Cinnamon Roll Focaccia
I was alerted to the cinnamon roll focaccia concept by an employee of mine, and after she mentioned it I saw it pop up three more times in a period of 48 hours. I decided that the universe was telling me to give it a go and see what I could create. The idea of cinnamon roll focaccia seemed a little too bread-y to me, where I would be left desiring something a little more dessert-y and less sweet bread-y. But this recipe ended up exceeding my expectations!
I used a decent amount of cinnamon roll filling aka cinnamon goo, which ended up creating these delicious caramelized cinnamon goo valleys that once the focaccia cooled were a little crunchy as well. If you’re not wanting the dramatic gooey valleys, you can try to spread the cinnamon goo a little more evenly on top of the dough.
Then of course it’s finished with a generous drizzling of cream cheese frosting because I love cream cheese anything.
You could also play around with the fillings/toppings- raisins and nuts would be delicious in this as well!
Notes:
I use salted butter, and for that reason you can either omit additional salt or you can add 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Or, you can use unsalted butter and add 1 teaspoon of salt.
Show your appreciation with a tip!
Help keep this website AD-Free and Paywall-Free with a donation of your choosing. TOTALLY OPTIONAL!
Cinnamon Roll Focaccia
Ingredients
- 150 g sugar
- 165 g dark brown sugar
- 12 g ground cinnamon
- 3 g salt (optional if you don't want additional salt)
- 1 g ground cloves
- 168 g salted butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted
- 113 g cream cheese, room temp/softened
- 2.46 ml vanilla extract
- 60 g powdered sugar
- 14.79 ml milk or more (until you get the consistency that you like)
- 375 g bread flour, all-purpose is fine too, plus more to work with
- 1 g instant or activated yeast
- 12 g salt
- 316.00 ml water or more (I used 1 1/2 cups)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, and yeast. Add water and mix together with a wooden spoon until the dough is wet and sticky. Make sure that it’s sticky to the touch, you’ll have to keep mixing to get this texture- you can add another tablespoon or two to get this consistency if you can’t get it with 1 1/3 cups.
- Cover bowl with some plastic wrap and/or a tea towel and set in a warmer draft-free area for 18-24 hours until the dough is doubled in size and the surface is dotted with bubbles.
- When the dough is done proofing, grease a 9 x 13 pan or line with parchment paper. Oil your hands a little bit and transfer the dough into the greased pan and lightly press out the dough to create a rectangle. The dough won’t go all of the way to the sides at first, cover again with plastic wrap and let it rise again until it’s fully touching all of the sides and has doubled in size. This took another 2 hours, but can vary depending on the temperature of your house.
- When the dough is finished proofing, preheat the oven to 400°F
- Mix together the cinnamon goo by mixing all ingredients in medium-sized bowl, and stir until combined.
- Oil your hands and sprinkle/drizzle the cinnamon goo throughout the top of the focaccia. Because there is a decent amount of cinnamon goo, the weight of the spots where you drop it will be more like caramelized valleys and the dough without the cinnamon goo will be the peaks.
- Now that the cinnamon mixture is on the dough, gently press your fingertips into the dough to create dimples.
- Place the focaccia in the oven for 30-40 minutes until golden and bubbly.
- Let cool for about 20 minutes.
- In a mixing bowl, beat the softened cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Add Vanilla and beat until combined.
- Gradually add the powdered sugar until well combined.
- Slowly add milk, a little at a time, until you reach your desired drizzling consistency. You want it thin enough to drizzle over the cinnamon focaccia but thick enough to hold its shape.
- Drizzle on top of focaccia and then cut to serve!
