Lower Calorie Higher Protein Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

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Lower Calorie Higher Protein Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

These cinnamon rolls are soft and chewy with a sweet, buttery cinnamon swirl and a decadent icing drizzle, but are lower in calories with a decent amount of protein. And bonus, they're easy to make (with no rise time!), and whip up in just 45 minutes from start-to-finish (including cleanup time!).

Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword Protein Cinnamon Rolls

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 25

Servings cinnamon rolls

Calories 172.2kcal

Author Faith Gorsky

Ingredients

Cinnamon Brown Sugar Filling:

1 tablespoon unsalted butter melted
1/2 scoop Equip Prime Protein Salted Caramel about 2 tablespoons (or any brand of caramel or vanilla protein powder you like)
2 tablespoons keto brown sugar lightly packed (or light brown sugar)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Dough:

1 cup all-purpose flour plus more for rolling out the dough
2 tablespoons keto granulated sweetener (or regular granulated white sugar)
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup nonfat Greek yogurt (or low-fat or full-fat Greek yogurt)
1/2 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
1 egg lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water for egg wash

Icing:

4 tablespoons keto powdered sweetener (or regular powdered sugar)
1 teaspoon Fairlife Fat Free Milk (or any kind of milk you like)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Prep. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line an 8 by 8-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
Make the cinnamon brown sugar filling. Add all ingredients to a medium bowl and mix well.
Make the dough. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add the yogurt, vanilla extract, and almond extract, and stir to combine, kneading a couple times if necessary.
Roll out the dough. Generously flour your countertop (or a piece of parchment paper) and both sides of your dough. Roll it out to a rectangle about 8 inches long by 12 inches wide, adding more flour as necessary.
Assemble the rolls. Evenly sprinkle the filling on the dough, leaving a border of about 1/2 inch all around. Starting with one of the short sides, tightly roll up the dough into a log. Cut the log into 4 equal portions, and place the 4 rolls into the prepared pan, gently pressing each down to flatten slightly. Brush the tops with egg wash.
Bake. Bake until the rolls are just set, about 25 to 30 minutes. (They may not be golden on top, and that’s okay as long as they’re set; don’t over-bake or they won’t be chewy.)
Make the icing. As soon as the rolls are out of the oven, stir together the icing ingredients in a small bowl. Let the rolls cool for 5 to 10 minutes, then drizzle the icing on top and enjoy.

Video

Notes

To Increase the Protein Even More: You can add protein powder to the dough. To do so, reduce the all-purpose flour to 3/4 cup and add 1/4 cup of your favorite unflavored protein powder. I don't recommend adding more protein powder to the dough than that because protein powder tends to absorb more moisture than flour; without making other changes (such as increasing the wet ingredients), you run the risk of your cinnamon buns being dry.
Storage: Store leftovers wrapped in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. For best flavor and texture, I like to reheat them after refrigerating or freezing.
Reheating: To reheat in the microwave, put a cinnamon roll on a microwave-safe plate, cover it with a slightly damp paper towel, and microwave for 20 seconds. After that, you can add 10 second intervals if necessary until it's warm throughout. To reheat in the oven, put a cinnamon roll on a baking tray or casserole dish, cover with foil, and pop it into a 350F oven until warm, about 10 to 15 minutes. To reheat in the air fryer, wrap a cinnamon roll in foil and air fry at 350F until warm, about 5 to 8 minutes.
Meal Prep Tip: If you're making these for meal prep, wait to add the icing until after reheating. You can store it on the side in snack-size plastic baggies, in plastic condiment containers, or in these adorable reusable 2-ounce glass condiment jars.
Nutrition Information: The nutritional information for this recipe was calculated using the brands specified in the recipe. Note that if you use different brands, the nutrition information will likely change.

Nutrition