Let’s start with the obvious: today is Mother’s Day. I love my mom, she’s the best. Recently, she had been mentioning how much she loves those Hostess Cherry Sweet Rolls (sorry, this is the only pic I could find) from the grocery store and how they’re so good and she hadn’t had them in soooo long, etc, etc, etc. So that got me thinking, why don’t I make those cherry sweet rolls? After all, she deserved a LOT more than flowers from Wal-mart. I got to researching and quickly realized I’d be making this recipe up. Thankfully, I already had a great cherry filling recipe so I just needed the dough and glaze.
I didn’t have a ton of time so I settled on a quick dough recipe from Allrecipes.com for Ninety Minute Cinnamon Rolls. The only change I made was to throw in some vanilla. As for the glaze, I found two different recipes for cream cheese glaze that I combined because I couldn’t make up my mind on either one.
I made the cherry filling a little ahead of time which I recommend doing, maybe the day before, that way it has time to cool completely. I was still extremely short on time though, so the rolls only rose for about 20 minutes on the second rise. I was really nervous how these would turn out, but to my surprise the dough recipe worked perfectly and the fluffed up nice and big in the oven. The end result was a delicious, soft cherry-filled sweet roll, definitely better than the ones from the store! And my mom approved which was of course the most important part!
Enjoy!
Cherry Sweet Rolls with Cream Cheese Glaze
Cherry Filling
2, 14.5 oz. Cans Pitted Sour Cherries, drained with 1/2 c. juice reserved
1 c. Granulated Sugar
1/4 c. Cornstarch
1 t. Pure Vanilla Extract
Directions
Combine 1/2 c. reserved juice, cherries, sugar ad cornstarch in a medium saucepan. Cook over low heat until thickened, stirring frequently. (Be patient, it will take awhile but they will magically thicken around the 25 minute mark) Stir in vanilla and cool completely. Set aside.
Sweet Dough
3/4 c. Whole Milk
1/4 c. (1/2 stick) Unsalted Butter, softened
3 1/4 c. AP Flour
1 (.25 oz) Package Instant Yeast
1/4 c. Granulated Sugar
1/2 t. Salt
1/2 t. Pure Vanilla Extract
1 Large Egg
1/4 c. Water
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Heat the milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until it bubbles, then remove it from the heat and stir in the butter until melted. Let cool to lukewarm.
Meanwhile, in a mixer, combine 2 1/4 c. flour, yeast, sugar and salt and whisk well. Add water, egg, vanilla and the milk mixture. Beat well. Add the remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has just pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 5 minutes.
Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let rest for 10 minutes. Grease a 9×13 pan.
Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface, into a 24×18 rectangle. (It will be very elasticy and will not seem to want to roll out at first but be persistent and it will eventually roll out) Spread the dough with the cherry filling, to about an inch from the edges. At the edge nearest you, begin to roll the dough, using your fingers to tuck in the cherries as you go. Pinch the seam to seal and cut the dough into 12 equal size rolls and place into the pan, evenly spaced.
Bake for 20 minutes and let cool for about 10 minutes. Spread with glaze while still warm.
Almond Cream Cheese Glaze
4 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
1/4 c. (1/2 stick) Unsalted Butter, softened
1 c. Powder Sugar, sifted
4 T. Heavy Whipping Cream (or Whole Milk)
1/2 t. Vanilla
1 t. Almond Extract
Directions
Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Gradually add sugar, beating well after each addition. Add milk, vanilla extract and almond extract. Spread over warm rolls.
Makes 12 rolls