If there’s one treat that can beat cinnamon rolls, it’s these absolutely indulgent raspberry sweet rolls. In this recipe, buttery dough spirals around a juicy, sweet-tart raspberry filling made from frozen raspberries. You can make the sweet rolls within a few hours, or get started the night before using the overnight option. Top with vanilla or cream cheese icing for an unforgettable breakfast experience.
This recipe is brought to you in partnership with Red Star Yeast.
As the first sweet roll recipe I ever published on my website, these soft and fluffy raspberry sweet rolls have truly stood the test of time.
This was my very first(!) sweet roll recipe on my website back in 2012: raspberry sweet rolls. This recipe is practically vintage, and has hardly changed over the years!
I’ve developed many more sweet roll recipes since then like my lemon sweet rolls, apple cinnamon rolls, funfetti cinnamon rolls, and chocolate sweet rolls. I’ve learned a lot in the process, but today’s raspberry version has never lost its special place in my heart. It’s my most favorite dough, and I based my ultra popular overnight cinnamon rolls recipe off of it!
Should this recipe go in a museum?
My #1 Tip for Sweet Roll Success: I recommend using a strong and dependable yeast. Platinum Yeast from Red Star is a premium instant yeast, which cuts down on rise time. Its careful formula contains natural dough strengtheners and makes working with yeast simple. And simple is always good, right?
Start by proofing your yeast in warm milk with a little bit of sugar. This step ensures that the yeast is active and not expired. Most yeast these days is already active, but it’s a quick 5–10-minute step that prevents you from wasting your time (and ingredients) just in case the yeast has expired.
Next you’ll add in the remaining dough ingredients.
What if I Don’t Have a Stand Mixer? If you do not own a mixer, you can mix the dough together with a large wooden spoon/silicone spatula. It will take a bit of arm muscle. A hand mixer works, but the sticky dough repeatedly gets stuck in the beaters.
After the dough comes together, it will be a little soft and sticky—that’s normal. Knead the dough on a floured counter or keep it in the mixer for kneading—whichever method you use, it should be about 5 minutes of kneading..
Place the dough into a lightly greased bowl, cover, and set it in a draft-free area to rise until doubled in size—it takes about 2 hours. After that, punch the risen dough down:
Roll it into a rectangle shape that’s about 12×18 inches in size. Then it’s time to fill it!
Baker’s Tip: If the dough keeps shrinking as you roll it out, stop what you’re doing, cover it lightly, and let it rest for 10 minutes to relax the gluten. I often do this when I’m making pizza dough. When you return to the dough, it should stretch out much easier.
You need FROZEN raspberries for the filling of these sweet rolls—do not thaw. Fresh raspberries are much too juicy and delicate for the filling. If all you have is fresh, freeze them first. Trust me on this. Otherwise you will have a big sloppy mess on your hands—and counter, and potentially your clothes—when rolling/cutting the rolls. And raspberry stains are not easy to clean!
Toss the frozen raspberries with a little bit of cornstarch and sugar, and then sprinkle it all over the rolled-out dough. Easy! Unlike a raspberry cake filling, there’s no cooking involved here:
Now, roll it up as tightly as you can:
Use a very sharp knife to cut the roll into 12 rolls, each about 1.5 inches wide. Arrange in a greased baking pan, cover, then let the rolls rise until a little puffy, about 90 minutes.
The rolls won’t totally double in size in the second rise because the filling is frozen, which keeps the dough cold. It’s a slightly longer second rise time than we usually need for overnight cinnamon rolls, for the same reason. (Alternatively, you could let the rolls rise overnight. See Notes in the written recipe below for overnight instructions.)
Be prepared for the berries to release their juices as they thaw. You will see red raspberry juice all over the bottom of the pan—this is fine, and expected! In fact, it’s a good thing. It turns into an incredible raspberry glaze that caramelizes over the bottom of the rolls when they bake.
I sometimes line my 9×13-inch baking pan with parchment paper just because the raspberry juice can get a little messy, but this is optional. You can simply grease the pan instead.
The rolls need about half an hour in the oven to bake. About halfway through baking time, tent a piece of foil over the top of the pan, to prevent the tops from browning too much.
Cool your rolls, in the pan, on a wire rack for about 10–15 minutes while you make the icing.
The original recipe I published back in yesteryear (aka 2012) called for vanilla icing, but I really, really love these raspberry sweet rolls with cream cheese icing, so I’m changing it. It’s the same deliciously smooth and silky icing I slather on my classic cinnamon rolls, though lately I’ve been making it with vanilla bean paste instead of vanilla extract. See all those tiny vanilla bean specks? You can actually see the added flavor!
I don’t say this often, but I think it applies here… hubba hubba.
In this recipe, tender, buttery dough spirals around a juicy, sweet-tart raspberry filling made from frozen raspberries. You can make the raspberry sweet rolls within a few hours, or get started the night before using the overnight option in the Note below.
