You may have had cinnamon rolls before, but have you ever had Red Velvet Cinnamon Rolls? These are the kind of cinnamon rolls that your kids and grandkids will ask about for years to come. They are literally so decadent.
Making Red Velvet Cinnamon Rolls from scratch is one of the most amazing skills you can learn. I show you how to make these step by step. If you have never made cinnamon rolls or you want to know HOW to make them, give this recipe a try!
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy to follow recipe. Sometimes cinnamon roll recipes are hard to follow. This one is not.
- It’s a different kind of recipe. If you’re tired of making the same cinnamon rolls again and again, give this recipe a try!
- Make ahead recipe. If you’re looking for a make ahead breakfast idea, this recipe is it!
🛒Ingredients
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Dough
- milk
- unsalted butter
- sugar
- salt
- active dry yeast
- flour, divided
- cocoa powder
- eggs, room temperature
- Red food coloring
Filling
- unsalted butter
- light brown sugar
- ground cinnamon
- sugar
- flour
Icing
- cream cheese, softened
- unsalted butter, softened
- vanilla
- powdered sugar
- milk
See the recipe card below for quantities.
🔪 How to Make Red Velvet Cinnamon Rolls
In a mixing bowl, combine 1 ½ cups flour, cocoa powder, and yeast. Set aside.
In a saucepan, heat the milk, butter, sugar, and salt until 120 degrees F. Remove from heat and stir until the butter is melted. Add to the flour mixture.
Mix on low, using a regular paddle, adding the eggs one at a time. Add the food coloring until it reaches your desired shade. Be mindful that you will be adding more flour and that will soften the color.
Change the mixer attachment to the dough hook. Beat the dough at low, adding the remaining flour a little at a time. Increase speed to medium until a soft dough forms, approximately 3 minutes.
Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, turning once to coat both sides. Cover with a clean dishtowel.
Allow the dough to rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 ½ hours.
Punch the dough down and turn it out onto a floured surface. Cover and allow to rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
Combine the filling ingredients until sandy.
Roll the dough into a rectangle, approximately 20 inches by 10 inches. Sprinkle with the filling mixture, leaving a 1-inch space on one long edge without filling.
Starting on the long side, roll the dough up, working it tightly but without pulling the dough too much. Seal the long edge by pinching it shut.
Cut the dough into 12 even slices by cutting the dough in half, cutting those halves in half, and then the quarters into three slices each.
Place each roll in a large bar pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, allowing about one inch between them. Cover and allow to rise in a warm place for about 40 minutes or until doubled.
TIP: Before allowing the final rise, rolls may be tightly covered and placed in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Remove from the refrigerator and allow to rise before baking.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.
While the rolls bake, combine the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla, stirring until well blended. Stir in the flour and then add the milk a little at a time until reaching the desired consistency.
Remove rolls from the oven and spread with icing.
🍴 Substitutions
When you don’t have everything you need on hand, sometimes you have to make changes. I hope these substitutions can help you out!
- Red food coloring – what if you don’t want to use red food coloring? A few natural things you can use are pure beet juice, beet powder, and pure pomegranite juice.
- Flour – if you can swing it, use gluten free flour instead of regular flour. This can help you stick with your gluten free lifestyle. End results may vary. Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Flour is a good option.
- Powdered sugar – if you don’t have powdered sugar on hand, then take regular sugar or your sweetener of choice, place in the blender and BLEND.
You can try these substitutions to see if they work for you! There is a solution to almost any ingredient you are missing.
📝Variations
Do you want to change up this recipe and make it your own? Here are some ways that you can do that!
- Food coloring – you can always mix up the food coloring and use a different color or leave it out.
- Cream cheese frosting – if you don’t want to use cream cheese frosting, just use regular frosting!
- Kid friendly – just like anything else you make in the kitchen, you can get the kids involved too! Let the kids decorate their cinnamon rolls.
See this Strawberry Cinnamon Rolls recipe that your family might also LOVE!
🥄 Equipment
- mixing bowl
- saucepan
- stand mixer
- dough hook
- dishtowel
- 9×13 baking pan
🥫 Storage
Store the completed cinnamon rolls in the fridge. You can keep them in there for at least one week before they go bad. Also, once they are completed, you can store them on the counter for 2-3 days before they go bad!
These ingredients will stand up well to freezing. The thing about freezing cinnamon rolls is that you will want to freeze them before they are baked!
💭 Tips
- To store cinnamon rolls after baking, keep them at room temperature for a few days.
- To reheat the cinnamon rolls, place them on a baking sheet and bake for 5-8 minutes at 350 degrees!
- Roll the dough tightly, but not too tight or it will burst open during baking (especially near the ends).
- For the icing, adding more liquid will create thinner icing, adding more powdered sugar will create a thicker icing.
- Before allowing the final rise, rolls may be tightly covered and placed in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Remove from the refrigerator and allow to rise before baking.
⁉️ FAQ
Do you have questions about this recipe? Here are the answers to the most commonly asked questions.
When it comes to cinnamon rolls, they require a double rise during the baking process.
As long as you follow the cinnamon roll recipe exactly, it shouldn’t be too hard! This recipe is fairly simple to follow. Just follow the step-by-step process.
Simple enough, red velvet cinnamon rolls are just cinnamon rolls with a red velvet-like texture. There are many different types of cinnamon roll recipes out there and this is just a different recipe. Trust me, it’s just as delicious!
🍽 More Breakfast Recipes
Do you enjoy breakfast recipes? Try these delicious recipes:
🧾Red Velvet Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
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Red Velvet Cinnamon Rolls
Equipment
- Mixing Bowl
- saucepan
- stand mixer
- dough hook
- dishtowel
- 9×13 Baking Pan
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 cup milk
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
- 4 cups flour divided
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 2 eggs room temperature
- Red food coloring
Filling
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ¼ cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon flour
Icing
- 8 ounce cream cheese softened
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, combine 1 ½ cups flour, cocoa powder, and yeast. Set aside.
- In a saucepan, heat the milk, butter, sugar, and salt until 120 degrees F. Remove from heat and stir until the butter is melted. Add to the flour mixture.
- Mix on low, using a regular paddle, adding the eggs one at a time. Add the food coloring until it reaches your desired shade. Be mindful that you will be adding more flour and that will soften the color.
- Change the mixer attachment to the dough hook. Beat the dough at low, adding the remaining flour a little at a time. Increase speed to medium until a soft dough forms, approximately 3 minutes.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, turning once to coat both sides. Cover with a clean dish towel.
- Allow the dough to rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 ½ hours.
- Punch the dough down and turn out onto a floured surface. Cover and allow to rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Combine the filling ingredients until sandy.
- Roll the dough into a rectangle, approximately 20 inches by 10 inches. Sprinkle with the filling mixture, leaving a 1-inch space on one long edge without filling.
- Starting on the long side, roll the dough up, working it tightly but without pulling the dough too much. Seal the long edge by pinching it shut.
- Cut the dough into 12 even slices by cutting the dough in half, cutting those halves in half and then the quarters into three slices each.
- Place each roll in a large bar pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, allowing about one inch between them. Cover and allow to rise in a warm place for about 40 minutes or until doubled.
- TIP: Before allowing the final rise, rolls may be tightly covered and placed in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Remove from the refrigerator and allow to rise before baking.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.
- While the rolls bake, combine the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla, stirring until well blended. Stir in the flour and then add the milk a little at a time until reaching the desired consistency.
- Remove rolls from the oven and spread with icing.
Notes
- To store cinnamon rolls after baking, keep them at room temperature for a few days.
- To reheat the cinnamon rolls, place them on a baking sheet and bake for 5-8 minutes at 350 degrees!
- Dough may be refrigerated overnight to save time in the morning; allow the dough to come to room temperature before continuing.
- Roll the dough tightly, but not too tight or it will burst open during baking (especially near the ends).
- For the icing, adding more liquid will create thinner icing, adding more powdered sugar will create a thicker icing.
Nutrition
