Today, I’ve got a chocolate twist on a classic treat! My homemade chocolate cinnamon rolls are actually super easy to make and most of the prep time is just waiting on dough to rise. These delicious treats will impress anyone and are the perfect dessert for any chocoholic!
Cinnamon rolls are one of my favourite treats to eat and bake. I don’t make them weekly generally as it is a more time consuming process, although simple, plus they’re so hard to resist! Even though they take longer than just using a frozen dough, I promise, the extra effort is so worth it. These chocolate cinnamon rolls have the softest, most delicious yeasted dough and always come out super fluffy. Pack them with gooey chocolate filling and you have the best treat.
These chocolate cinnamon rolls are a great dessert for any occasion but also make for a great breakfast treat. Prep these the night before so most of the work is done and then you’ve got an amazing breakfast. These are essentially just my original cinnamon roll recipe with chocolate added. I absolutely love chocolate with spices and I hope you will too.

If you’d like a simpler chocolate treat with spices, try my amazing chocolate cinnamon cream cheese frosting! One of my all time favourite recipes and you can top it on my easy chocolate cupcakes or my simple vanilla cupcakes, both of which can be ready in about 30 minutes.
Is My Dough Kneaded Enough?
The easiest way to tell, whether kneading by hand or with a machine, is to do the windowpane test. To do this, pull a small piece of dough off and slowly pull it apart. Hold it up to the light as you do it. If it stretches thin so you can see the light through, it’s ready. If it just tears, then you haven’t developed enough gluten and you need to continue kneading.
Is My Dough Proofed?
The best way to tell if your dough is proofed, besides trying to gauge if it’s doubled in size is the poke test. Poke your ball of dough and if it springs back quickly, its’ underproofed. If it slowly springs back, it’s proofed and if it doesn’t spring back at all, it’s overproofed.
Frying the Dough Ends (AKA, making Toutons!)
In trying to make my rolls look nice and be even, I cut the messy ends off once I’ve rolled the dough with the filling in it. I didn’t want to just throw this out so I decided to fry it. Let me tell you, I look forward to this every time I make any kind of sweet roll now. It’s basically a fancy touton, which is Newfoundland fried bread dough.
Follow these steps to make them:
- Cut the sloppy ends off, about an inch thick. Set them aside to cook for after you’ve finished cutting your rolls and placed them in a pan to proof.
- Once you’re ready to cook them, heat up a frying pan over medium heat with a little oil or butter. Place the ends in, spiral side up.
- Let them cook for 2-3 minutes before flipping. You want each side to be browned and golden in colour. To ensure they’re fully cooked through, because they’re so thick, I flatten them a bit with my spatula. This will also tell you if they’re fully cooked. If they flatten easily, then the dough in the middle is still raw, which I do not recommend eating.
- Continue cooking until both sides are golden and the middle feels more firm. Don’t overcook them either though or you’ll end up with cinnamon croutons. There you go, you’ve made what I like to call a cinnamon roll touton!

What Type of Icing?
You can ice these with anything you like but I prefer cream cheese frosting. I used chocolate cream cheese frosting but if you’d prefer plain cream cheese frosting, use my frosting from my regular cinnamon rolls here.
You could also top these with a plain icing or chocolate icing but this will add more sweetness.
Can I Make These the Night Before?
Yes!! I’ve made these the night before and let them proof overnight multiple times and nobody could tell the difference.
If you do want to do this to save time, you’re going to do everything the same except for the following:
- Once you have the sliced rolls and put them in the pan, you’re going to cover them with saran wrap and place them in the fridge. They will then do part of their second proof overnight.
- Let them proof for 8-12 hours in the fridge, absolute max, 16 hours. Pull them out about 1-2 hours before you want to bake them. They should be double in size before baking.
- Preheat your oven to 375℉ and then pour your warmed whipping cream over the rolls prior to putting them in the oven. Then bake for 20-30 minutes or until they start to turn golden brown and are no longer soft to touch.

Can I Make These Dairy Free?
I haven’t tried using vegan butter or cream but I have replaced the milk with oat milk and couldn’t tell the difference. If you try other dairy free ingredients, let me know how they turn out!
How to Properly Measure Flour
So when it comes to measuring flour, the most accurate and easiest way is to use a kitchen scale. I always use a scale and could never go back to measuring in cups. It’s such a hassle and way more dishes!
If you don’t own a scale, there are a couple steps to properly measure flour as it becomes compacted just sitting in the bag or container. I highly recommend you follow these as just scooping flour out of the bag can potentially lead to at least an additional 1/4 cup of flour. This equals dry and dense baked goods which is not what anybody is going for.
1. Fluff the flour by giving it a mix with a whisk or fork.
2. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup.
3. Level the excess flour off using a butter knife. (With the back of the knife level to the top of the measuring cup, run it over top, pushing the excess flour back into it’s container.)
4. Repeat until you’ve measured the amount the recipe calls for.

Baking Tips
- I highly recommend pouring the whipping cream over the rolls prior to baking as this helps keep the rolls soft and fluffy and creates a more gooey filling.
- For best results, ensure all your ingredients are room temperature. This allows your ingredients to incorporate into each other leading to a much better bake and texture.
- See “Is my dough proofed” above for an easy guide to know when it’s ready.
- See “Is my dough kneaded enough” above to know when it’s ready to proof.
- To help all the rolls bake evenly, I cut the sloppy ends off each side once I’ve rolled the dough. DON’T throw out these scraps though! You can fry them up and eat them and they are scrum-diddly-umptious! See “Frying the dough ends” for more information!
- I create my recipes based off weights so I recommend measuring by weights if you own a scale. It’s actually so much easier and makes for much less cleanup. I wish I had baked by weight from the beginning, I could never go back now.

More Spiced Treats
Today’s song is a remix by Kygo who’s always fun to listen too when baking. Here’s Higher Love by Kygo and Whitney Houston. Happy baking!! **Disclaimer: Liv’s Little Muffins owns no rights to this song.
Don’t forget to leave a STAR REVIEW if you try my recipe! Follow me on Facebook or tag me on instagram @livslittlemuffins. Find more ideas on my Pinterest or Whisk.

Homemade Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Rolls
- 3 tsp (8g) instant yeast
- 1 1/4 cup warmed whole milk (about 43℃/110℉) *see notes
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup (100g) + 1 tsp (5g) granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup (75g) unsalted butter, barely melted
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 1/2-5 cups (540-600g) all purpose flour
Filling
- 1 cup (180g) brown sugar packed
- 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tbsp (14g) cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened
- 100g/3.5oz chopped chocolate (milk or dark)
- 1/2 cup (125mL) whipping cream slightly warmed
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1/3 cup (75g) unsalted butter, softened
- 170g/6oz cream cheese, softened
- 3 tbsp (21g) cocoa powder
- 3/4 cup (105g) powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Pour warm milk into a large mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer. Add the 1 tsp of sugar and sprinkle the yeast over top. Whisk to combine and set aside for 5 minutes to allow the yeast to bloom. **see notes
- Once the yeast has bloomed, add in the eggs, granulated sugar, butter and salt. Mix until combined. Add in about 4 1/4 cups of flour and mix until combined.
- Change to your dough hook at this point and let the dough hook beat your dough on medium speed. Continue to add flour slowly until your left with a somewhat tacky dough. It should stick to your finger but not stay when you pull your finger away. (Like putting your finger against a piece of tape.
- Now you can continue to knead the dough with the dough hook or you can turn it onto the counter and knead by hand until the dough becomes smooth and passes the windowpane test. (Pull off a small piece of dough and stretch it while holding it up to the light. If you can see through it and it doesn't tear, your dough is ready)
- Place the dough into a well greased large bowl and cover with saran wrap or a tea towel. Place the dough in a warm area or proofing drawer for about an hour or until the dough doubles in size. I like to turn my oven on for just a minute to make it warm and allow my dough to proof in the slightly warmed oven.
- While the dough proofs, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and cocoa powder and set aside.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down and turn it onto a clean, lightly floured surface. Roll out the dough into a rectangle, about a 1/4 inch thick. Should measure about 23 inches x 14 inches.
- Spread the softened butter on top of the rolled out dough, using your hand or spatula. I like to use my hand. Then sprinkle the cinnamon mixture over top. Then spread the chopped chocolate over top.
- Starting on the long end, roll the dough up tightly and as evenly as you can. Gently cut the messy ends of the log you've rolled and set these aside to fry later. (***see notes)
- Cut the log into 12 equal pieces, about 1 3/4 inch slices. Place the slices spiral side up in a lightly greased 9×13 or 10×15 baking pan. (****See notes for overnight instructions)
- Cover the pan with a tea towel or saran wrap and proof for another 30 minutes or until they've doubled in size. While they proof, preheat the oven to 375℉.
- Heat your whipping cream and pour over top of the rolls once they're proofed. Bake until the internal temperature measures 190℉/87℃, about 22-30 minutes. This will vary greatly depending on size of pan and if you're using glass vs. metal.
For the Frosting
- While the rolls are cooking, add the butter and cream cheese to the bowl of a stand mixer or large mixing bowl. Beat until smooth. Add in the icing sugar, cocoa powder and vanilla and continue mixing until creamy and smooth, about 1 minute.
- Allow the cinnamon rolls to cool for about 10 minutes before frosting and enjoy!
Cinnamon rolls are one of my favourite treats and I hope you enjoy as well. Please leave a comment and a star rating letting me know what you thought!