Double Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls
These chocolate sweet rolls are soft, tender, and are for true chocolate lovers! I used a box of devil’s food cake chocolate cake mix as a shortcut. It really adds the perfect amount of chocolate flavor. Combined with creamy chocolate frosting on top, you’re in for a real treat with these ultra chocolaty cinnamon rolls! Chocolate cinnamon rolls are a wonderful treat for holiday mornings, special brunches, or make them for a decadent weekend breakfast.
Ingredients in Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls
For these easy peasy cinnamon rolls, you’ll need to have:
Water Dry active yeast Granulated sugar Devil’s food chocolate cake mix Vegetable or canola oil All-purpose flour Butter Vanilla extract Light brown sugar Ground nutmeg Chocolate frosting
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls
These chocolate rolls use box cake mix in the dough, but they also use yeast so plan accordingly and leave time for the dough to rise. Here’s an overview of how the cinnamon rolls are made:
Make the Dough
First Rise
Roll and Shape the Dough
Second Rise and Then Bake
Chocolate Frosting Recommendations
For these rolls, I used a 16-ounce tub of store bought chocolate frosting in a shelf-stable tub. No one will ever know, I promise! I also have this scratch chocolate buttercream frosting recipe that is excellent. Feel free to research Google and make another scratch chocolate frosting if you’re so inclined. However, for these chocolate cinnamon rolls, since I was already using a box of cake mix as a shortcut, I followed suit and used store-bought frosting to save time. Life is about shortcuts, especially if you’re making these for a holiday breakfast or special brunch. You can add a pinch of cinnamon to whatever chocolate frosting for even more flavor!
Recipe Variations to Try
There are a few fun spin-offs of this chocolate rolls recipe that we love making!
For hot chocolate rolls: Add dehydrated marshmallow bits to the filling and on top of the frosting. For Mexican chocolate cinnamon rolls: For those of you who are heat seekers and a little adventurous, you can add ¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper powder to the filling mixture if you want things spicy. This is a spin on what is known as ‘Mexican chocolate’, which traditionally is just a blend of chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Although in recent years it is more commonly associated with heat, hence the pinch of cayenne. For triple chocolate cinnamon rolls: Add a sprinkle of mini chocolate chips to the filling before rolling the dough into a log and slicing it.
More Easy Sweet Roll Recipes:
Overnight Cinnamon Rolls — These overnight cinnamon rolls are ultra soft and fluffy thanks to the buttermilk in the dough. They remind me of Cinnabon! Top them with homemade cream cheese frosting and enjoy! Tried this recipe? Leave a review! Consider leaving a 5 star rating if you’ve made and loved one of my recipes! Overnight Eggnog Cinnamon Rolls – The SOFTEST and FLUFFIEST cinnamon rolls with an overnight MAKE-AHEAD option and eggnog frosting adds the perfect touch!! If you like Cinnabon rolls, you’ll LOVE THESE!! One-Hour Homemade Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting – It’s possible to make soft, light, fluffy cinnamon rolls from scratch in 1 hour! The Best Glazed Orange Sweet Rolls — These homemade orange rolls are filled with a buttery orange filling and are topped with a simple orange glaze. They can be prepped the night before, if needed. The BEST Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls — The glaze soaks into the nooks and crannies and adds even more moisture and softness. Total gooey, cinnamon-and-sugary, juicy perfection. Nutella Cinnamon Rolls with Vanilla Glaze — A can of crescent rolls never tasted so good as when they’re stuffed with Nutella and rolled up. Ready from start to finish in 15 minutes, no joke Birthday Cake Cinnamon Rolls — The softest, fluffiest, most tender cinnamon rolls stuffed with cinnamon-and-sugar and rainbow sprinkles! Topped with tangy cream cheese frosting and more sprinkles! The recipe is EASY to follow even if you’ve never made cinnamon rolls and there’s a MAKE AHEAD overnight option!
