Strawberry Shortcake Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
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Strawberry Shortcake Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
Imagine combining the best of two worlds --- the sweet, juicy flavor of strawberry shortcake and the warm, gooey goodness of cinnamon rolls. These Strawberry Shortcake Cinnamon Rolls are a delicious twist on classic cinnamon rolls, bursting with fresh strawberry goodness. Perfect for breakfast, brunch, or a sweet treat any time of day. Gluten-free, Vegan + Overnight Option.
I seriously love strawberry shortcake in all its forms—cake, donuts, ice cream, you name it. So, I knew it was time to mix it with cinnamon rolls and create something truly magical ---- Enter Strawberry Shortcake Cinnamon Rolls.
They're like fluffy, brioche-style sweet rolls filled with all that strawberry deliciousness. Seriously, with homemade dough, you can roll up just about anything and it turns out mouthwateringly good—that's why I've got so many cinnamon roll recipes on my site!
These strawberry shortcake cinnamon rolls are next-level delicious! With their sweet strawberry filling and a cream cheese glaze that's perfectly sweet, they're an absolute delight. Plus there is a gluten-free, vegan + overnight option! The end result? Incredibly light, airy, and fluffy rolls, topped with a sticky-sweet glaze that guarantees sweetness in every bite. Trust me, it's a winning combo you won't want to miss!
Jump to:
- Why You Will LOVE Strawberry Shortcake Cinnamon Rolls
- Sweet Rolls or Cinnamon Buns?
- Ingredients For Strawberry Shortcake Cinnamon Rolls
- Tips For Making The Perfect Strawberry Shortcake Cinnamon Rolls
- Can I Knead By Hand Instead of Using a Mixer?
- Perfect Occasions For Strawberry Shortcake Cinnamon Rolls
- What Is The Best Way To Cut Cinnamon Rolls?
- How to Make Cinnamon Rolls Overnight?
- Strawberry Shortcake Cinnamon Rolls Q + A's
- More Sweet + Delicious Strawberry Recipes
- MADE OUR RECIPE(S)?
- Strawberry Shortcake Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
Why You Will LOVE Strawberry Shortcake Cinnamon Rolls
OK, so if you’re still not entirely sold on these homemade cinnamon rolls, then let me tell you what’s so great about them.
- It's like having two desserts in one!
- They are SOFT, FLUFFY, + BRIOCHE-LIKE in texture
- A phenomenal make-ahead breakfast
- Fun to eat! Pillow-y spirals of buttery dough filled with hypnotic strawberry swirls!
- Mouthwatering, fluffy cinnamon goodness.
- Freezes beautifully for convenience.
- Perfect kid-friendly + lunchbox-friendly treat!
- Warm, gooey, and utterly delightful.
Sweet Rolls or Cinnamon Buns?
No matter what you call them—cinnamon buns, cinnamon rolls, sweet rolls, sticky buns, sticky rolls, cinnamon swirl, cinnamon danish—everyone has a favorite. I've never met someone who didn't like them. A cinnamon bun or sweet roll is a sweeter, fluffier bread dough with a filling, usually cinnamon-based, in the middle. They are usually served around the holidays. When the filling is cooked, it makes an iconic swirl of deliciousness.
Ingredients For Strawberry Shortcake Cinnamon Rolls
Here's what you need for the fluffy brioche-style dough:
DOUGH:
- All-purpose flour. I use organic flour from Bob's Red Mill.
- Artisan Bread flour. You can find this from King Arthur or Bob's Red Mill.
- Organic cane sugar.
- Instant yeast. Also called Rapid Rise Yeast.
- Sea salt. This helps balance out the flavors.
- Eggs. At room temp.
- Almond milk. At room temp. You can totally use regular whole milk or another plant-based milk. Choose unsweetened. Feel free to use a different plant-based milk if you like. I recommend making easy homemade almond milk (my recipe doesn’t require soaking!)
- WARM water. This is important to help activate the yeast at the beginning.
- Butter. Use warm, melted unsalted butter.
- Vanilla extract. Use pure vanilla extract for the best vanilla flavor.
FILLING + STRAWBERRY SAUCE:
- Fresh strawberries. Sliced + stems removed
- Organic cane sugar. For sweetness.
- Lemon. Freshly-squeezed.
- Strawberry preserves/jam. I love Bonne Maman Preserve
- Unsalted butter. Softened at room temp.
- Organic brown sugar. This adds an extra layer of sweetness to the filling.
- Ground cinnamon. What's a cinnamon roll without some cinnamon? You can purchase my Dessert Lover Blend for authentic flavor.
GLAZE + TOPPING:
- Cream cheese. Softened at room temp.
- Powdered sugar. Sifted.
- Vanilla extract.
- Heavy cream or plant-based milk. To add a bit of moisture to create a velvety glaze.
- Strawberry sauce.
- Crushed shortbread cookies. Choose your personal faves!
SHOP MY FAVORITE BAKEWARE ITEMS AND ACCESSORIES!
Here, I’ve curated a list of bakeware essentials that I use to achieve my favorite baking treats, especially with these Strawberry Shortcake Cinnamon Rolls. Everything from my fave baking sheets, parchment paper, mixing bowls, and more. SEE THEM HERE!
Tips For Making The Perfect Strawberry Shortcake Cinnamon Rolls
Due to many delicious attempts at perfecting this recipe, I have come across some very helpful tips that will ensure a perfectly baked strawberry shortcake cinnamon roll.
NEVER OVERHEAT THE MILK!
It is so important that your milk is warm but NOT hot! It should be warm to the touch. If you find that your milk has overheated, allow it to cool before adding the yeast. Milk that is too hot will kill the yeast, and you won't get the big, fluffy rise in the dough. We want these rolls super fluffy, and that's only possible when the yeast is bloomed properly.
USE VERY SOFT BUTTER AT ROOM TEMPERATURE
Like in most baking, room-temperature ingredients mix better than cold ingredients. Beat in your butter while it is completely at room temperature for a seamless, tender texture.
DO NOT WORRY ABOUT OVER-MIXING
I know it sounds weird, but hear me out. With cakes and cookies, you never want to overwork the dough because working develops the gluten in the flour. Gluten development leads to a chewy, unpleasant texture in cakes and cookies, making them dense and heavy. Because cinnamon rolls use a yeast dough, it is required to develop the gluten in the dough. The yeast brings elasticity that lightens and fluffs the dough, much like bread dough. When making these rolls, keep on mixing even after you think you've mixed enough!
RISE THE DOUGH OVERNIGHT
While I developed this recipe as a quick-bake cinnamon roll, more flavor develops in the dough if you allow it to rise overnight. The dough has more time to rise, leading to a more developed, yeast-bread flavor. This yeast flavor is a perfect pairing with the sweet filling and frosting.
USE A BREAD FLOUR MIX
After much trial and tribulation, I have found that a mix of bread flour and all-purpose flour is the perfect combination for cinnamon rolls. The bread flour gives a tender, thick, brioche-like texture that I think is perfect for this dish.
ROLL THEM UP TIGHT!
A loose roll will fall apart upon slicing and bake unevenly. Instead, begin with a very tight roll and keep that momentum throughout the roll. The dough is sturdy and can handle being rolled tightly due to its elasticity.
Can I Knead By Hand Instead of Using a Mixer?
Absolutely! Usually, I make my cinnamon roll dough via my electric stand-mixer which has the appropriate attachments for the kneading process, however, with these cinnamon rolls, I have had the pleasure of doing this all by hand and it wasn't difficult.
It just requires a bit more arm work, that's all! Plus, there’s nothing that a light drizzle of flour can’t help, right?! You'll basically follow all the steps for making the dough in a large bowl and once it begins to come together and can form a ball, then you'll begin working the dough in a front-to-back and folding motion a few times until you begin to feel the dough "soften" and become elastic-like. It took me about 5-6 minutes or so total. Not bad!
Perfect Occasions For Strawberry Shortcake Cinnamon Rolls
These events are a great excuse to eat cinnamon rolls!
- Birthdays
- Anniversaries
- Barbecues
- Potlucks
- Kids Sleepovers
- Holiday Gatherings
- Graduations
- Baby Showers
- Dinner Parties
- Actually, any time is a good time for cinnamon rolls, right (much like cake)? Bake away for a little weekday pep-up!
What Is The Best Way To Cut Cinnamon Rolls?
Ready to ditch the traditional knife and embrace a quirky method for cutting sweet rolls? It's time to bring out the dental floss. Yes, you read that right! Unflavored dental floss is the secret weapon for perfectly sliced cinnamon rolls.
Why? Because it slices from the inside out, avoiding any squishing mishaps that can happen with a regular knife. Simply run it along the bottom of the rolls, and cross the two ends over each other. Give it a pull, and voila! Your perfectly sliced cinnamon rolls are ready to bake. But if you're using a knife, remember to channel your inner lumberjack and saw gently back and forth without squishing the rolls.
How to Make Cinnamon Rolls Overnight?
If you don’t want to make your rolls on the same day, you can simply follow all steps (including the initial 1+ hour rise) and after cutting rolls and placing them into your baking pan, just cover them tightly (using foil paper of plastic wrap) and refrigerate them overnight or for 8-12 hours instead. The following day, remove from refrigerator and keeping them covered, let cinnamon rolls rise at room temp 1 to 1 ½ hours.
Strawberry Shortcake Cinnamon Rolls Q + A's
Cinnamon rolls can be kept fresh at room temperature when tightly wrapped or sealed for up to 3 days. Fresh for up to 1 week in the refrigerator. Baked rolls can be frozen up to 2 months.
Basically, the main reason why your rolls aren't rising is because the yeast didn't fully activate as it should. All in all, your ingredients were TOO HOT or TOO COLD for the yeast to create a warm enough environment to do it's thing and "activate".
However, when using Rapid-rise or quick-rise yeast, it's usually easier to maneuver since it doesn't necessarily need to be "bloomed" before using. It's not dormant as regular active dry yeast, which makes it more convenient!
Absolutely! When it comes to these cinnamon rolls or any for that matter, you always have the option of making them the traditional way which requires a 1-2 hours initial rise and then another 20-25 minute rise before baking OR an overnight option.
However, if you're in a rush to make these or don't want to deal with a long rise time, you can simply create your dough and do a quick rise (20-25 minutes) and placing them straight in the oven to bake. Either way, cinnamon rolls are AMAZING and worth whatever wait time you choose!
OK, so the great debate has been the idea of needing to add heavy cream or yogurt to your cinnamon rolls in order to add moisture. Now, I've seen many people top their cinnamon rolls with a few cups of heavy cream right before baking after it rises to create a soft, tender roll, BUT I've found a better trick.
Simply, make your glaze/frosting a few minutes before your rolls are out of the oven, then once you take them out, allow them to SLIGHTLY COOL for 10 minutes before topping half of your glaze atop the warm rolls. This way, it'll melt and seep through your rolls and add moisture. Then after 5-10 minutes, add the remaining glaze as your "final layer" and wallah! PERFECTLY MOIST ROLLS!
Absolutely! If you're looking to make these GF, I recommend substituting both flours with Bob's 1:1 Baking flour and slightly reducing the amount by 1 cup, slowing adding more if the dough is too sticky.
To make these orange cinnamon rolls vegan, simply omit the eggs and substitute with 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar. Also, substitute the butter with vegan butter and ensure that you use plant-based milk.
OK, so you might think it's possible, but you can totally make cinnamon rolls, including these strawberry cinnamon rolls without yeast, if you ever need to! Just know that the texture wouldn't be as brioche-like or fluffy, and they'll be more dense, but still good.
Instead of yeast, you'll just need to substitute with 2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder to allow some level of rise to occur.
More Sweet + Delicious Strawberry Recipes
If you love this Strawberry Shortcake Cinnamon Rolls recipe, you'll love my other delicious strawberry recipes!
- Easy + Quick Strawberry Milk
- Baked Strawberry Croissant French Toast
- Easy Strawberry Oat Scones
- The Best Birthday Strawberry Shortcake Cake
- Strawberry Shortcake Donuts
- Strawberry Shortcake Baked Oats
MADE OUR RECIPE(S)?
If you tried this Strawberry Shortcake Cinnamon Rolls recipe or any other recipe on my website, please please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you go in the 📝 comments below. And don't forget to tag @orchidsnsweettea_ on Instagram and hashtag it #orchidsandsweettea! I love hearing from you!
Strawberry Shortcake Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
Ingredients
DOUGH:
- 3 cups organic All-purpose flour (See Notes!)
- 2 ½ cups Artisan Bread flour
- ½ cup organic cane sugar + 1 Tbsp
- 1 packet Rapid Rise Yeast (That's 2 ¼ tsps!)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (You can purchase my Dessert Lover Blend for authentic flavor)
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 large eggs, at room temp.
- 1 ¼ cups Almond milk, room temp. (You can also use regular dairy milk, if preferred!)
- ¼ cup WARM water
- 6 Tbsps unsalted butter, melted (Make sure that it's WARM, not hot!)
- 2 tsps vanilla extract
FILLING + STRAWBERRY SAUCE:
- 3 cups fresh sliced strawberries, stems removed
- ¼ cup organic cane sugar
- ½ lemon, freshly-squeezed
- 3 Tbsps strawberry preserves/jam
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened at room temp.
- ½ cup organic brown sugar
- 2 tsps ground cinnamon (You can purchase my Dessert Lover Blend for authentic flavor)
GLAZE + TOPPING:
- 4 oz. organic cream cheese, softened at room temp. (That's ½ a pack!)
- 4-5 cups organic powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-2 Tbsps organic heavy cream or plant-based milk
- 3-4 Tbsps strawberry sauce, for garnish
- Crushed shortbread cookies, optional
Instructions
FOR THE DOUGH:
- Combine yeast and 1 tablespoon brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and slowly pour in warm water while stirring frequently. Allow 10 minutes for the mixture to sit and for the yeast to activate.
- Add in the room temperature milk and warm butter to the yeast mixture and whisk until well combined. Add in the eggs (one at a time) and vanilla, whisking to incorporate.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, bread flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and sea salt and add them to the wet ingredients and mix on low-speed until well combined and everything begins to form into a dough-like consistency, about 2-3 minutes.
- Change “Mixer head” to kneading accessory and knead dough for 5-10 minutes on high speed until dough ball becomes smooth and elastic and dough springs back when lightly pressed together with 2 fingers. NOTE: If dough is still too sticky, add 1 tablespoon of flour at a time until texture is achieved!
- Lightly grease a large bowl with a small amount of olive oil and place the dough ball in the bowl, tossing it around until coated. Cover with plastic wrap (or a towel) and let sit for 1 hour, allowing the dough to rise and double in size.
- In the meantime, you can work on the filling and strawberry sauce!
TO MAKE THE STRAWBERRY SYRUP/SAUCE:
- In a saucepan, add together the strawberry slices, cane sugar, lemon juice, and strawberry preserves/jam over medium-high heat, stirring until combined. Once strawberries begin to soften, continue stirring until mixture begins to thickened a bit, about 5-6 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool completely. NOTE: Set aside about 4 Tbsps for topping.
FOR THE FILLING:
- Add the softened the butter (best if done at room temp. so that it's more "paste-like" in texture once smeared) in a bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl, combine the cinnamon and brown sugar, mixing them together. Set aside.
ASSEMBLY:
- Once the dough has risen fully, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a large 9x13 baking dish with parchment paper, allowing excess to hang from the sides.
- Add a bit of flour to a surface and place the dough onto it, lightly adding a bit of flour to the top. Using a rolling-pin, roll out the dough into a rectangular shape (approximately 9″x14 and ½-inch thick), trimming the edges if needed. NOTE: Try not to make the dough too thin or else rolling it up will be hard to do!
- Then, generously add ¾ of the softened butter atop dough (spreading it out evenly with a spoon or knife), followed by the brown sugar-cinnamon mixture, ensuring that the top is coated evenly. Lastly, add a few dollops of the strawberry sauce (leaving about 2-3 Tbsps aside for topping).
- Tightly roll dough (long-ways) and using a pastry cutter, cut dough into 1.5" rolls, placing each roll (cut side down) into a large baking dish (lined with parchment paper!).
- Then place plastic wrap over the baking dish with rolls, smear the tops with remaining softened butter and let them rise again (for another 20 minutes).
- Once the rolls have doubled in size (once again!) or have gotten significantly larger, bake them for approximately 35-40 minutes in the preheated oven.
- While all the baking magic is happening, make the Cream Cheese Glaze.
TO MAKE THE CREAM CHEESE GLAZE:
- In a bowl, beat (using a hand-mixer) the softened cream cheese until creamy and smooth. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and heavy cream/milk, beating everything together until the glaze becomes smooth and velvety. NOTE: Add additional heavy cream (1 tablespoon at a time) if the glaze is too thick or powdered sugar (1 tablespoon at a time) if too thin.
- Remove the rolls from oven and wait 5-10 minutes or until the rolls slightly cool before spreading the glaze atop the rolls using a rubber spatula evenly until fully covered. Next, spoon the remaining strawberry sauce atop glaze, lightly spreading it (if desired) and top with crushed shortbread cookies (if using).
- To serve, cut out each roll desired and enjoy.
- Bon Appetit!
Tips & Tricks
- TO STORE: Cinnamon Rolls can be kept fresh at room temperature when tightly wrapped or sealed for up to 3 days. Fresh for up to 1 week in the Refrigerator. Baked rolls can be frozen up to 2 months.
- RAPID (INSTANT) RISE YEAST VS. ACTIVE DRY YEAST: If you’re not using the Rapid Rise Yeast for this recipe, please know that the rise time will be twice as long (about 3 hours) since regular Active Yeast doesn’t work as quickly.
- FLOUR: If you don’t have bread flour, you can always just use all-purpose flour entirely instead.
- OVERNIGHT OPTION: If you don’t want to make your Cinnamon Rolls on the same day, you can simply follow all steps (including the initial 1+ hour rise and making of strawberry sauce for filling) and after cutting rolls and placing them into your baking pan, just cover them tightly (using foil paper of plastic wrap) and refrigerate them overnight or for 8-12 hours instead. The following day, remove from refrigerator and keeping them covered, let cinnamon rolls rise at room temp 1 to 1 ½ hours.
- VEGAN OPTION: To make these classic cinnamon rolls vegan, simply omit the eggs and substitute with 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar. Also, substitute the butter with vegan butter and omit the cream cheese and add ¼ cup of softened vegan butter instead. Ensure that shortbread cookies are vegan-friendly.
Nutrition
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