Strawberry Rolls with Lemon Cream Cheese Icing

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Love Cinnamon Rolls?! Well, meet their fun and fruity sister! These Strawberry Rolls with Lemon Cream Cheese Icing are the perfect homemade breakfast or brunch for the entire family!

Making fresh baked goods can seem like a challenge and so intimidating that you don't even want to attempt it. These Strawberry Rolls with Lemon Cream Cheese Icing are not only easier than you think, but SO MUCH YUMMIER than store bought brands! With the help of Fleischmann's® RapidRise® Yeast this tasty take on a cinnamon roll comes together quickly and let's be real nothing tastes better than baking from scratch at home.

I am always excited to share my recipes with friends and family, but my baked from scratch recipes are ones that I am most proud of. I know I can trust Fleischmann's® Yeast with their long history of quality products to make all my home baking adventures a success. These strawberry cinnamon rolls are perfect for a Sunday brunch with friends and family, or to make on a special holiday like Christmas. As an added bonus the dough can be made ahead of time for even easier prep.

Kitchen Tools

• A Stand Mixer with a Hook or Paddle Attachment
• A 9x13 Inch Baking Dish: Alternately, you could use two 8 inch round pans and put 6 rolls in each.
• Measuring Cups and Spoons: When baking it is pretty important to make sure all your ingredients are measured properly. No just eyeballing it for these strawberry rolls, make sure you measure everything out!
• A Small Bowl: This is for mixing the lemon cream cheese icing to top the homemade rolls with.
• A Rolling Pin
• A Sharp Knife: This is for slicing the cinnamon rolls. Another good trick is to use plain, unflavored floss to get clean and crisp cuts for the homemade strawberry cinnamon rolls.
• A Thermometer (Optional, but very helpful): It is very important to get the water temperature the correct temperature for the yeast to react correctly. See the below tips and tricks for more details!
• The ingredients you will need to make homemade strawberry rolls are:

Ingredients

• Baking Staples: Flour, sugar, powdered sugar, an egg you know all the normal guys.
• Fleischmann's® RapidRise® Yeast-I love using this yeast because the rise time is quick and it is perfect for both beginner and experienced yeast users. Baking at home with yeast can seem daunting at first, but this product makes life so much simpler. Plus, homemade is so much better than the store-bought stuff so taking the time on this Strawberry Cinnamon Rolls recipe is worth it!
• Strawberry Jam: Store bought jam works good, or you could check out my Homemade Jam with No Pectin that works great for these Strawberry Rolls!
• Fresh Strawberries: I recommend not using frozen strawberries for this strawberry cinnamon rolls. Frozen strawberries hold more water and can result in the filling getting watery. 
• Lemon Juice: Fresh or bottled work fine.
• Cream Cheese
• Butter

How To Make Strawberry Rolls

These Strawberry Rolls come together quickly for a scrumptious breakfast or brunch for friends or family. For this recipe you will want to follow the instructions and tips on the Fleischmann's® RapidRise® Yeast packet. I of course go in to all the details below.

Prepping the Strawberry Cinnamon Roll Dough

1. Combine 2 cups of flour, sugar, Fleischmann's® RapidRise® Yeast and salt in a large bowl and stir until combined.
2. Place water and butter in a microwave-safe bowl.  Microwave on HIGH in 15 second increments until very warm but not hot to the touch  (120° to 130°F.  Butter won’t melt completely). For my water it took 1 ½ minutes for the water to reach 120°F *See below tips to get your water just right!
3. Add the warm water/butter to flour mixture with egg. Beat 2 minutes at medium speed of electric stand mixer. Add 1 cup flour; and continue to beat 2 minutes at high speed. Stir in just enough remaining flour so that the dough will form into a ball. For me that was 4 ½ cups, but you may need more or less!
4. Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic and dough springs back when lightly pressed, about 7 minutes. Cover with a towel; let rest for 10 minutes. While to dough is resting, prep your strawberry filling. 

Filling Instructions

1. For the strawberry rolls you can use homemade jam, or store-bought strawberry jam. Either will work fine. Measure out your jam and set aside. 
2. Slice strawberries and add to bowl with a little sugar and stir to combine. The sugar isn't required, but it makes the rolls even sweeter.
3. Set aside until dough has risen.

Rolling and Slicing

1. Once the dough has risen, roll dough into a 15 x 10-inch rectangle using a rolling pin.
2. Spread strawberry jam and fresh strawberries over the rolled dough making sure to leave a 1 inch space around the edges. 
3. Beginning at long end of the rectangle, roll up tightly and pinch the seem to seem. Some of the strawberry filling will escape, it's okay don't panic. 
4. Cut into 12 equal pieces using a knife or plain dental floss. Place, cut sides down, in greased  13 x 9 inch baking pan . Cover with towel; let rise in warm place  until doubled in size, about 30 minutes-1 hour. 

Baking Instructions

1. Once the strawberry cinnamon rolls have doubled in size, bake until rolls are golden brown. While to strawberry cinnamon rolls are baking, make the lemon cream cheese icing. 
2. Once the rolls are finished baking, let rest for 20 minutes and top with cream cheese icing.
3. Enjoy!

How To Make Lemon Cream Cheese Icing

This cream cheese icing is one of the easiest (and tastiest) icing recipes you will ever make. Really though, all you need to do for the strawberry roll icing is measuring out your ingredients, add them to a bowl, and stir to combine. SO. DANG. SIMPLE! If you want to get fancy you can use a hand mixer, but I really do not think it is necessary. I just use a whisk or fork to really stir the icing to ensure no cream cheese or butter chunks remain.

For this recipe I went with a drizzle of icing as shown. If you are want to coat the entire roll then you will need to double the lemon cream cheese icing. Also, you can add more or less lemon juice than the recipe calls for if you are a total lemon head! Another way to get an added boost of lemon flavor is to add a touch of lemon zest to the icing. This is not required, but adds a lot of flavor.

More Breakfast Recipes

Baked Blackberry French Toast
Blueberry White Chocolate Scones
Homemade Apple Cinnamon Bread
Morning Glory Muffins
Bacon Stuffed French Toast
Strawberry Pancakes

Quick Tips

Not Too Hot!

One extremely important thing to remember when baking with yeast is to have the correct water temperature. If you water is too hot, then you will kill the yeast, and your strawberry roll won't rise. To avoid this heartbreaking situation ensure that your water is between 120-130 degrees F. I like to use a thermometer to get it just right, so I can ensure that my water is the correct temperature. If you don't have a thermometer, have no fear you can still rock this recipe.

When you touch the water it should be warm and NOT HOT. If you touch the water and you have to pull your hand away then you will need to let it cool down or you will be a yeast destroyer. The best comparison I can think of to the water temperature you want to reach for maximum yeast action is a hot tub. Warm, but not burning you know? 

Not Too Old!

 Another important thing to note when baking with yeast is to make sure the Fleischmann's® RapidRise® Yeast is not expired. Did you know yeast is a living organism, and that is what makes this strawberry roll dough rise?! Pretty cool when you think about it! Therefore, to ensure this cool organism can do its job effectively, you will want to make sure the yeast is not super old or expired. 

Storage Instructions

I love that I can make these Strawberry Rolls on a Sunday and much on them for days after. For best results remove the strawberry cinnamon rolls from the baking dish and store in an airtight container. When stored in the fridge they will stay fresh for up to 4 days. When ready to eat you could eat them cold strait out of the fridge, or pop them in the microwave for 15-30 seconds just until warm. Make sure not to warm the strawberry rolls too much, or they could get a bit chewy. 

I hope you and your friends and family love these Homemade Strawberry Cinnamon Rolls! My favorite time to make these rolls is for a Sunday brunch with the fam, or to bring to a holiday gathering with friends. I also am an avid breakfast for dinner kinda gal and these rolls make an appearance often.

Happy Eating!

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