Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls with Easy Caramel Glaze

These Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls are just as delicious, tasty and soft like their regular counterparts. You will love them because they are so delicate, flavorful and light. You can also check out my regular and other flavor variations like Orange Cinnamon Rolls with  Orange Cream Cheese Icing and Coffee Cinnamon Rolls.

Jump to Recipe           Print Recipe

Today’s post is brought to you by all the cinnamon rolls I have seen on Instagram. They make me weak in my knees, and they make me yearn for Cinnamon rolls every time I come across a photo. Perfect golden twirls of dough, dripping with glazes and totally enticing.

To think that I have only started to develop my love for Cinnamon rolls only about halfway into starting the blog, I am now so deep in fondness of these sweet and warm-flavored bread.

So today we make them, but we are making them with whole wheat flour. Maybe because it is more okay to devour one pan of them that way? Kidding!

A whole wheat cinnamon roll dough has more nutrients and more fiber. So I think it is a good practice to bake with whole wheat flour from time to time. And worry not, these Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls are equally delicious, if not better, than the regular ones.

Let me count the ways:

• One, they are lighter and airy.
• Two, they are far less sweet.
• Three, instead of cream cheese icing , they are glazed minimally with a light caramel syrup. Just enough to give them a sweet edge.

So if you want to enjoy Cinnamon rolls, a lighter version of them, here is one for you!

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls Ingredients

• Whole Wheat Flour. This cinnamon roll dough is made entirely with whole flour, but all-purpose flour is used to dust the surface and the bread dough to help with stickiness.
• All-Purpose Flour. A half cup of flour is reserved for sitting and kneading as stated above.
• Active Dry Yeast. This dissolved with warm water for proving. If you use instant yeast, I still recommend to prove it.
• Brown Sugar. I used brown sugar for a richer color, and deeper flavor.
• Milk. Makes a tastier, more tender dough.
• Eggs. The eggs add flavor and richness to the dough.
• Melted butter, brown sugar and cinnamon make up the filling.
• Brown sugar, hot water, vanilla extract and butter make up the caramel glaze.
• See the recipe card for the rest of the ingredients.

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls with Easy Caramel Glaze: The Process

Make and Knead the Dough

Combine yeast and warm water in a large mixing bowl. Let the mixture stand for about 5 minutes, or when it is creamy. Add the eggs, oil, warm milk, salt and brown sugar. Stir them well.

Add 2 cups of whole wheat flour and stir until incorporated.

Tip: It is important that you use a large metal spoon for this because the whole wheat dough is very sticky.

Add the remaining 2 cups of whole wheat flour, this time one cup at a time and stir until all the flour is moistened. You will now have a sticky, shaggy dough.

Sprinkle about a tablespoon of all-purpose flour, once or twice over the dough and stir until the dough gathers in the center of the bowl.

Generously flour a working board with some of the all-purpose flour and scrape the dough into the board. Dust your hands with the flour and begin to knead the dough. You will need to dust the board and your hands again minimally as needed to help with the stickiness. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. If you like to skip the kneading and you have a bread maker, try my Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls.

Tip

• With this whole wheat dough, the stickiness does not totally go away unlike with all-purpose flour dough. So only dust with flour on the area where it sticks and do not be attempted to dump a lot of flour in your dough. 
• Only dust until the dough is manageable enough to handle. You will not need more than the 1/2 cup of flour that is allowed in the recipe.

First Rise and Shaping

Shape the kneaded dough into a ball and place it in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover it with a clean kitchen towel and let it rise for 1 and 1/2 hour or until the size is doubled.

Then, lightly punch it down and roll it into a 12×16 inch rectangle. Spread melted butter over the dough, then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture. Roll the rectangular dough, starting on the short edge, to form a tight log.

Using a sharp knife, cut the log into 1 inch thick round discs. You will be able to get 12-14 discs. Arrange the discs on two 9-inch round baking pans or a 9×13 inch baking dish.

Second Rise

• Turn your oven to reach 200 F. Once the temperature is achieved, turn the oven off. Place the rolls inside and let them rise for 20-25 minutes. They will be doubled in size and puffy. Take them out of the oven.
• Or you can set the pan in a warm place and let them rise for 1 hour or so, covered with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap.

Bake Time!

Preheat oven to 350 F. Bake the rolls at 350 F for 15-18 minutes or until they are lightly golden. I love how these look out of the oven.

Aaaaaah, my cinnamon roll dream!

The Easy Caramel Glaze

1. And we are not done yet. Let us glaze these with an easy caramel sauce. See, because these cinnamon rolls are not overly sweet, the finishing glaze is a must to add a note of indulgence to them.
2. So heat up brown sugar and water together until the mixture is boiling and has thickened slightly. Add the butter and stir until melted. Then stir in the vanilla extract. Easy caramel glaze!

And here is that part, dig in! Grab one roll, enjoy, lick your fingers and repeat. Add this to your list of sweet rolls recipe, okay? It totally deserves a spot in there.

Just perfect. Make this your take on lighter, less sweet cinnamon buns. If you want cream cheese frosting, you can make the frosting from my Cinnamon Rolls recipe (it has maple syrup for deeper flavor!)

Make Ahead Tips

• To make the dough a day ahead, place dough in the fridge after kneading. Cover it with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel.  On the day of baking, let the dough sit at room temperature so it can continue its first rise.
• Or make the recipe up to the shaping, and once the buns are all arranged in the baking pan, cover it with plastic film or kitchen towel and store in the fridge overnight. The next day,  allow the dough to continue its rise at room temperature,  then follow the rest of the instructions.

Freezing Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls

• You can freeze baked cinnamon buns but without any frosting or glaze. Wrap then well in plastic film, then in foil, or place them in freezer safe containers. Freeze for up to three weeks.
• You can also freeze unbaked, shaped rolls. Freeze them in a single layer first, then transfer the pieces in a freezer safe container. To bake, allow to thaw and rise until doubled and puffy. Then follow baking instructions.

More Bread Recipes You Can Try:

• Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls
• Swedish Cardamom Buns
• Mini Cinnamon Rolls with Coffee Icing
• Sweet Beehive Buns
• Chelsea Buns
• Sticky Buns with Pecan and Rum Raisins
• Chocolate Hazelnut Rolls
• Chocolate Walnut Bread
• Japanese Milk Buns
• Japanese Condensed Milk Bread