These Mince Pie Cinnamon Rolls put a festive spin on the well loved cinnamon roll and will be one of the BEST treats you taste this Christmas. Big, soft and fluffy dough is rolled up with a generous layer of cinnamon sugar and mince meat then served with a white chocolate drizzle and plenty of festive sprinkles.
You can choose to bake it in a dish like a standard cinnamon roll, or try it out as a tear and share style Christmas Tree like I have for this recipe. Either way you’re guaranteed to please a lot of people with this bake.
WHY YOU WILL LOVE THIS RECIPE
Festive flavours | There are a few flavours at this time of year that feel synonymous with Christmas. For me these are those spices such as cinnamon, cloves and all spice. This Cinnamon Roll has all of those flavours and more with the addition of a very festive mince meat. You really do get the best of both worlds
Worth the effort | Whilst these might take a little longer than your standard bake, most of the time is actually spend waiting for the dough to prove. I personally find the process of bread extremely therapeutic so enjoy taking my time to knead the dough. There really is nothing better than the smell and reward of homemade bread.
Make ahead | If you are a little short for time however there is a way you can prepare this ahead and break it up over a couple of days. The rolls can be left to prove overnight so that you can enjoy freshly baked rolls first thing in the morning. Alternatively you could choose to prepare them well in advance and freeze them for another day.
Great for sharing | Although I could quite easily store these and enjoy them all to myself, baking is for sharing and these are a perfect sharing creation. They will work well baked in a tin but I loved the idea of turning them into a tear and share style Christmas tree for this bake which works better for sharing and its ultra festive too.
8 CRUCIAL INGREDIENTS YOU’LL NEED TO MAKE THESE MINCE PIE CINNAMON ROLLS
These Mince Pie Cinnamon Rolls don’t require a huge amount of ingredients. In-fact if you like to bake often, most of the ingredients are likely to already be in your cupboards ready and waiting; with the exception of a few festive touches like the sprinkles.
- Whole milk: If you want your rolls to be super rich then whole milk is definitely preferred over skimmed or other alternatives. Buttermilk is also a great alternative and will make them even richer.
- Sugar: to give the dough that added sweetness that it needs.
- Yeast: this recipe uses an easy bake active dry yeast, and my go to is always Allinsons Easy Bake Yeast. To activate it ahead of kneading you will need to mix it with the warmed up milk and a little sugar. This is also a great step to ensuring your yeast is in date and working which is way better than finding out after waiting hours for the dough to prove.
- Butter: the butter in this recipe not only adds richness but it also ensures you get a super soft dough too.
- Eggs: Much like the butter the eggs will promise a softer, richer dough.
- Salt: For that added kick of salt all bread needs
- Flour: Flour is CRUCIAL and will give this entire creation the structure it needs. Every bread needs a strong bread dough and I love using Allinsons Bread Dough for all my bread creations.
- Cinnamon and Mince Meat: Of course these wouldn’t be Mince Pie Cinnamon Rolls without these two ingredients. Any ground cinnamon will work well for these but as for the mince meat, the better the quality the better the rolls.
TIPS FOR MAKING THE BEST MINCE PIE CINNAMON ROLLS
- Use warm not hot milk | If the milk is too hot then it could kill the yeast before it gets a chance to work it’s magic. Yeast like a cosy warm temperature, is doesn’t like to be scalded.
- Use room temperature butter and eggs | To ensure these ingredients can be well mixed into the dough it’s best to ensure they are room temperature before adding. You want soft butter to go into the dough otherwise you’ll end up with large lumps of hard butter in the dough which cannot blend well. Also adding a cold ingredient can affect how the bread proves.
- Opt for Strong Bread Flour as opposed too Plain or Self-Raising Flour | Bread is best baked with a strong bread flour as this is what helps give the bread its structure. You could use a plain or self-raising flour but you may find the bread turns more cakey.
- Keep your surface and rolling pin well floured when rolling it out | This can be a sticky dough so to avoid a huge mess I recommend flouring your surface, hands and rolling pin well when rolling it out. It will make the process so much easier.
- Ideally use the best quality mince meat | this isn’t imperative but of course it goes without saying that a good quality ingredient will provide a better flavour. You can purchase various types of mince meat and even the good quality ones aren’t too expensive.
HOW TO MAKE OVERNIGHT MINCE PIE CINNAMON ROLLS
If you haven’t got time to prepare and bake the entire recipe in one sitting, you can quite easily break this down into two parts.
The first part would be to get the first prove complete then fill, roll the dough up and slice it into equal pieces. Once this has been done, you would usually leave the dough to prove again for 30-45 minutes before they go in the oven to bake. However, to slow the second prove down you can put them in the fridge overnight and they’ll be ready for the oven by morning.
The benefits of overnight proving mean that you can prepare these the night before and wake up to a freshly baked roll first thing in the morning. You’ll also notice that the flavour is much richer as the slower proving process allows the flavours to deepen further into the dough.
It’s well worth trying!
TOOLS YOU WILL NEED
So you know all you need to know about making these Mince Pie Cinnamon Rolls but what important tools do you need to make them.
Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer | Whilst I often advocate making bread the old fashioned way and using your hands, if you have the luxury of a standing mixer then it really does make the process easier. I like to do half and half so I get best of both worlds. The benefit of using your hands is being able to feel the dough come to life, something you don’t get with a mixer, so when the mixture is almost kneaded I take it out of the bowl and do the final bit of kneading myself until I’m happy.
Large Mixing Bowl | If you’re doing the kneading by hand this will be required from the beginning, but if you’re using a mixer then you will need this large bowl to put the dough in for it’s first prove. To save on washing up could also use the mixer bowl.
Rolling Pin | A good rolling pin will make rolling the dough out a breeze. Try using a rolling pin that rolls independently from the handles as I find this type roll out more evenly.
Flat Baking Tray | If you’re going to bake these “tear and share” style like this Christmas Tree design then you’ll need a large flat baking sheet to lay them out on. If you prefer the classic way in a ceramic dish then you’ll need a 30cm rectangle one.
Non-Stick Baking Paper | Non-stick is the keyword here. Often people get baking paper and parchment paper mixed up. Parchment isn’t non-stick and your bakes if sticky will likely fuse to the paper. To ensure this doesn’t happen use a non-stick baking paper and the bake will peel away with ease.
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OTHER CINNAMON ROLL RECIPES YOU SHOULD TRY
I would love it if you tagged me @mykitchendrawer on Instagram if you make these Mince Pie Cinnamon Rolls. It’s the biggest honour to see my recipes come to life in your kitchen and if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to drop me a message or let’s chat in the comments. Happy baking!
Mince Pie Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
For the dough
- 240 ml whole milk warmed
- 135 g caster
- 1 and 1/2 tbsp dried active yeast
- 115 g unsalted butter softened
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 550 g strong bread flour
- Oil for greasing
For the filling
- 90 g unsalted butter softened
- 50 g soft brown sugar
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 100 g mince meat
To decorate
- White chocolate
- Christmas sprinkles
Instructions
For the dough
- Whisk the warm milk with 2 tbsp sugar, and the yeast together in the bowl you will be mixing. Cover and allow mixture to sit for about 5 minutes until it’s foamy on top.
- Once the yeast is ready, beat in the remaining sugar and the softened butter, then add the eggs and salt and mix until combined.
- Add the flour about 100g at a time making sure it’s fully incorporated before adding the next. When all the flour has been added knead it together for about 5 minutes (10 if doing by hand). It will be ready when the dough feels elastic and has come away from the bowl. It will feel very soft.
- Lightly grease a large bowl and place the dough in the bowl, covering it and leaving somewhere warm to prove for 1 – 2 hours or until doubled in size.
- Line a flat baking sheet with baking paper.
- When the dough is ready, flour a work surface then punch down the dough to release air and knead it back into a ball. Roll it out to a 12×18 inch rectangle.
For the filling
- Spread the softened butter all over the dough followed by the mince meat. Then sprinkle across the brown sugar and cinnamon. Roll up the dough from the longest side to form a log, then cut into 14 even rolls.
- Arrange onto the prepared flat baking sheet then cover again and leave them to prove for about 45 minutes.
- For overnight rolls cover them and place into a fridge overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C and bake them for about 25 minutes or until they are lightly browned on top.
- Remove from the oven and let them cool slightly before drizzling over melted white chocolate and Christmas sprinkles.
