Double Chocolate Cherry Rolls for VeganMoFo

I’ve been thinking about cinnamon rolls and chocolate all week. Then, I got a jar of cherry preserves from one of my partners on swap-bot. So, this morning, before I got out of bed, I was thinking about what I could do with the preserves. I thought perhaps, pancakes, then waffles covered in warmed and thinned preserves, or perhaps folded into muffin batter.

Then, I decided to just wing it and make something totally new. Now, I do have a confession. When I decide I want soft, bready rolls, I can’t always wait to make dough, let it rise, roll it out, etc. Sometimes I’m hungry and I want to eat before well, 3pm. So, I sometimes keep a few canisters of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls. No, they aren’t the healthiest, but neither is covering your breakfast in chocolate chips. So yes, sometimes, I am a cheater. They sure are tasty, though.

I’m sure this could also be done with real sweet roll dough, but that requires planning, and I get cranky when breakfast is late. Don’t judge.

I don’t think I can morally write out a recipe involving what basically amounts to canned biscuits, but here is what I did:

I opened up a canister of the rolls and pressed the triangles into one large sheet. Then, I sprinkled on a few handfuls each of Vegansweets White Chips, and Ghiradelli Semi-Sweet chocolate chips (vegan, but not all of the Ghiradelli chips are, so read the bag if you buy this brand). Then, I spread a few spoonfuls of the cherry preserves down the center, rolled up the dough loosely from the longest edge, cut it into 8 rolls, and placed them into an 8X8 baking pan lined with parchment paper.

Repeat with the other canister. Bake in a preheated 350º oven for about 25 minutes (honestly, I wasn’t paying attention and I never time things), or until golden brown.

I drizzled them with a simple glaze:

Cinnamon-Orange “Oops, I thought that was almond extract!” Glaze

3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 TBS orange juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon (mine is really strong, adjust to your own brand/taste)
1/2 tsp orange extract

Mix everything together in a small bowl. Add a few more drops of orange juice at a time if necessary, just until the glaze is barely thin enough to drizzle from a spoon.

Makes 16 rolls