STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE ROLLS

 STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE ROLLS

These Strawberry Cheesecake Sweet Rolls are the perfect valentines breakfast or brunch featuring fresh juicy strawberries and cream cheese frosting! I don’t know about you but strawberry season is DEFINITELY my favourite time of year. Strawberries are easily my favourite fruit of all time and if you put a bowl of strawberries in front of me you better believe they’ll be gone in minutes, and what better way to celebrate the arrival of strawberry season than these Strawberry Cheesecake Sweet Rolls!

Ingredients:

For the dough:

3 +1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp instant dry yeast

1 tsp sugar

1/3 cup butter

Pinch of salt

For the filling:

1/3 cup butter melted

1/3 cup granulated sugar

3 tbsp cream cheese

2 cups chopped fresh strawberries plus more for after baking

Also Needed:

1-2 tsp vegetable oil for rolling out dough

Butter for greasing the pan

For the frosting:

1/2 cup cream cheese softened to room temperature (I used homemade)

2 tbsp whipping cream

3 tbsp unsalted butter softened to room temperature

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup strawberry jam 

Recipe:

1. In a bowl, add warm water to which we’ll be adding 1 tsp sugar and 2 tsp yeast. Let it rise for about half an hour in a warm place.
2. Once done, add all purpose flour, pinch of salt and butter/oil. Mix these together until combined.
3. After about a minute you should see a sticky dough starting to come together.
4. The dough should be tacky to the touch, but not so sticky that it's very messy. It should pull away from the sides of the bowl easily and the bowl should appear fairly clean. *If the dough appears too sticky, continue kneading and add flour, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough reaches that tacky texture.
5. Cover the bowl with some plastic wrap and move it to a warm place in your kitchen to rise for about an hour. It should have doubled in size after that.
6. Once you notice your dough has risen fully, and before you do anything with it, grease a pan with some butter. (I used two pans)
7. Turn the dough out onto a work surface that's been very lightly greased with vegetable oil. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough evenly until you have a rectangle that's approximately 18 inches wide and 12 inches deep.
8. Brush the dough with the melted butter. Drizzle powdered sugar and a layer of cream cheese.
9. Spread the strawberries evenly over the rectangle of dough.
10. Roll up the dough from the long side until you've got one long roll. Cut the long roll in half, then in half again, and then each of those sections into 3 pieces until you have 12 rolls. *Try to cut the rolls to an even thickness as this promotes even baking. You don't want some rolls to be overdone and others to be raw in the middle.
11. Arrange the 12 pieces in the pan you've greased.
12. Cover the pan with a clean kitchen towel and set them aside to rise. It's a good idea to preheat your oven at this time.
13. Once the rolls have risen for 20 minutes (no longer), place them in the oven to bake for about 40 minutes, or until they're a nice even light golden brown colour.
14. Remove the pan from the oven and let the buns cool in the pan for about 20-25 minutes.
15. While the buns are cooling, begin making the frosting by mixing the cream cheese, whipping cream and butter together until creamy and smooth. Add the vanilla and powdered sugar and mix by hand or with a hand mixer until light and fluffy.
16. Smooth the frosting over the buns while they're still slightly warm - this will let the frosting drip into the cracks slightly and create a beautiful presentation.

Sprinkle some additional chopped strawberries or Strawberry jam over the top, and serve!

Enjoy and keep showering your love