Red Velvet Cinnamon Rolls

A cinnamon roll on a white plate. The rest of the cinnamon rolls are in a baking dish in the background.

These soft Red Velvet Cinnamon Rolls have all the fluffy goodness of a cinnamon roll, and is made tender with buttermilk. These can be made overnight too!

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine North American

Prep Time 1 30

Cook Time 20

Total Time 1 50

Servings rolls

Calories 497kcal

Author Nina

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

US Customary - Metric

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.

Nutrition