Cinnamon roll focaccia marries a classic American pastry with an Italian bread-making tradition, resulting in a sweetly yummy breakfast treat.
Cinnamon Roll Focaccia
Looking for a yummy cinnamon roll focaccia recipe that’s easy to make and will start your day on a sweet note? We’ve got just what you need. This recipe takes just 30 minutes of prep, followed by an hour for the dough to rise, then 25 minutes of baking time. You could even let the dough rise overnight, then pop it in the oven in the morning.
Compared with cinnamon rolls, cinnamon roll focaccia is less sticky, and it can be cut into smaller pieces. While we love our ooey-gooey cinnamon rolls, we’re also fans of this health-minded version. Instead of whipping cream, it calls for half-and-half, and the canola oil is another heart-healthy ingredient.
Considered an Italian bread that originated in Rome, focaccia is a flat, leavened overnight bread. It’s about the same thickness as pan pizza, which is why pizza pans are used for this recipe.
Ingredients for Cinnamon Roll Focaccia
- All-purpose flour: The most commonly used flour, all-purpose flour is unbleached wheat flour.
- Dry yeast: Sold in packets, active dry yeast is essentially dehydrated live yeast. All you have to do is place it in warm water to rehydrate it.
- Butter: Choose unsalted butter so you have more control over the amount of salt used in this recipe, because you’ll be adding a teaspoon of salt anyway.
- Sugar: Chemically speaking, sugar is an essential ingredient in baking—including for this recipe—because it makes baked goods fluffy and light, as opposed to dense and heavy.
- Cinnamon: Ground cinnamon packaged in a spice jar, and not cinnamon sticks, allows the recipe to have citrus and floral notes, not necessarily just cinnamon.
- Nuts: This is the part of the recipe where you get to personalize it and have fun! Chopped walnuts, pecans and almonds are all good options.
- Confectioners’ sugar: This is also called powdered sugar, and it’s very fine in its texture.
- Half-and-half cream: This 50-50 blend of cream and whole milk makes the recipe lighter and healthier than if you used whipping cream.
Directions
Step 1: Prepare the dough
In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of the flour, the yeast and the salt. Add the water and oil, then beat the mixture until it’s smooth. Stir in enough of the remaining flour to form a soft dough.
Step 2: Knead the dough
Turn the dough onto a floured surface, then knead it until it’s smooth and elastic, six to eight minutes.
Step 3: Let the dough rise
Place the dough in a greased bowl, turning it once to grease the top. Cover the dough, and let it rise in a warm place until it’s doubled in size, about an hour.
Editor’s Tip: If you’re going to allow the dough to rise overnight, place it in the fridge—not at room temperature for an hour. This slows down the process.
Step 4: Press the dough into pans
Punched the dough down, then turn it onto a lightly floured surface and divide it in half. Pat each portion flat, then cover it and let it stand for 10 minutes. Press the dough into two greased 12-inch pizza pans. Prick the top of the dough with a fork, then brush it with butter.
Step 5: Make the cinnamon-sugar topping
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Combine the sugar and cinnamon, then sprinkle the mix over the dough. Top that with the chopped nuts, then let the bread stand for 10 to 15 minutes.
Step 6: Bake the focaccia
Bake the focaccia for 25 to 30 minutes or until it’s lightly browned. Remove it from the pans to wire racks to cool.
Step 7: Make the glaze
Combine the confectioners’ sugar and enough cream to achieve a glaze consistency, then drizzle the glaze over the warm bread.
Cinnamon Roll Focaccia Variations
- Add maple flavor for fall: If you’re baking this recipe during autumn, the maple glaze from our maple-glazed doughnuts would be perfect.
- Pack in some fruit: Have an abundance of berries? Fold blueberries into the dough for yet another heart-healthy ingredient.
- Make it cinnamon-apple focaccia: Follow the recipe as is, then place thinly sliced apples on top—also dusting with cinnamon and sugar, and brushing with butter—just before baking.
How to Store Cinnamon Roll Focaccia
Once the focaccia is made, you can easily store it at room temperature, although to prolong its freshness we recommend an airtight cover. If you like your pastries slightly cold, then it’s no problem to store the cinnamon roll focaccia in the fridge.
Can you freeze cinnamon roll focaccia?
This is an easy breakfast pastry to freeze and then thaw before serving. It should stay fresh up to three months, as long as it’s covered, tucked into a resealable freezer bag or stored in an airtight container.
How long does cinnamon roll focaccia last?
Unfortunately, the shelf life here is pretty short: If it’s stored at room temperature, cinnamon roll focaccia will only stay fresh for two to three days. Storing it in the fridge may add another day before it turns dry.
Can you make cinnamon roll focaccia ahead of time?
You can. Making the dough and pressing it into the pans, then storing it in the fridge covered until you’re ready to bake it is one option. You will want to bake it within 24 hours, though.
How do you reheat cinnamon roll focaccia?
Many people like their cinnamon rolls warm, and that extends to this recipe too. All you have to do is pop a piece in the microwave for 15 seconds on medium-high. Or, if you have most of a pan, reheat it in the oven at 350° for 15 minutes.
Cinnamon Roll Focaccia Tips
How do I make this gluten-free?
If you have a gluten-free eater in your family, swapping out the all-purpose flour for gluten-free baking flour—which could also include almond flour—in a 1-to-1 ratio will make this recipe gluten-free. You won’t need to adjust anything else.
How can I create a more textured topping?
If you’re on the hunt for a cinnamon roll recipe that’s topped with crunch—and the chopped nuts here aren’t doing it for you—all you have to do is make a streusel topping. The streusel topping in our sour cream streusel coffee cake has just four ingredients: sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and chopped pecans.
How do I make cinnamon rolls that taste like they’re from Cinnabon?
Inside tip: You just need to nail the cinnamon-y center. Our copycat Cinnabon recipe will walk you through it.
Cinnamon Focaccia
Prep Time
30 min
Cook Time
25 min
Yield
2 round loaves
Ingredients
- 6 to 6-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups warm water (120° to 130°)
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 to 1 cup chopped nuts
- 1-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 3 to 4 tablespoons half-and-half cream
Directions
- In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, yeast and salt. Add water and oil; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
- Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Pat each portion flat. Cover and let stand for 10 minutes. Press dough into two greased 12-in. pizza pans. Prick top of dough with a fork. Brush with butter. Combine sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over dough. Top with nuts. Let stand 10-15 minutes.
- Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from pans to wire racks. Combine confectioners' sugar and enough cream to achieve a glaze consistency; drizzle over warm bread.
Nutrition Facts
1 slice: 252 calories, 7g fat (2g saturated fat), 7mg cholesterol, 143mg sodium, 42g carbohydrate (12g sugars, 1g fiber), 5g protein.
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From Baldwin City, Kansas, field editor Page Alexander notes, "A cinnamon-sugar and nut topping and a drizzle of glaze add sweetness to this lovely bread."
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