Eggnog cinnamon rolls

Warmly spiced, pillowy soft bites of tastiness, these eggnog cinnamon rolls are just begging to be eaten. They're the perfect addition to any brunch or celebration. 

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I don't know about you, but I can hardly believe that it's That Time already. You know what I mean - the month when you are running around like crazy, hosting, going to events, trying to fit in gift shopping (unless you are more organized, of course).

It can all be a bit of a whirlwind. But especially with kids, it's a magical time as well. I'm looking forward to taking my older son to his first Nutcracker performance this year and both boys are fully aware of the excitement of the season.

Hand in hand with all those festivities is eggnog. It's family-friendly and so much a part of the season. And to save you some work, Hood has created the perfect tasty blend of extra creamy milk, sugared yolks and spices to add to your seasonal celebrations.

Preparing ahead

Since there's so much going on, I find the odd shortcut and make ahead recipes are just what this season needs. And these eggnog cinnamon rolls have the best of both, as well as fantastic flavors.

You can make these cinnamon rolls the day before, leave them in the fridge overnight then bake them up for a Holiday brunch or whatever excuse you want to find the next day.

How to make eggnog cinnamon rolls

I considered going down the one-hour cinnamon roll route I've seen, but I do think these benefit from the traditional two rises. And as I say, this lines up perfectly with leaving them overnight. That to me is way better than more work in the morning.

Your steps are:

• Mix yeast, water and a little sugar and let it bubble up.
• Meanwhile warm the eggnog and melt butter in it, then add the egg and yeast mixture.
• Add the salt to the flour, then mix everything together.
• Knead a few minutes, then leave to rise.
• Soften butter then mix with cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar for filling.
• Knock back the dough, roll out then spread on cinnamony butter mixture.
• Roll it up, slice then place slices in a buttered dish.
• Cover and either leave to rise again or refrigerate until you're ready and take out a little before baking.
• Bake and enjoy! They're great topped with a little eggnog frosting too.

Now I know, this seems like a few steps but really they're not that tricky at all. And the end result is so worth the effort.

I've taken a couple of tips from A Spicy Perspective's cinnamon rolls where she blends the butter, sugar and cinnamon together to make a paste, rather than spreading butter and then drizzling cinnamon sugar. Definitely easier. She also added a little nutmeg to bring out the cinnamon flavor, which I had been planning anyway to match the eggnog in the rolls.

Since the eggnog is sweetened, there's no need to add more sugar to the dough and it adds a little spice (which you can change up, too).

A cinnamon roll perfect for the Holiday season

I've made a couple of cinnamon rolls before which I loved (chocolate orange cinnamon rolls and pumpkin cinnamon rolls with apple filling, in case you missed them), but these are definitely the most fitting for this time of year.

In fact, these are probably our favorite cinnamon rolls to date, they're so soft, rich and delicious.

They have wonderful flavors not just in the cinnamon filling but right through the rolls thanks to the Hood Eggnog, and I'm sure the eggnog has a lot to do with their rich smoothness as well.

One of the great things is it's really easy to change them up slightly by using one of the other four seasonal flavors that they've made.

Hood's pumpkin eggnog is available before Thanksgiving, with real pumpkin and pumpkin spice, then through the rest of the season you can choose from golden eggnog, your classic rich and creamy blend, vanilla eggnog with a lovely additional vanilla flavor, and then they're bring back light eggnog with 55% less fat.

All would be great both in this recipe, as well as many other eggnog recipes (I'm thinking maybe French toast or pancakes? You can get some more idea's on the Hood website). If you're wondering where to buy them, just head to your local supermarket and look in the dairy aisle.

This time of year can fly by, as I say, but there are also so many opportunities to make memories with friends and family and enjoy some delicious food. These eggnog cinnamon rolls are soft, sweet, rich and delicious - so perfect to add to any occasion. So grab a carton of eggnog while you can and whip up a batch to share. With a glass of eggnog on the side, of course.

Try some other tasty sweet rolls and cakes:

• Golfeados (Venezuelan cheese sticky buns)
• French lemon yogurt cake
• Swedish cardamom buns
• Panettone
• Plus get more ideas in the snack recipes archives.

Print Recipe

5 from 7 votes

Eggnog cinnamon rolls

These eggnog cinnamon rolls are wonderfully soft, smooth, rich and flavorful. Add them to your seasonal baking!

Prep Time40 minutes mins

Cook Time25 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Course: Brunch, Snack

Cuisine: American

Servings: 12 -14 rolls, approx

Calories: 318kcal

Author: Caroline's Cooking

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Ingredients

For the cinnamon rolls

• ¼ oz fast acting yeast 7g (1 sachet)
• 3 tablespoon water lukewarm
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 cup eggnog 240ml
• 6 tablespoon butter 84g
• 1 egg
• 3 cups all purpose flour 420g plain flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt

For the filling

• 4 tablespoon butter 57g
• ½ cup brown sugar 95g
• 2 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg

For the frosting (optional)

• 1 oz cream cheese 30g, softened
• 1 tablespoon butter 14g, softened
• 1 tablespoon eggnog
• ½ cup confectioners sugar 70g icing sugar

Instructions

• Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water, add the sugar and mix together. Set aside to start to activate while you prepare everything else.
• Gently warm the eggnog a minute or two until it is warm but not hot. Add the butter and allow it to melt in the eggnog. 
• In a large bowl, mix the flour and salt. Whisk the egg into the eggnog mixture once it is lukewarm then add the yeast mixture. Add it all to the flour and mix  well - it will be relatively sticky but will come together.
• Turn the mixture out onto a floured surface and knead for 2 - 5 min, adding a little flour if needed. You want to stretch out the gluten and get it so it's no longer really sticky. Transfer to an oiled bowl (I generally wash out and oil the one I used for mixing), cover and leave to rise for approx 1 hour until it has roughly doubled in size.
• As it's almost ready, make the filling by melting the butter and mixing in the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Butter a baking dish ( at least around 9x9in, 23x23cm but you may need bigger or more than one) - you can also use a cake pan.
• Turn out the dough onto a floured surface. Flour a rolling pin and roll out the dough to roughly 10x15in (25x38cm), or you can flatten it by hand (larger is fine if you prefer, as I did here, the filling will just be a little thinner but with less dough between the layers).
• Spread the filling evenly over the dough leaving a slight gap (around ½in/1cm) along one shorter edge.
• Carefully roll the dough relatively tightly from the short edge with filling on towards the one with the gap. Roll onto the edge with no filling and smooth it to seal.
• With a serrated knife, carefully slice the dough into slices, cleaning the knife between slices to save getting the filling over all the dough. You can make the slices as thick as you like, but I tend to make around ⅔in/2cm. You will get around 12-16 slices. Place the slices into the lined dish as you cut them with a slight gap between the slices. Note - you can also cut the roll with dental floss. If the dough is too soft to cut, wrap it in cling and chill it for 20 min or so before cutting.
• Once you have cut all of the dough, cover the dish with the rolls and refrigerate overnight or if baking there and then, leave to rise another approx 30 min. As you near the end of the time, preheat the oven to 350F/175C. Note - if you refrigerate overnight, just allow approx 30 min to come back to room temp before baking.
• Bake for approx 25 min until the rolls are just browning. Remove and allow to cool slightly.
• Blend together the cream cheese and butter, then add the eggnog and sugar for the frosting. Drizzle or spread it over the top. Best enjoyed warm but they will keep a couple days in an airtight container.

Nutrition

Calories: 318kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 57mg | Sodium: 170mg | Potassium: 98mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 420IU | Vitamin C: 0.3mg | Calcium: 54mg | Iron: 1.8mg

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Thanks to HP Hood for sponsoring this post. 

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