Frosted Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Rolls are the cinnamon rolls that you always dreamed of as a kid. Flaky, sweet dough is rolled up with butter, warm cinnamon and gooey chocolate chips. A big swoosh of decadent cream cheese frosting across the top, and you have cinnamon roll bliss!


Growing up, I would always sit at the kitchen table at my Grandma’s house while she would be baking away. Pulling out her wooden cutting board from the countertop (you know, the ones that actually pull out flat from the counter top and then slide back in), she would dust it with flour and get to work. Right before she was about to roll the cinnamon rolls up into rounds of perfection, she would ask me, “Chocolate chips or raisins?” As a kid, and ok, still today, my answer would ALWAYS be chocolate chips. Knowing that my Grandpa was sitting at the other end of the table smiling under his big glasses, a steaming cup of coffee and a newspaper, my Grandma would put chocolate chips on half of the dough, and raisins on the other half. Grandpa loved raisins, and I loved chocolate chips. You better believe I was double-checking my roll before digging in to make sure I didn’t get a raisin roll. So, my love for chocolate chip cinnamon rolls began.


The aroma of chocolate and warm cinnamon will fill your house as these bake away. There are two ways that you can go about frosting these cinnamon rolls. Firstly, you can frost them right after they come out of the oven. The frosting will melt and turn into a shiny glaze that coats every nook and cranny of the roll. Secondly, if you have the patience, you can let the rolls cool before you frost them. This will result in a cloud of creamy frosting nestled on top of a soft cinnamon roll. Either way you like it, they are hard to resist!

Frosted Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Rolls
- Total Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: 9 cinnamon rolls 1x
Description
Frosted Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Rolls are the cinnamon rolls that you always dreamed of as a kid. Flaky, sweet dough is rolled up with butter, warm cinnamon and gooey chocolate chips. A big swoosh of decadent cream cheese frosting across the top, and you have cinnamon roll bliss!
Ingredients
For the cinnamon rolls:
- 1 tablespoon active, dry yeast
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 1 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
- 1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) butter
- 1 cup milk
- 2 large eggs
- 4 cups flour
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips
For the frosting:
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
For the cinnamon rolls:
- In a small bowl, whisk together the yeast, 1 tablespoon of sugar and the warm water and set aside to let the yeast activate. In a medium sauce pan, melt 8 tablespoons (1 stick) of butter together with the milk over medium-low heat, not allowing the milk to boil. Set aside to cool for about 5-10 minutes.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the activated yeast, butter and milk mixture and eggs until combined. If your milk and butter mixture is too hot, it will curdle the eggs, so make sure its a lukewarm temperature. Whisk in the remaining 1 cup of sugar. Fold the flour and salt into the wet ingredients until a dough forms. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm area, such as sunlight or on top of warm stove, to let the dough rise for 1 – 1 1/2 hours.
- After the dough has risen, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Roll the dough out onto a floured surface into a 1/4 thick rectangle. Melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter and evenly brush it over the surface of the rolled out dough. Followed by evenly dusting it with the ground cinnamon and then sprinkling with the chocolate chips.
- Starting at one end and working your way to the other, gently and tightly roll the dough into a log. Use a sharp knife to cut each cinnamon roll about a couple inches thick. Place the cinnamon rolls into a lightly greased 9×13 pan, evenly spacing them apart. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown and the centers are cooked through.
For the frosting:
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, about a couple minutes. Reduce the speed to low and add in one cup of powdered sugar at a time until a creamy frosting has formed.
- You can frost the cinnamon rolls right away when they are still warm for more of a “glaze” effect, or you can wait to let them cool to get more of a “frosted” effect. Either way, enjoy!
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
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Thanks for following and cooking along with me!