Finger Lickin’ Good Red Velvet Cinnamon Rolls

This week we tried our hand at making a very simple (yet not-so-simple) breakfast favorite: cinnamon rolls! These weren’t your average, run-of-the-mill, everyday cinnamon rolls though…these were 4 sticks of butter, 3 cups of sugar, Paula Deen finger lickin’ good Red Velvet Cinnamon Rolls! Some serious business, y’all.

We decided to host a Christmas ornament exchange brunch for a few of our girlfriends, and thought what better treat to serve than warm, gooey, rich cinnamon rolls with a twist? Turns out we were right, and they were a big hit! We wanted to share the recipe with you all so *you* can share them at your next holiday party. Get ready…crafting these cinnamon rolls is not for the faint of heart…

First, these are the ingredients you will need:

**Makes 16-20 jumbo rolls

For the dough:

1 box of Duncan Hines Signature Red Velvet Cake Mix
2 envelopes (1/4 oz each) of Active Dry Yeast (we got ours from Harris Teeter groceries)
2 1/2 cups of warm water
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
5 cups of all-purpose flour

For the Cinnamon Filling:

1 stick of softened butter – you can add another half stick of butter if you want them really gooey (we highly recommend adding the extra stick! It may seem like a lot, but trust us on this one)
1 cup of packed dark brown sugar
1 cup of granulated white sugar
Cinnamon

For the frosting:

Buy 1 container of Cream Cheese frosting! If making homemade frosting is your thing, go for it! But we didn’t have time.

Directions:

1. Combine two packages of active dry yeast with warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir until dissolved.

2. Add cake mix, flour, vanilla and salt. Use dough hook attachment to knead dough together, just for a minute or two. Move to larger bowl, cover, and let rise for about an hour. Punch dough down after an hour, and let rise again for another hour.

3. Use plenty of flour on a clean surface and turn dough out. Shape into a ball, then roll into a rectangle shape as best as you can (ours was a bit circular in shape and that’s ok!).

4. Spread softened butter over dough.

5. Sprinkle with brown sugar, white granulated sugar and cinnamon.

6. Start from farthest edge and roll dough tightly into a long skinny log shape. Slice into 24 rolls.

7. Place rolls in two 9×13 pans that have been greased with butter (we used three pans). Let rise a final time in pan for about 15-30 minutes.

8. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. (Be careful not to over-bake or they won’t be as gooey!)

9. Let rolls cool just a bit (but not entirely!) before frosting them. You still want them to be warm, so about 5 minutes.
10. Grab a spoon and stir cream cheese frosting in the container for 20 seconds. Spread on warm rolls and set them on a cute Christmas serving tray. ENJOY!

** Original Recipe adjusted from Number 2 Pencil blog.