Strawberry Rolls with a Lemon Glaze

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There is something magical about soft, sweet bread rolled up with a gooey filling and covered in a sweet, sticky glaze. Instead of a classic cinnamon roll, I’m talking about these strawberry rolls with a lemon glaze!

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Strawberry Rolls Origin Story

My little brother is a foodie (actually most of my family is…) and every now and then he’ll send me recipes for yummy baked goods. Sometimes I bake them, like these cream cheese chocolate chip cookies, and other times they go right onto my massive spreadsheet of recipes to try.

Years ago, like possibly as far back as 2019, he sent me a link for strawberry rolls with a lemon topping. I’ve been meaning to make them for so long, but I finally did it! Except I didn’t follow that recipe, I made a Colleen original.

Developing a Recipe

Any decent cinnamon roll-esque recipe has three things; sweet yeast dough, gooey filling, and a sweet topping. Instead of following a recipe, I thought it would be fun to create my own brand new recipe! I’ll go through each element with you, but you’ll see that each item is not brand new to me. 

When you’re creating a new recipe, use what you know. First, figure out what you need (dough, filling, topping), then think about your previous bakes and how you can adapt and slap together pieces from those previous bakes to create something new.

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Easy Sweet Dough

For these strawberry rolls, I wanted to use a bread that would be soft and sweet, but not a straight up pastry. While I did consider using my 4 yolk challah recipe, I decided to go with a sweeter bread, my cardamom coffee braid.

I halved that recipe, nixed the cardamom, and added a bit of lemon zest. It worked perfectly! The dough is very easy to work with, pillowy soft, and has just the right amount of sweetness. 

Top Tips for Yeast Breads

• Make sure your liquid is between 100℉- 115℉ before you add your yeast.
• Knead the dough until it passes the window pane test.  You should be able to gently stretch a small bit of dough until you can see light through it.
• Is your house cold? Preheat your oven to its lowest setting while you prep the dough, then turn it off.  Let your dough rise (covered) in the warm oven. 

Related Reading: Minka’s Chocolate Rolls

Homemade Strawberry Filling

This is a half batch of my cherry pie filling made with frozen strawberries. I used whole frozen strawberries, but I felt that my filling ended up too chunky. Next time, I would use sliced frozen strawberries for a smoother finish.

You should be able to use fresh strawberries too, but you’ll have to add a bit of water. Check out the full blog post for the cherry pie filling and you’ll find more information on adapting the recipe for fresh or frozen fruit.

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Lemon Glaze

First of all, I so badly wanted to do a lemon cream cheese topping, but Ben hates cream cheese and he really wanted to try these strawberry rolls. Instead, I used the sugar glaze from my jumbo cinnamon rolls, but punched it up with more lemon juice and a dot of yellow color.

The consistency is completely up to you! I wanted a runnier drizzle, but for a thicker glaze just use less liquid. In fact, I suggest adding lemon juice and water a tiny bit at a time. You’ll only need about 3- 4 tablespoons max. 

They See Me Rollin’

Each individual element is easy to make. However, the tricky part is rolling it all up. If the strawberry filling is extra chunky, like mine was, it makes it difficult to get a tight roll. Plus, pie filling is much oozier than cinnamon sugar. Just do your best and remind yourself these strawberry rolls are supposed to be messy.

Watch the video tutorial to see exactly how to make this recipe, step by step. To make portioning and slicing a breeze, I used my pastry cutter to mark the rolled up dough, and unflavored floss to slice. Worked like a charm!

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Next Time I’d Do This Differently

All in all, these rolls came out exactly as I’d hoped! But I do think I would make a few tweaks to suit my personal preferences. As previously mentioned, I’d use frozen sliced strawberries for a smoother filling. I’d also use less water and more lemon juice in the glaze.

The last thing I’d do differently is how I placed the cut rolls into the pan. Instead of two rows of four rolls, I’d do a row of three, a row of two, and then a row of three. The two in the center would fit nicely in the gaps and I think this would give them a better final shape.

Enjoy!

Dig into a soft, sweet strawberry roll topped with a lemon drizzle for an indulgent treat. Serve them at brunch or as a dessert. Or have one as a snack, you do you. The fresh flavor of strawberries pairs perfectly with the bright lemon glaze.

If you’re passionate about baking or just simply enjoy good food, consider subscribing to Bakes & Blunders. Not only will you get access to over a dozen baking items in my resource library, you’ll get an email once a week when I post a new recipe or tutorial!

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Strawberry Rolls with a Lemon Glaze

Soft, sweet rolls filled with homemade strawberry filling and topped with a lemon glaze.

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Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Berries, Bread, Breakfast, Brunch, Frozen Fruit, Lemon, strawberry

Prep Time 45 minutes minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes minutes

Resting Time 2 hours hours

Total Time 3 hours hours 35 minutes minutes

Servings 8 rolls

Calories 485kcal

Author Colleen

Ingredients

Strawberry Filling

• 16 oz frozen strawberries
• 2.5 oz sugar
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 1/2 Tbsps cornstarch
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Dough

• 4 fl oz milk
• 1 fl oz water
• 1 egg room temperature
• 2 oz sugar
• 2 Tbsps unsalted butter room temperature
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 10 oz bread flour plus extra if needed
• 1 Tbsp bread enhancer optional
• 1/2 tsp salt

Lemon Glaze

• 8 oz powdered sugar
• 1- 2 Tbsps lemon juice
• 1- 2 Tbsps water
• Neon yellow food gel

Instructions

Strawberry Filling

• Combine strawberries and sugar in a medium saucepan. In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice and cornstarch, then add this mixture to the saucepan. Place the pan over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the strawberries have thawed.
• Increase the heat to medium- high and stir regularly while also breaking up and mashing the berries a bit. Continue cooking until the mixture has thickened.
• Remove from heat and mix in the vanilla extract. Pour into a bowl and cool to room temperature. Cover, then chill until needed.

Dough

• Scald the milk and water in a saucepan over medium- low heat. Heat until hot, around 150°F, but do not let it boil. Set aside to cool to 100°F - 115°F.
• Add the warm milk mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the egg, sugar, butter, yeast, and lemon zest. Now add the dry ingredients: flour, bread enhancer (if using) and salt. Always add salt to the side of the bowl and prevent direct contact with the yeast.
• Mix on low with a dough hook for 5- 8 minutes. Towards the end, add a small amount of flour if it looks too loose. Turn the dough out onto a floured counter and finish kneading by hand. The dough is very soft, so try not to add too much flour. You are done kneading when the dough is smooth and elastic and you can do a window pane test.
• Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with cling wrap. Set aside in a warm, draft free location to rise until doubled in size. About 60- 90 minutes.
• Punch the dough down to expel the gas. Roll the dough into a rectangle roughly 12x16 inches.
• Spoon the filling evenly over the dough. Leave a small gap along the border of the two short ends of the dough. Leave a larger gap (almost 2 inches) along the far long side.
• Carefully roll the dough up into a log. Pinch and seal the seam. Divide the log into 8 equal slices (unflavored dental floss works great). Place each slice cut side up in a 9x13 baking dish that has been lightly coated with cooking spray. Cover and set aside to proof until puffy, about 30- 45 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 375°F while the rolls rise. When they are done proofing, bake for 30 minutes. The rolls should be golden brown and the internal temperature will be 190°F. If they begin to brown too soon, you can always tent with foil.
• Let the rolls cool before topping with the lemon glaze.

Lemon Glaze

• In a mixing bowl, add lemon juice and water to the powdered sugar a little bit at a time until you have the flavor and consistency that you want. It will likely only take about 3- 4 tablespoons of liquid. Add a drop of neon yellow gel color if desired.
• Pour the glaze into a piping bag, snip off the end and drizzle liberally over the strawberry rolls. Serve while slightly warm or room temperature.

Notes

• This makes plenty of lemon glaze. If you know you only want a little bit, you can absolutely halve the glaze ingredients.
• Try to mash any lumps of strawberry out while cooking the filling. A smooth filling will be easier to roll up.

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