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Banana Bread Cinnamon Rolls

Banana Bread Cinnamon Rolls
These cinnamon rolls are light, chewy and delicate with an amazingly yeasty taste. It’s a taste of home you can have anytime.
Yield 12 -18 rolls
2

Reviews

Ingredients

Dough

  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp table salt
  • 1 cup water (110-115°F)
  • 2 (0.25ozeach) packages (14g) or 4 1/2 teaspoons Platinum Yeast
  • 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 5-6 cups all-purpose flour (sifted into a large bowl)
  • 4 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling

  • 7 very ripe bananas (mashed into a paste)
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Icing/Topping

  • 1/4 cup cream cheese (softened)
  • 2 tablespoons butter (softened)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • 1/2 cup walnuts (chopped or crushed)

Instructions

  • In a small saucepan, warm milk, brown sugar, and salt together on medium-high heat. Stir occasionally until brown sugar and salt are dissolved (brown sugar may still have some flecks, this is okay). Continue cooking until small bubbles form around the edge. Remove from heat and allow to cool to 110-115°F.
  • While this is cooking, pour warm water, granulated sugar, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment. Allow to sit for 10 minutes until it begins to foam.
  • Beat eggs one at a time into the yeast mixture on medium speed, allowing the first egg to be fully incorporated before adding the second.
  • Next, with the mixer still running, slowly add cooled milk mixture.
  • Switch to a dough hook (keep in mind that this can all be done by hand with a wooden spoon, but may take longer and may not produce a lighter end product).
  • Begin adding flour into mixer slowly, one cup at a time. Between each cup, wet dough with melted butter. You may not need the full six cups. Continue kneading until dough is smooth and elastic.
  • Turn out onto a floured work surface and fold in on itself 4 times. Turn into a lightly greased bowl and cover with a towel. Allow to rise for one hour. While waiting, move onto the filling.
  • Place all filling ingredients in a bowl and stir together until fully incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit in fridge while rolling out cinnamon rolls.
  • When dough is finished rising, punch down and turn back out onto floured work surface.
  • Cut dough in half and place one half to the side. Roll out other half into a 12×9-inch rectangle. Using a rubber spatula, spoon half of the banana filling onto the dough. Starting with the shorter end, roll the dough onto itself, lengthwise and tuck edge underneath the log. Using floss, twine, or a careful and sharp knife, cut 1 to 1 1/2-inch rounds from dough. Place in a greased cake pan or skillet. Repeat with other half of dough and remaining banana filling.
  • Cover rolls with a towel and let rise for 45 minutes.
  • In the meantime, preheat oven to 350°F
  • When finished rising, place in oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until golden (begin checking at the 30 minute mark, cover loosely with foil to prevent over-browning).
  • While rolls are baking, make icing: Beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla together. Add one cup of confectioners’ sugar at a time. If icing is too crumbly/dry, add a little bit of milk. Continue alternating between cups of confectioners’ sugar and milk until you have the consistency of the icing you like (pourable, but not dripping)
  • Take rolls out of oven, allow to cool slightly, and top with icing and walnuts. Enjoy!

Notes

Recipe created by Brett Braley.

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Review & Comments

Rick | Reply

5 stars
Heidi’s review was Really Helpful (thanks Heidi!). As a result I suggest these tweaks which worked well. To make the filling less sloppy, drain off any liquid after the (frozen) bananas thaw. Then, thicken the banana mixture. I added 1/4 tapioca flour to the banana mixture, which I heated gently and then let cool. ALSO I recommend 2″ slices for the prepared dough, so that the entire recipe fits into a large iron skillet. This is a great bake!

Heidi | Reply

3 stars
Mid-recipe, I got really skeptical because of the sloppy banana mess I was making on my counter top. My bananas were very squishy (2 of them came out of the freezer, defrosted and juicy), so I think my mixture was way messier than the recipe writer intended. Therefore, I only made rolls out of half of the dough; the other half I rolled into cinnamon bread. Anyway, the banana bread cinnamon rolls actually turned out pretty good. I sliced and schlepped them into a 9 x 9 pan and then slathered the remaining banana goo that had drooled out of my “roll” in and around them. They raised nicely, and baked up very well – a little dark on the corners, but cooked all the way inside. Good flavor, moist and flavorful. Because of how messy they were when I formed them, they didn’t really make nice individual rolls – more of a mass of bread with banana in the folds and wrinkles. Harder to cut and portion, but still good. Made a basic cream cheese frosting for on top. A worthy spin on a traditional cinnamon roll, a tasty way to use up bananas, but rather too messy to try again.

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