Give Your Homemade Cinnamon Rolls A Coffee Flavor Twist

The best part of waking up is that first meal of the day. Why skip breakfast when you can make the most out of a morning pastry and get your caffeine fix too? Cinnamon rolls are a dessert-turned-breakfast food that you can pair with coffee, fruit, and more. If you really want to infuse your morning sweet treat with a bit of "good morning" flavor, add espresso powder to your filling or dough for an extra boost. If you want to choose the best type of coffee for baking, espresso powder should be your go-to for homemade cinnamon rolls. 

First and foremost, espresso powder is relatively easy to find. You can grab a container of Civilized Coffee Espresso Powder on Amazon or at your local grocery store to use in your favorite homemade cinnamon rolls recipe. Given the fine nature of espresso powder and the fact that it can fully dissolve in water, you can seamlessly include it into both the filling and the dough of your cinnamon rolls without disrupting the consistency of either. In fact, you can even create your own espresso glaze to give your rolls even more of a decadent coffee flavor.

Much like adding espresso powder to a chocolate cake recipe, you can apply this same practice to cinnamon rolls. Whether you dissolve it in hot water first or stir it in as-is can be entirely up to your preference. To add this hint — or more — of coffee flavor to your cinnamon roll filling, combine about one to two tablespoons of espresso powder into the cinnamon and sugar mixture. If you're planning to add espresso powder to your dough, fold in one tablespoon. Of course, for a wide-awake pastry, you can add it to both the filling and the dough, provided you can handle the boost.

As far as dressing your cinnamon rolls even further, try preparing a classic cream cheese frosting recipe over which you can sprinkle some extra espresso powder. You can also make a coffee flavored glaze using powdered sugar, espresso powder, milk, and vanilla extract. If you're one who thinks more is more, then definitely go all-in and amp up your morning cinnamon rolls with as much coffee flavor as possible. Your espresso powder is the key to rich and satisfying cinnamon rolls.