Cranberry Cherry Sweet Rolls

This is a recipe that I actually made way back over thanksgiving break…so about a month ago now. It was AMAZING, and I plan on making it again. There’s not a whole lot to say about it, so we’ll get straight into the recipe.

I found this recipe in the Better Homes and Garden Magazine (see below) and, as usual, modified it a bit.

The original recipe

My recipe:

4 1/2 cups flour

2 1/4 tsp yeast

1 cup milk

1 large potato

1/3 cup margarine

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries

1 can cherry pie filling

2 oz cream cheese

1 Tbsp margarine

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup powdered sugar

1 Tbsp honey

 

 

1. Microwave the potato for about 5 minutes, then mash it (I left the skin on, and it was fine).
2. Put 2 cups of flour and yeast into a bowl (I used the mixer bowl), and then set aside.
3. Stovetop: Heat the mashed potato, 1/3 cup of margarine, milk, sugar, and salt over medium heat until the butter melts.
4. Combine the mixture from the stove with the flour and yeast and use a mixer to mix it together. Add the rest of the flour, adjusting the last half cup or so as needed for the appropriate consistency.
5. Dump the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it for about 3 minutes. Then, place it in a bowl, cover it with saran wrap, and let it rise for about an hour at room temperature.
6. Dump the dough out onto a floured surface and roll out into a rectangle (ideally, you want it to be 18 x 12 in., but realistically, I just roll it out until I think it looks “good enough”-nowhere close to that big.
7. Spread the butter over the rolled out dough. Then, cover with the cranberries and cherry pie filling.
8. Roll the dough up along the long side into a big “log”. Cut the log into pieces the size of your choice and place them in a  greased casserole pan to bake.

   

   The unbaked rolls, overflowing with cranberries and pie filling. I was nervous about them not filling up the whole pan.

9. Refrigerate for two hours.
10. Bake for 30 minutes at 350.

    

    After baking. They expanded to fill the pan.

11. Icing (optional-I used it on half of the rolls): Allow the cream cheese and margarine to soften (or speed up the process by microwaving!) and then beat together with an electric mixer. Add in the vanilla, powdered sugar, and honey. Drizzle over the rolls once they’re cool.

    

    Mixing the icing. The honey added a nice touch to this generic icing.

    

    The finished product! There was a little too much icing, but I used it all anyway. Not too pretty, but they tasted great!