I’ve been working hard on developing a triple coffee cinnamon rolls recipe, which has been floating around in my head for a while. Coffee is one of my favorite dessert flavors, and I am always in the mood for cinnamon rolls. A couple weeks ago I attempted to make coffee brioche rolls, which fell flat (literally) and went back to the drawing board. These have been on the back burner, but over the past few days I made it my mission to perfect these super coffee cinnamon rolls.

Coffee + Recipe Testing

I originally started with a list of coffee components, trying to pack as much coffee flavor into every part of the bun as possible. First was a coffee butter, which went into the dough and into the filling. I took a trip to my favorite grocery store, which is beginning to burst with fresh produce this time of year. Armed with the reusable shopping bags I’ve collected over the years, I perused the shelves, eyeing black garlic, artichokes, lemons, scallions, and more. You’ll see some of these in my next few recipes!

Then, I settled in the coffee section, which has a wall full of fresh beans in tubes, with those pull tab things where you can fill your own paper bag. I decided to go for a bean with caramel and chocolate notes, which would work well in a cinnamon roll. When I got home, I started experimenting. First I browned 2 sticks of butter in a saucepan until golden and bubbly and added crushed coffee beans. I switched off the heat to allow them to steep. Once the butter had cooled but was still liquid, I blended it together with the coffee beans in a high powered blender and strained out the coffee grounds and burnt bits. Coffee butter!

Coffee Brown Butter

I let it chill on the counter until soft. Then, I decided to make a cookie crumble topping with the leftover coffee grounds. I was determined to not have any waste, and wondered what the coffee grounds would do with sugar, salt, butter, egg, and cocoa powder. Soon I baked a thin layer of rich coffee/chocolate cookie dough on a sheet pan. I could still taste the coffee grounds. The texture was a little sandy. Not unpleasant. But I decided to leave it out of the final recipe. Quadruple coffee buns would be a bit excessive, no? Maybe not. The crumble topping was inspired by my favorite doughnut shop in Rockland, Ruckus Donuts. They have a coffee crumble donut that tastes incredible, and it has chocolate cookie crumbs on top. 

Next I took another heaping scoop of my fresh coffee beans and stirred them into 2 cups of whole milk. I wrapped the pyrex tightly with plastic wrap and left them in the fridge overnight to infuse their coffee essence into the milk. The dough needed milk and butter, so this was another opportunity to add that coffee flavor to my coffee cinnamon rolls. My next task was making coffee sugar, which was a must have for me. I love cinnamon rolls with a simple butter, brown sugar and white sugar filling. But I was so excited by the idea of adding coffee sugar. In retrospect, I realized that I could have just added instant coffee powder. Which I would still recommend.

Espresso Cinnamon Roll Glaze

To make the sugar, I steeped the coffee beans in water. Then, I added sugar and boiled. It was difficult to gauge whether the caramel was done, but I waited patiently and tested caramel on my silicone mat. Once it hardened into a glass-like shard, I poured the rest into a thin coffee brittle.

Once cool, I blended it into coffee sugar. If you have an old blender or don’t want to risk destroying your food processor, I would recommend skipping this part and using espresso powder in the filling. I nearly destroyed my ears with the sound of the coffee bean brittle blending. But eventually it turned into a nice brown sugar. I strained the sugar to remove the hard bits. The sugar then gets added to the butter and sugar mixture for the bun filling.

And it turned out that blending my coffee brittle yielded a mountain of coffee sugar. So, I decided to make homemade coffee powdered sugar with the rest. For the glaze. Which turned out amazing! All you do to make powdered sugar is blend sugar, or coffee sugar, with cornstarch. Then, sift out any lumps.

Homemade Coffee Sugar

My first glaze was more of an icing liquid, made with espresso and regular powdered sugar. Which melted right into the warm coffee cinnamon rolls. So I mixed some of my softened coffee butter into my coffee powdered sugar. Then, I added a touch of espresso, salt, and coffee extract. The result was a deep, dark brown glaze. A color only achievable through the coffee powdered sugar method. I loved how it looked!

So, on the final day, I went to work and plugged in my navy blue stand mixer. I started by making the buns with the coffee milk, coffee butter, and eggs, flour, sugar, salt, yeast, and coffee. The mixer kneaded it well and then it was off to rest in the oven with just the light on. In the meantime, I mixed my coffee butter with brown sugar, white sugar, coffee sugar, salt, and cinnamon. When the dough was ready, I punched down to remove the air and rolled it out into a large rectangle. This is my favorite part, smearing over the filling and rolling it up. Most cinnamon rolls are rolled on the longer side so you get more buns. But because I wanted these to be pretty big, I decided to roll them on the short side to get 8-10 buns. 

Coffee Cinnamon Rolls with Coffee Glaze + Filling

Then, the cut cinnamon rolls with their brown sugar spirals proofed in the pan. Which I lightly greased beforehand. I couldn’t wait to bake them and preheated the oven early. After nearly 2 hours, I checked the buns and popped them into the hot oven. With the timer set, I mixed the thick espresso frosting and waited. Finally, they came out and the whole house smelled like coffee, sugar, and butter. I waited a few minutes for them to cool, then slathered on the espresso frosting, which started to melt pleasantly. I popped a few coffee beans on top for garnish (which I removed before eating). And then I went to town unfurling the pillowy spirals and eating bites of sugary, coffee-packed pastry. 

The taste was slightly bitter because there’s so much coffee, which pairs perfectly with the sweetness. The coffee flavor is one that slaps you in the face, rather than humming in the background, which is exactly what I wanted. The glaze is kind of intense, but it needs it. And I was glad I didn’t use the cookie crumb because I think it would have made it too intense. These are perfectly balanced and packed with coffee. I love the flavor, and am so happy to make a treat not shy on coffee. 

If you make these, let me know! As I said, I would probably just use espresso powder or instant coffee in the filling next time, but making the homemade powdered coffee sugar is well worth it. Good luck to your blender!

Thank you for reading! If you like my recipes and my paintings, make sure to check out Etsy, which has a plethora of art prints and recipe cards to choose from. Use code THEFORKEDRING for 25% off.

Print Pin

Triple Coffee Cinnamon Rolls

A coffee-packed fluffy cinnamon roll with coffee sugar and espresso glaze

Course Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword cinnamon roll, coffee bun, coffee recipes

Prep Time 1 day day 3 hours hours

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author theforkedring

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups warm coffee milk 1 3/4 cups whole milk + 1/2 cup coffee beans
• 3 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
• 5 cups AP flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 3 tablespoons granulated white sugar
• 2 whole eggs
• 1/3 cup coffee or espresso cooled
• 3 sticks coffee brown butter softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon coffee extract
• 1 cup coffee beans
• 2 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp instant coffee optional
• 2 tbsp cornstarch optional
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp coffee extract

Instructions

• The day before making your buns, combine whole milk and coffee beans. Cover and leave to steep in the fridge overnight.
• The morning of making your buns, cook 3 sticks of butter with 1/2 cup coffee beans over medium until golden brown. At this point you can strain the beans and brown bits out or you can blend the mixture (once chilled) to infuse more coffee flavor.
• Let brown butter cool and come to a soft but slightly firm butter texture before making your buns.
• When beginning the coffee dough, turn on your oven light.
• Heat coffee milk until warm, not hot. Add yeast and sugar to coffee milk. Leave to bloom for 5-10 minutes.
• In a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, combine flour, salt, and 3 tbsp white sugar. Mix on low to combine.
• To the yeast and milk mixture, add your eggs, vanilla, coffee, 1/3 of your reserved coffee brown butter, and coffee extract.
• With the mixture on low, carefully add your wet ingredients. Mix until combined.
• When a dough forms, turn up mixer to medium and knead for 5-10 minutes until dough is cohesive and elastic. The dough should spring back when pressed but leave a small indentation.
• Transfer dough to a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Proof in the oven for 1 1/2 hours – 2 hours until the dough rises about 50%.
• While your dough is proofing, make your coffee sugar (skip this step if you don’t have a high powered blender of food processor and substitute the 1/3 cup coffee sugar in the filling with another 1/3 cup of brown sugar + 1 tbsp instant coffee.
• To make coffee sugar, steep 1 cup of coffee beans in 2 cups of nearly boiling water for 15-30 minutes until water turns brown. Add a few tbsp of water if your water has reduced drastically.
• With the heat on medium-high, add 1 1/2 cups white sugar and stir to combine. Cook over medium-high while bubbling for 10 minutes or until the mixture thickens and darkens slightly. You can test if your caramel is ready (and will set like glass) by dipping in a spoon and smearing a test of the liquid on a silicon mat. If it comes off easily after a few minutes and breaks, it’s ready.
• When your caramel is ready, pour the coffee bean and caramel mixture onto a large silicone mat to set for a minimum of 30 minutes.
• When coffee brittle is ready, break into shards and in batches, blend in a high-powered blender or food processor. The mixture will be a grainy brown sugar. Strain any remaining hard coffee bits out with a fine mesh sifter.
• To make the filling, combine 1/2 of your remaining soft coffee brown butter in a bowl with brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, salt, and 1/3 cup coffee sugar. If using instant coffee instead of homemade coffee sugar, combine butter with 1/2 cup white sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 tbsp instant coffee, a pinch of salt, and cinnamon.
• When dough is ready, remove from bowl and roll out into a large rectangle on a floured work surface (about 16 x 24”).
• Spread coffee butter filing over the entire bun dough, leaving the edges bare. Roll the short side of the dough into a spiral log. Cut 8 – 10 buns from the dough with a serrated knife.
• Place buns in a greased baking dish (they should be close together but not touching) and cover with a damp tea towel. Leave on the counter for 2 hours until proofed.
• Preheat oven to 350°F 15 minutes before buns are done proofing. Remove tea towel from buns and check to make sure they’ve puffed until nearly touching. If they haven’t, place in a warmer spot for 30 minutes before baking.
• Bake buns for 25 – 30 minutes until golden brown. Baking times will vary, so be careful not to overcook the buns. If they begin to brown too early, cover them with aluminum foil.
• Remove buns from oven and let chill. While they chill, make your espresso frosting. To make coffee powdered sugar, place 1 cup coffee sugar in a blender with 1 tbsp corn starch. Blend until powdery and smooth. Repeat with another batch of coffee sugar and cornstarch.
• Sift coffee powdered sugar to remove clumps or coffee bean bits.
• In a medium bowl, combine your last portion of coffee brown butter with 1 1/2 – 2 cups powdered sugar or coffee powdered sugar. It should mix into a pretty thick frosting. Add coffee extract, a pinch of salt, and cooled espresso as needed to achieve a thick but spreadable cake frosting.
• When buns have mostly cooled, slather with your coffee frosting and serve!

Notes

• If you have extra cooked coffee grounds, you make them into coffee sugar by blending with white sugar and a pinch of corn starch. Sift after blending. 
• You can also use coffee grounds in a cookie dough or a caramel sauce. 
• If you can’t handle intense coffee flavor, serve these with a little whipped cream or milk. 
• If you garnish with coffee beans, like I did, remove them before eating so you don’t break your teeth! You could also use chocolate-covered coffee beans, which would taste amazing.