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A spring twist to cinnamon rolls. These strawberry rolls filled with a chocolate and strawberry filling are soft, bouncy and delightful. Freeze dried strawberries are blitzed into a sugar and used in the filling and frosting. Serve these with my mint vanilla iced coffees and olive oil fried eggs for delicious breakfast.
I love cinnamon rolls SO much that I basically have a different recipe for every season. I have a my classic Overnight Cinnamon Rolls, Apple Cinnamon Rolls for fall, Gingerbread Rolls and Cranberry Orange Rolls for winter. And for spring, I present to you these Strawberry Rolls
Ingredients You’ll Need for Strawberry Rolls
- Freeze Dried Strawberries. This is what is going to give these rolls their perfect strawberry flavor.
- Eggs. We need eggs in order to give these strawberry chocolate rolls their rich, delicious flavor.
- Milk. This adds a nice softness to the dough for the rolls.
- Active dry yeast. You can use active dry yeast (we’ll be blooming this) OR instant yeast, which doesn’t require activating.
- Vanilla extract. You can use store-bought or my homemade vanilla extract.
How to Make Strawberry Chocolate Rolls
- Start by activating the yeast. I usually use Instant but I was all out so I activated my dry active yeast in the milk until it was all foamy.
- Then mix in the eggs, flour and salt. You want to knead it until it mostly comes together and then add in the butter. I like to knead this on medium-speed for about 5 minutes.
- Grease a bowl with cooking spray and transfer the dough to it. Let it rise in a warm area for about 1 hour. It should increase in volume by 50%.
- Meanwhile, let’s make the strawberry powdered sugar. Combine the sugar and freeze dried strawberries in a blender. You’ll want to use a high-powered blender to make sure it really combines and turns into a pulverized strawberry sugar. Blend it for about 1 minute. Remove it and measure out 1/2 cup (this will be for the frosting).
- Make the filling by combining all of the filling ingredients and beat it until it forms a paste. Roll the dough into a rectangle that measures 15”x 22” and then smother the chocolate filling onto the dough. It may seem like there’s not enough but it should be a super thin layer. Sprinkle the remaining strawberry powdered sugar on top of the chocolate filling.
- Roll up the dough starting furthest away from you, going toward you. And then pinch the seam together.
- Using a sharp serrated knife OR a piece of floss, cut the rolls into a 1 1/2-inch pieces. Butter or grease any baking dish. You can use one or you can use several.
- Transfer the rolls, cut side up, to the baking dish. Allow to rise for about 1 hour, until they’ve proofed by 50%.
- Transfer to the oven to bake for about 18-20 minutes.
How to Make the Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
- Make the frosting by beating together the cream cheese and butter. And then add in the strawberry sugar, vanilla, heavy cream and pinch of salt. I like to beat it for a full minutes so it’s super fluffy!
Recipe Tip
- Instant yeast – You can use instant yeast with this recipe. To do so, simply whisk it with the flour and salt. Instant yeast is added to the dry ingredients while active dry yeast should be activated.
- Freeze dried strawberries – You can find freeze dried fruit (including strawberries) at most grocery stores in the dried fruit and nut sections.
- To Make these Ahead – Make the dough and let it proof in the fridge overnight. You can also make the filling and let it stand at room temp until you’re ready to use it.
Recipe FAQs
Can I let these rise in the fridge overnight?
If you like, you can assemble the cinnamon rolls, put them in the baking dish you’re using and cover tightly with plastic wrap and transfer to the fridge to rise overnight. They might NOT rise very much in the fridge; that’s ok! Allow them to rise on your counter for 1 hour (until doubled in size) and then proceed with baking them. That way, when you wake up in the morning, all you have to do is bake them off and then smother them with the cream cheese frosting!
Can I add heavy cream to the baking dish?
Sure! People swear this makes the gooey-est most delicious cinnamon rolls. I say go for it! I would pour about 1/4 cup to the bottom of the baking dish and spread it around. Then add the cinnamon rolls on top. OR you could drizzle a little on the top right before baking.
More Strawberry Recipes
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Strawberry Rolls
A spring twist to cinnamon rolls. These strawberry rolls filled with a chocolate and strawberry filling are soft, bouncy and delightful. Freeze dried strawberries are blitzed into a sugar and used in the filling and frosting.
Ingredients
Dough:
- 1/3 cup lukewarm milk, (79ml)
- 1 packet active dry yeast (7g/2 1/2 teaspoons), (*see below for instructions with instant yeast)
- 3 large eggs
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, (375g)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter , (113g)
Strawberry Sugar:
- 3/4 cup freeze dried strawberries
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar, (150g)
Filling
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, (57g)
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder, (25g)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Pinch of kosher salt
Frosting:
- 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, (57g) at room temperature
- 3/4 cup reserved strawberry sugar, (recipe above)
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of kosher salt
Instructions
To Make the Dough:
- To the bowl of a stand-up mixer (alternatively, you can do this in a large bowl by hand), mix together the mil and active dry yeast. Allow to activate and get all foamy, about 8 minutes.
- Crack in the eggs and mix using a dough hook. If the egg yolks don’t break up, feel free to grab a fork and mix it all up until combined. Pour in the flour and salt. Mix together until mostly combined and then add in the cubed butter, one cube at a time until it comes together. Knead for about 5 minutes by hand or in the machine. The dough will be slightly sticky—that’s ok! Grease a bowl with oil or cooking spray and transfer the dough to the bowl, spraying or coating the top.
- Cover with a lid or clean kitchen towel and allow to rise for 30 minutes. It should be soft and supple; it’ll have risen by 50%.
To Make the Strawberry Sugar:
- You’ll need a high-powered blender for this. Think a BlendTec, Ninja or Vitamix. Add the freeze-dried strawberries and sugar to the blender. Blend on high for about 1 minute. It should end up looking like pink-colored powdered sugar.Let it settle before removing the top of the blender bc it will create a “smoke”. We’ll be using this for the filling and the frosting. Remove 3/4 cup of strawberry sugar and set aside. We'll be using this amount of 3/4 of a cup for the frosting.
To Make the Filling:
- To the bowl of a stand-up mixer (with the paddle attachment) or using a medium bowl and a fork, add the butter, cocoa powder, vanilla extract and salt. Mix until it forms a paste that’s completely combined.
To Assemble the Rolls:
- Lightly flour your work surface and remove the dough from the bowl and place the dough into the center. Lightly flour your rolling pin and roll the dough into a 1/8-inch thick rectangle that measures 15“x 18“ If it’s not a perfect rectangle, that’s totally ok.
- Add the filling to the rectangle of dough, spreading it out into an even very thin layer, stopping from about 1/2-inch from the edges. Sprinkle the remaining/reserved strawberry sugar on top of the smoothed out chocolate.
- Roll the dough farthest from you, going toward you.
- Using a serrated knife OR a piece of unflavored floss, trim off the ends. And then cut the log of dough into 12 equal pieces. Mine measured about to be 1 1/2-inches long. Transfer to a greased 9×13-inch baking pan or baking sheet. You can also use multiple baking dishes. Whichever works best for you.
- Cover with a kitchen towel and allow to rise for an additional 45 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until puffy and lightly golden brown.
To Make the Cream Cheese Icing:
- To the bowl of a stand-up mixer (or a large bowl) with the paddle attachment, beat together the cream cheese and the butter until smooth. Next, add the reserved 3/4 cup strawberry sugar, vanilla, pinch of kosher salt and heavy cream. Beat for a full 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
To Serve:
- When the rolls come out of the oven, pour the half or ALL of the icing over the rolls and smother the with the icing.
Notes
Tips and Tricks:
- Instant yeast – You can use instant yeast with this recipe. To do so, simply whisk it with the flour and salt. Instant yeast is added to the dry ingredients while active dry yeast should be activated.
- Freeze dried strawberries – You can find freeze dried fruit (including strawberries) at most grocery stores in the dried fruit and nut sections.
- To Make these Ahead – Make the dough and let it proof in the fridge overnight. You can also make the filling and let it stand at room temp until you’re ready to use it.
Nutrition
Calories: 409kcal | Carbohydrates: 54g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 53mg | Sodium: 228mg | Potassium: 278mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 25g | Vitamin A: 618IU | Vitamin C: 181mg | Calcium: 25mg | Iron: 5mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this Recipe? Please Rate & comment below!
Once I saw this recipe I knew I had to try it. As a novice baker It was a bit intimidating because I don’t work with dough very often. I followed along as best I could, they came out looking so pretty but the texture was so wrong. I’m not sure why mine looked perfectly golden brown but were crunchy and… not what you would want in a sweet roll. I wanted to love them so bad!! Will definitely be trying more recipes from your blog because they all just look Incredible!!
Hello Adrianna, all you butter is 57g, the 1/2 coup and 1/4 cup too. Love your recipes, thanks for sharing
fixed now – thank you!
Made these and they’re great! I added a little kalhua to the chocolate part of the filling. This dough was forgiving – I stuck it in the fridge after slicing the rolls and arranging them on the tray, and let them come to room temperature in the morning before baking – still fluffy and flavorful!