Sourdough Strawberry Cinnamon Rolls
Everyone loves a classic cinnamon roll, including me. I have several fun variations of this classic breakfast treat on my site including my sourdough sticky pecan buns and my sourdough orange sweet rolls. I wanted to make a fruity variation of my favorite sourdough cinnamon roll recipe that featured one of my favorite fruits- strawberries. These sourdough strawberry cinnamon rolls are both sweet and bright in flavor. The tang from the sourdough complements the sweet strawberries that are present in both the filling and the cream cheese frosting.
These strawberry sweet rolls are sure to please your friends and family any time of the year. The especially make a great addition to your Valentine’s day breakfast, Mother’s Day Brunch, or Easter dessert. These rolls are easiest to make by prepping a day ahead of when you want to bake them, creating a stress free morning when your are hosting your friends and family.
How to Use Your Sourdough Starter for Strawberry Cinnamon Rolls
This recipe uses a 100% hydration starter. This means you feed your starter equal parts flour and water by weight. If you do not measure that is okay, but it may slightly affect the consistency of your dough.
You want to make sure you sourdough starter is active and bubbly for this recipe. This is not a discard recipe and therefore relies solely on the sourdough starter to rise. Make sure you feed your starter the day before making so it has time to get nice and bubbly. You do not need to make sure the starter is right at its peak. In fact, a hungry starter that has started to fall from its peak is actually a great time to use your starter.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Dough
- Butter: we use unsalted butter in this recipe but you can use salted butter as well.
- Sugar
- Milk
- Salt
- Vanilla
- Sourdough starter
- All Purpose flour
Filling
- Butter
- Sugar
- Strawberry Jam: I recommend strawberry jam or preserves rather than jelly. Jelly will be too liquidy and may have soggy results .
- Fresh Strawberries: If you do not have fresh strawberries you can use frozen but they should be fully defrosted and strained through a colander to prevent them from making the rolls too soggy. I would also decrease both the jam and the strawberries in the filling to 1 cup of each.
- Cinnamon: this is optional but I like the little bit of subtle spice it adds to these sourdough sweet rolls.
Strawberry Frosting
- Powdered sugar
- Strawberry Jam
- Cream Cheese: I recommend full fat cream cheese for this recipe but you can also make these with vegan cream cheese.
- Butter
How To Make Sourdough Strawberry Sweet Rolls
Make the Dough
Step 1: Melt the butter. Stir in the milk for about 15 seconds to slightly warm it.
Step 2: Add the sugar, salt, and vanilla.
Step 3: Stir mixture in stand mixer along with flour and sourdough starter until shaggy dough forms. Rest 30 minutes.
Step 4: Knead with the stand mixer for 7-10 minutes.
Step 5: First proof for 4-6 hours or until increased in size by 75%.
Roll and Fill the Dough
Step 1: Roll the dough into a large rectangle.
Step 2: Brush the dough with melted butter. Then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture.
Step 3: Spread strawberry jam over the dough, ad top with strawberries.
Step 4: Very carefully roll the dough into a long cylinder. You don’t want to squeeze out all the strawberry filling so you can gently lift the dough as you roll it to help prevent this.
Step 5: Cut the dough into 12 equally sized rolls.
Step 6: Transfer to a 9×13 inch baking pan.
Step 7: Second proof for 2 hours in a warm place. The rolls should appear fluffy and rolls are starting to touch each other. Now you can either bake or refrigerate overnight.
Bake
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350F.
Step 2: Brush the tops of the rolls with 2 tablespoons of milk using a basting brush or a pastry brush. Bake for 40-50 minutes. I highly recommend using a thermometer to check the internal temperature for doneness. The center of the rolls should reach an internal temperature of 195F when done.
Step 3: While rolls are baking, make the icing by mixing the softened butter, cream cheese, strawberry jam, and powdered sugar until light and fluffy.
Step 4: Allow the sweet rolls to cool in the pan for 20 minutes before spreading the frosting over the surfaces. These rolls are best served warm.
How to Store
Store the rolls in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Because these rolls have a cream cheese icing and a strawberry filling, they cannot safely be left at room temperature.
When you do want to eat the leftover rolls, I recommend placing them on a plate and microwaving for 10-15 seconds in the microwave.
How to Make Vegan Strawberry Cinnamon Rolls
Something I love about these rolls is that they can easily be made vegan by adjusting the ingredients. Use vegan butter such as Earth Balance, oat milk, and vegan cream cheese in place of their regular dairy counterparts and you should have the same amazing results. I have personally tested these substitutions at they work great!
I hope you enjoy this recipe. If you did enjoy it, will you please leave a comment and review below? It is greatly helpful for my site and I truly appreciate it. I also encourage you to check out some of my other favorite sourdough recipes on my site:
Sourdough blueberry lemon scones
Sourdough Discard Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Sourdough Strawberry Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 stick
- 1¼ cup whole milk or oat milk + 2 tablespoons for brushing the rolls before baking
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1½ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup sourdough starter active and bubbly
- 4 cups flour
For the Filling
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter melted
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1⅓ cup strawberry jam
- 1⅓ cup fresh strawberries chopped into ¼ inch pieces
For the Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 oz cream cheese softened
- 4 tablespoons butter softened
- 1 tablespoon strawberry jam
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1½ cups powdered sugar
Instructions
For the Dough
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat, stirring frequently. Add the milk and stir for 15 seconds to slightly warm it. Remove from heat.
- Stir in the sugar, vanilla, and salt.
- Add the butter mixture, the flour and the sourdough starter to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Mix on low speed until a shaggy dough forms. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- Remove the plastic wrap and knead the dough in the stand mixer on low speed for 5-7 minutes. The dough does not need to pass the "windowpane test" but should come together in a mostly smooth appearing ball.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled medium-large sized bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to proof until it is increased in size by about 75% (this can take anywhere from 4-8 hours).
Roll and Fill the Rolls
- In a small bowl, melt the butter in the microwave for about 10 seconds.
- In a separate small bowl, mix the sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into an approximate 12×22 inch (30×55 cm) rectangle. Use your hands, if needed, to shape the corners into as sharp of corners as you can so the end rolls are uniform with the rest of the rolls.
- Use a basting brush or pastry brush to spread the melted butter evenly over the surface of dough.
- Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over the butter.
- Use a rubber spatula or spoon to spread the jam evenly over the dough, leaving a 1 inch margin at the edges of the dough.
- Sprinkle the strawberries over the jam evenly.
- Carefully roll the dough into a long cylinder starting with the long edge. As you roll the dough, gently lift the part that has been rolled and set it down over the next part of the filling, rather than simply rolling it and pulling the dough toward you. The dough needs to be rolled somewhat loosely to prevent the filling from squeezing out as you roll it.
- Use unscented dental floss or a sharp kitchen knife to cut the rolls into 12 equal sized rolls. This part will be messy and you may need to use your hand to support the sides with the filling to prevent it from squeezing out while you cut the rolls. The easiest way to do this is to cut the large roll in half, then cut those halves in half again. This allows you to visually cut the four smaller pieces of dough into three equal sized rolls.
- Place the rolls in a lightly greased 9×13 inch baking pan. Tip: place the end rolls upside down so the cut edge is facing up. Then, gently flatten the roll to the level of all the other rolls. This will help it appear similar to the other rolls once baked.
- Cover the rolls with plastic wrap and allow them to rise until they appear fluffy and are starting to touch each other (about 2 hours).Note: Once the rolls have proofed, you can either bake them or refrigerate overnight to bake the next day.
When Ready to Bake
- Preheat oven to 350℉.
- Bake in preheated oven for 40-50 minutes. The rolls should reach an internal temperature of 195℉. I highly recommend testing the temperature for doneness as different altitudes and ovens can result in a variable baking time. Allow to cool 20 minutes before spreading with the icing.
To Make the Icing
- Use a hand mixer or stand mixer on medium speed to cream together the softened butter and cream cheese. Add the jam, vanilla and powdered sugar, and continue to mix on low speed until fully combined and the icing is light and fluffy.
- Use a spoon or rubber spatula to spread the icing over the surface of the rolls. Serve warm.
Made these for my grandma’s birthday and they turned out amazing, definitely saving this recipe!
Thank you so much for the feedback! I am so glad you enjoyed them 🙂