Coffee Rolls

MY BEST Cinnamon Roll, But Make It Coffee

I’ve been baking cinnamon rolls for years, tweaking and testing ratios of ingredients until I had dough that rose like a dream, filling that didn’t leak out, and frosting that slathered like silk. This particular recipe has been on my site since 2021, and like any good roll of dough, it’s only gotten better with time.

So, What Is a Coffee Roll?

Let’s get one thing out of the way: this isn’t just a cinnamon roll you eat with coffee. This is a cinnamon roll that tastes like coffee. Every layer is infused with espresso powder, meaning that slightly bitter, deeply aromatic flavor that defines your favorite cup of Joe is baked right into the structure of the roll. It’s the kind of roll that wakes you up with every bite (literally and figuratively).

And just because if you are a coffee lover, you are my people, please don’t miss coffee ice cream (no churn!), raspberry tiramisu, coffee brownies, and mocha cake. And coffee whipped cream for any and everything.

Coffee Roll Ingredients

The base for these coffee rolls is something you’ve seen before: it’s the standard yeast dough that I use as the base for all of my cinnamon rolls (also found here in funfetti cinnamon rolls, caramel rolls, cookies & cream rolls, cookie dough cinnamon rolls…).

COFFEE ROLL DOUGH

This dough is simple, it’s easy to work with, it’s completely reliable, and it’s the perfect canvas for some coffee.

COFFEE ROLL FILLING

The bitterness of the cinnamon is a wonderful complement to the bitterness of the coffee, and when put up against the sweetness of both white and brown sugars, these two parts of the taste spectrum come together to create a really robust and flavorful coffee cinnamon roll filling.

COFFEE ROLL FROSTING

Nothing fancy here, just my typical cream cheese frosting that I use on cakes and cupcakes, just thinned out a bit with some additional coffee (or water or milk/cream– whatever you prefer) to make it easy to spread:

ESPRESSO POWDER VS INSTANT COFFEE

These two ingredients are pretty similar, so the choice is up to you. The only real difference you might see is aesthetically.

Below, you can see coffee rolls made with espresso powder on the left (also on the left above). These are darker in nature, and the cream cheese frosting is a uniform brown color. On the right are rolls made with instant coffee granules (also on the right above), which tend to stay a little more intact creating a bit of a “speckled” look.

OVERVIEW: How to make Coffee Cinnamon Rolls

Make the dough: you’ll start by activating/blooming the yeast with warm water and granulated sugar, then add the rest of the wet ingredients (warm milk, espresso powder, vanilla, and an egg). To this, you’ll also add half of the flour, all of the salt, and all of the softened butter before the remaining flour. Just like biscuits and pie dough, adding the butter in pats to the flour will help create chunks of fat that melt in the oven and leave behind pockets of air (flakes!).

Prepare and add the filling: the filling for coffee rolls is just like the cinnamon-sugar filling you find in my traditional cinnamon rolls, but we’re adding some espresso powder.

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. Slice this into 6 evenly sized rolls, then place in a dish, cover with a towel, and allow to rise.

Frankly, I am always blown away by how good these coffee rolls are and how much I enjoy the bitterness of the bold coffee flavor. They’re not too sweet, certainly not boring in any sense of the word, and a really fun way to turn traditional cinnamon rolls into something a little snazzier.

More coffee? More rolls? Check out any of these coffee or cinnamon roll-inspired recipes: coffee cheesecake (with coffee whipped cream!), homemade cinnamon rolls (I also have a small batch cinnamon rolls recipe as well as a mini cinnamon rolls recipe), lemon poppy seed sweet rolls, and cappuccino cookies.