Homemade Cinnamon Chips for Baking
This recipe for homemade cinnamon chips makes the best little cinnamon bits to use in baking recipes like cookies, scones, or bread (like the viral cinnamon burst bread!).
These cinnamon chips are so easy to make! With a few key tips described below, they work perfectly in all sorts of baking recipes and are a perfect solution if you are unable to find cinnamon chips in-store or online.
How (and Why) to Use Homemade Cinnamon Chips
After the wild success of this cinnamon burst bread, I’ve been inundated with requests for a homemade version of the cinnamon chips used in that recipe.
While there are several places to buy the cinnamon chips in the United States, many of you report that the shipping costs are exorbitant, you live in an area where the chips are not available, the chips melt during shipping, or you don’t like the artificial taste of some of the brands.
Enter this homemade version! This recipe calls for just a few simple ingredients, and the cinnamon chips are great-tasting, and so easy to make!
These cinnamon bits are perfect to use in:
- Cinnamon burst bread
- Cinnamon chip scones
- And any other baking recipe where cinnamon chips or cinnamon bits are called for
Ingredients Notes
- White bar chocolate: Look for white “baking” chocolate – real white chocolate, NOT almond bark or candy coating. The most commonly available brand where I live is Ghirardelli.
- White chocolate chips: White chocolate chips are notoriously bad at melting – and different brands melt better and worse than others. I tested this recipe with Nestle, Ghirardelli, and Guittard brands of white chocolate chips. Ghirardelli brand worked the very best, and it’s my preferred brand for this recipe. The other two brands can work; just be patient and continue to heat slowly if the white chocolate chips take longer to melt.
- Vanilla extract: I use pure vanilla extract.
- Ground cinnamon: Add the ground cinnamon gradually to the melted white chocolate mixture. I usually add the full 6 teaspoons called for in the recipe, but you can add 5 teaspoons for a slightly less pronounced cinnamon flavor.
How to Make Homemade Cinnamon Chips
- Combine the chopped white bar chocolate and white chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 30 second intervals at 50 or 60% power, stirring in between, until the white bar chocolate is completely melted. Don’t over heat or the white chocolate can burn and clump up.
- Stir in the vanilla and 1 teaspoon of the ground cinnamon.
- Stir in the remaining cinnamon 1 teaspoon at a time.
- Spread the mixture into an even layer about 1/8- to 1/4-inch thick on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Place in the fridge for 20 to 30 minutes to let fully set up and harden.
- Use a knife or bench scraper/knife to chop into small bits. For smoother chopping, it helps to let the cinnamon sheet sit out at room temp for 5 to 10 minutes before cutting into pieces.
- Immediately place the cinnamon bits into a container or bag and store in the freezer.
Important note: Keep these homemade cinnamon bits in the freezer until ready to use – and add to the recipe directly from the freezer. They will melt a bit more quickly than store bought cinnamon chips, so handle quickly and don’t let them warm up too much.
Proof These Homemade Cinnamon Chips Work in Cinnamon Burst Bread
Of course I tested these homemade cinnamon chips in the cinnamon burst bread recipe! And they work great!
Keep in mind the follwoing important notes and caveats when using the homemade cinnamon chips versus store bought cinnamon chips:
- Add the homemade cinnamon bits at the very end of kneading time and add them straight from the freezer.
- The homemade cinnamon chips may absorb a bit more into the dough and/or give the dough a slightly oily/buttery texture. That’s ok! Just make sure to knead them in quickly and gently and handle them as little as possible with warm hands so they don’t melt.
- You can see from the baked bread slices in the photo below that the homemade cinnamon bits create delicious pockets of cinnamon goodness throughout the bread. The homemade chips give a slightly more swirled effect than the store bought cinnamon chips, but the end result is SO YUMMY.
After having made the cinnamon burst bread many times using store bought cinnamon chips, I think I prefer the taste and texture of the homemade cinnamon chips just as much if not more than the store bought brands!
A Few Additional Notes
One batch of the homemade cinnamon chips yields about 1 3/4 to 2 cups of cinnamon bits.
The cinnamon burst bread recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of cinnamon bits, but because the homemade chips melt a tiny bit more than the store bought cinnamon chips, I use all of the homemade cinnamon chips in the bread.
The most important things to remember when making and using these cinnamon chips are to (say it with me now):
- Be patient and melt the white chocolate slowly and thoroughly
- Freeze the chopped cinnamon bits before using
- Add them at the end of mixing and don’t over-handle them
Yay for being able to make cinnamon burst bread and cinnamon chip scones at any time without having to rely on store bought cinnamon chips! Today is a good day indeed.
Homemade Cinnamon Chips for Baking
Ingredients
- 8 ounces (228 g) white bar chocolate (NOT almond bark or candy coating – see note), coarsely chopped
- ½ cup (100 g) white chocolate chips (see note for best melting brands)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 5 to 6 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Combine the chopped white bar chocolate and white chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 30 second intervals at 50 or 60% power, stirring in between, until the white bar chocolate is completely melted. Don't over heat or the white chocolate can burn and clump up.
- White chocolate chips don't melt as easily as the bar chocolate. It helps to heat until the white bar chocolate is completely melted and then stir well and let the mixture rest so the white chocolate chips can melt in the residual heat of the melted white bar chocolate.
- Continue microwaving for 30 second intervals, if needed, to melt the white chocolate chips thoroughly. Be patient with this process! Most brands of white chocolate chips will end up melting almost all the way. It's ok if there are tiny bits of white chocolate chips that don't melt all the way.
- Stir in the vanilla and 1 teaspoon of the ground cinnamon. The mixture may initially look like it's seizing up a bit. Just continue to stir and it should come together. Stir in the remaining cinnamon 1 teaspoon at a time, stirring to combine fully after each addition.
- Spread the mixture into a rectangle on the prepared sheet pan, about 11X8-inches or so. Place in the fridge for 20 to 30 minutes to let fully set up and harden.
- Use a knife or bench scraper/knife to chop into small bits. For smoother chopping, it helps to let the cinnamon sheet sit out at room temp for 5 to 10 minutes before cutting into pieces.
- Immediately place the cinnamon bits into a container or bag and store in the freezer. They work best added to any recipe (cookies, scones, bread) straight from the freezer. When adding to recipes, don't over-mix or over-handle the cinnamon bits as they will melt more easily than store bough cinnamon chips.
