should rise no problem. If it’s cold in your house, it may take longer for the dough to rise, so plan accordingly!
- Prepare your Rolls: Stir together butter, brown sugar, flour, and spices until it forms a paste.
- Once the dough is risen, roll it out on a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle, about 12” by 9”. Spread the filling as evenly as possible over the rectangle, making sure to reach to the sides so the outer rolls have enough filling.
- Roll the dough up tightly from the long end. Slice it into 9 equal rounds. Place the rolls into a 9” pan or 9 1/2” round pie plate that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
- At this point, you can let them rise for about 30 minutes-1 hour until they are swelling up in the pan and bake as directed. Or you can do what I do: cover with plastic wrap and stick in the refrigerator overnight until ready to bake.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. If the rolls have been in the refrigerator, remove them and let them warm up while the oven is preheating. Remove the plastic wrap and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until they are golden brown.
- Make the frosting: Mix cream cheese, butter, and maple syrup with a hand mixer until well blended. Mix in powdered sugar and cinnamon until smooth, stir in vanilla and maple extract. Frost rolls and serve warm.
Sweets from friends:
Maple Bacon Cinnamon Roll Whoopie Pies by The Domestic Rebel
S’mores Rolls by Chef-in-Training
Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls by Something Swanky
Last Updated on February 2, 2023
Dorothy, you are incredibly creative. Gingerbread cookies (in the form of cinnamon rolls for breakfast? Girl, I LOVE your style!! Even more than I adore those gorgeous spice swirls inside of the rolls. We might switch up our typical coffee cake Christmas morning breakfast this year! 😉
I wish I was allowed to switch up my Christmas morning routine, lol! 🙂
Jordan is too funny! What if you proposed to make the 12 Days of Christmas Breakfast? Then could you use the actual day of Christmas to make something new?
I usually wake up and start making the desserts for the Thanksgiving feast later that night. However, this year I’ll make sure to bake a pan of these babies.
You’re so brave to make dessert that morning! 🙂 Thanks Nicole!
You’re in California too, huh? I’m in the SF Bay Area. 🙂 I don’t usually watch the parade…I’m more into football…but I’m always in the kitchen getting things ready. I’d love to start Thanksgiving Day…or ANY day…off with these. I’m a huge fan of gingerbread anything, so these are getting pinned!
I grew up in Burlingame, and I so wish we could still live there! We’re outside Sacramento now. But my parents are still in the Bay Area and we go often…we’re actually here now! 🙂
Gingerbread and cinnamon rolls are two of my favorites! Like I could go to TOWN on these babies. And the frosting. Girl. Pinned but I really just wish I could dig in!!!!
I wish you could too! That frosting was face-plant worthy. 🙂 Thanks for the pin!
These are just amazing! Gingerbread and cinnamon rolls just scream Christmas and I LOVE that! These look insanely good and buttery and just perfect!
Thanks Tieghan!
your dough looks just perfect! we love watching the parade, but now I may need to add cinnamon rolls to our traditional breakfast
Thanks Heather!
Love the flavors in these cinnamon rolls. Can you drive to by Michigan and drop some off for me 🙂 The last two years we ran a 5k on Thanksgiving morning. Crazy! This year we are suppose to get another 6-10 inches of snow. Snow plus running does not go well together.. so I plan to watch the parade on TV 🙂
That’s awesome, the running! I am never motivated to exercise on Thanksgiving!
Holy MOLD these look incredible!!!!! Good thing I’m on a juice fast so I can eat with wreckless abandon on Thanksgiving. So gotta make these! 😉
OMG I mean Holy MOLY – obviously Holy Mold is not a compliment…. ha ha!
LOL! Thank you Brittnee!
Oh my Dorothy, these cinnamon rolls look absolutely incredible! I can almost taste the spicy molasses filling! We don’t typically have many Thanksgiving traditions besides cooking and eating but these cinnamon rolls might have to become one!
Thanks Veronica!
These look entirely incredible! We don’t have too many traditions on Thanksgivinf except getting the food ready and watching the parade. These sound wonderful!!!
Thanks Nancy!
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