What can I make with cinnamon?
Wondering what to make with cinnamon? Below are recipes from our library that use it, followed by practical cooking, storage, and substitution notes for cinnamon.
12 recipes with cinnamon
Golden Milk
Warm turmeric-spiced milk for wind-down.
Indian8m2
Horchata
Cold rice-cinnamon drink sweetened with condensed milk.
Mexican10m4
Chai Tea Latte
Spiced black tea simmered with milk.
Indian15m4
Churros
Crisp fried dough sticks rolled in cinnamon sugar.
Spanish30m6
Tres Leches Cake
Sponge cake soaked in three milks with whipped cream topping.
Mexican50m12
Cinnamon Rolls
Fluffy yeast rolls swirled with cinnamon sugar and topped with cream cheese icing.
American55m12
Vegetable Pho
Aromatic Vietnamese noodle soup with charred ginger and warm spices.
Vietnamese60m4French Toast Casserole
Overnight bake of custard-soaked bread with cinnamon streusel.
American60m8Peach Cobbler
Sweet peach filling under a buttery batter topping.
American60m8Pastel de Nata
A classic Portuguese custard tart, consisting of a flaky crust and a creamy egg custard, caramelized in the oven.
Portuguese70m12
Banana Bread
Moist quick bread of overripe bananas and brown sugar.
American70m8Creamy Rice Pudding
A classic, comforting dessert made with rice, milk, and sugar, flavored with cinnamon and raisins.
American70m6
How to cook with cinnamon
- 1Start with aromatics - onion, garlic, or ginger softened in fat - then add the cinnamon.
- 2Season early and taste as you go rather than salting only at the end.
- 3Give it enough heat and enough space; a crowded pan steams instead of browning.
- 4Finish with acid and fresh herbs, the two things that make a simple dish taste deliberate.
What goes well with cinnamon
Cinnamon is at its best with onion, garlic, olive oil, lemon, herbs and black pepper. Any two or three of those, plus cinnamon, is already a dinner rather than an ingredient list.
Storing cinnamon
Store cinnamon sealed and cool, and use the oldest stock first. If it is close to turning, cook it rather than throwing it out - roasting, soup, and a quick sauce all forgive slightly past-peak ingredients.
Substituting cinnamon
If you are out of cinnamon, look for something that behaves the same way in the pan rather than something that tastes the same. Match the moisture level, the cooking time, and the richness, and adjust the liquid slightly if your substitute releases more water. When in doubt, describe what you actually have in the chat and Mr. Chef will rewrite the recipe around it.
Cinnamon recipes: common questions
- What can I make with cinnamon and not much else?
- Plenty. With cinnamon plus an onion, garlic, oil, and salt you already have the base of a skillet dinner, a soup, or a simple sauce. Add a starch - rice, pasta, bread, or potatoes - and it becomes a full meal. The recipes above are ordered so the ones needing the fewest extra items come first.
- What is the quickest cinnamon recipe?
- Look for the entries above marked 20 minutes or less. As a rule, anything cut small and cooked in a hot pan beats anything roasted whole, and one-pan recipes save more time in cleanup than in cooking.
- Can I substitute cinnamon?
- In most recipes yes, as long as the replacement plays a similar role - similar moisture, similar cooking time, similar richness. Swapping across roles (a watery vegetable for a starchy one, for instance) usually needs a change in liquid or cooking time too.
- How do I use up leftover cinnamon?
- Fried rice, a frittata, a grain bowl, a soup, or a quesadilla will absorb almost any leftover cinnamon without a recipe. If you want something specific, tell Mr. Chef exactly what is in the fridge and it will build a recipe around it.