Oh man. I am such a sucker for a good sweet roll. Orange rolls, cinnamon rolls, raspberry rolls. I love them all! I spent years and years slowly tweaking the dough and filling on these until they were absolutely perfect. The bread in these is so soft and tender. They aren't overly sweet and the raspberry filling is delicious.
The dough comes together like most sweet or dinner rolls. You can use a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment or a bread maker. Or, if you're ambitious, knead by hand! I prefer to us a bread maker (this one!)- bread makers are (obviously) designed to mix dough, and I haven't found anything that makes better dough!
For more brunch and breakfast ideas, be sure to check out our Veggie Quiche, or TikTok Cinnamon Rolls recipe.
For the Dough:
I always always always proof my yeast when making bread dough. Not only does this prevent me from having to throw away ingredients when my bread doesn't rise properly, but I find that I get a better rise overall. To proof your yeast, simply mix together the warm water, yeast and a teaspoon of sugar in a liquid measuring cup (making sure you have plenty of room for the yeast to grow) and let it stand for 5 minutes. The water should be 110-115* F. After 5 minutes, it should start to foam.
While the yeast proofs, put the milk, butter, sugar and salt into a microwave safe bowl. Put in the microwave for one minute, then stir. If the butter still hasn't melted after stirring, return to the microwave for another 30 seconds. It's important not to get this mixture too hot, or it will cook the egg. Once the butter is just melted, whisk in the egg. Pour liquid into the bowl of a bread maker or stand mixer. Start with 3 ½ cups of flour and put on top of liquid. Bread flour is better, but all-purpose works great! Pour the proofed yeast on top of the flour and start kneading/ press start on the dough setting on the bread maker.
Knead for 5 minutes or so, then check for texture. It should be quite sticky at this point, only just pulling away from the edges of the bowl. Knead another 10 minutes. As it finishes kneading, the dough should be stretchy and soft.
Cover the dough (or leave in bread maker) and let rise for one hour. It should have doubled in size. While the dough rises, start on the raspberry filling so it has time to cool.
For the Raspberry Filling:
Put cold water and lemon juice in a small bowl and mix in cornstarch. Put raspberries and sugar in a small saucepan. Pour cornstarch mixture over it and heat on medium heat for 5-10 minutes. As the raspberries come to a boil, the color and texture of the mixture will start to change. It will lose it's slightly milky appearance.
Roll out the dough into a rectangle, about ⅛" thick. Spread with ¼ cup softened butter. Spread cooled filling mixture across the top. Roll up from the long edge and cut into ¾" thick round raspberry rolls and place on parchment lined baking sheet. This step is messy!
Preheat oven to 350* F. Allow to rise for 15 minutes. Bake 20-25 minutes, until edges start to turn golden.
While they bake, make the cream cheese frosting. Combine ingredients together in a bowl with a hand mixer and spread on top of cooled raspberry rolls. Enjoy!
Recipe
Raspberry Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Dough:
- ½ cup warm water 110-115* F
- 2 ¼ teaspoons yeast
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 cup milk
- 6 tablespoons butter sliced into 6 or more pieces
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 egg
- 3 ½- 4 cups bread flour all-purpose works too!
Raspberry Filling:
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- ¼ cup cold water
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 12 ounce raspberries fresh or frozen
- ⅛ cup sugar
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 8 ounce cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon milk
- 1 ¼ cups powdered sugar
Additional ingredients:
- ¼ cup softened butter for spreading on dough
Instructions
- To Make the dough
Proof the yeast:
- Combine warm water, yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Make sure the yeast has plenty of space to grow. If it is not growing and foaming, repeat this step.
Make the rest of the dough:
- Put milk, butter pieces, sugar and salt in microwave safe bowl.
- Microwave on high for 60 seconds. Stir. If butter doesn't melt while stirring, return to microwave for additional 30 seconds. Be careful not to get it to hot, or it will cook the egg!
- Whisk egg into liquid mixture and pour into bowl of bread maker or stand mixer with dough hook.
- Add 3 ½ cups flour, pour proofed yeast on top.
- Knead for 5 minutes then check dough. It should be sticky and pulling slightly away from the edges. Add more flour if necessary, but be careful not to add too much!
- Knead an additional 10 minutes. Dough should be soft, stretchy and elastic
- Let rise one hour until doubled.
Raspberry Filling:
- While the dough rises, make the raspberry filling.
- Mix cold water, lemon juice and corn starch together in a small bowl.
- Put raspberries and sugar in a sauce pan.
- Pour cornstarch mixture over the top and turn on to medium low heat
- Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Allow to boil 2-4 minutes. The sauce will change color as it boils. It will darken and the white tinge from the cornstarch will go away. When the white tinge is gone and the sauce has thickened a bit:
- Remove from unit and allow to cool while the dough finishes rising.
Assemble:
- Preheat oven to 350*F.
- Roll dough out into a rectangle, about ⅛" thick.
- Spread ¼ cup softened butter across the dough.
- Spread the raspberry sauce over the dough evenly.
- Roll up from the long edge and cut into ¾" thick rolls.
- Place on parchment lined baking sheet and allow to rise for 15 minutes.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- While the rolls are baking and cooling, prepare the frosting.
- Place room temperature cream cheese, milk and vanilla in a mixing bowl and mix on low speed for 30 seconds.
- Add powdered sugar and mix until smooth. 1-2 minutes.
- Spread on cooled raspberry rolls and enjoy!
Briana Winegardner says
10 out of 10 recommend this recipe! I love raspberries and these were a great combination of carby goodness and yummy fruit flavor. I made quite the mess when putting them together but we loved them. I made these to go with a late mother's day dinner and they were exactly what we needed to at some sweet to our meal. I will be making this one again.
Zach says
Delicious, soft, and super fun to make. It was a bit messy, but that's what I love! I'm also not a huge raspberry fan most of the time, but these were perfect.
Brandi says
Would doubling the dough recipe work or would it be better to just make 2 separate batches?
Nicole says
I have doubled this once before and it worked just fine. The only thing that you'll really want to watch for is the texture and getting the right amount of flour. Pre-kneading it will be sticky yet still pull away from the edges of the bowl as it's kneaded, and once you're done kneading it will be stretchy and soft.
Brandi says
Thank you!
Brandi says
Any recommendations for freezing before baking?