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.
Today’s post is brought to you by aaallll 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? I don’t know. All I am sure of is that 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, they are only 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 with Easy Caramel Glaze: The Process
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, 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.
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.
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.
To let them 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.
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!
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.
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 rolls.
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
Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls with Easy Caramel Glaze
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup warm water 105-115 F
- 2 and 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 cup milk
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 2 large eggs lightly beaten
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 4 cups whole wheat flour
- up to 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
For the Filling
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 3 tbsp melted butter
- 3 tsp cinnamon
Easy Caramel Glaze
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 tbsp hot water
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp butter
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine yeast and warm water. Let the mixture stand until it is foamy or creamy, about 5 minutes. Add milk, eggs. canola oil, brown sugar and salt. Stir everything well.
- Add 2 cups of whole wheat flour and stir it in using a large metal spoon until the flour is incorporated. Add the remaining 2 cups of whole wheat flour, one cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. The mixture is now a sticky, shaggy mass.
- Sprinkle just a little amount of the all-purpose flour ( about a tablespoon or so), once or twice over the dough, and stir until the dough has gathered in the center of the bowl.
- Generously flour a working surface with the all-purpose flour. Scrape the dough from the bowl and into the board. Dust your hands with all-purpose flour. Knead for about ten minutes, until the dough is elastic and smooth. During kneading, you will need to dust your board around the area where it sticks, and your hands as well. However, only dust with flour as needed. With whole wheat dough, the stickiness does not totally go away so flour only just until the dough is manageable enough and don't attempt to dump the flour in there. It will dry up the dough. You may not need the entire amount of all-purpose flour.
- A quick windowpane test will tell you if you have kneaded enough. Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel and let it rise for 1 and 1/2 hour, or until it is doubled in size.
- Punch the dough down and roll it into a rectangle that is 12x16 inches. Trim the sides if you like. To fill the dough, spread 3 tbsp melted butter all over the rectangle. Combine the cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle it on the dough.
- Roll the dough into a tight log by starting on the short edge of the rectangle. Cut the log into 1 inch thick rounds. You will get about 12-14 discs. Arrange the rounds in 2 greased 9-inch round pans or a 9x13 baking pan. To let them rise, turn on the oven to 200 F. Once it has reached that temperature, turn the oven off. Place the rolls inside and let them rise for about 25 minutes. Take them out and preheat oven to 350 F. Bake the rolls for 15-18 minutes, or until lightly browned.
Make the Caramel Glaze
- In a medium saucepan bring the brown sugar and water to boil. Let it simmer until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture has thickened slightly. Stir in butter until melted. Stir in the vanilla extract. Drizzle over the buns.
Nutrition
Hi, can I omit the all purpose flour? I don’t have any but I would really like to make these today, they look so delicious.
Yes you can omit it. You just have to adjust the whole wheat to be more or less, depending on how sticky the dough will be.
Hi Sanna. Can I omit the brown sugar in the dough or substitute honey for it? Thanks!
Maryam
Hi Maryam. You can subsitute honey for the brown sugar. Happy baking.❤
Can you use the dough on your mixer to knead the dough?
Hi Stella! Yes you can 🙂
Hi… can this be mixed in my Kitchen Aid mixer with a dough hook?
Hello! Yes you can use the dough hoom.on a stand mixer to knead 🙂
Thank you for the recipe! We tried it today and we love it. Would definitely make it again 🙂
I am so happy to know that Liana!