This sticky Strawberry Rolls recipe is easy to make and downright decadent. Soft, fluffy, oozing with sticky, sweet strawberry filling & covered in swathes of zingy lemony frosting. And it's ready in a little over 1 hour....Grab your rolling pin because it's time to get baking!
Sorry....Not sorry.. That's how I feel about this Strawberry Rolls recipe. Sorry that I am trying to cut down on the sweet stuff and ended up with multiple pans of these delicious sweet rolls and also vegan strawberry muffins to polish off.
Not sorry because they are seriously amazing and of course I take my taste testing very seriously. It would be wrong of me to unleash the recipe on you without eating at least two..um, ok..ten, to make sure they were like completely ok.
Portion control is not my forte. Perhaps I should have stuck with my Cinnamon Roll in a Mug or Strawberry Mug Cake? Those little guys come ready portion controlled. It's also been incredibly popular.
However, as much as I love those recipes, I also love more traditional yeast risen rolls and as it's summer and strawberries are so glorious right now, I decided to switch up my rolls and make these Strawberry Rolls.
It's the same concept as cinnamon rolls, only no cinnamon. The cinnamon is replaced with sticky, sweet, cooked down strawberries. So really they are vegan strawberry cinnamon rolls.
Saucy strawberries are all rolled up in the buttery dough, baked, then covered in swathes of zesty lemon frosting.
I swathe, you can drizzle if you prefer. IMHO everything sweet is better in swathes.
How to make Strawberry Rolls
(For detailed measurements and instructions, see the printable recipe card).
- Make the strawberry filling.
- Mix the dough
- Roll the dough out and spread it with the cooled strawberry filling
- Roll it up tightly and cut into even pieces then put in an ovenproof dish.
- Leave to rest while the oven preheats.
- Mix the frosting ingredients together and drizzle over the cooked rolls.
Success Tips
- As with all recipes involving flour, I highly recommend you weigh your ingredients. Cups are not an accurate way to measure when baking. Weighing is the only way to get accurate and consistent results.
- Check the expiration date of your yeast.I like my Strawberry Rolls to be very slightly crusty on the outside and soft and yielding on the inside. If you prefer yours not so crusty then you can reduce the cooking time a little.
- I know most people like to frost the whole pan of Sweet Rolls while they are warm from the oven. That's ok if you are eating them right away, but if you aren't, I find that the frosting kind of disappears and they go a bit wet. I like visible swathes of frosting on mine so if we are not eating them right away, I let them cool then make the frosting later. The frosting is literally just powdered sugar and lemon juice so it's really quick and easy to stir together right when you want it.
Variations
- Try frosting them with my vegan cream cheese frosting instead of the lemon glaze
- Use other berries in the filling. Raspberries, blackberries or blueberries would be great.
How to make vegan butter for this recipe really quickly
Run out of vegan butter and want to make these right now? How about whipping up my vegan butter recipe? The great thing about it is that you need melted butter for this strawberry rolls recipe so you can whip up my butter recipe in 2 minutes flat and just not bother setting it. Use what you need in this recipe right away, then pour the remainder into a little pot and set it in the fridge to use as and when you need it on another day.
I absolutely adore cinnamon rolls but these Strawberry Rolls make such a refreshing, summery change. The jammy strawberry filling and the lemon frosting work so well together and although they are sweet, the sharpness of the lemon offsets it nicely. They are so good! And the smell when they are baking is incredible!
Just imagine for one minute....That yeasty dough smell. Strawberries. Sweetly intoxicating. Even more so when they are bubbling away in a pan like at the start of this recipe. Lemons. Fresh, zingy and citrusy as you zest them. Then the smell of baking. Put it all together and, well, I just can't get enough. ❤️
Love strawberries?
- Strawberry Spinach Salad
- Dessert Strawberry Salsa
- Strawberry Popsicles
- Strawberry Baked Oatmeal
- Strawberry Semolina Pudding
- Oil-Free Strawberry Vinaigrette
If you try this recipe, let me know how you like it by leaving a comment and rating below! And be sure to join my mailing list for more deliciousness!
Recipe
Strawberry Rolls
Author:Ingredients
For the strawberry filling
- 200g / 1½ cup fresh strawberries chopped finely , measured after chopping. Don't be tempted to use more. Things will get messy later if you do.
- 4 tablespoons / ¼ cup sugar , it must be sugar. Do not swap for a liquid sweetener
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder, this can be subbed for 1½ tablespoons corn starch
- 1 lemon zest only , the juice will be used for the frosting
For the dough
- 500g / 4 cups all purpose flour or bread flour , in the UK use strong flour
- 10g / 1 very slightly heaping tablespoon instant yeast , sometimes called quick yeast or fast action yeast
- 10g / 1½ teaspoons salt
- 110g / ½ cup sugar
- 4 tablespoons / ¼ cup vegan butter , or coconut oil (see recipe notes). Melted before measuring and allowed to cool . Don't add it while hot as it will kill the yeast
- 240mls / 1 cup plant-based milk , plus an extra 1 - tablespoons as necessary
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the frosting
- 125g 1 cup natural powdered sugar
- 2 -3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Or use this frosting instead
- 1 batch vegan cream cheese frosting
RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT
INSTRUCTIONS
For the strawberry filling
- Add the strawberries, sugar, arrowroot and lemon zest to a pan and cook down over a medium heat stirring frequently until it is thick and gloopy. It only takes around 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
For the dough
- Add the flour, yeast, salt and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer. If you don't have a stand mixer you can mix and knead the dough by hand.
- Next add the milk, butter (be sure the melted butter has cooled to room temperature) and vanilla.
- Mix with the dough hook on the speed recommended for bread dough in your mixer. My Kitchen Aid Pro specifies to use setting 2.
- After a minute or so check to see if you need to add a little extra milk. I usually end up having to add another 2 tablespoons, but it will vary from flour to flour and also depending on the humidity wherever you are. You might need to add a little more. The dough should be soft but not too sticky as it needs to be roll-able. If you accidentally add a little too much milk just add a tablespoon or two more flour.
- Continue kneading in the machine for about another 5 minutes until soft and smooth. If you are kneading by hand you will probably need to keep going for at least 10 minutes.
- Once smooth and supple, transfer to a greased bowl, cover with a damp towel or cling wrap and leave to rest for about 15 minutes.
- Once the 15 minutes is up, turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and roll out into about an 9 x 14 inch rectangle. Stretch the corners out a bit with your hands as you go to help make the rectangle shape. Be sure to add back the bits of dough you cut off into the middle and roll it a bit more to incorporate them and save waste.
- Spread the cooled strawberry filling evenly over the dough then roll up tightly starting along the long edge.
- Slice the roll up into 8 even pieces. If you want them super neat cut off the uneven ends and discard. I never bother because I don't like to waste it. I find a sharp serrated knife best for this. I believe some people use dental floss. If you do make sure it is a vegan dental floss and isn't flavoured!
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- Place each roll into a greased dish or pan. I lined mine with baking parchment to be sure they didn't stick. I used an 8 x 12 pan but a large pie dish would do or anything similar. Cover with a damp towel or cling wrap again and place them on the stove top or very near the preheating oven to keep them warm and leave for 30 minutes.
- Bake in the preheated oven. After around 22 minutes they should be just about cooked through. If you want them super soft and squidgy remove now. If you want them slightly crusty on the outside they will take around 30 minutes. So basically anytime between 22 and 30. Just keep an eye on them and remove when they are as you like them .
- Remove from the oven and place the pan on a wire rack and allow to cool a little. You can frost them after about 10 minutes if you want to eat them warm. Or see my recipe note if you will be eating them later.
- To make the frosting, add lemon juice very very gradually to the powdered sugar, stirring as you go. At first it won't seem enough liquid for all of that sugar but it's plenty. Keep stirring while adding a small drop or two of juice until it's thick but drizzle-able. You might not need all of the lemon juice.
- Once frosted a sprinkling of lemon zest is optional but looks really pretty!
NOTES
NUTRITION
Originally published June 18th 2017. Updated and republished on May 30th 2020.
Caitlyn says
Has anyone tried plain yeast? (I don't have the fast rise but will buy if necessary!) Sorry if I missed a note/comment on it
Melanie McDonald says
It will work fine with regular dried yeast. I use them both interchangeably with no problems. I just prefer fast action because you don't need to activate it so it skips a step.
Use the same amount. Just take a bit of the milk and a teaspoon of the sugar from the recipe. Warm the milk up a bit, add the sugar then activate the yeast before you begin.
Hope you enjoy them!
Raina says
What a delicious looking recipe! Can the rolls be made ahead of time and put in the fridge until they are baked?
A Virtual Vegan says
Yes for sure. Make the recipe and time it so you shape them in the evening, then cover the dish and refrigerate all night. I'd take them out of the fridge while the oven preheats then bake them. They might take a couple minutes longer because the dough will still be a bit cold.
Hope you enjoy them!
Tori says
I made these today and they were amazing!! :) Thanks for providing such delightful recipes that help me combat the COVID-19 blues.
Autumn says
Do you think these would work with homemade strawberry jam as the filling?
Melanie McDonald says
They would yes, but will be much sweeter. You will need to keep an eye on them while baking too because jam tends to burn easily because of all the sugar in it. If it looks like its colouring too much before they are cooked through, tent them with some silver foil.
Kaitlyn says
Hi Mel! Unfortunately I don't yet have an electronic scale for measuring ingredients, so I have to rely on the less precise cups method--I was wondering, should I be packing the flour into the measuring cup, or just spooning it in and leveling off the top? I know you can sometimes end up with a lot more flour than you might want if the former method is used, but the dough can also be way too wet if you go with the latter. What do you recommend? Thanks so much!
A Virtual Vegan says
If you spoon it in gently then level the top without packing or shaking it down it should work out about right. You're right that if you scoop it you end up with lots more. I actually plan to write a blog post about it one day as so many people don't realize and it really affects how recipes turn out. I compared a little while ago and if you spoon it in like I described, you get about 125g and if you scoop it in you get close to 200g. Such a big difference! I hope you enjoy the sweet rolls Kaitlyn!
Melissa says
These look DIVINE! Could they be made with gluten free flour, do you think?
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you! I think it could work but it might be necessary to add some guar gum or xanthan gum to the dough to get a good, fluffy result. You could find a good gluten-free cinnamon roll recipe and just swap out the filling and frosting for mine. That would make sure you had a good result!
Melissa says
Thanks for the tip! I'm going to try a Cinnabon gluten free copycat recipe with your filling and frosting! I'll let you know how it works out!
Sara says
If you don't have a mixer available can you do it by hand? and if so do you have any tips.
A Virtual Vegan says
Yes you can definitely do it by hand. I only got my mixer last Christmas and always used to before that. Mix the dough ingredients up in a bowl and add the liquid gradually so it doesn't end up too wet to knead. Mix it up then turn it out onto a surface to knead. I always recommend NOT kneading on a floured surface as too much flour ends up getting incorporated into the dough which kind of puts the recipe measurements out of sync and you end up with a tough, dry dough. I knead just on a clean dry surface with nothing on it, but when beginning, an oiled surface with oiled hands makes it really easy and oil in the dough will only make it a little softer. You can use very mild olive oil or a coconut oil or any other flavourless oil. If you really must use flour make sure it's only light dusting. You will need to knead the dough for at least 10 minutes, probably up to about 15 minutes until it is really smooth and elastic. If you have never kneaded before this short little video shows a really good technique https://youtu.be/BJiucv88flM . Keep going until it's really smooth and elastic. When it's in a ball, if you put your hands either side of it and squeeze in, then let go, it should slowly spring back to position. Once you are at that stage you can carry on with the recipe as written from step 6.
I hope that helps!
Sharon says
Oh wow! I love your Summer twist on the traditional Cinnamon rolls! I can just imagine how fresh and zingy they taste with the addition of strawberries ???? and lemons ????
And thank you so much for making a video too! Cinnamon roll recipes can be a bit intimidating (and often have a lot instructions). Your video is a great help xx
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you so much Sharon. I'm glad the video is a help!
Choclette says
Now if only I'd been nearby I'd have saved you from yourself and polished a few off myself. These look amazing and I love the combo of strawberries and singly lemon. Fab recipe.
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you so much Choclette. How heroic of you! ????
Nico @ yumsome says
These look great, Mel -and so easy too. I love your vegan butter, and often use it in recipes, and I adore it on toast!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you! It's so good for baking but you're right, melted on toast is just the best! (Or crumpets ????)
Nico @ yumsome says
Mmmmm.... crumpets! I've not had them for so long - never seen them outside Blighty. I should keep an eye out for some rings, so I can make them myself again. :-) xx
A Virtual Vegan says
I keep meaning to make some for the blog. They sell them most places here in Canada and a lot of them are vegan too which is nice when I don't feel like cooking my own.
Liv says
Oh this recipe looks so satisfying! I am seriously making this tonight after o come back from the gym lol!
A Virtual Vegan says
Let me know what you think!