Homemade dough is layered with sweetened cream cheese and fresh cranberries, then rolled and cut in this delicious pastry that’s perfect for the holidays.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
If you try one new cranberry recipe this holiday season, please, please let it be these Cranberry Cream Cheese Sweet Rolls.
These amazing rolls are sweet and slightly tart, with a decadent cream cheese frosting (of course!), and are definitely my new favorite way to bake with cranberries.
And there’s not just cream cheese in the frosting! There’s also sweetened cream cheese rolled up inside with the fresh cranberries. It’s a heavenly combination.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve never met a breakfast pastry I didn’t like, and this one is no exception. These sweet rolls would be perfect to start of Thanksgiving or Christmas morning.
They make a great dessert too, and as rich and filling as they are, it’s still really hard to stop at just one.
I always stock up on fresh cranberries when they’re in season and keep a few bags in my freezer so I can keep right on making cranberry recipes after the holidays are over.
And this is one recipe you’ll definitely want to make again and again!
A few tips to make the process a little easier (although it’s really not that hard): I like like to use a food processor to chop my cranberries. A few quick pulses is all you need.
Also, it’s tempting to frost your sweet rolls as soon as they come out of the oven, but resist the urge and wait 10 minutes or so. You want your rolls to still be warm, but not so hot that the frosting melts away and disappears.
I was hoping to have a few of these Cranberry Cream Cheese Sweet Rolls left over for my breakfast the next day, but they didn’t even last until the end of the day. I hope you love them as much as we do!
Be sure to save this recipe to your favorite Pinterest board for later.
Ingredients
- Milk
- Butter
- Flour
- Yeast
- Granulated sugar
- Salt
- Eggs
- Cream cheese
- Vanilla
- Produce: cranberries, oranges
- Cornstarch
- Powdered sugar
Cranberry Cream Cheese Sweet Rolls
Ingredients
For the rolls
- 1 cup milk
- 4 tablespoons butter cubed
- 3 1/4 – 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 package 2 1/4 teaspoons instant or rapid rise yeast
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
For the filling
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 5 tablespoons granulated sugar divided
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups fresh cranberries coarsely chopped
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons orange zest
For the frosting
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- 2 tablespoons butter softened
- 2-3 tablespoons orange juice
Equipment
- Silicone Pastry Mat
Instructions
- Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan and set aside.
- To make the dough, place the milk and butter in a small saucepan and heat over medium low heat until the butter is melted and the milk is warm. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together 2 cups of flour, instant yeast, 1/4 cup sugar, and salt. Add the egg and the milk mixture to the flour mixture and continue to mix until thoroughly combined.
- Substitute the dough hook for the paddle attachment and gradually add remaining flour or until dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl (you may not use all the flour). Continue to knead the dough for 5 minutes.
- Place dough on a lightly floured work surface and let rest for 10 minutes while you prepare the filling. In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, 3 tablespoons of sugar and vanilla. Roll out dough into a 12 x 14 inch rectangle. Spread the cream cheese filling evenly over the dough.
- In a small bowl, combine cranberries, remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar, cornstarch and orange zest. Spread the cranberry filling over the cream cheese mixture.
- Starting with a long end, roll the dough into a log and pinch edges closed. Cut into 12 equal slices. Place sweet rolls into the prepared pan and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Let rise in a warm place for 40-60 minutes, or until doubled in size.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. When the rolls are finished rising, bake them for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.
- While the sweet rolls rolls are baking, prepare the frosting by beating the powdered sugar, cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer until smooth. Gradually add the orange juice until frosting reaches desired consistency. Let rolls cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes before spreading the frosting evenly over the top.
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Nutrition
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