Sweet warming cinnamon and rich bitter chocolate come together in this spiced collection of chocolate and cinnamon recipes. From irresistible chocolate cinnamon rolls to a hot cup of spicy cocoa, you’re bound to find something you want to make. Many of the recipes have a festive theme, but they’re so good you’ll want to bake them all year round. So don’t just save them for Christmas and the holidays.
When I sounded the call for cinnamon in a We Should Cocoa Christmas special one year, 32 bold bakers rallied to the cry. They cooked up a veritable cinnamon storm. Unsurprisingly Christmas baking took centre stage. Sadly, since then many of the recipes or blogs have disappeared. However, I’ve added some new ones, enhanced the photos and updated some of the text. So please continue and enjoy.
Cinnamon
The merry month of December kicks off the winter season, according to the Meteorological Office. So what could be better than something spicy and comforting to warm up the cockles of our hearts?
Originating in Sri Lanka, cinnamon comes from the inner bark of a tropical asian tree Cinnamomum zeylanicum. It was highly prized by ancient cultures and was more treasured than gold, a gift fit for Kings and gods. It’s thus not surprising that in Europe, it’s heavily associated with Christmas and used to mull wine and cider, as well as in biscuits, cakes and puddings. It came to Britain via Arab spice traders in the early 15th century.
Cinnamon is a particularly good spice to use in the colder months as it’s said to help ward of colds and flu as well as alleviate some of their symptoms. It’s purported to have a number of other benefits too, including boosting memory capability. I obviously don’t eat enough of it or have I said that already?
Cinnamon is one of my favourite spices, with its warm and sweet aromatic character which goes with so many different things. I use it in curries, on my porridge, sprinkled over hot chocolate and of course in baking.
I recently posted these chocolate and cinnamon rolls which were super delicious but another cinnamon bake that stands out in my memory as being particularly good was this pecan chocolate streusel cake.
Chocolate and Cinnamon Recipes for Christmas
The combination of cinnamon and chocolate inspired recipes for festive cakes, tarts, desserts, chocolates, muffins and so many delightful biscuits. I just love, love, love the wonderful assortment. So do start scrolling and enjoy these fabulous chocolate and cinnamon recipes.
Chocolate And Cranberry Muffins
Janice of Farmersgirl Kitchen made some chocolate and cranberry muffins. She’s stuffed them full of all sorts of Christmas goodies, which of course includes cinnamon. The muffins are soft and light and make a great alternative to a Christmas cake if you’re short on time.
Mulled Wine Marshmallows
How much would I give to get a bag of these chocolate covered mulled wine marshmallows for Christmas? These have got to be pure heaven in my book and are made by Becky of Mintcustard in an attempt to cheer herself up after being rather horribly ill.
Chocolate And Cinnamon Babka
I like to make chocolate and cinnamon babka in a bundt shape at Christmas time. This means I can fit a candle in the middle, which makes for a lovely festive occasion. It’s an enriched dough swirled with sweet cinnamon scented chocolate. And it’s delicious.
Banana Chocolate Cinnamon Loaf
Jo of Food Travel Life is sharing the interestingly named Cinnalate. It’s a banana, chocolate and cinnamon loaf and it looks really tasty.
Drinking Chocolate Sticks
Have you heard of trinkschokolade? I certainly hadn’t. They’re drinking chocolate on sticks which you then swirl around a mug of hot milk to make hot chocolate. These spicy Christmas drinking chocolate popsicles, are from Karin of Sinnesfreuden. These are such a great idea and perfect for Christmas gifts.
Christmas Wreath Cookies
Another fabulous Christmas gift idea comes from Laura Loves Cakes. Laura made these Christmas wreath cookies which look stunning with their wonderfully contrasting colours.
Cinnamon Hot Chocolate
One of my favourite things to drink as a special winter treat is hot chocolate flavoured with cinnamon, so I was really pleased to see this entry for Cinnamon Hot Chocolate from Elizabeth of The Law Student’s Cookbook. This one has vanilla as an addition which I’m now keen to try.
Chocolate Cinnamon Parfait
Layers of chocolate cream and cinnamon have got to be one of the best things ever. This frozen chocolate cinnamon parfait by the Nutty Tart is a brilliant idea for a make-ahead dinner party dessert. It incorporates a rather clever method of pasteurising the egg yolks that I’ve not come across before.
Christmas Mazurka
Now for the brilliantly named Christmas Mazurka, just the thought of it makes me want to get up and dance. Quite why it has this name remains a mystery, but what a brilliant bake for Christmas. Thanks to Lucy of The KitchenMaid for another excellent recipe.
Cinnamon Stars
My own contribution of cinnamon stars were a great success and I think I shall be making these for years to come. I’ve used a durable dough so they will keep for ages. Decorate or leave plain, as you wish.
Chocolate Glazed Ginger Cakes
Cinnamon and ginger make for a good combination and when combined with chocolate they jump up to another level entirely. Well it works for me anyway. Susie of Fold in the Flour was a little disappointed with these chocolate glazed gingercakes, but I would be delighted to indulge in one.
Chocolate Dipped Cinnamon Balls
Dom’s balls, much like his thighs, have become a thing of legend at Belleau Kitchen. This year he dipped them in chocolate for that extra special touch. Although I didn’t do the chocolate bit, I did make some of these chocolate dipped cinnamon balls for Christmas gifts this year and can confirm they are delicious.
Cinnamon Biscuits
Cinnamon and chocolate came as a bit of a surprise to Janine of Cake of the Week who hadn’t come across this combination before. I think she was convinced after making these delightful star shaped cinnamon biscuits sandwiched with a chocolate water ganache. And because of the water ganache, they’re nearly as fatty a biscuit as you might imagine.
Chocolate Cinnamon Buns
Hooray for Caroline Makes who made a batch divine chocolate cinnamon rolls. It’s always good to have some yeast bakery included. I know these are divine because I made some myself a while back. In fact the above image is mine.
Spiced Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies
Those cookies just keep coming and bring them on I say. These festive spiced cranberry and chocolate chip cookies look utterly scrummy which is no surprise as they come from Michelle of Utterly Scrummy Food for Families.
Speculoos Mascarpone Pancake Cake
How about this spectacular tower of Dutch pancakes filled with speculoos spread and mascarpone? Well, I for one would be very happy to try a slice. Kavey of Kavey Eats thought this quick and easy speculoos & mascarpone pancake cake was just what was needed in the run up to Christmas when we are all short of time and I think I’m inclined to agree.
Nutella Filled Cinnamon Sugar Muffins
These Nutella-filled cinnamon sugar muffins had me drooling at the very thought. I have a weakness for cinnamon doughnuts and these muffins made by Natalie of HungryHinny sound even more appealing. They look pretty fabulous too.
Cinnamon Coconut Chocolate Crunch
Nutty and crunchy, these cinnamon coconut chocolate crunch bars are a real crowd pleaser. The secret ingredient is cornflakes, but shhhh, I won’t tell if you don’t. These are from me, here at Tin and Thyme.
Chocolate Cinnamon Crackle Tops
I made chocolate crackles for the first time this year as Christmas gifts but am now regretting not having seen Suelle’s version first. You’ll find these very tasty chocolate-cinnamon crackle tops over at Mainly Baking where you might just end up staying a few hours as there are so many excellent bakes to peruse there.
Cinnamon Cocoa
Another hot chocolate, decadently made with double cream this time. Hannah of Corner Cottage Bakery enjoyed this cinnamon cocoa in the quiet of Christmas Eve.
Chocolate Chestnut Torte
This wonderful rich chocolate and chestnut torte rounded off the Christmas day meal at Elizabeth’s Kitchen. I am a big fan of chocolate and chestnuts, but I reckon this torte sitting on a base of buttered nuts, must be one of the best.
Christmas Chai Cakes
And the final entry, which will round off the feast nicely, come wrapped in fine looking Christmas tree cases. Christmas chai inspired cupcakes with chocolate buttercream from Caroline of Cake Crumbs and Cooking.
Spiced Chocolate Christmas Tree Cakes
And some more Christmas goodies have emerged from the ether. Karen of Lavender and Lovage got into the festive spirit and communed with her inner child. She made these delightful and colourful little spiced chocolate Christmas tree cakes.
Keep in Touch
Thank you for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make any of these chocolate and cinnamon recipes, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Do you have any recommendations or advice for making chocolate recipes with cinnamon?
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If you’d like more Christmas recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious and nutritious, of course.
For more We Should Cocoa chocolate recipes suitable for Christmas, take a look at these chocolate and orange recipes, these boozy chocolate recipes, these chocolate and date recipes and these festive chocolate recipes.
Choclette x
dragonfly63 says
What a fabulous roundup of seasonal recipes, can’t wait to start making them but which one first?
Kavey says
It’s only as I read the round up that I realise my entry didn’t actually have any cocoa in it! So sorry, I think it’s because in my brain I’d been thinking about Nutella, when describing the speculoos… Sorry! x x x
Sarah, Maison Cupcake says
A fabulous line up – so much variety! Looking forward to more challenges in 2013, Happy New Year! x
talesofpiglingbland says
Thanks for an excellent round up and for reading my post so that you knew about the changes in ingredients. I appreciate the time and effort. Happy new year. x
Karen S Booth says
Here we go: http://www.lavenderandlovage.com/2012/12/tea-time-treats-chocolate-and-little-spiced-chocolate-christmas-tree-cakes-recipe.html
belleau kitchen says
Bloody brilliant round up! Well done. Happy New Year!
Grocery Gems says
I LOVE cinnamon, thank you for this round up and to everyone for all the delicious recipes. 🙂
hungryhinny says
Thank you for another year of fantastic chocolate challenges – can’t wait to see the next 12! Loads of great looking recipes to try here, my new-found love of cinnamon isn’t going anywhere!
lawstudentscookbook says
These are all lovely, and now I’m drooling!
Susie @ Fold in the Flour says
So much chocolate! Amazing round up. I’m really taken with the idea of chocolate coated marshmallows, but there s so much here I’d love to try. Hope you have a great New Year, and here’s to more of WSC in 2013! 🙂
Karen S Booth says
A LOVELY round-up! Happy New Year! Karen xxx
(I am a bad girl, I forgot to email you again!)
Janice Pattie says
Always a pleasure to see the bakes in the WSC round up. Looking forward to more challenges in 2013