Panettone Cinnamon Rolls

Name: Panettone Cinnamon Rolls
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 25 min
Ingredients: 1 2/3 cup warm milk; 1 tbsp instant dry yeast; 2 tbsp sugar/honey; 3 tbsp yogurt; 1 egg; 1/2 cup butter (melted); 1 tbsp vanilla extract; 1 tsp almond extract; 1 orange zest; 1 tsp salt; 4 cups all purpose flour + 1 cup all purpose flour; 1 tbsp baking powder; 1/2 cup butter soft; 3/4 cup brown sugar; 4 tbsp cinnamon; Pinch of salt; 1 cup dried fruit; 1/4 cup brandy/fruit juice/water; 1 1/2 cup icing sugar; 1 tbsp lemon juice; 1 tbsp orange juice

If you love panettone and cinnamon rolls then this is the recipe for you. It is buttery, filled with dried fruit, spiced with cinnamon and so delicious. They are fluffy and the BEST dessert/sweet bread for breakfast or a midnight snack.

When I say these are the only cinnamon rolls you need during the festive season, I mean it. They are simple to make but more importantly they combine two of my favourite treats, cinnamon rolls and panettone. If you love either or hate either this is the recipe to convert you. These buns are filled with orange, dried fruit, cinnamon, butter and brown sugar. They are more dessert than bread but they are more bread than just a regular loaf.

What is a panettone?

Panettone is an Italian bread that is sweet and baked specially around the festive season. It is a labor of love and definitely not easy to make, it takes years of practice to make them as there are a lot of pressure points to make them rise, light, flavorful and delicious. I have a simple go to Homemade panettone recipe that doesn’t disappoint if you are looking for a baking project.

What are cinnamon rolls?

Cinnamon rolls or cinnamon buns are basically buttery brioche dough layered with a cinnamon butter, rolled up, cut and baked until golden. Top with a cream cheese glaze and enjoy. They are so delicious, not to mention the perfect bread to bake up for brunch, breakfast or a dessert treat. I have my go to classic cinnamon rolls recipe here.

What are panettone cinnamon rolls?

We combine the fruity and fluffy vibes from panettone and the spicy cinnamon and buttery vibes from cinnamon rolls to make these panettone cinnamon rolls. They are perfectly seasoned with orange, almond, vanilla and dried fruit. Not to mention, fluffy and feather light thanks to the instant dry yeast, we glaze the top with an orange icing and they are best eaten warm.

What ingredients do we need to make these panettone cinnamon rolls?

Dry ingredients –

We need flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and dry yeast for the dough. We also need cinnamon powder, orange zest. You can use bread flour here if you have it. If you are using fresh yeast, you need half the amount of the required amount. I used honey in the dough but you can use white sugar however we need brown sugar for the cinnamon sugar filling. I would not recommend making these rolls gluten free as they composition is very different with ingredients. We also need icing sugar to make the glaze for the orange icing.

Wet ingredients –

Warm milk, butter, egg, yogurt, honey, orange juice, vanilla and almond extract and dried fruit (soaked in brandy, rum or any dark fruit juice). I used whole milk here but you can use any you like. The butter should be melted (I like used browned butter) and it is used for the dough, the egg adds flavor and makes the dough rich but you can use 50gm full fat yogurt instead to make this eggless. For the dried fruit I have used a mixture of golden raisins, black raisins, fruit peel, chopped dates and black currants, I soak them in brandy but you can soak them in a dark fruit juice or warm water for around 10 minutes before adding them to the dough, this step ensures they are juicy and hydrated.

What equipment do we need to make these panettone cinnamon rolls?

I have used a large mixing bowl and my hands to make this recipe but like most dough recipes you can make it in a stand mixer with a hook attachment. It would mix up faster and take less effort but if you don’t have one a wooden spoon and your hands do the job just fine. I like baking these rolls in a 9×13 inch tray. The larger the tray the smaller the rolls which means lesser the baking time. The smaller the tray, the larger the rolls and longer the baking time. Hence the size of the tray affects the baking time. If you don’t have a large enough tray you can divide the rolls between two trays and bake them in batches.

How to make these panettone cinnamon rolls?

We start by making the dough, in a bowl add the 3/4th of flour, salt, honey, yeast, orange zest and using your hands stir it around. Add the warm milk, vanilla extract, almond extract, melted butter into the mixture and using your hands start mixing the dough together. We are not kneading at this stage we just want the mixture well combined. It will be a little sticky which is fine. Cover the dough with a tea towel and let it proof for 30 mins. The dough will have risen in this time, on a clean kitchen surface add the remaining flour and 1 tbsp baking powder, knead the dough until it is soft and not sticky. This should take 8 mins by hand and 3 mins in a stand mixer. Once all the flour is used up and the dough has come together, transfer to the bowl and cover, let this rise for 1 hour.

In this time soak the dried fruits in brandy or little warm water and set aside. We then get on to making the cinnamon butter for the dough, in a mixing bowl add room temperature butter and beat with a spatula, add the brown sugar, cinnamon powder and beat well until it is combined – there should be no lumps, set aside. To make the orange icing, mix together icing sugar orange juice and lemon juice. The lemon juice is optional but it cuts the sweetness so I wouldn’t recommend skipping it, you could also use lime juice.

The dough will have doubled in size by this time. Dust the kitchen surface with flour and roll out the dough 1/4 inch thickness and it doesn’t have to be perfect but try rolling it out to a rectangle shape. Spread the cinnamon sugar over the dough evenly and sprinkle over the dried fruit (drain out any excess liquid before doing this), grate extra orange zest over the top. Using a pizza cutter cut the dough into 9 strips and roll up each strip into a little cinnamon bun. Transfer them to a baking tray and cover for 15 mins. Preheat the oven to 180℃ at this time, once they have risen bake the buns for 18-20 mins until golden and risen. As soon as they come out of the oven brush them with the citrus glaze and let them cool down a little.

Serving and storing these panettone cinnamon rolls?

Serve these rolls with a glass of milk or black coffee. They are best served warm. I would recommend serving them with mulled wine too. Here are a couple of storage options, before baking the rolls you can store them in the fridge over night to proof (covered), the next morning remove and bake once they have come to room temperature. Alternatively once they are baked, let them come to room temperature and store in zip lock bags in the freezer for up to 1 month. When ready to eat, warm them in the microwave for 1 min frozen or 20 seconds once defrosted.

Looking for more bread recipes?

Now that we have covered how to make this Panettone Cinnamon Rolls, you can have a look at the recipe video on my socials but let’s get to it.

If you try this recipe out, don’t forget to share it with me on instagram so I can see how it turned out. I’d love nothing more than to chat with you on your cooking/baking.