“Zombie Guts” Halloween Cinnamon Rolls (with Video)
Warning! This Zombie Guts Cinnamon Rolls recipe is not for the squeamish!
But don’t let looks fool you, these “Zombie Guts” are actually super delicious red velvet cinnamon rolls! They’re perfect as a ghoulish Halloween party treat or a surprise for your favorite Walking Dead fans.
“Zombie Guts” Halloween Cinnamon Rolls
My husband is a huge fan of “The Walking Dead” (both the TV show and original comic series). I knew he would get a kick out of these goofy & gory Zombie Guts cinnamon rolls!
Kids also love this gross-out dessert because it looks just like “guts” of course! And tastes amazing!
To complete your Halloween party table, check out our Easy Mummy Meatballs and Halloween Marshmallow Pops! Also, for a savory “guts” recipe, check out our friend Kathy’s Pizza-stuffed Crescent Rolls Intestines.
Check out our video on how to make these easy Zombie Gut Cinnamon Rolls and then scroll down to grab your free printable recipe:
Zombie Guts Cinnamon Rolls Ingredients
- 2 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 ¾ cup warm water
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tsp red food coloring
- 1.5 cups red velvet box cake mix (dry)
- 2.5 cups flour
For the Filling:
- ⅓ cup melted butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
For the Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1-3 tsp milk
How to make “Zombie Guts” with Red Velvet Cinnamon Rolls
Prepare the dough:
Combine yeast, brown sugar, and warm water in mixer bowl. Whisk thoroughly and sit for at least 5 minutes until bubbly.
Add in salt, box cake mix, optional food dye and flour a little at a time, mixing in between with a dough hook until you have a dough texture.
Scrape the sides, roll into a ball, cover, and let rise for 1 hour.
Make the “Zombie Guts”
After an hour, flour a large surface and knead for a few minutes, then roll out into a large rectangle. Cut sides that are uneven.
Mix together melted butter and brown sugar, and sprinkle over your dough. Sprinkle cinnamon as evenly as possible. Flatten with a rolling pin.
Roll up into one long roll, then cut every 2 inches. Once rolled, unroll each of them and fold in half.
Arrange in a greased 8×8 inch baking dish so that it looks like “guts.” Cover and let rise another 45 minutes.
While dough rises, preheat oven to 350°F.
Bake & Frost:
Remove cover from dough and bake at 350°F for 25 – 30 minutes.
Once finished cooking, whisk together glaze ingredients in a medium mixing bowl and drizzle over rolls.
Cut and serve.
Printable version of this recipe available at bottom of post.
More Ghoulish “Gore-Met” Recipes
We adapted our recipe for this “Zombie Guts” dessert from the recipe for Red Velvet Cinnamon Roll Guts in Kitchen Overlord’s Dead Delicious Horror Cookbook.
This awesomely unique cookbook features 69 gross-out recipes for horror fans, Halloween enthusiasts, or anyone looking for a dish with serious shock-value.
There’s even modifications for gluten-free, paleo, and vegan diners!
Pin this spooky treat on Pinterest:
Printable version of “Zombie Guts” Cinnamon Rolls recipe:
"Zombie Guts" Halloween Cinnamon Rolls
Don't let looks fool you, these "Zombie Guts" are actually super delicious red velvet cinnamon rolls! Perfect for Halloween or watching the Walking Dead!
Ingredients
For the Cinnamon Bun Dough:
- 2 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 ¾ cup warm water
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tsp red food coloring
- 1.5 cups red velvet box cake mix (dry)
- 2.5 cups flour
For the Filling:
- ⅓ cup melted butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
For the Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1-3 tsp milk
Instructions
Prepare the dough:
- Combine yeast, brown sugar, and warm water in mixer bowl. Whisk thoroughly and sit for at least 5 minutes until bubbly.
- Add in salt, box cake mix, optional food dye and flour a little at a time, mixing in between with a dough hook until you have a dough texture.
- Scrape the sides, roll into a ball, cover, and let rise for 1 hour.
Make the "Zombie Guts"
- After an hour, flour a large surface and knead for a few minutes, then roll out into a large rectangle. Cut sides that are uneven.
- Mix together melted butter and brown sugar, and sprinkle over your dough. Sprinkle cinnamon as evenly as possible. Flatten with a rolling pin.
- Roll up into one long roll, then cut every 2 inches. Once rolled, unroll each of them and fold in half.
Looks perfectly gross! I did notice there is not cinnamon in the ingredients list, are these just sweet rolls rather than cinnamon rolls?
Good catch! We add a generous sprinkle of cinnamon before rolling up the dough. I updated the recipe 🙂
Can we use regular box of white or yellow cake mix instead of red velvet ? And just use red food dye?
Red velvet cake is generally chocolate-flavored, so it won’t quite taste the same. The cocoa in the red velvet mix helps to give it a deeper color, but you may be able to achieve a similar look with yellow cake mix and food coloring. You’ll need to experiment with the coloring to get your desired shade. 🙂
Looks great, I wonder how they’d turn out if you use red good coloring in the glaze to make it even more dramatic!
Ooh that sounds great! Let us know if you try it!
Hi,
One the rolls are arranged in th baking pan, could I leave this covered in the fridge over night and bake the next day? Not sure how much it will rise #novicebaker
Thanks!
It should be fine – we haven’t tried it with this specific recipe but I’ve done it with my other cinnamon bun recipes and it’s worked great.
Where do I use the red food coloring?
You can add it in when adding in the cake mix – but it’s optional.
Can you do the final proof in the refrigerator the night before baking?
That should work fine – I’ve done it for other cinnamon bun recipes but not this one – please let us know how it works out!
Can I prepare this the night before?
Yes, absolutely!
My dough came out VERY gooey and sticky, even after adding an additional cup of flower and a half cup more cake mix. Still the consistency of mud! What am I doing wrong?
Hi Jane!
I’m so sorry that this isn’t working for you – I’ve never had this problem but my first thought was that your yeast hadn’t finished fermenting.
This post has some good tips – https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/16858/why-is-my-pizza-dough-always-too-sticky-to-knead
The ones I would follow are: ensure your yeast has fully fermented (bubbled), ensure you have allowed the dough to rest long enough (it should have doubled in size), flour your hands and your surface well, and depending on how humid it is where you are, you may want to switch to bread flour. Some people were able to see results sticking the dough in the fridge or freezer for a bit.
Good luck! Let us know how it goes.
Mine is coming out very wet too! I let the yeast bubble. Any other suggestions?
Did you let it proof for the full amount of time? Some dough will require more flour, but it shouldn’t go from being a cohesive dough before rising to then muddy.
I have to make these delicious and spooky cinnamon rolls! My kids are going to love them!
I hope they do! My girls think they are pretty creepy! Haha – but they taste good!
Hello. Has anyone tried adding apples or apple pie filling to the roll? If so, do I need to change the baking time or amount of other filling ingredients?
I added red gel food coloring with a little blue gel food coloring to darken it to the glaze, looks just like blood.
Thanks for the tip – will have to try that!
Hello, This recipe look very cool but I don’t have access to box cake mixes, at least not the red velvet one. Have you tried it without? Any suggestions of what I could substitute??
Thank you.
You could use a chocolate or vanilla boxed cake mix and add in the red food coloring, or you could just use a homemade cinnamon bun recipe and add red food dye. I have a good one on my other website: http://sugarspiceandglitter.com/copycat-cinnabun-homemade-cinnamon-buns/
Thank you for the tips. I’ll see what I try. I like the idea of the from scratch bun!
Can you serve this room temperature or does it need to be served warm?
I just made these for a Halloween party. It does turn a little sticky, just add a little more flour and you will be fine. I also added a hint of vanilla. One thing I did to make it even creepier it to add red coloring to your icing you add. Those gives it a red glaze and more realistic.