Looking for a fun twist on the classic cinnamon rolls? You’ll have to try these delicious strawberry cinnamon rolls. They’re perfectly gooey, soft and filled with the most delicious strawberry sauce.
If you love homemade cinnamon rolls and strawberries, then you’ll love these rolls! It’s the best of both worlds. These strawberry rolls are perfect for brunch, breakfast, Valentine’s Day, or Mother’s day. If you’re looking for more twists on cinnamon rolls, be sure to try these Oreo Cinnamon rolls.
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Why you’ll love these strawberry cinnamon rolls
- Packed with strawberry flavor and have a homemade strawberry filling.
- Topped with delicious sweet and tangy strawberry cream cheese frosting.
- Perfect alternative to cinnamon rolls.
Ingredients needed
For the dough:
- Flour: Any all purpose flour
- Milk: Use warm whole milk. Whole milk will make the dough tender and soft.
- Yeast: Use active dry yeast to ensure the dough rises.
- Sugar: To add a little bit of sweetness.
- Eggs: Large whole eggs.
- Butter: I use unsalted butter. The butter will need to be melted.
- Salt
Homemade strawberry sauce
- Strawberries: You can use fresh strawberries or frozen strawberries.
- Sugar: Sugar to add sweetness.
- Freeze dried strawberries: Will add even more strawberry flavor and thicken up the sauce.
Cream cheese frosting
- Cream cheese: Use full fat cream cheese that is at room temperature.
- Butter: Use unsalted room temperature butter.
- Sugar: To add sweetness.
- Freeze dried strawberries: To add strawberry flavor.
Making the dough
- Proof the yeast: To the warm milk, add yeast and sugar. Cover and proof for 5-10 minutes or until foamy. Then stir.
- Make the dough: Add eggs, melted butter and sugar to the yeast mixture.
- Stir until mixture is combined.
- Add the flour. With the dough hook attachment, on medium speed, knead the dough for about five minutes; or until the dough forms a ball and is soft and smooth. The dough will still be a little tacky and slightly sticky. If the dough is too sticky you can add 1-2 tbsp. of flour.
- Let the dough rise. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a towel. Let the dough rise in a warm place for about 1-1 ½ hour or until doubled in size.
How to make homemade strawberry filling
- To a medium saucepan, add strawberries and sugar.
- Cook on low heat for 45min – 1 hour. The sauce should become very thick. All the strawberry juice should be gone and you should be left with strawberry jam.
- (optional but recommended) Add freeze dried strawberries to food processor and grind until powder. Add to strawberry filling. The filling should thicken even more. If the strawberry sauce is not thick, continue cooking until thick.
Assembling homemade strawberry cinnamon rolls
- Roll the dough: Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle the top of the dough with a little bit of flour. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a large rectangle. My rectangle is usually around 15-16 inch x 12-13 inch rectangle.
- Add the filling: Spread the strawberry jam all over the dough. It should go to the edges. You will have strawberry sauce leftover!
- Carefully cut the dough into 12 long strips.
- Roll each strip away from you to form a cinnamon roll. Then carefully transfer to baking dish.
- Final rise, and preheat oven. Preheat oven to 350 F. Cover the cinnamon rolls with a towel and let them rise while the oven is pre heating. I let mine rise for about 20 minutes, or until they are puffy.
- Bake. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly before frosting.
Strawberry cream cheese frosting
- To a bowl of a stand mixer, add cream cheese, softened butter, sugar and freeze dried strawberries. Beat until well combined. Add more sugar if needed.
- When the rolls are done baking, cool for 5-10 minutes. Then spread the extra strawberry sauce over the cinnamon rolls.
- Spread cream cheese frosting and serve.
Tips for success
- Make sure your milk is warm and not hot when activating the yeast. Hot milk can kill the yeast! I also recommend using whole milk. Whole milk makes the dough tender and soft. If you don’t have whole milk, you can substitute 2% milk.
- The dough needs to be tacky and soft. When you touch the dough, it should feel soft and a little bit sticky. However, when you let go of the dough, the dough will not stick to your finger. If the dough is sticky you can add 1-2 tablespoons of flour. Tacky dough will give you the soft cinnamon rolls. So be careful not to add too much flour. I never had to add more the 2 tbsp. of flour.
- For a quick first rise you can place the dough in the oven. Warm up the oven for 1-2 minutes. Turn it off. Then place the covered bowl with the dough in the oven and let it rise until it doubled in size. This can take up to 40 minutes for the dough to rise.
- If the rolls are starting to get brown, cover loosely with aluminum foil and continue baking.
- The strawberry sauce needs to be thick! This step is really important! Make sure you cook the sauce down. It’ll almost be jam like consistency. If the sauce is too runny, it can cause the strawberry cinnamon rolls to get soggy on the inside, and filling will seep out as it bakes.
Frequently asked questions
Can I freeze the rolls?
Yes you can freeze the strawberry rolls. Freeze the sweet rolls right before the second rise. When you want to bake them, let them rolls come to room temperature and double in size. Then bake as directed.
Can these be made the night before
Yes! Once the strawberry rolls are cut and rolled. Cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator. The next morning take them out about 1 hour before baking or until they are puffy. Then bake as directed.
Do I need to use freeze dried strawberries?
I recommend using them. It gives the strawberry filling so much flavor and helps it thicken. Adding freeze dried strawberries to the cream cheese gives the cream cheese the strawberry flavor without it being too runny. However, if you don’t have freeze dried strawberries you can skip it. You can add a few tablespoons of the strawberry filling or strawberry jam to the cream cheese frosting. Just keep in mind, it’ll be on the thinner side.
Can I substitute active yeast for instant yeast?
Yes you can!
Other strawberry recipes you may like
PrintRecipe
Strawberry cinnamon rolls
Looking for a fun twist on the classic cinnamon rolls? You’ll have to try these delicious strawberry cinnamon rolls. They’re perfectly gooey, soft and filled with the most delicious strawberry sauce.
- Prep Time: 3 hours
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: 12 rolls 1x
- Category: dessert
Ingredients
Scale
Dough
- 1 cup warm whole milk
- 2 ¼ teaspoon instant dry yeast
- ⅓ cup + ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon salt
Strawberry filling
- 2.5 lbs. strawberries, hulled
- 3 tablespoons – ⅓ cup of granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons ground freeze dried strawberries, ~⅓ cup freeze dried strawberries
Cream cheese frosting
- 8 oz. cream cheese, room temp
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temp
- ¾ – 1 cup powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons ground freeze dried strawberries ~½ cup of freeze dried strawberries
Instructions
Dough
- Proof the yeast. Pour warm milk into your mixer bowl. Add ½ tsp. of the sugar, then sprinkle the yeast over the milk. Let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes or until foamy.
- Add the eggs, melted butter and sugar. Whisk the ingredients until combined.
- Add the flour and salt. With a dough hook attachment knead the dough, on medium speed, for about five minutes or until the dough is soft, smooth and forms a ball. The dough will be tacky and slightly sticky. If the dough is too sticky you can add 1-2 tbsp. of flour.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a towel. Let the dough rise in a warm place for about 1 – 1 ½ hour or until doubled in size.
Filling
- To a medium sauce pan add strawberries and sugar.
- Cook on low heat for 45 minutes – 1 hour. The strawberries should have cooked down and created a thick strawberry sauce. If the strawberry sauce is still runny continue cooking until thick. ( at about the half way point try the sauce, add more sugar if needed. If too sweet add some lemon juice. )
- Optional: Add ⅓ cup of freeze dried strawberries to food processor. Grind until the strawberries turn to powder. Measure out about 2 tablespoons and add to strawberry sauce. Cook until thickened.
- Cool completely.
Assembling the rolls
- Transfer to the dough to a floured surface. Roll the dough into a large rectangle. My rectangle is usually around 15-16 inch x 12-13 inch.
- Spread the strawberry filling all over the dough. You should have strawberry filling leftover for the top. About ⅓ cup.
- Cut the dough evenly into 12 long strips. Then roll the dough away from you to form a cinnamon roll. Transfer cinnamon rolls onto baking dish.
- Cover the cinnamon rolls with a towel and let them rise for 15-20 min. or until they slightly puffed up. While the cinnamon rolls are rising preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. If the inside looks a little underdone, but the cinnamon rolls are golden brown cover with aluminum foil and bake for another 5 minutes.
Strawberry Cream Cheese frosting
- To a food processor add freeze dried strawberries.
- Beat cream cheese, butter, sugar and freeze dried strawberries until smooth. Add more sugar if desired.
- Slightly cool the cinnamon rolls for at least 10- 15 minutes.
- Spread the remaining strawberry filling over rolls then spread cream cheese frosting.
Luba says
Thank you for this awsone recipe …my family it 😋