These Red Velvet Cinnamon Rolls are made completely from scratch (no cake mix boxes used here!). They are vibrantly red, have a gooey brown sugar and cinnamon filling and are topped with a rich cream cheese frosting.
Jump straight to the recipe!
❤️Cinnamon Rolls with a twist
If you love both red velvet cake and cinnamon rolls, then you will love this awesome combination of the two! These are perfect for Valentine's Day, Christmas - or really any occasion that calls for a red treat!
I used my soft cinnamon rolls recipe as a base for creating this recipe, and changed some ingredients and adding in others. Buttermilk is substituted for the milk, and food colouring is used to get that vibrant red. These red velvet cinnamon rolls are just as fluffy as regular ones, but have a velvety, rich taste to them.
The filling in these are the same as a regular cinnamon roll - melted butter, brown sugar and lots of cinnamon. And of course cream cheese icing had to be smoothed on top of these! There is no better topping for anything red velvet.
Love cinnamon rolls? Try my recipes for funfetti cinnamon rolls or pumpkin spice cinnamon rolls!
🥘Ingredients
Ingredient notes
- Buttermilk - This is to give the tang that is found in red velvet cake.
- Red food colouring - I have only tried this with gel food colouring.
- Cream cheese - Make sure to use block cream cheese. That one is meant for baking.
- Dry active yeast - Use whichever kind of yeast you are comfortable with.
🔪Instructions
For the dough - mix yeast, sugar and warmed buttermilk together. Add in eggs and melted butter and mix.
Combine 4 cups of flour to those ingredients and knead together. Add in the salt and food colouring and a bit of the remaining flour at a time. Knead until the dough is not sticking and cleans the sides of the bowl. You may not need all the flour, or you may need a bit more. If you need more flour, add ¼ cup at a time.
Place the dough into a greased bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and allow it to rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Roll the dough into a 15x20 inch rectangle and brush all over with melted butter. Generously cover the butter with the brown sugar and cinnamon and then roll it up tightly, starting from the long end.
Cut the dough into 12 equal rolls. I used a very sharp knife, but I have heard that floss does a very good job. Just make sure that you don't use a flavoured floss.
Place the cinnamon rolls into a greased baking dish, cover and let rise until doubled in size. Bake them in a 350°F oven for 20 minutes. Let them cool on a wire rack while you make the frosting.
Mix cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Mix in confectioner's sugar and then spread the frosting all over the top of the cinnamon rolls.
For more step by step instructions, see the web story for these red velvet cinnamon rolls.
✔️Expert Tips
- Don't overheat the buttermilk. Anything over 115°F will kill the yeast and then the dough will not rise. Dip your finger into the milk. It should feel warm, not hot.
- The amount of flour needed in the dough, all depends on humidity. Don't be alarmed if you need to use less or even a bit more then the recipe indicates.
- If the cinnamon rolls are browning too quickly in the oven, place some tin foil lightly over the tops of them and continue baking.
- For overnight cinnamon rolls, follow the recipe until the end of step 6. Cover the baking dish of cinnamon rolls with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until morning. The next day, let the cinnamon rolls come to room temperature and then double in size. This can take a few hours. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°F. Bake the cinnamon rolls for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven onto a wire rack and spread the cream cheese topping over the tops of them.
💭FAQs
Yes, after you put the unbaked cinnamon rolls into their dish, cover and place it into the fridge overnight. In the morning, bring the rolls to room temperature and then allow them to double in size before baking them.
After the dough has risen to double in size, you are ready to roll it out. Flour your worktop and place the dough on it. Flour the top of the dough so it doesn't stick to your rolling pin. Roll out the dough into a large rectangle, 15x20 inches. After you have rolled the dough, spread the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon all over it. Roll up the dough from the longest side and cut it into 12 even slices.
Cream cheese is okay sitting out at room temperature for about 8 hours. Beyond that, the cinnamon rolls need to be refrigerated. Make sure they are kept in an airtight container so they don't dry out. Reheat the cinnamon rolls in the microwave.
🔖Related recipes
📋 Recipe
Red Velvet Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 teaspoon yeast
- 1 cup buttermilk, warm
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter melted
- 4-5 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons red liquid food colouring
- 1 teaspoon salt
Filling
- ¼ cup butter softened
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 2½ tablespoons ground cinnamon
Topping
- 8 oz cream cheese room temperature
- ¼ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup icing sugar
Instructions
- For the dough, place yeast, sugar and warm buttermilk in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Add eggs and melted butter and stir to combine.
- Weigh out the flour into a separate bowl. Add 4 cups of flour to the other ingredients. Add salt and food colouring and knead.
- Add in remaining flour, ¼ cup at a time, until the dough just cleans the side of the bowl. You may not need to use all the flour. If the dough is still sticky, remove it to a floured surface and knead by hand for a few minutes.
- Place the dough into a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and place in a warm environment until it doubles in size, about 1 hour.
- Place the risen dough onto a floured surface and using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a large rectangle, about 15x20 inches.
- Brush the dough all over with melted butter and then sprinkle on the sugar and cinnamon. Roll the dough starting at the long side of the rectangle. Cut the dough into 12 rolls and place them into a greased 9x13 inch baking dish.
- If you are baking the rolls right away, preheat oven to 350°F. Cover the cinnamon rolls with plastic wrap and allow them to double in size, about 30 minutes. Bake the cinnamon rolls for 20 minutes. If the tops of the rolls are browning too quickly, lightly cover them with tin foil.
- To make the cream cheese icing, whisk cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Add In icing sugar and whisk until combined. Spread the topping over the tops of cinnamon rolls right when they come out of the oven.
Notes
- Don't overheat the buttermilk. Anything over 115°F will kill the yeast and then the dough will not rise. Dip your finger into the milk. It should feel warm, not hot.
- The amount of flour needed in the dough, all depends on humidity. Don't be alarmed if you need to use less or even a bit more then the recipe indicates.
- If the cinnamon rolls are browning too quickly in the oven, place some tin foil lightly over the tops of them and continue baking.
- For overnight cinnamon rolls, follow the recipe until the end of step 6. Cover the baking dish of cinnamon rolls with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until morning. The next day, let the cinnamon rolls come to room temperature and then double in size. This can take a few hours. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°F. Bake the cinnamon rolls for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven onto a wire rack and spread the cream cheese topping over the tops of them.
Did you try this recipe? Comment below to let me know ☺️