Homemade Cherry Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

You want to make these cherry cinnamon rolls. Trust me. Some links in this post are affiliate link that earn me a commission if you purchase through them.

The other day, I wanted to make cinnamon rolls for my family. Really, I wanted to make them for me, but my family is a good excuse, ya know?

Looking for more fun breakfast ideas? Check out my favorites at the end of this article

Then my daughter – being the teen she sometimes is – told me she doesn’t like cinnamon and didn’t want cinnamon rolls. In fact, she wouldn’t eat them.

Normally, I would laugh and simply tell her that’s fine. (Because really, that just means more for me.) I felt generous, however.

That and I realize that I had cherry syrup in the fridge from the homemade crepes I’d made for breakfast the day before. Yes, we do weekends right around here.

Sometimes. Ok, just last weekend.

In any case, that cherry syrup is perfect for a ton of uses. I mix it into my Greek yogurt for breakfast, I serve it over ice cream, and yes, I use it pancakes and crepes. I figured it was worth a try to create cherry cinnamon rolls with it!

And you know what? I was right. These. Were. Amazing. The cinnamon rolls were soft and fluffy. The cherries added fantastic flavor without being too sweet, and all in all… we loved them.

Pro tips for homemade cherry cinnamon rolls

If you don’t have time to make cherry syrup or aren’t so inclined, you can use cherry pie filling instead. But honestly, my cherry syrup uses frozen cherries and just a few ingredients you probably already have on hand, and it’s ready in under 30 minutes start to finish.

If you use the cherry syrup, make sure you let it full cool to room temperature or use it from the fridge. Hot sauce on the dough will make the dough really hard to work with and not turn out right.

You can make the rolls most of the way the night before. This ensures you just have to bake them the morning of, so they’re ready faster. Make them to the point where you put them in a pan and cover with a thin kitchen towel. Then place them in your fridge and let them rise overnight.

If you let your cherry cinnamon rolls rise overnight in the fridge, you may need to add a couple minutes to the bake time because the dough is cold. Ideally, let them sit on you counter for 20-45 minutes before you bake them.

Make sure your rolls are all the way baked through. The tops will look like they’re done before the rest of the roll. Carefully poke into a gap between rolls to verify that it doesn’t feel completely doughy. It will feel soft, but shouldn’t feel like raw dough.

Are you a visual learner? Make sure to watch the video tutorial.

How to Make Cherry Cinnamon Rolls

Make the dough

Heat the milk and butter in a saucepan just until it is warm. You want it between 110 and 115 degrees. This is warm enough to activate the yeast without killing it.

Add warm milk to a bowl, and top with yeast, sugar, salt, and one cup of flour. Mix until thoroughly combined.

Add the egg and mix slowly at first then beat until the egg incorporates into the very wet mixture. This looks like a batter at this point, not a bread dough.

Add the remaining flour. Note that you may have to adjust the flour in your dough depending on the humidity level in your house, etc. I can go as much as a cup more or half cup less, depending on my house at the time.

You want the dough to be tacky when you touch it, but you don’t want it to immediately stick to you. My biggest mistake when I first started making breads was adding too much flour. You don’t want it super dense.

Cover the dough with a damp kitchen towel, and let it rise for an hour. It should double in size.

Forming the rolls

Grease a 9×13 pan, and set it aside.

Once your dough has risen, place it on a well floured surface, and use a rolling pin to roll it into a 9×15 rectangle. Turn the dough periodically as you roll to ensure it doesn’t stick to your surface.

Add the cherry syrup to the dough. Use a spatula to spread it evenly across the dough from the bottom long edge to an inch from the top long edge, and, yes, spread the cherries out, too.

Carefully roll the dough into a long log, rolling a bit from one side then further along the log. You can’t roll all of the right side and then try to roll the left side because it won’t be straight!

 Use a serrated bread knife to cut your log into 12 even pieces. The easiest way for me to do this is to cut it in half. Cut each half in half so I have four even quarters. Then I cut each quarter into three pieces, and they come out pretty equal.

Carefully place each roll into the greased pan, cut side up. I use a bench scraper to help me pick up and carry the rolls.

Once all the rolls are in the pan, use the bench scraper again. This time you want to scoop up any of that delicious cherry filling that fell out and drizzle it over your rolls.

Place a towel over the rolls, which you notice don’t come close to touching right now. Let this rise for another 30 minutes.

Bake your cherry cinnamon rolls

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

After the second rise, remove the towel. Your rolls are now gorgeous and puffy and should touch each other.

Bake your rolls at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. You want the rolls golden brown on top and cooked all the way through.

Remove from the oven, and let them cool in the pan.

Finish your sweet rolls with a glaze

In a small bowl, add the powdered sugar and milk. Use a fork to stir this together.

You want a glaze that is thin enough to pour without being so thin that it won’t stay on your cherry cinnamon rolls. Adjust the consistency as needed with a tiny bit of milk or a tablespoon of powdered sugar.

Once your rolls have cooled a few minutes, use the fork to drizzle the glaze over your gorgeous cherry cinnamon rolls.

Serve immediately. Store any leftover in a tightly sealed container for up to two days.

These are absolutely best on the first day, but if you heat them in the microwave for 10-15 seconds, they soften and are pretty darn good. It also helps to store them uncut and together so the edges can’t dry out.

Have you ever tried cherry cinnamon rolls?

Enjoy some of my other favorite breakfast treats

• Apple puff pancakes
• No yeast cinnamon rolls (ready in 45 minutes)
• Vanilla chai infused cinnamon rolls
• Cherry chip scones
• Raisin buttermilk scones
• Lemon donuts
• Mocha donuts
• Easy egg muffins
• Loaded mashed potato pancakes
• Granola fruit pizza
• Breakfast fries
• Broccoli, potato, and sausage breakfast casserole
• Cinnamon roll pancakes

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