After the popularity of my Everything Bagel Protein Pop Tarts and Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Pop Tarts, it only makes sense to continue making Kodiak Cakes recipes. They’re just amazingly simple for how great they taste and their stellar nutrition breakdown. These chocolate cinnamon rolls, for example, have roughly 12 grams of protein and fewer than 140 calories each. And the entire recipe only calls for six ingredients!
If you’ve tried any of my protein pop tarts, you can probably jump right into the recipe. Otherwise, I’ll cover a few recipe and ingredient notes next.
What You’ll Need for This Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
The base cinnamon roll recipe only calls for four ingredients.
Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls
- Dark Chocolate Kodiak Cakes Pancake Mix
- Fat Free Greek Yogurt
- Light Butter
- Ground Cinnamon
While it’s possible to substitute for the Kodiak Cakes, it takes significantly more ingredients to make a comparable dough and would pretty much be an entirely different recipe. So, I recommend using the Kodiak Cakes (or a comparable baking mix) only for these chocolate cinnamon rolls.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Fat Free Cream Cheese
- Swerve Confectioners or Powdered Sugar (you can make a high protein powdered sugar like I made in my crunch berries protein donuts recipe)
That’s it. Pretty simple, right?
If you’re wondering what the heck Swerve is, it’s a calorie-free sugar substitute. It’s by far the best tasting sugar substitute I’ve tried, and the powdered (Confectioners) blend is amazing. You can read more about Swerve in the notes of my microwavable high protein chocolate banana bread recipe.
For the cream cheese, you can substitute 1/3 fat or even full fat cream cheese if you can’t find fat free. The recipe as-is makes quite a bit of frosting. So if you use a higher calorie version, you could get away with using two ounces instead of four.
How to Make Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls
The process is pretty straightforward for this recipe. You’ll need to mix the pancake mix and Greek yogurt together to form a dough before rolling it flat on a baking sheet.
After that, it’s as easy as cutting the dough into strips, mixing butter and cinnamon together, rolling the dough, and baking.
The video below from my everything bagel protein pop tarts will give you an idea of what the dough looks like as you form it. In the recipe notes, I mention it will look like you need more Greek yogurt as you form the dough. You can see what that looks like in the video.
For these chocolate cinnamon rolls, I chose not to trim the rough edges like I did in the protein pop tarts. You could definitely trim the rough edges and reroll the leftovers into its own strip with neater edges. I don’t mind having two cinnamon rolls with uglier tops on them, though.
All right, that’s about all ya need to know. Below you’ll find the full chocolate cinnamon rolls recipe.
Healthy Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls
Chocolate cinnamon rolls made with Kodiak Cakes pancake mix topped with a cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients
Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls
- 2 C (212g) Dark Chocolate Kodiak Cakes Pancake Mix
- 3/4 C + 1 1/2 Tbsp (187g) Fat Free Greek Yogurt, vanilla
- 2 Tbsp (28g) Light Butter
- 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 oz Fat Free Cream Cheese, room temp or softened
- 2-3 Tbsp Swerve Confectioners , or powdered sugar (to taste)
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Mix the pancake mix and Greek yogurt in a large bowl. Work the dough until you can form one large ball. (It may seem as if you need more Greek yogurt. You don't—just keep working the dough.)
- Transfer the dough to the baking sheet and use a rolling pin or the backside of a spatula to flatten the dough. Spray your rolling pin with nonstick cooking spray to alleviate any sticking issues. You want the dough to be fairly thin and take up most of the baking sheet. (If the dough is resistant to rolling thin, set it aside for a few minutes to rest.)
- Use a pizza cutter or knife to cut the dough vertically into 4 long pieces. (You can also cut them in half at this point or cut them once rolled. I cut them after rolling.) Set the dough aside.
- Microwave the butter in a small dish for 5-10 seconds before adding the cinnamon and stirring well. Spoon the cinnamon butter mixture onto the dough strips in one thin line. (If you cut the strips in half in step 3, leave a little room at the ends of each strip to avoid overflow when rolling.)
- Carefully roll each strip of dough from one end to the other.
- Use a sharp knife to cut each of the 4 rolls in half and place the cut side down.
- Bake for 12 minutes.
- While the chocolate cinnamon rolls are in the oven, mix the cream cheese and Swerve or powdered sugar in a small bowl. If your cream cheese is cold, microwave for 10-15 seconds. Once the cinnamon rolls have cooked and cooled briefly, add the frosting and any additional toppings like sprinkles.
Notes
- Each cinnamon roll has 4 Smart Points.
- Macros for chocolate cinnamon rolls only: 122 calories, 9.5 grams of protein, 15 grams of carbs, and 3.5 grams of fat.
- For the cream cheese, you can substitute 1/3 fat or even full fat cream cheese if you can't find fat free. The recipe as-is makes quite a bit of frosting. So if you use a higher calorie version, you could get away with using two ounces instead of four.
- If you'd like to make smaller portions, check out my cinnamon roll in a mug recipe for an idea on making these cinnamon rolls for two!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 cinnamon rolls Serving Size: 1 cinnamon roll with frostingAmount Per Serving: Calories: 140Total Fat: 4gCarbohydrates: 19gProtein: 12g
Thanks in advance and thanks for reading!
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Ashley Livingston
Wednesday 29th of January 2020
This is definitely one of my favorites. The hardest part about the entire recipe is not eating them all at once. I’ve prepped these for the week many times and used a small portion for snacks or sweet cravings, or as a light breakfast before the gym! You HAVE TO TRY! Super easy to make and I did it in my little microwave oven!
Marisa
Tuesday 28th of January 2020
Delish! These are so easy & quick to make. They are satisfying my evening sweet tooth. I love all the pictures and additional instructions. Definitely recommend this recipe
Elsie
Sunday 24th of November 2019
These are amazing with Dark cocoa powder, not overly sweet but the frosting compliments perfectly!!
Jen Philips
Friday 9th of November 2018
These are the first recipe I’ve tried from Mason and I thought for sure I would completely mess them up. The recipe was so easy to follow and they came out great! They feel like real cheat meal!
Olivia Holley
Tuesday 6th of November 2018
Hey I run an account for wellness on instagram (@livfiteatwell). I love your page! Have a blessed day, these are an amazing idea! Love them! I love your ideas and recipes!