Roasted Strawberry Cinnamon Rolls

Nothing beats a warm, gooey cinnamon roll, especially when it's elevated with a roasted strawberry filling and strawberry cream cheese glaze! Rather than filling these buns with a boring strawberry jam, I opted for a homemade strawberry filling made by roasting fresh strawberries on a baking pan until they're soft and jammy. The result is the most delicious filling that's reminiscent of strawberry pie! So these beauties are basically strawberry pie cinnamon rolls... drool🤤.

For more cinnamon rolls recipes, try Brown Butter Cardamom Cinnamon Rolls, Cranberry Orange Cinnamon Rolls, and Cinnamon Rolls with Apple Pie Filling.

Why you'll love these strawberry cinnamon rolls

• Soft & Pillowy Brioche: My go-to brioche recipe turns into a soft and supple dough after a slow & cold overnight rise that's so nice to roll out and shape into cinnamon rolls. As an enriched bread, it yields a buttery, yeasty flavor with a pillowy soft texture that is utterly irresistible in the form of a cinnamon roll.
• Roasted Strawberry Filling: Fresh, juicy strawberries bubbling in the oven create the most heavenly smell wafting throughout your kitchen. As they roast in the oven, their juice becomes more concentrated and flavor more pronounced.
• Strawberry Cream Cheese Icing: This cinnamon roll icing takes on a concentrated strawberry flavor thanks to the addition of freeze dried strawberry powder. When poured over the warm buns, it melts into every nook and cranny, creating that extra gooey factor we all know and love! 

Ingredient Notes

• Flour: Use a combination of unbleached all-purpose flour and bread flour for the best flavor and proper gluten development.
• Salt: Add kosher or fine sea salt to the flour to enhance the flavors in the brioche. Mix it into the flour rather than the salt to the milk, yeast mixture, or it may kill the yeast.
• Milk: Use whole milk for best flavor, and bring it to about 110 degrees F to help the yeast activate. Be careful not to make it too hot, or it can kill the yeast.
• Sugar: A small amount of granulated sugar is mixed in with the milk and yeast to help activate the yeast, as well as give the brioche a richer color on top as it bakes.
• Yeast: Feel free to use instant or active dry yeast.
• Eggs: Bring your eggs to room temperature quickly by placing them in a bowl of warm water for about 10 minutes.
• Vanilla: Add a touch of pure vanilla extract for a slightly sweeter bread. For a more savory bread, you can omit it.
• Butter: Use high quality European-style butter for optimum flavor and overall result. I recommend Kerrygold.
• Strawberries: The star of the show! Don't worry if you're making this recipe when strawberries are not quite in season, since their flavor will be amplified when roasted in the oven.
• Freeze Dried Strawberries: Since their flavor is much more concentrated than fresh strawberries, a tablespoon of freeze dried strawberry powder is more than enough to add an intense strawberry flavor to the icing.
• Cream Cheese: For best overall flavor and results, use block-style cream cheese.

See recipe card for full information on ingredients and individual quantities.

Step by Step Instructions

Here are step by step photos and instructions on how to make this strawberry cinnamon roll recipe! For the full ingredient list and method, see the recipe card at the end of this post.

STEP 1: Activate the yeast; Mix in eggs & vanilla. In a glass measuring cup, heat the milk to 110 degrees F and stir in the sugar and yeast. If using active dry yeast, allow to sit for 15 minutes for the yeast to activate. If using instant yeast, simply move on to the next step. Mix the eggs and vanilla into the milk yeast mixture.

STEP 2: Add wet ingredients to dry. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment, mix the flours and salt together. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour and mix on low-medium speed for about 3 minutes, or until it forms a ball around the hook. 

STEP 3: Mix in the butter. Add in a few pieces of butter at a time, allowing them to fully incorporate before adding more. Once all of the butter is incorporated, turn the mixer up to medium-high speed and mix for 8-12 minutes. The dough will eventually pull away from the sides of the bowl and have a silky smooth texture with minimal stickiness.

STEP 4: Perform windowpane test. To check if the dough is ready, tear off a small piece and carefully spread it out to see if you can see the light through it without it tearing. If it tears, mix for another minute or two and check again. 

STEP 5: Proof overnight. Once the dough is ready, transfer it to a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to proof overnight in the fridge. Alternatively, you can let the dough rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until doubled in size. 

STEP 6: Roast the strawberries. In a medium bowl, toss together the strawberries, sugar, vanilla, and salt. On a small baking sheet, spread the strawberries out into an even layer. Bake the strawberries for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until they have broken down and the juices are bubbling. Transfer the roasted strawberries to a small bowl. Use a fork mash them until smooth. Place in the fridge for about 30 minutes to cool.

STEP 7: Assemble the cinnamon rolls. On a lightly floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll the cinnamon roll dough out to a square roughly 14 x 14". Use an offset spatula to spread the cooled roasted strawberry filling into an even layer, then sprinkle the cinnamon all over. Roll the brioche up into a log, then use a serrated knife to score lines every 1 ¾" to get 9 rolls. Use dental floss to cut each roll by placing the floss under the dough, wrapping around, and pulling to cut through. 

STEP 8: Proof the cinnamon rolls & bake. Arrange the rolls into the prepared baking dish, and cover with plastic wrap. Allow the cinnamon rolls to rise for about 30 minutes or until nearly room temperature, but still slightly cool to the touch. When pressed with a finger, the dough will slowly spring back. Bake the strawberry cinnamon rolls for about 20-24 minutes or until evenly golden brown. 

STEP 9: Make the cream cheese icing. While the cinnamon rolls are baking, make the strawberry cream cheese icing. In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter and cream cheese until smooth. Whisk in the sifted confectioners sugar and freeze dried strawberry powder until no lumps remain. Then, mix in the heavy cream and vanilla. 

STEP 10: Pour the icing over the baked cinnamon rolls. Once the cinnamon rolls come out of the oven, immediately pour the icing on top. Allow the cinnamon rolls to cool for about 30 minutes before serving.

Expert Baking Tips

• Proof the dough overnight: I recommend allowing your brioche dough to rise slowly overnight in the fridge. Cold dough is so much nicer to work with! But you can also let it proof at room temperature for one hour and make the brioche bread immediately. 
• Bake the dough within 24 hours: To find that sweet spot between properly proofed with a developed flavor and over-fermented, I recommend giving the dough at least 5 hours to rise in the fridge, but no more than 24 hours.
• Cut the dough with dental floss. To get a clean cut of each cinnamon roll, use unflavored dental floss rather than a knife. 

All of the recipes on this blog are carefully developed with gram measurements so you can easily recreate them in your own kitchen with success. Volume measurements are extremely inaccurate and leave room for significant errors. Not all measuring cups are made equally, so your one cup of flour will be different from my one cup of flour. By providing precise measurements in grams (aside from minor ingredients, which are given in tsp/tbsp), you can make these recipes accurately and with less cleanup! All you need is this kitchen scale. 

If this still isn't enough to convince you, I have provided volume measurements in the recipe card. If you are interested in understanding the conversions, this is the best conversion chart.

But trust me, once you try baking in grams you'll never turn back!

Happy baking! x