With the arrival of October, we also have the arrival of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I usually try to come up with a few unique treats to help my friend Jen with her Breast Cancer Awareness fundraising she always does. It’s far more personal for her this year, as her mother was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. In addition to that, a friend of mine was also diagnosed this year. It’s certainly brought it all very close to home. So in trying to come up with something creative for fundraising and awareness, I thought why not make cinnamon rolls… PINK.
Not only could these be a great option for an early morning bake sale fundraiser, but also a great treat for so many of those who will be up early and walking in fundraisers this month.
I made these the same way I make all of my cake mix cinnamon rolls but with two changes. I added a teaspoon of pink gel food coloring and instead of brown sugar in the filling, I used white sugar (mainly just to keep the filling from getting too dark in color). I added the food coloring at the same time that I added the yeast/water mixture to the dry ingredients.
The color was a nice bright pink. You could certainly back off a bit on the color for more of a pale pink.
Ah. Cinnamon rolls. The color pink. Love it.
I was happy that they maintained their color while baking. Ah, I have visions of Christmas colors in the future…
Add a frosting or glaze of your choice and some pink ribbon sprinkles, and you have some super cute cinnamon rolls to help in whichever way works best for you.
They taste just like the un-colored version of my birthday cake mix cinnamon rolls.
Some other pink ribbon Breast Cancer Awareness treats you may like are…
Pink Ribbon Funfetti Cupcake Jars
Pink Ribbon Pink Velvet Cupcakes
Hopefully some of these ideas can help those of you that are fundraising this month. And if you are looking to help someone who is fundraising, please head over to my friend Jen’s “Tutus for Tatas” 2012 Race For The Cure fundraising page and send even a dollar or two that way.
Pink Cinnamon Rolls
Pink Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Cinnamon Rolls
- 1 box standard size white cake mix
- 2 packages of dry yeast
- 2 tsp pink food coloring
- 2 1/2 cups of warm water
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp salt
- 5 cups flour
Filling
- 2 cups sugar
- Cinnamon
- 1/2-1 cup butter softened
Frosting
- 2 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon half and half milk can be used
- 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Cinnamon Rolls
- 1. Mix yeast, food coloring and warm water until dissolved.
- 2. Combine cake mix, salt and flour in a large bowl.
- 3. Add warm water/yeast mixture and vanilla to cake mix, salt and flour mixture. Mix well. This may require kneading with your hands a bit to completely combine ingredients.
- 4. Cover tightly. Let rise for one hour. Punch down and let rise again for another 30-60 minutes.
- 5. On a floured surface, roll dough into a rectangle shape, approx 1/4? thick.
- 6. Once dough is rolled out, brush with softened butter. I found that one stick was adequate for this recipe, but you could use more (or less) if desired.
- 7. Sprinkle with sugar. Sprinkle with cinnamon – use as little or as much as you like.
- 8. Starting at end opposite from you, roll the dough towards you until all dough is rolled into one long piece.
- 9. Slice dough into 24 equal sized pieces.
- 10. Place rolls in two greased 9×13 pans. Cover and let rise until doubled in size. I usually sit my rolls on my stovetop while my oven preheats to 350 degrees. This allows them time to rise and provides a bit of warmth from the oven warming.
- 11. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-25 minutes or until golden brown. My rolls took approx 22 minutes. This will depend on your stove and your preference for how brown you like your cinnamon rolls.
- 12. Remove from oven and let cool slightly.
Frosting
- Beat cream cheese and butter with a mixer until creamy. Add in vanilla and milk, mix until well combined. Slowly add in powdered sugar and salt and beat until fluffy. Spread onto cinnamon rolls while they are still hot, allowing frosting to melt into the cinnamon rolls.
Disclaimer
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
You can find the pink ribbon sprinkles here.
Katrina says
These look so great! I noticed in your other post the frosting was slightly brown, whereas it looks white on these. What kind of frosting did you use for these?
Christi says
Katrina, I simply left out the splash of maple extract for the frosting on these. 🙂
Guyla says
What a great idea! I would suggest using all GMO free, organic ingredients and a natural food coloring like beet pulp for these, so not to ingest any carcinogenic foods.
Justine Y says
Found these on Pinterest and man, they are the most beautiful cinnamon rolls ever! I would love to include them in a roundup of Valentine’s Day treats on my blog (with full credit going to you of course!!). Thank you so much for sharing!
Shannon says
These look great! I’m going to make them for Valentine’s Day tomorrow!
Jamella Lina says
Hi Christi,
When I saw your post about PINK Cinnamon Roll and its about Cancer Awareness, I am excited to try it my own… I love cinnamon rolls and was delighted that you’ve made a pink one…The only problem I have is that, there is no pink ribbon sprinkles available here…Anyways, will do this by Feb 13th… I love pink and I will do my best to spread info about how to fight cancer, especially Breast Cancer… Thank you for sharing this to us…
~~Jamie
Karyn says
These will be great for Valentine’s Day! Quick question-I saw your comment about making them in the evening and leaving on the counter overnight. My 3 year old LOVES to help me bake and thought this might be a fun activity to do over the weekend. Do you think if we make the rolls and freeze them before baking, they will turn out as well? Was thinking then defrosting and baking the night before.
Christi says
Karyn, I know many people do that, I just haven’t in a long time so I can’t really speak to the results. I do know you need to really make sure they have proper time to thaw prior to baking. Good luck!
CarlyN says
Do you have full instructions somewhere that I missed? Lol perfect for my daughters preschool class for valentines day next month 🙂
Christi says
Hi Carly, because these are made identically to another batch of cinnamon rolls, I simply linked it up in the text with the two small changes I made. Here’s that part of the post…
Leslie says
Do you use the same frosting for these as you do your original cinnamon rolls? It looks like you just use a regular frosting. Have you tried a cream cheese frosting on these?
Sherry says
I have a question have you ever made them the night before I love the Idea of these for Valentines Day but I want to make then the night before, refrigerate or freeze and defrost then bake in the morning. ?
Christi says
I make them all the time the night before, but I don’t put them in the fridge or freezer. I actually like to make them late at night, frost them (let it soak in a bit) and then cover with foil and leave on the counter. Perfect in the morning! I almost never make these the same day we eat them (I’m not that much of a morning person!).
Tasha @ ThatsSoYummy says
These look so adorable and for a great cause, thanks for sharing!
Jocelyn @BruCrew Life says
I love that you made pink cinnamon rolls! What a genius idea for a great cause!!! My mom is a breast cancer survivor so this is a campaign after my heart!!!