Strawberry Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients

Here's everything you need to make these pretty pink rolls! Measurements for each of the ingredients are included in the recipe card, below.

Cinnamon Roll Ingredients

• Buttermilk - For moisture, richness, and flavor.
• Yeast - For leavening and flavor. The flavor develops when the dough rests. I use instant yeast, which technically you don't need to bloom (wait for it to get foamy) in the buttermilk, but I still like to do this step to ensure that my yeast is active/alive.
• All-Purpose Flour - For structure for the rolls. I used all-purpose flour.
• Salt - To balance and enhance the flavor of the dough.
• Baking Soda - For leavening.
• Unsalted Butter - For moisture and richness. Unsalted so that you control the amount of salt in the recipe. The butter will be melted for use in the recipe.
• Eggs - For moisture, richness, and a little leavening. You want your eggs to be at room temperature.
• Granulated Sugar - For sweetness and keeping the cinnamon rolls moist.
• Vanilla Bean Paste - For lovely vanilla flavor and black flecks of vanilla bean in your cinnamon rolls! If you don't have vanilla bean paste or prefer not to use it, you can use an equal measure of vanilla extract.
• Strawberry Jam - For lovely gooey strawberry flavor. You'll be tempted to use more than the recipe calls for, but any more will likely just squish out when you roll them up!
• Ground Cinnamon (optional) - You can't have cinnamon rolls without cinnamon! It does add a unique warmth to the strawberry jam. That said, if you prefer to omit the cinnamon, you can!

Glaze Ingredients

• Strawberries - For flavor and gorgeous color. I used fresh strawberries. You may find that frozen strawberries are a bit more watery, but they will work, too.
• Powdered Sugar - For sweetness. I use powdered sugar because it dissolves completely for a smooth consistency to the glaze.

Instructions

Cinnamon rolls have quite a few steps, but none of the steps are difficult. This section gives you some photos to work with so you can see how the rolls come together. You can find more detailed instructions in the recipe card, below.

Making Strawberry Cinnamon Rolls

1. Bloom the yeast in the warm buttermilk. Once foamy, add to the melted butter, eggs, sugar, and vanilla bean paste and mix to combine.
2. Gradually add the dry ingredients and mix until a soft dough forms.
3. Cover the bowl and let rest 30 minutes. The dough will not double, but will be puffed.
4. Turn the dough out and roll into a large rectangle. Spread the strawberry jam over the dough evenly. If desired, sprinkle cinnamon over the jam.
5. Cut the dough into 12 equal strips, then roll each strip up and place in a greased baking dish.
6. Cover rolls and let rise until doubled, then bake. **Full, detailed baking instructions are included in the recipe card, below.**

Making Strawberry Glaze

1. Combine the strawberries and water in a small saucepan and cook until the berries have broken down and released their juice. Press the berries though a strainer to collect the juice. Return the juice to the pan and cook until you have about ¼ cup of strawberry juice reduction.
2. Combine 2 cups of the sifted powdered sugar with the strawberry reduction. Stir until all powdered sugar is incorporated. Add additional powdered sugar, one tablespoon at a time, until you reach the desired consistency.

Variations

Here are a few variations you could make to this recipe:

• Change the filling - I love these strawberry cinnamon rolls as they are, but you could change out the strawberry jam for any flavor you like! The vanilla-scented dough would pair beautifully with blueberry, raspberry, blackberry--you name it!
• Change the glaze - These would be fantastic with Cream Cheese Glaze! Or, for a double berry flavor, try my blackberry glaze!
• Frost them instead of glazing - Instead of a glaze, you could decide to frost the cinnamon rolls instead. My Sour Cream Frosting and Buttermilk Frosting would both be delicious, especially if you swirl in some strawberry jam! If you'd like to pair the strawberry with blueberry, my Blueberry Frosting would be an excellent choice!

Equipment

Here are a few things I used when making this recipe:

• Pastry Mat - A lightly floured surface will work just fine, but I rolled my dough out on a pastry mat so I don't have to worry about sticking and can introduce minimal flour to the dough.
• Offset Spatula - Not a necessity, but allows you to keep your hands out of the jam while spreading it over the dough.
• Pizza Cutter - When making cinnamon rolls, I usually roll up all the dough, then cut the rolls. For this particular recipe, I found this method to be messy and difficult with the slippery strawberry jam. Instead, I used a pizza cutter to cut the dough into equal strips, then rolled each cinnamon roll individually.
• Baking dish: I used a 9-inch by 13-inch ceramic baking dish. You could use a cake pan of the same size, but the edges and bottoms of the rolls may be done baking before the center is.
• Fine Mesh Strainer - A must for separating the strawberry juice from the seeds and pulp, so that your glaze is smooth and seed-free.

Storage

The glaze can be made in advance, and keeps in the refrigerator up to three days, or in the freezer up to three months.

Once completely cooled, store baked and glazed cinnamon rolls in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days. The glaze will absorb into the rolls a bit, so if you're planning to eat them over the course of a few days, you may want to glaze them as you eat them.

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