A fun twist on our always popular Copycat Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls recipe, today’s Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Rolls are soft, tender and rich cinnamon rolls generously studded with melted chocolate chips and topped with a luscious chocolate cream cheese icing drizzle.

Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

Cinnamon Rolls are one of my all-time favorite desserts and while our classic Cinnabun copycat version is my go-to recipe when the craving hits, I have experimented with a ridiculous amount of different flavor combinations (from pumpkin-flavored and gingerbread-flavored dough to different fillings including lemon and strawberry).

Today, I kept it pretty simple by just adding chocolate chips to the filling and changing out our frosting to a decadent chocolate cream cheese frosting.

I also wanted to experiment with using regular milk instead of buttermilk, since I know that not everyone has that on hand (although I always have a jar of this instant buttermilk powder in my baking cupboard).

Now, I always want to be honest when sharing a recipe and while homemade cinnamon buns are unbelievably delicious and pretty straight-forward to make, my only complaint about making them is that I essentially have to clear off my kitchen counters completely to roll out the dough!

So if you’re like me and you have small appliances basically all along the edges of your counters, this will add a few extra minutes to your prep time – not a huge deal, but I thought I’d give you that head’s up.

Can this chocolate chip cinnamon roll recipe be prepared in advance? Yes, the dough or uncooked rolls can be prepped up to 2 days before, but best just the night before and then baked fresh.

How to store chocolate chip cinnamon rolls: You can store leftover chocolate chip cinnamon rolls in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days, or in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.

Can I freeze cinnamon chip cinnamon rolls? Yes, you can freeze the baked or unbaked cinnamon rolls for up to 3 months, in your favorite airtight freezer container. (This set of freezer containers is a crazy bargain.)

Check out our quick recipe video to see how we make our Copycat Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls (which are prepared very similarly to this recipe – except for the addition of chocolate chips) to see how the dough should look at the different stages of preparation before you make this recipe for yourself:

Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Roll Ingredients

Starter

• Water
• Bread Flour
• Whole Milk

Dough

• White Granulated Sugar
• Whole Milk
• Dry Yeast
• Bread Flour
• Warm Milk
• Large Egg
• Salted Butter

Filling

• Butter (softened)
• Brown Sugar
• Cinnamon
• Mini Chocolate Chips <– can use milk or dark chocolate chips

Cream Cheese Icing Ingredients:

• Cream Cheese, softened
• Butter, softened
• Vanilla Bean Paste (can use vanilla extract)
• Powdered Icing Sugar
• Cocoa Powder

Scroll down to the printable recipe card for full measurements.

Tip: we knead our dough until it’s pretty smooth and not sticky; however, a stickier dough will result in flakier rolls – so if you want flakier rolls, you can knead them for less time than indicated.

Kitchen Tools You May Find Helpful

• Measuring Cups and Spoons
• Saucepan
• Whisk
• Electric mixer <– this is a great hand mixer if you don’t want to make the investment into a stand mixer
• Mixing Bowl
• Pastry Cutter
• 9″ x 13″ Casserole Dish <– I love these Pyrex dishes with fitted lids for easy transportation to parties or leftover storage
• Sharp Kitchen Knife
• Pastry brush <– I like these because they are one solid piece and don’t have removable heads for bacteria to get trapped underneath. Plus they are heat-resistant and have a lifetime warranty.

How to Make Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Rolls

For the Starter:

Place the ½ cup water and ⅓ cup bread flour in a saucepan.

Whisk the mixture until smooth, then add the ½ cup milk and whisk again until smooth.

Continue to whisk and heat over medium heat until mixture forms a slurry-like consistency.

Remove from heat, pour into bowl and cover with plastic wrap, allowing the plastic to touch the slurry so the mixture will not form a skin. Let cool to room temperature.

For the Dough:

Place 1 teaspoon of the ¼ cup granulated white sugar into a large mixing bowl.

Add the ½ cup warm milk and stir to combine. Sprinkle yeast across the top of the mixture and stir gently to combine. Let the mixture sit until it becomes frothy and bubbly (about 15 minutes).

After mixture is frothy, add in the remainder of the sugar, ¼ cup warm milk, starter, bread flour, egg and salt.

Either by hand or with the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, mix until the dough is combined and raggedy looking.

With a dough hook, knead dough for about 5-minutes on low speed.

Divide the four Tablespoons of butter into four parts and mix in one part at a time, combining for approximately 20 seconds after each addition. Then knead on medium speed for about 6-minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally. The dough should come together.

Form the dough into a ball by hand and place in a large greased bowl, turning once to grease top of dough. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Allow to rise in a warm place for about 1½ hours until doubled.

After dough has doubled, punch it down and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll to an 8″ × 20″ inch rectangle.

For the Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Filling:

Mix together the melted butter, brown sugar and cinnamon.

Spread the filling across the top and top with the chocolate chips.

Starting at one long end, roll up the dough tightly, pulling back on the dough as you roll to keep the roll tight.

Once rolled, seal the long edge seam by pinching the dough together with your fingers.

Cut small amount off at each end to make even.

Cut the roll into 10 equal pieces. They will probablay still be about 2-inches each because the dough will stretch a bit during rolling.

Place slices into a lightly greased 9″ × 13″ inch baking pan. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place for about 1½ hours until doubled.

After doubled, brush the rolls with the ¼ cup of reserved milk. This helps to brown tops.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Bake rolls on the center rack of your preheated oven for approx. 30 min. until lightly browned.

Remove from oven and cool in pan on a wire rack until slightly warm.

For the Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing:

Whip together cream cheese, butter and vanilla until smooth. Add in the powdered sugar and cocoa and whip until smooth.

Scoop the filling into a piping bag and snip off just a small amount of the tip to allow a thin drizzle of icing through.

Applying even pressure, drizzle the icing all over the top of the rolls.

You can spread the icing on by hand if you choose or thin the icing by adding a little milk and spoon across the tops of the rolls.

Pin this Decadent Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Roll Recipe for your next baking session:

Grab your free printable recipe card for our chocolate chip cinnamon bun recipe:

I hope your family loves these easy chocolate chip cinnamon buns as much as mine does!

For more decadent desserts, check out our full dessert recipe collection here:

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