Buttermilk Matcha Rolls with Black Sesame Cinnamon Filling
They’re like cinnamon rolls… on tea. I was going to write on steroids, but that’s so overused and it didn’t really make sense because they’re not buffed up versions of cinnamon rolls. They’re just different, with more of a tea/nutty flavor. If you’ve had matcha flavored treats, you know what I’m talking about. Then add black sesame to the cinnamon filling????!!!!! You’ve got crazy awesome cinnamon rolls to devour. But really, matcha rolls with black sesame cinnamon filling. They’re not really cinnamon rolls. I’m not going to call them that. I don’t think words can express how much I love matcha. It adds such a lovely depth to baked goods. As the matcha editor for the Matcha feed at The Feed Feed, I’m constantly looking for goods using matcha, and I’m constantly amazed by the creativity of the community!!!
Let’s have some link love for all things matcha:
- Like these raspberry matcha mille feuille
- And aren’t these so cute? matcha macarons!! I may need to make a nut free version soon.
- OMG. Matcha brownies. GREEN BLOBS.
- this bread. this braided, beautiful bread. Yes. with matcha.
In my tiny corner of the food blogging world, I’m so excited to share with you my recipe for matcha cinnamon rolls. It uses buttermilk, which we all know is the key to super soft things, a lot of patience, matcha, and black sesame. Among other ingredients normally found in rolls, such as sugar and egg.
I get a lot of questions about where I find my matcha. You can find them online, at Whole Foods, or, my personal favorite, at Encha! Li literally tore off my blinds and introduced me to four grades of matcha. Four. You know, it makes sense, because if you think about other ingredients we drink that we use to cook (like bourbon or white wine), you know that you should always cook what you will drink. So none of that cheap barely tolerable white wine. Same thing with matcha – you want to bake with quality matcha meant for baking. I used culinary grade organic matcha in these rolls, which you can find here. Do you see this gorgeous gorgeous color without ANY food dyes?
I rolled these in two different ways (if you can’t tell, I’m very indecisive when it comes to forming buns and all that. My solution is to just make them both!)
RECIPE: Buttermilk Matcha Rolls with Black Sesame Filling
Adapted from Hummingbird High
Buttermilk Matcha Dough
3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3 tbsp sugar
½ tsp baking soda
1 heaping tbsp. matcha
pinch salt
1 tbsp active dry yeast
1 cup buttermilk, lukewarm (or 1 cup milk with 1 tbs lemon)
1 egg, room temperature
¼ cup vegetable oilFilling
3 tbsp butter, melted
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground black sesameGlaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp milk
1 tbsp butter, softened
1| Combine lukewarm milk with yeast. Wait 5-10 min until foamy. Whisk flour, matcha, sugar, baking soda, salt together in a bowl.
2| Add egg and oil to yeast mixture and whisk to combine. Set aside.
3| Form a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add yeast/milk mixture. Fold until combined.
4| When dough is ready to be handled, turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes (time this!). Dough should be smooth and elastic, but not sticky. If it is still too sticky, then slowly add flour, 1 tbsp at a time.
5| Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, and turn it around to cover with grease. Cover with plastic wrap and place in turned off oven for 1.5 hours. Dough will double in size!!
6| Transfer to a lightly floured surface and roll into a rectangle.
7| Brush melted butter onto the surface. Sprinkle with the filling mixture.
8| Roll dough lengthwise. If you are forming a loaf, use kitchen scissors to cut dough’s upper half and gently push to the edges, forming petals. Alternatively, you can cut the roll into 8 different pieces to form individual buns. Place on parchment paper lined pan, spaced slightly less than an inch apart. Cover with plastic wrap again and rise another hour. Patience is key.
9| Preheat oven to 350 F. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until edges are golden in color. Cool on a wire rack.
10| Glaze: mix sugar, vanilla, butter together. Add milk in 1 drop at a time until you get the consistency you want. Spread over warm cinnamon buns.
HELLO PRETTIES! this is what dreams are made of, SERIOUSLY. thank you for the matcha love, dear!! i have been living and breathing matcha these past few weeks!!!
You are very welcome!! Your matcha brownies are glorious and I just want to eat a whole tray of them!
Betty. Wow! The flavor combo is so creative and yet so perfect here. Can’t wait to share them with the feedfeed Community!
Thank you Julie!!!!!! You are so kind 🙂
Wow these rolls look amazing!
Thank you 🙂
These look so good! I really would love to eat one right now.
Thank you Mani!!!!!
Betty, I’m loving your blog already!!! I feel like I’m “home” sitting back and eating with you, only…where’s the real food at?! lol. This is such a gorgeous recipe. It’s like a jackpot of all my favorite things. I’ve been enjoying black sesame cake and of course, matcha anything is like being on top of the world hence, love green tea patbingsoo and pastries at 85 Degrees. And you did such a great job with the aesthetics!!!!
Aww thank you Ellie!!! I LOVE 85 degrees!! When I was working in Shanghai for a couple of months, I lived right above an 85 Degrees… and it was awesome but also wallet-breaking / diet-ruining, if you know what I mean!!!!
wut?! this is the FREAKING BEST. So glad to have discovered your blog through Steller! Matcha rolls?!? I can’t even. You’re photography is soooo goooooood.
I’m so happy you found me through Steller!! It’s only my favorite app in the whole world right now. I love that you can “flip” the pages, as if in a book. Superb storytelling app, if you ask me! Thank you so much for your kind words <3.
Your rolls are too pretty. I die. Thanks for the matcha love! living and breathing it!
also just saw the feed. omigoodness. I need to make some of these things happen!
Aw Mabel!!!! You are very welcome – your braided matcha brioche made my jaw drop. Literally. We should form some kind of matcha club. THE MATCHA BREAKFAST CLUB. YES.
Oooooh— Very nice! Quick question– do you use the “roasted” black sesame seeds that they sell out there? I’ve only seen “roasted” ones, and never any other types. Is it the same thing?
Hi!! Yes, I use roasted black sesame seeds!
these matcha rolls look so soft and sweet! beauties 🙂
so happy i came across your little corner of the internet xoxox
Eek stephanie!! Thank you so much <3.
Ooh, how did I miss these? I love that you used my recipe with these flavors, it’s almost like you read my mind — I have “black sesame rolls with malted milk icing” on my to-bake list up soon!!!
Your recipe is …. I can’t even form words!! So fluffy, so easy to make, so so simple and delightful. And so easy to customize. Thank you!! And I can’t wait to see your black sesame rolls with malted milk icing. what??@!!!!!
These are beautiful. They look so delicious. I love this recipe! Cinnamon and black sesame…YES! And the photos are just gorgeous. I want.
Thank you Amanda!!!
Just look at these; so fluffy! I love that you use buttermilk and matcha. As always, your photography is A+
Warm greetings from this frosty part of the world,
Sini
Sini!! Thank you so much for your kind words!!! xoxo
I was looking around the web for a classic cinnamon roll recipe and this is not what I expected. It is pure gold ! I’ve never thought of combining match with cinnamon rolls before since they both have pretty strong flavors. THIS is phenomenal
Aww thank you!! No, this is definitely not a classic cinnamon roll. Although in my opinion, this is so much better! It’s not too sweet and it’s go matcha and black sesame flavors. WHAT?? !!!
Wow – thanks for this recipe!! I’m definitely trying it out 🙂 And very beautiful photos!
You are so very welcome 🙂
These are absolutely stunning! I am obsessed with matcha. It truly does make everything better. I just want to dive right in that pan and live snuggled up in with that sesame cinnamon filling before eating my way out. Yum!
Very pretty, it’s late and I’m hungry…
These look amazing!! Do you think I could use coconut milk instead of buttermilk for these? Also I only have unroasted black sesame seeds, would they work? Thank you so much!
Hi Dawne!! Sorry it took so late for me to get back to you. YES you can use coconut milk. Just add 1 tbsp of lemon juice and let it sit for 5 minutes, and you’re all set! If you have unroasted ones, just lightly toast in on a skillet until you heart it “popping”, and let it cool :).
I love matcha and stumbled upon your instagram by pure chance when browsing through just the randoms. Instagram must have caught onto my love for baking and matcha. I saw your recipe and pinned it ASAP and then made it asap. it was a long process but so worth it in the end. my friends loved it. I def want to try it with red bean filling next time. Looking forward to trying some of your other recipes too. love the pictures too!
THANK YOU Taotao!!!!! This makes me SO darn happy!
I tried this today and it turned out really goooood!!! thank you for the recipe !
Greatly to check through your recipe list and found this!
my parents hated cinnamon… so this is perfect sub, I reckon i can substitute the sesame filling with smooth red bean paste (with a bit more solidify form than liquid ones) and spread it over the dough for my favourite combo… Thanks for sharing the recipe!