Halloween Cinnamon Rolls

Looking for a perfectly ghoulish brunch for the spooky season? Well, look no further than these super fun Halloween Cinnamon Rolls! Soft and buttery green brioche dough, filled with a gooey cocoa cinnamon sugar and Snickers bars. These rolls are topped off with a charcoal black frosting, marshmallow webs and candy eyes for even more spooktacular effect!

Jump to:

• Why you'll love these rolls
• Equipment Notes
• Ingredient Notes for the Dough
• How to Make Colorful Brioche
• Ingredient Notes for the Filling
• How to Make Halloween Cinnamon Rolls
• Top Tips for these Rolls
• Black Cocoa Frosting
• Making Marshmallow Webs
• Storage Advice
• Tips for Making Ahead
• Substitutions and Variations
• FAQs
• More Candy-Filled Treat Ideas or Spooky Bakes
• Halloween Cinnamon Rolls

Why you'll love these rolls

• Super soft buttery and brilliantly green brioche - who doesn't like having a bit of fun with their food! These rolls are dyed a vibrant green, perfectly ghoulish for Halloween!
• Indulgent cocoa and candy filling
• Black cocoa - the secret ingredient to both filling and frosting! Black coca gives a deep dark black color, which no amount of black food dye can replicate.

Equipment Notes

These rolls follow along with similar processes to my standard Brioche Cinnamon Rolls, and you'll need essentially the same equipment. The one notable addition is a small saucepan for the marshmallow webbing, if you choose to use this for decoration.

You'll need:

• Mixing bowls - a large mixing bowl to allow your dough to proof. You'll also want a few smaller mixing bowls (I usually just use cereal bowls) for livening up the yeast, mixing the filling and then making the frosting.
• Stand mixer fitted with a dough hook - I couldn't make brioche without my stand mixer! I have neither the strength nor the patience for hand kneading. Brioche is a super sticky dough as well, so I really don't recommend trying to go at it by hand!
• Spatula - a rubber spatula will be best for scraping the dough out of the bowl. I like to have a couple for use in mixing the filling and frosting as well, but you could simply wash and reuse the same one!
• Plastic wrap
• 8" square baking pan - one of my staple kitchen tools! You can also make these in a 9" pan or a round cake tin, but this may impact the baking times slightly.
• Parchment paper
• Rolling pin
• Floss - flavorless dental floss is the best way to cut nice round cinnamon rolls. You can also use kitchen twine, but if this isn't a fine twine, it won't cut as cleanly.
• Off set spatula - a small off set spatula is the best way to spread the filling and the frosting when the time comes.
• Pastry brush - or other food safe brush for adding the egg wash.
• Small saucepan - if you want to make marshmallow webs, you'll need a small saucepan to melt down the marshmallows.

Ingredient Notes for the Dough

For the bright green dough, you'll need:

• Milk - warm full fat (or whole) milk works best here. You need this heated to between 104°F and 120°F for activating the yeast.
• Dry active yeast - this recipe, as written, calls for a standard size packet of dry active yeast.
• Sugar - a bit of granulated or caster sugar. This is divided so that you add a teaspoon to the warm milk and yeast and the rest to the dry ingredients in the dough. Adding a bit to the yeast as it activates helps to give it something to feed on and will liven it up very effectively!
• Salt
• Flour - a combination of both all purpose (or plain) and bread flour are the optimal for flavor and texture.
• Eggs - large eggs, ideally at room temperature. One of the eggs will be divided into yolk and white, the yolk being reserved for an egg wash prior to baking.
• Butter - brioche wouldn't be brioche without a good amount of butter! For best results, use a good quality unsalted butter, softened at room temperature and cut into small pieces for adding to the dough bit-by-bit. You can use salted butter, but this will add saltiness to the recipe.
• Green food coloring gel - I strongly recommend using food color gels or pastes and not liquid food color. Liquid food coloring will add extra liquid to the bread, making the dough stickier than it needs to be and usually doesn't impart as strong a color.

How to Make Colorful Brioche

This recipe follows the same processes as many of my other brioche based rolls. The only real change here is the adding of food coloring at the end, similar to my Cookie Monster Cinnamon Rolls.

1. Start off by activating your yeast - sprinkle the yeast and a teaspoon of sugar into the warm milk, give it a quick stir and set aside. This should become foamy after about 5-10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, grease a mixing bowl with some butter or flavorless oil and set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, add the flours, salt and remaining sugar. Give this a light stir.
4. Once the yeast is ready, pour this into the flour mixture, immediately followed by two eggs and one egg white.
5. Begin kneading on a low setting, pausing to scrape down the sides of the bowl if you notice the flour has pushed to the sides and isn't being incorporated. Continue kneading on a low setting for about 15 minutes until the dough is starting to slap the sides of the bowl.
6. While the mixer continues to knead, slowly add the butter a couple of pieces at a time. Once this is fully incorporated, pause the mixer and add a few drops of food coloring gel. I do this with a toothpick.
7. Carry on kneading for about 12-15 minutes until the dough is well tinted green and showing signs of slapping the sides of the bowl and pulling itself away. It will still be wet and sticky, but you should be able to touch it with only a little residue sticking to your finger.
8. Scrape the dough into your greased mixing bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to proof overnight (or for about 8 hours) until doubled in size.

Ingredient Notes for the Filling

The filling for this recipe is a candy bar lover's dream! At least if that candy bar lover is a Snickers fan! You'll need:

• Butter - more unsalted butter, softened at room temperature to a spreadable consistency.
• Brown sugar - light brown sugar, firmly packed is best here. You can use granulated sugar, but the brown sugar gives a greater depth of flavor for working with cocoa and chocolate.
• Cinnamon - these wouldn't be cinnamon rolls without a healthy dose of ground cinnamon.
• Black cocoa powder - to capitalize on all the Halloween vibes, I use black cocoa in this recipe. This gives a deep dark color to the filling and a good dose of chocolate flavor. You can substitute with normal cocoa (dutch processed for best flavor), but the tone of the filling will be different.
• Snickers bars - chopped up into small chunks. The smaller the better for rolling the dough smoothly into a log and cutting the rolls.

How to Make Halloween Cinnamon Rolls

Once your fun green dough has finished it's first slow proof, you are ready for the assembly and baking.

1. Start off by lining your square baking pan with parchment paper. The quickest way to do this is to crisscross two sheets of parchment (each the width of the tray) so that these overhang the edges. This does mean that the bottom will have a double layer, but that can be helpful with sticky cinnamon rolls!
2. Then prepare your filling, mix together the butter, sugar, cinnamon and cocoa powder until you have a dark spreadable paste.
3. Remove your dough from the refrigerator and scrape out onto a floured work surface. Press this into a rectangle and then roll out to be about 12" wide by 15" long.
4. Using an offset spatula, spread your cocoa cinnamon sugar paste over the surface of the dough, leaving a little space around the edges, then sprinkle with Snickers pieces.
5. Roll the dough up into a log from the bottom to the top.
6. Using your floss or thin twine, trim about an inch off the ends of the dough log to remove unfilled and uneven dough.
7. Divide the remaining log into 9 pieces and cut these using the floss. Place the rolls into the lined baking pan and cover with a clean kitchen towel to proof at room temperature for about 2 hours until doubled in size. Tip: the timing of this second proof will depend a bit on the conditions in your kitchen - if it's particularly warm, they may proof more quickly!
8. When just about finished their proof, preheat the oven to 350°F and make a quick egg wash by beating the reserved egg yolk with a splash of milk.
9. Brush the tops of your rolls with the egg wash and place in the center of the oven to bake for about 25-30 minutes until risen and lightly golden on top.
10. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes while you prepare your frosting and decoration.

Top Tips for these Rolls

Whether you're an experienced baker or these are your first foray into the world of homemade cinnamon rolls, I hope these tips help guide you!

• Don't be alarmed by the kneading - this is why you use an electric stand mixer. You can essentially set a timer and let is carry on.
• Don't try to speed things up - turning the mixer to a higher setting might bring the dough together more quickly, but you'll lose out on the soft and fluffy texture of letting in knead low and slow. Similarly, the first proof can be done at room temperature, but brioche at room temperature is extremely delicate, difficult to handle and just a mess. Overnight in the fridge is the best way to go! It's easier and will give better results.
• Chop the Snickers up well - the smaller you chop the Snickers bars, the easier these will be to sprinkle and roll into the dough. You want a good dispersal across all of the rolls. I recommend chopping into pieces no bigger than a chocolate chunk. Ideally these should be more in line with chocolate chip size.
• Line the baking pan with parchment paper - this is the best way to remove your rolls from the pan once they're baked. A good gooey cinnamon roll will have a bit of oozing filling, especially this one full of candy bars! So the parchment will reduce the risk of sticking and the worry of getting them out of the pan. It also helps avoid burning on the bottoms.

Black Cocoa Frosting

What would Halloween Cinnamon Rolls be without a bit of spooky decoration?! These rolls are topped first with black frosting, and then some marshmallow webs and edible eyes.

For the frosting, you'll need:

• Powdered sugar - or icing sugar. This does not need to be sifted for this frosting.
• Black cocoa powder - you can also use normal cocoa powder, but if you do, it will not be a strikingly deep a finish. I used this dutch processed carbon black cocoa, which came in a good large bag, so plenty of fun treats with black cocoa to come!
• Vanilla extract
• Milk - you can use full fat milk (whole) or 2% (semi-skimmed) here.

To make the frosting, simply mix the powdered sugar, cocoa powder and vanilla in a bowl. Add the milk slowly a teaspoon or two at a time, stirring until you have a smooth frosting.

The key is to add milk slowly. This ensures you reach your desired consistency, without needing to go backwards and forwards with adjustment.

Depending on the type of cocoa you use, the depth of your frosting may be slightly different to what is shown in the photos here. You can add a little black food coloring to enhance it.

Making Marshmallow Webs

To add a special spooky touch, you can decorate your rolls with quick marshmallow spider webs. This only takes one ingredient:

• Marshmallows - fresh is best, but I'm not going to lie, I've made these with slightly stale ones before too. You can use mini marshmallows or normal sized. The only difference will be in the time it takes them to melt down.

Follow these steps for your webbing:

1. Place your marshmallows in a small saucepan and heat over a medium-low setting, stirring occasionally until they melt.
2. Once melted smooth, remove from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes, until not too hot to touch.
3. Carefully pinch a bit of the marshmallow with the fingers of one hand. And then pinch this glob with your other hand. Pull the marshmallow goo apart, stretching it to look like webbing.
4. Drape the webbing over your frosted rolls. It will be sticky, so you'll need to pull it across and allow it to stick to the sides to hold in place.
5. Add edible eye candies to the web while its still good and fresh, for best (and most intentional) stickiness!

Some quick tips

• For best results, let your frosting set for a few minutes before adding the webbing. This will help the marshmallow to stick better. I tend to frost the rolls, then melt the marshmallows - the time to melt and cool a bit is perfect for then moving straight to decoration.
• The marshmallow may start to harden too much and become web-able. If that happens, you can always reheat, re-melting down and carry on.
• Marshmallow is a sticky mess! But don't worry, it will melt away with water. Just run your hands under warm water to remove the residue when you're done.

Storage Advice

Leftovers of these rolls do manage to keep relatively well for a couple of days. Assuming that you have made them complete with marshmallow web, the key thing is to store at room temperature! Marshmallow will harden unpleasantly and/or melt in the condensation of the refrigerator, so don't store them in there!

For best results, let the fully decorated rolls cool completely. Then place in an airtight storage container or wrap well. Tip: due to the sticky marshmallow on top, a container with space so that it is not pressing directly on the marshmallow is best here. Bags or wrapping tightly will lead to sticking and damaging the webs.

Tips for Making Ahead

If you want to get a bit ahead of schedule, these rolls are a great make-ahead treat! As written the recipe will involve you doing most of the work the day before, but if you want to get even further ahead, you can make these all the way through to baking the day before. Follow these steps:

• Starting the morning before you want to serve, make the dough as directed. Place this in the refrigerator to slowly proof for between 6-8 hours until about doubled in size.
• After the first proof, follow the steps for assembling the rolls, second proof and baking as directed.
• Once baked, do not frost or decorate. Allow to cool completely, leaving in the pan. Then wrap well and leave at room temperature overnight.
• The next morning, uncover and re-warm the rolls for about 15 minutes in a 350°F oven. If you are worried that the tops will burn, you can cover with aluminum foil for added protection.
• Remove from the oven and decorate as directed, serving still warm.

You can quite possible make these even further in advance, following the same essential logic, but I can't comment on success!

Substitutions and Variations

• Substituting the flour - these rolls can be successful using just all purpose flour or just bread flour, instead of using a combination of the two. Using different flours might impact the kneading process - you may find the dough stickier or drier than anticipated, but they will still proof and great soft cinnamon rolls! I've not worked with gluten free flours, but if you have a trusted GF sub, give it a try here!
• Food coloring liquid - I know that the liquids are more common in grocery stores, but they really are a waste of money. You can find food color gel online and one small tub will last you for ages!! You use less, meaning it lasts longer, and it will give a more vibrant color. You can use liquid color here, but be aware that it may impact the kneading and will make the dough a bit stickier/wetter.
• Halloween candy filling - these are a great way to use up leftover Halloween chocolate bars! I use Snickers in this recipe, but the same essential process will work with other chocolate candy bars, like Mounds, Twix or Mars bars. Depending on the chocolate bar, and the type of fillings (whether these are solid or caramel, etc.), you may find the rolls ooze a bit more of the melted candy. Different candy bars will also naturally impact the flavor.
• Other toppings and decorations - if you want to add to these spooky brunch treats, you can absolutely vary the frosting and decor! Try adding gummy worms and crushed Oreo cookies for a dirt pudding vibe.

FAQs

More Candy-Filled Treat Ideas or Spooky Bakes

• Reese's Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake
• Turkey Donuts
• Hocus Pocus Brownies