Banana Cinnamon Rolls

iClassic cinnamon rolls made from a yeasted banana dough. These banana cinnamon rolls rap around a gooey brown sugar filling and can be topped with a penuche, a cream cheese frosting or a vanilla glaze.

These are best warm, straight out of the oven, like all good homemade breads, but warm up nicely in the microwave. If you like, you can pop the dough in the fridge overnight for the second half of the first rise or the first half of the second rise. Always look for visual cues when determining if the dough is ready to bake.

Note: The dough based on this banana babka and is made without eggs. The rolls have a flavor that’s a mix between banana bread and cinnamon rolls. It’s rather like banana bread cinnamon rolls!

Recipe Ingredients

Banana: brown and ripe.

Yeast: I have instant yeast in the recipe but it can be swapped, 1:1, for active dry.

Milk: whole milk, warmed just to touch. If the milk too hot it will kill the yeast; If it’s cold the dough will just take longer to rise. If making these dairy free, use almond milk or another nut based milk.

Flour: all purpose flour, we’ll start with about four cups and you can add more if the dough is overly wet and sticky (this can happen if the banana is very large!). You can use bread flour too, the rolls will be chewier.

Syrup: maple syrup. Can be swapped with honey or sugar.

Butter or oil: unsalted butter or a flavorless oil.

Salt: fine sea salt. If using table salt, halve the amount.

Sugar: light brown sugar or dark brown sugar for the filling, powdered sugar for the topping.

Cinnamon: ground cinnamon.

How to make Banana Cinnamon Rolls:

Bloom the yeast: mix it with warm milk and let it sit briefly until it’s foamy.

Then add the rest of the dough ingredients:

Knead the dough until it clears the bowl and comes together around the whisk, you may need to add a few tablespoons of flour (depending on the size of your bananas):

Transfer to a large greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap.

Let rise for 1.5-2 hours until almost doubled:

Make the cinnamon sugar filling by stirring together the cinnamon, sugar and melted butter:

On a floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to a large rectangle, then spread the filling over it leaving a small border at the sides:

Roll up into a log (from the longer side) and then slice into 1 inch rounds and arrange in the pan so there’s enough space for them to rise.

Cover with a tea towel and let rest for about 45 minutes, until puffy:

Bake the rolls until golden brown all over. You can also use an instant read thermometer to check the dough; bread is done at 190 F.

Topping Options

Peanut Butter Penuche: recipe listed below in the recipe card. It’s a thick brown sugar based glaze that’s cooked.

Classic Vanilla Glaze: for this whisk together 130g or 1 cup powdered sugar (it’ll taste better if it’s made with tapioca starch instead of corn starch) with a teaspoon of vanilla extract, a pinch of salt and either milk or heavy cream (2-4 tablespoons until it’s smooth).

Cream Cheese Frosting: bring 60g or 1/4 cup cream cheese to room temperature and whisk it with 2 tablespoons of whole milk. Add a cup of powdered sugar, a teaspoon vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt. Add more milk to thin the glaze out, more powdered sugar to make it thick.

Storing the Banana Cinnamon Rolls

At room temperature, in a foil covered pan. A gentle reheat in the oven or microwave will make them warm and soft.

Recipe for Banana Cinnamon Rolls

Banana Cinnamon Rolls

Soft bread dough made with mashed banana swirled with layers of brown sugar, butter and cinnamon.

Yields: 12 large rolls

5 from 1 vote

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Ingredients

Banana Dough

• 7 g or 1 packet yeast
• 240 g or 1 cup milk warmed to touch
• 500 g or 4 cups all purpose flour add more as needed (but no more than ¼ cup)
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 57g or ¼ cup butter melted
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 150 g mashed banana about 1 and a half medium sized ripe bananas

Filling

• 113 g or ½ cup butter mostly melted (unsalted or salted)
• 155 g or ¾ cups brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• ½ tablespoon cornstarch

Peanut Butter Penuche

• 100 g peanut butter
• 56 g or ¼ cup butter
• 65 g or ⅓ cup brown sugar
• 60 g or ¼ cup milk
• 175 g or 1 ¾ cups powdered sugar

Method

To make the dough

• Place the yeast and warm milk in the bowl of a stand mixer, let stand until foamy and the yeast has dissolved a bit, about 5 minutes.
• Add the banana (you don’t have to mash it, you can add it in clumps) and remaining dough ingredients. Attach the dough hook and mix on medium speed until the dough comes together in a ball, about 7 minutes. If it's overly sticky and not gathering around the hook, add a few tablespoons of flour then knead again. Set in an oiled bowl and cover. Let rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
• If the dough is particularly sticky, set it in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes before you begin shaping.

To shape the rolls

• Grease and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, or grease a 13x9” cake pan.
• Roll out the dough to a large rectangle, about 15x10”. Mix the butter with the sugar, cornstarch and salt. Spread it over the dough. Use an offset spatula or the back of a spoon to spread it into an even layer.
• Roll it up into a log and use a bread knife to slice into 1” rounds. Place onto the prepared pan. Cover with a tea towel and let rise for another 45-60 minutes. The dough is ready when you poke it and it doesn’t spring back but leaves a small indentation. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
• If you are using a cake pan you can pour over ½ cup heavy cream to make the rolls gooey.
• Bake for about 25 minutes: check at 20 if using a cookie sheet. If using a cake pan they might need closer to 30-35 minutes.

To make the topping

• Melt the butter in a small pot. Add the brown sugar and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly, it will look a bit separated. Add the milk and cook for another 2 minutes, as you stir constantly you’ll see it turn thick and shiny.
• Add the peanut butter, whisk to combine and then immediately turn off the heat.
• Slowly add the powdered sugar. Whisk well until it dissolves. Spread over the rolls.

Notes

These can be baked in a 13x9” cake pan for more traditional cinnamon rolls or on a cookie sheet for rolls that spread wide and leave more room for the frosting.

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