Soft, fluffy dough with a sweet homemade strawberry jam filling these vegan strawberry cinnamon rolls are such a breakfast treat!

Is it possible to resist something freshly baked?  I know I can’t!  And the addition of (very very easy) homemade strawberry jam takes these strawberry cinnamon rolls to a whole new level of delicious.

The baked homemade bread rolls are are super soft, tender and gooey thanks to the jam.  These strawberry rolls are meant to be eaten with sticky fingers and a messy face by the end. 😉  So eat alone or eat with someone, they won’t care.  They’ll be equally sticky too!

The baked rolls are frosted with a super simple vegan cream cheese icing.  The cream cheese is an utterly delicious contrast to the sweet rolls and honestly, I really struggled to stop eating these one after the other.

How to make the easiest strawberry jam:

Start with the jam so that it can be cooling while you make the dough and leave it to prove.  Put the strawberries (fresh or frozen) into a saucepan along with the lemon, cinnamon, sweetener of choice* and vanilla.

* You can use whichever sweetener you prefer here – caster sugar, agave, maple or even golden syrup.

Bring the pan the boil, turn down the heat and bubble for 10 minutes.  When the strawberries are soft enough squash slightly with the back of a spoon.

Add the chia seeds and cook for 1 more minute.  Then leave to cool.

How to make the homemade bread dough:

Start with the liquid – warm the milk and sugar until just tepid.  This can be done in a saucepan or in a microwave.  Test the temperature of the liquid with your finger.  If you can’t feel if it’s warm or cold that’s the perfect temperature.  Warming the liquid takes just a few moments so keep an eye on it!

Then whisk in the yeast, cover with a tea-towel and set aside while you prepare the dough.

The dough can be made by hand or in a stand mixer.  Either way we start by rubbing the butter into the flour.  To do this put the flour and salt into a bowl (mixing bowl or stand mixer bowl) and add the cubed butter.  Using your hands scoop up some of the flour and butter and rub the two together between your fingertips until you have no large lumps of butter left.

Once the top of the yeast mixture is frothy add that to the flour then mix together until it forms a dough.  If you’re using a stand mixer do this with the dough hook attachment.  Otherwise use your hands or a spatula to make the dough.

Then knead the dough for at least 5 minutes.  By hand you’ll want to stretch a piece of the the dough away from itself before bringing it back together.  Repeat this process until you have a soft, pliable dough.

Put the dough into a clean, lightly oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave somewhere warm until doubled in size.  This can take anywhere from 30 minutes to over an hour.

Shaping your strawberry cinnamon rolls:

Once the dough has doubled in size, tip out onto a lightly floured surface.  Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to a large rectangle roughly 18 x 15 inches (46 x 38 cm).

Spread the jam all over the dough, leaving an inch or so border round all edges.

Starting at the longer edge, roll the dough into a long Swiss roll.  Cut the roll into 12 equal segments.

Put the segments cut side up into a baking tray or dish (you might want to use parchment in the dish as it helps prevent sticking and really helps with the clean up!)

Cover very lightly with a tea towel then again leave somewhere warm to prove until roughly doubled in size.

Bake the rolls in a preheated oven for 20 minutes then turn the tray round and bake for a further 10 minutes.

Leave the rolls to cool (if you can!) as if they’re too warm the cream cheese frosting will just slide off.

Once the rolls are cool enough, mix together the cream cheese, icing sugar and just enough milk to make a drizzly icing.

Unleash your inner Picasso and drizzle/flick/splatter the icing all over the tops of the rolls.

Storing these strawberry cinnamon rolls:

Because I shouldn’t eat 12 rolls to myself in succession no matter how much I might be able to, I found out these rolls actually freeze pretty well!  I used plastic tubs to freeze them in so that they didn’t get squashed in the freezer.

They will also keep pretty well for a day in an airtight container at room temperature.  As we’re using vegan cream cheese there’s nothing to sour but I wouldn’t recommend longer than 2 days without chilling or freezing.

Looking for even more delicious vegan strawberry recipes?  Try these:

Strawberry Cheesecakes

Rhubarb and Strawberry Fool

Strawberry Chia Muffins

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