Chai Cinnamon Rolls
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Soft, fluffy cinnamon rolls meet cozy chai spice in this tea-infused twist on a classic. Chai-steeped milk and a blend of warm spices flavor grace every layer all the way from the soft dough and the flavorful filling to the smooth cream cheese frosting slathered on top.
MY FAVORITE CINNAMON ROLLS INFUSED WITH CHAI
Chai spice is one of my favorite flavors to put into baked goods. Whether it’s a cake, homemade granola, oatmeal cookies, or baked donuts, it’s hard to resist that blend of warm spices that resemble cinnamon but that are so much more complex.
(Personally, cardamom is my favorite part of chai and the gateway spice that led me to putting chai spice blend into so many things. If you also love cardamom, give these cardamom rolls a try.)
A solid chai spice blend is borderline spicy, but in a comforting and cozy way, with particularly punchy highlights of ginger, cardamom, and cloves. Using an actual bag of chai alongside a careful blend of ground spices in the dough, filling, and cream cheese frosting bring a sweet and earthy flavor with notes of black tea to my beloved cinnamon roll base.
This tea-infused recipe uses my trusted cinnamon roll dough, scaled to a smaller batch of 6 rolls, but it doubles easily for a full dozen and can even be made into 24 mini rolls. The instructions are very straightforward and beginner-friendly, but if you’re new to yeasted rolls or breads, my guide to baking with yeast has step-by-step photos, tips, and a video to walk you through everything.
INGREDIENTS YOU WILL NEED
If you peek at the recipe card, you’ll see a lot of ingredients. Don’t panic! Most of them are spices, and since we’re using spices in the dough, filling, and frosting, they take up several lines in the recipe. Here’s a visual of what you’ll need for the dough, but be sure to check the recipe card for exact amounts you’ll need for each component of the chai cinnamon rolls.
INGREDIENT NOTE
You’ll want all of your ingredients to be at room temperature unless otherwise noted. Allow your ingredients to sit out for at least 45-60 minutes before beginning your recipe to ensure a cohesive dough and to create an environment where your yeast dough will thrive.
OVERVIEw: HOW TO MAKE CHAI SPICED CINNAMON ROLLS
Steep the tea in milk: this is an enriched cinnamon roll dough, which means we add milk, butter, and eggs. The instructions for just about all of my rolls start with blooming the yeast in water, but to keep these rolls rich and flavorful, we’re replacing that water with milk and infusing all of it with a bag of chai. This just takes 10 minutes!
Activate the yeast dough: activate the yeast with the infused milk. Normally, I’d add the sugar here, too, but since there are natural sugars in the milk, we’ll wait to add that. This will take about 5-10 minutes, and you’ll know it’s ready when it’s bubbly and foamy.
Make the dough: next, add the egg, salt, and spices. To this, you’ll add half of the flour and all of the softened butter before the remaining flour. Just the way biscuits and pie dough are nice and flaky thanks to the incorporation of butter, adding the butter pieces one at a time to the flour helps the chunks of fat that melt in the oven and leave behind pockets of air which means layers and flakes for your finished bake.
Allow dough to rest: my cinnamon roll dough does not require two rises, but it will need to rest a bit before it will take to shaping. This rest period allows the gluten to relax so that you can stretch and roll it into a rectangle more easily.
Roll into a rectangle: roll the dough into a 9″ x 12″ rectangle, or 12″ x 18″ for a double batch.
Prepare and add the filling: the filling for these rolls is the same cinnamon-sugar filling you find in my traditional cinnamon rolls but all spiced up with elements of chai.
Roll, slice, and allow rolls to rise: once you’ve filled your dough, roll it into a log starting with one of the long sides then slice it into 6 evenly sized rolls. Place the sliced rolls in a dish, cover them with a towel, and allow them to rise.
Bake the rolls: these rolls are lighter in color so you will be able to see them starting to turn brown when they’re approaching done. You want them to be golden!
Allow to cool briefly: give the baked rolls about 10-15 minutes to cool while you prepare the chai cream cheese frosting.
Make cream cheese frosting: this will only take you a few minutes if your ingredients are at room temperature before beginning. I like to spread the frosting onto the slightly-cooled rolls so it gets drippy and gooey. You can dust with some additional cinnamon or any other spices you want a little extra of.
WHAT IF I DON’T HAVE A BAG OF CHAI?
Not to worry! Though it is ideal for you to use a bag of chai, you can achieve a similar flavor by doubling the spices in the dough. You can also use caffeinated or decaffeinated chai, depending on your preference or what’s available to you.
Another option is to steep a bag of black tea in the milk and double the spices in the dough.
Honestly, out of all of the cinnamon rolls in my monthly series, and really all of the cinnamon rolls on my website, these chai cinnamon rolls are at the top of the list. Perhaps it’s because I’m such a sucker for chai, but it might also be that they’re so much like traditional cinnamon rolls with just a touch of something different. I don’t think you have to be a gigantic chai fan to appreciate their flavor, but if you are a chai fan, you are going to go bananas for these rolls, I can assure you that.
Chai Spice Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
DOUGH
- ½ cup (120mL) milk any
- 1 bag chai1
- 1 and ⅛ teaspoons (3.5g) dry active yeast or half of one packet
- 2 and ½ Tablespoons (32g) granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 large egg
- 2 and ¼ to 2 and ½ cups (270-300g) all purpose flour be sure to measure properly
- 3 Tablespoons (57g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature and cut into 4-6 pieces
FILLING
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (50g) firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter melted
CHAI CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
- 2 ounces (57g) full fat block cream cheese softened to room temperature
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ⅙ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¾ cups (90g) powdered sugar
- pinch of salt
Instructions
DOUGH
- Spray a baking dish2 with non-stick spray. Set aside.
- In a glass measuring cup with a spout, heat the milk until steaming, then steep the chai bag for at least 10 minutes. Remove the tea bag and discard.1 bag chai1, ½ cup (120mL) milk
- Pour the chai infused milk into a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the hook attachment, then sprinkle the yeast on top. Whisk with a fork, wooden spoon, or spatula and allow to rest and activate for 10 minutes.1 and ⅛ teaspoons (3.5g) dry active yeast
- Once the yeast mixture is active and bubbly, add the sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves, and egg. Whisk to combine.2 and ½ Tablespoons (32g) granulated sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground ginger, ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom, 1 large egg, ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- Gradually stir in flour. If using a stand mixer, use your dough hook. If mixing by hand, continue to use a wooden spoon. Add 1 cup of flour, allow dough to come together, then add the softened butter and continue to blend. When butter is mostly incorporated, add the remaining 1 and ¼ cups of flour and blend until dough has mostly come together. It may still be shaggy, but it should pull away from the sides of the bowl fairly easily.2 and ¼ to 2 and ½ cups (270-300g) all purpose flour, 3 Tablespoons (57g) unsalted butter
- Turn out dough on a floured surface and knead for about 8-10 minutes, adding flour about 1 Tablespoon at a time if the dough is too sticky, until smooth and elastic. Your dough should resemble the surface texture of PlayDoh when it is done. Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes while you prepare the filling.
FILLING
- In a medium size bowl, combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and cloves. Whisk or stir until well-blended. Set aside.¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar, ¼ cup (50g) firmly packed light brown sugar, 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, ½ teaspoon ground cardamom, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a rectangle approximately 9" x 12" in size. Dough will be very elastic, so be patient and keep rolling. There is no need to rush this step.
- When you have your rectangle, brush the melted butter evenly over the dough, leaving about ½" border around the edges. Sprinkle the spiced cinnamon-sugar evenly over the melted butter.2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter
ASSEMBLE AND BAKE THE DOUGH
- Starting with one of the long sides, roll the dough up into a tight 12" log. Use your fingers or palms on either end of the log to gently squeeze the log to "contain" the uneven ends. Using a sharp serrated knife and taking care to keep the seam side down, cut the log into 6 even slices. Don't worry if filling spills out.
- Place the slices cut side down in the prepared pan, gather any cinnamon-sugar that fell out, sprinkle over the rolls, then press down gently to flatten slightly. Cover loosely with foil or a kitchen towel. Allow rolls to rise for 1 and ½ hours.
- When roll dough has risen, preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC). Bake the rolls for 28-32 minutes or until rolls just start to brown on top. You can cover the rolls with foil to prevent browning, if desired. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes while you prepare the cream cheese frosting.
CHAI CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
- In a large bowl with a handheld mixer or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, cream cheese, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and cloves on medium-high speed until smooth.2 ounces (57g) full fat block cream cheese, 2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground ginger, ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom, ⅙ teaspoon ground cloves
- Turn the mixer speed down to low and add the powdered sugar. Add the salt and continue mixing until smooth.¾ cups (90g) powdered sugar, pinch of salt
- Spread chai spiced cream cheese frosting onto slightly cooled rolls and serve rolls immediately. Leftover rolls stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days or in the refrigerator up to 5 days. Reheat in the microwave for 8-10 seconds before serving. See notes section below for other storage and preparation suggestions.
Video
Notes
- Chai bag: while steeping a bag of chai in the milk is the most ideal method, if you don’t have one, you can just double the spices in the dough. Another option is to steep a bag of black tea in the milk and double the spices in the dough.
- Baking dish: I like to use either an 8″ square baking pan or an 8″ or 9″ round cake pan or pie plate. If using a square dish, arrange them in 2 rows of 3. If using a round pan, place one in the center and the other 5 evenly spaced around it.
- Make ahead: this dough can be made the ahead of time through step 1 of the “assemble and bake dough” instructions. Cover rolls with plastic wrap and allow to rest in the refrigerator overnight or up to 18 hours. In the morning (or when you are ready to bake the rolls), remove them from the refrigerator and allow to rise in a warm environment, about 1 hour. Continue with step 2 in the “assemble and bake dough” instructions.
- To freeze baked rolls: baked rolls freeze well, up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and warm before enjoying.
- Two options to freeze unbaked rolls: parbake the rolls for 10 minutes at 350°F (177ºC). Allow to cool completely, cover tightly, then freeze. Remove the rolls from the freezer and allow to thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Finish baking for the remaining 18-22 minutes before frosting and serving OR freeze them after slicing and pull them out the night before you want to bake them and allow them to thaw and rise covered at room temperature and bake when ready.
- Working with yeast: for a comprehensive look at working with yeast in a recipe, see my post about how to bake with yeast.
Nutrition Disclosure
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.