Raspberry Sweet Rolls-soft and sweet yeast rolls filled with raspberries and topped with cream cheese frosting. These sweet rolls are perfect for breakfast or brunch.
My dad’s cinnamon rolls are hands down the BEST cinnamon rolls in the universe. I shared my dad’s recipe on our blog years and years ago when my dad was probably the only one reading our blog. The post includes pictures of my dad making cinnamon rolls and the recipe. My dad didn’t care at the time because he didn’t think anyone would actually read the post and see his picture, but now his cinnamon roll recipe is the most popular recipe on our site. My dad gets a little embarrassed that his photo is all over the internet.
I have thought about taking new pictures for the post, they aren’t the greatest and probably should be updated to show you how amazing the cinnamon rolls are, but I love those memories with my dad in the kitchen.
When my dad came to visit us a few months ago, I asked if we could make his famous cinnamon rolls, but with a twist. I wanted to make Raspberry Sweet Rolls. My dad said sure, but he made me promise I would only take pictures of the rolls. He is kind of camera shy:)
We used my dad’s recipe for the base of the rolls because it is PERFECTION! You will never eat a softer, fluffier, melt in your mouth sweet roll. The dough is like satin.
To mix things up, we added raspberries to the filling. We used frozen raspberries because they hold together better. The raspberries will still get juicy and ooze out a little, but that is ok. They make a pretty mess:)
We topped the raspberry sweet rolls with a generous amount of cream cheese frosting. I added a little lemon zest to brighten up the rolls.
The raspberry sweet rolls were heavenly! I loved the fruity raspberry filling. And my dad, the cinnamon roll master, approved too!
My dad is coming to visit us for Christmas and I know he will be making his famous cinnamon rolls for Christmas brunch. It is a family tradition. I am going to put in a request for Raspberry Sweet Rolls too. They are the perfect Christmas morning treat! The raspberries make them so pretty and festive…and it is the holidays. It is ok to indulge. I am going to eat a cinnamon roll and raspberry sweet roll. Merry Christmas to me:)
Add these Raspberry Sweet Rolls to your Christmas brunch menu. Your friends and family will love them! And don’t forget to try my dad’s world famous cinnamon rolls! They are the BEST!
Raspberry Sweet Rolls
- Cook Time
- 17 minutes
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 2 packages yeast 4 1/2 teaspoons, dissolved in 1 cup lukewarm water
- 6 tablespoons shortening Crisco
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 9 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2 cups hot water
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1 tablespoon salt
For the filling:
- 1/2 cup softened butter
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 3 1/2 cups frozen raspberries
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- Zest of 1 large lemon
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
For the frosting:
- 4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
Instructions
- Add yeast to 1 cup of lukewarm water. Stir with a spoon and set aside for about five minutes.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add shortening, sugar, and salt to hot water and beat for 30 seconds. Let cool to lukewarm temperature. Stir in 2 cups of flour and mix until smooth. Add yeast mixture and mix until well combined. Mix in the beaten eggs.
- Gradually stir in the remaining flour and mix with the dough hook for about 2 minutes. Remove dough from the bowl and place on a lightly floured counter. Knead by hand, add a little flour if the dough is still sticky. Knead until dough feels satiny and smooth.
- Put the dough in a greased bowl and cover with a towel. Let rise for 30 minutes or until dough doubles in size.
- Remove dough from bowl and place on a lightly floured counter. Divide dough in half. With a rolling pin, roll one half of the dough into a rectangular shape. Spread dough evenly with 4 tablespoons of softened butter. Sprinkle dough with 1/4 cup brown sugar. In a medium bowl, carefully stir together the frozen raspberries, granulated sugar, lemon zest, and cornstarch. Sprinkle half of the raspberry mixture over the dough.
- Gently roll up dough into one long roll. Cut rolls, using a piece of dental floss or thread, about two inches thick. Place rolls into a greased 9X13 baking pan.
- Now follow the exact same steps with the other half of the dough, using the remaining ingredients.
- Place rolls in a warm spot and cover with a towel. Let rolls rise until double in bulk, about an hour. Bake rolls at 350 degrees F for 25-32 minutes or until golden brown on top. The insides should be soft, but not doughy. Remove pans from oven and let cool on a wire rack.
- While the rolls are cooling, make the frosting. In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and lemon zest. Using electric mixer, beat until smooth. Spread frosting on rolls and serve.
Hi – I really want to make these for a kid’s tea party! Do you have any tips on how to make these into miniature rolls?
Can I mix and rise the dough in the bread machine? Also can I use milk in place of water?
That should be fine! I haven’t tried a bread machine.
Red or black raspberries????
Absolutely delicious…and sooo easy…
These Raspberry Rolls are AMAZING!! My family and friends no longer ask for Cinnamon Rolls. And as for the dough? I have retired my old recipe and replaced it with this one. Incredible!!
These are the best. If you love cinnamon rolls, these will put you on the moon. Th
I have been making these delicious cinnamon rolls for about 3 years now. It is hands down the BEST cinnamon roll recipe on earth. I will make no orher’ Thank ya u so very much for sharing your recipe!
If making these for a brunch could they be made the night before and cooked on the morning of the brunch? Thanks looking forward to trying these
Yes, cover and keep in the fridge. In the morning, remove from fridge and let come to room temperature before baking. Enjoy!
These are soooo good! Not hard to make.
I made these this morning and they were perfect. I actually made raspberry, cherry, strawberry and blueberry. Took them to church! They were a hit. Mine were good at 35 minutes at 350 degrees. . Not raw at all. They were sweet and moist. They were definitely messy with all the extra juice, but I’m a messy baker anyway! 🙂
I made these amazing cinnamon rolls. The only different thing I did. I used cherries instead of raspberries. They were the best cinnamon rolls I have ever had. I will make again.
I have made these but I did not have to use 9 cups of flour. I have also tries small cut bup apple with cinnamon, they are good in the morning with a cup of java.
Thanks for the ideas.. So good.
1 TBSP salt sounds like too much salt. Am I wrong?
It makes a lot of sweet rolls. 1 tablespoon is correct.
Have you ever made the dough in a bread machine? If so any changes?
I haven’t, but I know some of our readers have and had success.
Can these be baked on a sheet pan instead of a 13×9?
Sure!
Can you use fresh raspberries? These look delicious!
Made these this morning…OMG they are good. I have been making cinnamon rolls for almost 50 years and get rave reviews and requests for “take out”. Now that I have tried your pastry recipe mine will be going into the round file!#! Thank you
Judy M
Ontario Canada
Looks Delishious !
i can’t thank you enough for sharing this recipe. If I could give it more than five stars I would. I have been making this recipe for a little over a year in MASS quantities. I had found another recipe for raspberry rolls that was not quite as good and came across this one. AH-MAZ-ING!. I was recently fundraising for a trip to England with my daughter and people special ordered these and the cinnamon rolls by the dozen. I also learned that i could make them up the night before and let the rolls rise in my fridge overnight and then i could just pop them in the oven to bake in the morning. The only tweak I gave the recipe was an extra rise. I found them to be less dense. This recipe is FAB!! Thanks!
Going to use this recipe to make blue berry cinnamon rolls
We have a blueberry recipe, check it out here: https://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/lemon-blueberry-sweet-rolls/
I just wanted to let you know I made blue berry sweet rolls today and split it in half batch of blue berry and carrot cake and they where a hit every one loved them that you for sharing your recipe it will be my go to one for now on and I did make the regalor one a while back and they where a big hit to
My dough was perfect and rolled out nicely. However, after everything was cut and had risen, the rolls got super soupy and soggy with lots of raspberry syrup at the bottom. Currently waiting to see how the batch turns out after dabbing everything with a few paper towels. I will totally retry this and maybe thaw and press my raspberries first to gauge the moisture. Any advice on how to avoid soggy rolls from the frozen raspberries? Thanks for the recipe.
If you are making these ahead of time would you do the initial rise and then put them in the fridge over night and do the second rise in the morning? That’s what most overnight recipes call for but it is unclear here.
Thank you! So excited to try these rolls!
Looks SOOO good! Any idea on calorie count for these yummy guys? ☺️
I cannot have cheese . Is there anything I can substitute for the chees .
I made these today and they turned out great! My husband loved them! The only thing I would change is in the instructions. I didn’t roll my dough out enough. I kind of guessed because this was the first time making these. Also I think maybe a little more filling. And I did take the advice of baking at •375 only because my oven is a little off
Glad you liked the recipe!
So I’ve made these twice now and both times they have come out dense and heavy. I’m sure it’s my fault and I’m somehow doing something wrong.
Can someone tell me how to use a bread machine to make the dough? I’m thinking maybe I need to eliminate *me* from the mixing/kneading of the dough, but I’m not quite sure how to use the bread machine for this. TIA!
Fabulous recipe. I made raspberry, so light and fluffy. Will strain out the raspberry seeds next time. My grandchildren loved them. Thank you for this recipe, the dough is, as you said, so silky.
Glad you loved the raspberry sweet rolls!
My daughter in law and I made them this morning they turned out looking like the picture
Ididnt have a electric mixing bowl and it was to much for my hand beaters so I transfer ed it to bread maker had to add a little more warm water that was great worked well also we wsnt to make for xmas morning can we do dough at night then finish them off in the morning
Can you make this partially ahead of time by putting rolls in the fridge after the first rise and taking them out early the next morning to complete the second rise?
This is a very tasty recipe and really impressed and surprised my guests.
Thanks!
Britta
Yes, you cam do that! Enjoy!
These are the BEST! So wonderfully tart and sweet at the same time. I’ve used the base dough to make my own versions using peaches with a peach cream cheese frosting and bananas for a bananas foster cinnamon roll with a brown butter rum frosting! LOVE this recipe!
I wish I could say that these were the worst things ever so that I wouldn’t have to admit to eating two of these delicitable rolls in about ten minutes. Oh my goodness these are so good. There is a bakery where I grew up that served these rolls. This recipe is as good if not better than the ones I loved back home. The dough was perfect, the filling is perfect. Seriously amazing all around. Thank you for posting this recipe. Love your blog.
They come out too dry, use cream or milk instead of water and more butter.
Do you know if there is some way I can use a substitute the crisco shortening? Maybe vegan shortening like Spectrum? Or coconut oil? I really don’t want to use a partially hydrogenated oil…
Thanks for any help!
Butter works great!
What kind of yeast do you use?
There is NO instructions for the raspberry filling??? Do you cook it on the stove, let it cool, otherwise all the ingredients won’t mix together. I can’t believe no one else asked this question??? HELP!!!
How many does this make? Seems like an awful lot of flour
24 sweet rolls
Hi, can you please let us know whether you used Active Yeast or Instant Yeast?
Thank you 🙂
Active but you can use instant!