An Illustrated Guide to Fabulous Sweet Rolls and Pastries Made with a Sweet Dough

Look What You can Make with a Sweet Bread/Donut Mix

Back before the pandemic, when we had an open store, we noticed that our local customers were buying an inordinate number of raised, glazed donut mixes.  We started asking why.

They were using the dough to make yeasted pastries and sweet rolls.

"They make the best cinnamon rolls," was the usual answer.

We took the cue. Our donut mix was simply a very good sweet bread. With that realization, we started making desserts, sweet rolls, and pastries along with our raised, glazed donuts.

The results were spectacular.

What is a sweet bread dough?

It's a yeasted dough, like a bread dough but a little sweeter, and a little richer. This one has just a touch of spices. Since it does not have butter and eggs, it rises faster and higher. No wonder it makes better sweet rolls and pastries.

It still makes great raised, glazed donuts. We have a smaller donut mix and a larger donut mix.  Either one makes great pastries. We started using our donut formula for cinnamon rolls, monkey bread, and more. 

Look what you can make!

Here's a pictorial listing of things that you can make with sweet bread dough. We hope this gives you ideas to make fabulous sweets for your loved ones.

1. Old-Fashioned Cinnamon Rolls

Above are cinnamon rolls just like our grandmothers made. They likely used bread dough, the same recipe they used for the family loaves.  This sweet dough is better.

Here is a cinnamon roll mix made with this sweet bread formula. 

2. Sweet Rolls Made with Pastry Filling

But you can get creative, very creative.  These are very scrumptious cherry sweet rolls.  Instead of cinnamon and sugar in the roll-up, we used cherry pastry filling. We have an excellent selection of pastry fillings. You choose.

 Roll the dough to a 1/4-inch thickness, spread filling on the dough, form a log with the ends, pinched closed, and slice the log with a serrated knife.

3. Sweet Dough Muffin Cups

If you roll your log tight enough, make the log long instead of fat, you can stuff the dough into paper cupcake liners. Consider jumbo liners.  Spray the inside of the paper lines with baking release spray so they are easier to peel off after baking.

4. Lemon Sweet Rolls

These rolls are filled with lemon pastry filling but you can use lemon pie filling or lemon curd.

5. Raisin Nut Rolls

These are raisin nut rolls. I don't remember; we may have added some apple pastry filling.

6. Maple Bacon Sweet Rolls

And these are maple bacon rolls. Maple syrup makes a fine frosting.

7. Monkey Bread

But you don't need to stop at stuffed rolls.  This is a monkey bread.  Cut the dough in chunks, roll the chunks in melted butter, and then through cinnamon sugar.  Stack the chunks in a pan and then bake it like bread. Warm, this is one of the most scrumptious concoctions on the planet.

Here is a monkey bread mix made with the same sweet bread formula.

8. Individual Monkey Breads

These are individual monkey breads, made just like the larger version, made in a regular muffin pan or a jumbo.  Be sure to get them out of the pan while they are still warm.

9. Pineapple Upside Down Cake

This is a pineapple upside-down-cake made with sweet dough. It's superior. You can use peaches, pears, or apples.

10. Chocolate Bismarcks

These are baked donuts, made with donut sweet dough, and baked in the oven like dinner rolls. That's premade pastry filling poking out of those holes.  

Take a sharp knife and poke a hole to the center of the donut.  Clip the corner off the dispenser bag, stick the bag in the hole, and squeeze the bag to fill the center with Bavarian cream.  Of course, they need a thick layer of chocolate frosting.

11. Strawberry Shortcake Baked Donuts

I bet you've never had fresh strawberry donuts before. 

Bake the donuts, glaze them if you wish, and slice them open.  Then load them with sliced strawberries and whipped cream. They're pretty scrumptious.

Off to one side, are baked donuts stuffed with strawberry whipped cream, and on the other side, chocolate frosted baked donuts stuffed with whipped cream..  

Your imagination can reach forever. You will make phenomenal desserts with this sweet dough. Of course you make great raised donuts, but don't stop there.