Strawberry Cinnamon Rolls
Strawberry cinnamon rolls are a pillowy soft sweet dough filled with a homemade strawberry jam and topped with a strawberry lemon buttercream.
Ingredients
Strawberry Jam
- 2 cups (288 g) strawberries, fresh or frozen and thawed mashed
- 3 tablespoon (55 g) brown sugar
- zest of large lemon
- 2 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) vanilla
- ⅕ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon (2 teaspoon) cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water
Cinnamon Roll Dough
- ½ cup (122 g) warm milk about 105-110 degrees
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon yeast I use active dry yeast
- 2 large eggs room temp
- 6 tablespoon butter softened
- ¾ teaspoon (0.75 teaspoon) salt
- 2½-3 cups (343.75 g) bread flour all-purpose can be used also
Strawberry Lemon Buttercream Frosting
- 4 tablespoon butter softened
- 1 tablespoon strawberry jam
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1½ cups (180 g) powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1-2 tablespoon (2 tablespoon) cream or milk depending on how much you need
- pinch of salt
Instructions
Strawberry Jam
- To make filling, add mashed strawberries to a medium saucepan then add brown sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla and salt. Cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes until very thick.
- In a separate bowl mix together the cornstarch and water. Once jam is thick add the cornstarch mixture and continue to cook for a few more minutes. You want the jam to be like a paste. Remove from heat and cool. Place in an airtight container and stick in the fridge until ready to use. This makes about ⅔ cup of thick jam when done cooking and setting up.
Cinnamon Rolls
- Pour warm milk, sugar and yeast into a large mixing bowl, stir together with a wooden spoon or dough whisk and let sit 10-15 minutes or until yeast is bubbly.
- Add butter and eggs and mix together again.
- Add salt and 2 cups of flour and mix. Continue adding flour in ½ cup increments until dough forms a ball and pulls away from sides of the bowl.
- Pour dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 3- 5 minutes, incorporating more flour if needed. Dough should not be sticky, but more of a soft and tacky feel.
- Place dough in greased bowl, cover with a cloth and let rise until doubled in size, about 1½ hours.
- Punch dough down and roll onto a floured surface. I try for a rectangle thats about 14x18.
- Remove strawberry jam filling from the fridge and take 1 tablespoon out to save for the frosting. Spread the rest of the jam evenly all over the rolled out dough, leaving about 1 inch on the the long end uncovered.
- Working from the long 18 inch end of the dough, tightly roll it up into a log. Place your hands at each end of the side and give it a gentle squeeze to help compact the dough. It may have stretched out a bit during the rolling process so this brings it back together.
- Cut the dough into 12 rolls total. I like to make little marking first to help make sure they are all about the same size.
- Place the rolls in a greased 9×13 pan (you could also use two 9″ round pans, placing 6 rolls in each). It’s OK if all of the rolls are touching. *If wanting to bake the following day read notes down below for instructions.
- Place in a warm spot, cover and let rise again until doubled in size. This takes about 45-60 minutes depending on how warm it is. You can always put them in your oven with the light on to help with warmth, but make sure you take them out to preheat your oven.
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Bake for 14-18 minutes or until the tops are a light golden brown. While they cool, make the frosting.
To make the frosting:
- Mix all frosting ingredients together until smooth and creamy. You might need to add a little bit more powdered sugar or lemon juice or milk to get your desired consistency or flavor. We love lemon, so we added a bit more.
- Let rolls cool a bit before frosting or it will melt.
Notes
You can use store-bought strawberry jam if you prefer. Just add a bit of lemon zest and juice to it to give it some lemon flavor. You will need about ⅔ cup of jam to cover the roll dough.
OVERNIGHT CINNAMON ROLLS – After cutting and placing the rolls in the pan, cover in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight. Before baking the next day, allow the rolls to rest at room temperature (covered) for about 45 minutes. They may not puff up but that’s OK. Follow the same baking instructions. I love doing this to have fresh rolls the morning of a holiday.
If you want to bake the rolls the night before you want to eat them, rewarm in the oven at 275 F for about 8-10 minutes.
I have used water instead of milk before and it works too. Not as rich of a dough, but great none the less.
I have given both cups and grams as measurements. Grams will be more precise, especially when measuring flour. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, no problem! Just lightly spoon flour into your measuring cup to insure its not packed in there. Light and fluffy is the key.
Nutrition
Calories: 298kcalCarbohydrates: 45gProtein: 5gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.4gCholesterol: 57mgSodium: 278mgPotassium: 106mgFiber: 1gSugar: 25gVitamin A: 359IUVitamin C: 15mgCalcium: 33mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!