These fluffy strawberry cinnamon rolls are super soft and tender. Filled with homemade strawberry filling and topped with a creamy strawberry and cream cheese frosting.

close up of a fluffy strawberry cinnamon roll.

The dough is a lightly enriched dough that can be mixed using a stand mixer or by hand. It’s lovely and soft to work with, and bakes beautifully.

The filling can be made using fresh or frozen strawberries, so you can enjoy these beauties all year round!

Ingredients

Find the complete list of ingredients in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post. Here’s a run down of what you need and why.

All-purpose flour. A strong all-purpose flour with a protein level of at least 11%.
Yeast. Active dry yeast or instant dry yeast. The yeast used in this recipe can be instant yeast or active dried yeast. Instant yeast will rise faster than active dried yeast. Whichever one you use, it needs to be viable. Usually, the instant yeast sachets are pretty foolproof, but sometimes active dried yeast can lose viability.
Granulated sugar – The dough itself doesn’t make overly sweet rolls, as the sweetness comes from the filling and topping.
Large eggs and whole milk
Salt
Butter – Just enough to bring some richness to the buns. This can be salted or unsalted butter.
Fresh or frozen Strawberries – The taste of sweet strawberries really comes through in the filling.
Lemon juice – Lemon juice enhances the berry flavor.
Cornstarch – Thickens the filling.
Cream cheese – At room temperature
Vanilla extract or paste
Powdered sugar

Baker’s Schedule

The great thing about these rolls is you can make them to fit around your schedule!

Option 1 – Same-Day

9:00 am – Mix the dough.
9:25 am – Rise until doubled.
9:30 am – Make the strawberry filling. Cover and let it chill in the fridge until needed.
10:30 am – Shape the rolls and rise again.
11:45 am – Bake for around 25 minutes until golden brown. Make the frosting while the rolls are baking.
12:15 pm – Frost and serve

Option 2- Overnight Rise

7 pm – Mix the dough
7:25 pm – Place dough in a greased bowl and wrap it tightly. Let it rise slowly overnight in the fridge (up to 16 hours.)
7:30 pm – Make the strawberry filling. Cover and let it chill in the fridge until needed.
The following day, 8 am – Shape and rise again.
9:30 am– Bake for around 25 minutes. Make the frosting while the rolls are baking.
9:55 am – Frost and serve.

The Method

Dough

Warm the milk to 95-104°F / 35-40°C and pour it into the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle yeast and sugar over the milk. If using active dry yeast, let it sit for 5-10 minutes until it becomes foamy; if using instant yeast, this step can be skipped.

Add the flour, salt, and eggs to the milk mixture. Fit the stand mixer with a dough hook attachment and mix until a thick dough forms.

Add the softened butter, a few cubes at a time. Mix on medium speed for about 10 minutes until the dough is soft and strong and passes the window pane test.

First rise

Form the dough into a ball. Transfer the dough ball to a large, lightly greased bowl and cover it with plastic wrap or a damp dish towel.

Let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size. This might take around 1 to 1 ½ hours. The total time will depend on your room temperature.

The dough can also be covered tightly and refrigerated for up to 16 hours.

Strawberry filling

While the dough rises, make the filling, so it has time to chill before using it.

Roughly chop the strawberries into pieces. Add the strawberries, cornstarch, sugar, lemon juice, and salt to a medium saucepan.
Let the strawberries heat over low-medium heat until they start to break down.

Once they have broken down more and released their juices, turn the heat to medium and let the mixture boil, stirring the whole time.
As the mixture boils, it will thicken and become jelly-like. Let it boil for a full 2 minutes, continuously stirring.

Remove from the heat, scrape into a bowl, and let it cool in the fridge until needed.

Shaping

Grease or line a 9×13-inch baking dish with parchment paper.
Punch down the risen dough, then pull it from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface. Dust the top of the dough with some flour.
Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a large rectangle measuring around 12×16 inches (30cmx40cm).

Dollop the cooled strawberry mixture over the dough, but keep aside two tablespoons for the icing.
Spread it out with an offset spatula but leave about 2 inches uncovered on the bottom long side.

a close up of a dough rolled up with strawberries.

Carefully roll the dough up, starting from the longest side up the top, into a log.
Cut the log into 12 equal pieces using unflavored dental floss or a serrated knife.

Place the rolls into the prepared pan. Cover the pan and let the rolls rise in a warm spot until doubled in size.

Baking

Preheat the oven to 350°F /180°C.
Bake the rolls in the oven for around 25-28 minutes until golden brown. If they are browning too fast, you can cover the top of the rolls loosely with aluminum foil.

Frosting

While the rolls are baking, make the frosting. In a large bowl, using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter together on high speed until smooth and creamy.

Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, reserved strawberry filling and salt.
Beat on low speed to incorporate the sugar, then switch to high and beat until creamy.

Let the rolls cool for 20 minutes, then spread on the frosting.

Storing

Leftover strawberry cinnamon rolls can store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

The rolls can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw the rolls overnight in the refrigerator and warm them in the microwave before serving.

Related Recipes

For more cinnamon roll recipes or strawberry recipes, check out these!