If you love cinnamon rolls, then you must try these Raspberry Sweet Rolls! Fresh raspberries get tossed together to create a simple filling for these fluffy yeast rolls. The combination with the cream cheese frosting is to-die-for.
This post is sponsored by California Giant Berry Farms. As always, all opinions expressed are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that help Fit Mitten Kitchen bring you new recipes!
What are Sweet Rolls?
Sweet rolls are like cinnamon rolls but instead of a butter and cinnamon filling, you make a fruit filling instead!
The entire process is pretty much the same and you still have the same yeast dough as a homemade cinnamon roll (adapted from this recipe), but the filling is fruit sweetened instead of with cinnamon-sugar and butter.
If you like cinnamon rolls and also like fruit filling desserts, you will love this raspberry sweet rolls recipe.
Yeast Rolls Dough
For the yeast rolls you’ll need:
- non-dairy milk of choice. For example: soy, oat, coconut, cow’s milk, etc. I just don’t recommend protein based milks like pea milk.
- egg, to help give the dough some structure.
- instant yeast, sometimes called “active dry or “quick rise”
- sugar, to give the dough a little sweetness since we’re not adding much sugar to the filling
- butter, for flavor, but feel free to use a plant based version.
- unbleached all-purpose flour, for fluffy rolls. Whole wheat pastry flour could work too, but you’ll just have slightly more dense rolls.
- salt, to help enhance flavor and balance the sweetness.
Raspberry Filling
Just fresh raspberries, a little big of granulated sugar and tapioca flour get tossed together to create a simple fruit filling for these sweet rolls.
Cream Cheese Frosting
You can’t go wrong with a cream cheese frosting on these raspberry rolls. It reminds me of those danish pastries! I personally like to keep the cream cheese frosting a little bit lighter so I make a simple recipe using powdered sugar, cream cheese and milk.
Tips for Selecting Raspberries
When selecting fresh raspberries at the store, California Giant suggests looking for:
- evenly colored berries
- firm in texture
- soft glossy look
Make sure you don’t buy raspberries too far in advance, since they don’t ripen after harvest. For this recipe you’re safe to buy raspberries up to one day in advance, but it’s best if you can buy them the day you plan to make the sweet rolls.
How to Make Sweet Rolls
If you’ve made cinnamon rolls before then you can definitely make sweet rolls! You just need to make the dough, the filling, put it all together and bake into heavenly sweet gooey goodness.
Make the Dough
The first part of the process is to make the dough.
In a microwave safe glass measuring cup, heat milk for about 20-30 seconds. Allow temperature of milk to reach 100-110ºF (or lukewarm). Then add the the yeast, sugar and milk to your mixing bowl and mix together. Let it sit for about 8-10 minutes until the top is foamy (this means your yeast is activated). Then whisk in melted butter and egg until fully combined.
With the mixer running, start to add your flour about 1/2 cup at a time. You should use about 3 cups here. Continue mixing on low speed until the dough has some elasticity and starts to pull away from the edge of the bowl. At this time, change the attachment to the dough hook. With the mixer running, slowly add a little more flour, about 1/2 cup to 3/4 cups total. Allow the hook to knead the dough on low speed for about 5 minutes.
Lightly grease a large bowl with oil or butter and place the dough in the bowl. Cover it with a towel and let the dough rise in a warm environment until the dough has doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
RISING TIP: Set the oven to 170ºF, turn off once it reaches temperature and allow the dough to rise in a lightly greased large bowl until it doubles in size – about 45 minutes.
Make the Filling
The dough will probably take about 40 minutes or so to double in size. So after about 30 minutes (or you can tell your dough has almost doubled in size) you can make the raspberry filling.
Just don’t make the fruit filing too early or the raspberries will get too mushy and won’t roll up into the dough well.
Roll the Dough
Roll the dough out onto a floured surface, creating a 15×9 rectangle. Use a measuring tape for accuracy if possible. Spoon the raspberry filling onto the dough and then gently and somewhat tightly roll the dough up into a log, placing the seam side down.
I like to get a ruler out and gently make marks in the dough so I know where to cut. You can get 12 rolls with this recipe.
Best Way to Slice Cinnamon Rolls
The best and easiest way to slice rolls without smashing them is with floss. You just shimmy the floss under the roll, bring the floss together at the center, twist the floss and pull down at the same time to cut.
Note: while unflavored floss is best, you won’t be able to taste the mint if that’s all you have on hand.
Let Rise One More Time
Place the 12 cut rolls into a greased 9×13 baking dish, leaving room to spread, and allow the rolls to rise one more time.
You can use the warm oven tip again if you’re baking in a cold environment
Time to Bake!
If you’re using the warm oven tip for rising, make sure to take the rolls out of the oven while it preheats to 350ºF.
Bake the rolls for about 20-25 minutes, until the tops are golden.
Frosting
You really can’t go wrong with a cream cheese icing for raspberry sweet rolls.
But if you’re looking to keep things simple, you could definitely just mix together confectioners sugar with some lemon juice or milk for an easy vegan friendly glaze.
Dairy-Free Substitutions
To make this recipe dairy-free friendly, use these ingredient swaps:
- Use plant-based butter
- Use vegan cream cheese (like Miyokos or Kite Hill)
- Use non-dairy milk like oat, cashew or even coconut
How to Prepare Overnight Rolls
You can have fresh sweet rolls in the morning without getting up super early.
Here’s how to do it:
- Make the recipe up to where you’ve placed the rolls into your baking dish
- Cover and place in the fridge overnight
- Bring the pan out of the fridge about 45 minutes before pre-heating the oven
- Place the rolls in the preheated oven and bake for about 25-35 minutes
That’s it! Easy, peasy.
More Fresh Raspberry Recipes
Let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a comment and rating below! It helps others learn more about the recipe too! Xx Ashley
How to Make…
Raspberry Sweet Rolls
If you love cinnamon rolls, then you must try these Raspberry Sweet Rolls! Fresh raspberries get tossed together to create a simple filling for these fluffy yeast rolls. Top with cream cheese frosting for the best treat. A simple recipe that can easily be made dairy-free friendly using simple ingredient swaps.
- Prep Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
- Diet: Vegetarian
- Yield: 12 rolls 1x
- Scale:
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk (such as oat, soy, cashew, coconut, or almond)
- 1 large egg
- 1 packet (2.25 teaspoons) instant yeast (quick rise)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
- 3.25 – 3.75 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
Raspberry Filling
- 12 ounces fresh raspberries
- 2.5 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ tablespoon tapioca flour
Frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons milk of choice (can also sub yogurt)
- 1.25 cups confectioners sugar
Instructions
Read through the entire recipe instructions before beginning, then gather your ingredients and start. This will make the process much smoother and all of the steps will flow easier.
- In a microwave safe bowl or glass measuring cup, heat milk for about 20-30 seconds. Allow temperature of milk to reach 100-110ºF (or lukewarm). If it’s too hot it will kill the yeast.
- Add yeast and sugar into large mixing bowl of stand mixer and gently add milk. Stir until combined and allow to sit for 10 minutes, until top is foamy. Then stir in melted butter and egg until fully combined. Begin adding flour, about 1/2 cup at a time. You will likely need about 3 cups here. Dough should be elastic and start to pull away from the edge of the bowl when its ready. At this time, change the attachment to the dough hook, and allow the hook to knead the dough on low speed for about 5 minutes. Dough should remain soft but not overly sticky. Note: This is typically where I add another 1/4 cup or so of flour with the mixer running, then stop the mixer once the flour has mixed in slightly, reposition the dough and start the mixer again to continue kneading the dough. I used a total of 3.5 cups.
- Lightly grease a large bowl with oil or butter. Shape dough into ball, place in bowl and cover with towel and let rise in warm environment until dough has doubled in size, about 45 minutes. TIP: While you’re getting the dough ready, set the oven to warm or preheated to 170ºF then turn off. Place bowl in the warmed oven and allow to rise.
- During the last 10 minutes of rise time, make the raspberry filling by tossing the fresh raspberries with sugar and tapioca flour.
- Grease a 9×13″ baking dish with butter or coconut oil, set aside. Once the dough has doubled in size, lightly cover a flat surface with flour. Place the dough onto floured surface and sprinkle a little flour on the dough. Roll into a 15×9 inch rectangle, sprinkling more flour on as needed so rolling pin doesn’t stick. Use spoon to place raspberry filling onto dough, going almost all the way to the edges. It’s okay to lightly mash them slightly here; see image in post for reference.
- Using the heels of your hands and thumbs, gently and somewhat tightly, roll dough into a long roll, placing seam side down. Use floss method to slice rolls (this video helps for a visual) or a serrated knife to gently cut into about 1″ width. Discard the ends. You should get 12 rolls for a 9×13 pan. Place rolls in greased pan, leaving room to rise, and put pan in draft-free environment until rolls have almost doubled in size, about another 20 minutes. You can use the warm oven tip above. See notes below for overnight adaptation. Remove rolls from oven after they’ve risen and preheat oven to 350ºF.
- Once oven has fully preheated, place pan back in oven and bake uncovered, for about 25-30 minutes until tops are lightly golden.
- While the rolls are cooling, make the cream cheese frosting: In a medium bowl using electric mixer, combine softened cream cheese with powdered sugar and add in milk or yogurt – mix on low-medium speed until smooth. Add frosting to rolls and enjoy!
Recipes Notes:
Make this recipe completely dairy-free by using a vegan cream cheese and non-dairy milk if you’d like to keep the frosting the same. Or use a simple confectioners sugar glaze by mixing one cup powdered sugar with 3 tablespoons milk or lemon juice.
This recipe has not been tested egg-free, but you could potentially use a flax-seed egg option. I have not tested this but let me know if you do!
You could easily make 9 large rolls in a 9×9 baking dish (or a similar size baking dish), just know you’ll have more waste. Sometimes if I have extra dough, I’ll create little twists and bake in my toaster oven while the rolls are baking in the big oven.
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