Strawberry Orange Rolls

These Strawberry Orange Rolls are a bright, fruity take on the traditional cinnamon roll style pastry. Perfect for brunch, or even snacking!

I’ve been on a bit of a brunch foods kick lately, coming up with all kinds of fun breakfast recipes for my husband.

While this has included scones, a couple stratas, waffles, and more, today I’m sharing my recipe for strawberry orange buns.

I’ve always enjoyed playing around with the basic idea of cinnamon buns... though I rarely make actual cinnamon buns!

This has resulted in a few recipes on this site: My Apple Cinnamon Buns,
Chai Cinnamon Rolls, and Maple Walnut Spiced Pumpkin Buns.

All great options, but all spice based for the most part. When developing this recipe, I wanted to lean heavily on fruit as the feature.

I debated between strawberries and blueberries as the main feature, and was surprised when Porter requested strawberries. Usually, he’s very much in the blueberry camp.

Designing The Strawberry Buns

Once I’d decided on Strawberries, it was time to design the rest of the recipe.

I decided to use both jam and fresh berries - the jam to contribute the stickiness that you'd expect from such a bun, and fresh for the flavour and texture.

I wanted to do something with the dough, whether adding more fruit some herbs, or maybe even spices. After weighing a bunch of possibilities, I decided to flavour the dough with orange - juice AND zest.

It smelled exactly like my Paska as it was rising! Damn, I love that smell...

Anyway, I also added a little orange juice to the glaze.

This recipe almost ended up with a strawberry glaze - a pretty pink drizzle - but in the end I decided that orange would be a better balance. Also, it would avoid the use of a “specialty” ingredient - freeze dried strawberry powder.

In the end, I’m sure I made the right decision!

How to Make Strawberry Orange Rolls

Make the Dough

Stir yeast and sugar into warm water, allow to stand for 10 minutes – it should get very bubbly.

Juice and Zest your orange. I use some of the juice in the rolls, some in the glaze.

Note: I use this Cuisinart Juicer, love it!

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour and salt. Pour in yeast mixture, orange juice, and zest. Stir well to combine.

Dump the dough out onto a floured surface, knead until soft and elastic, 5-10 minutes.

(OR: mix it in a stand mixer with a dough hook for 5 minutes or so - That's how I do it!)

Once the dough is fully kneaded, place in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise for one hour, or until doubled in size.

Assemble the Rolls

Generously grease or spray a 9x 13″ baking pan.

Once the dough has doubled in size, roll the dough out on a floured surface. Aim to make it a large rectangle, say 15 x 20″ or so.

Spread the strawberry jam all over the dough, avoiding the outer 1" or so. If your jam is very thick, heating it up can help make it more spreadable.

In a mixing bowl, combine strawberries with sugar, corn starch, and salt. Evenly sprinkle over the jam.

Starting with one of the longer edges, tightly roll the dough up.

Using a very sharp knife, slice the roll into 12 even rounds.

Carefully place each roll into the prepared pan, spacing them evenly. This WILL be messy, no worries! I just scoop anything that spills and put it over the rolls in the pan.

Cover pan with plastic wrap, allow to rise one more time – about 45 minutes. While waiting for the buns to rise, heat oven to 350F.

Bake and Glaze!

Once the final rise is over, pop the pan in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown and perfect.

Allow to cool for a few minutes while you make the glaze:

Mix together softened butter, orange juice, vanilla extract, and salt, until smooth.

Add about ½ cup of powdered sugar, whisking until smooth.

Add remaining powdered sugar, about ¼ cup at a time, until you have a thick, paste. If it's not smooth, microwave for 15 seconds and stir well.

Drizzle or spread over hot strawberry orange buns, allowing it to melt and ooze a little.

If the glaze has thickened, microwave for 15 seconds and stir again, immediately before drizzling.

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Strawberry Orange Rolls

These Strawberry Orange Rolls are a bright, fruity take on the traditionally cinnamon roll style pastry. Perfect for brunch, or even snacking!

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time35 minutes mins

Rising Time1 hour hr 45 minutes mins

Total Time2 hours hrs 50 minutes mins

Course: Bread, Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Servings: 12 Buns

Calories: 316kcal

Author: Marie Porter

Equipment

• 9 x 13 cake pan

Ingredients

Buns:

• 1 cup Warm - NOT hot! - water
• 4 teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
• 3 tablespoon Granulated Sugar
• 3 ½ cups All Purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• ½ cup Fresh Orange Juice
• 1 Orange, zest of
• ⅔ cup Strawberry jam Or more, if you like.
• 2 cups Chopped fresh strawberries
• 1 tablespoon Granulated Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Corn Starch
• PInch salt

Glaze:

• 2 tablespoon Butter
• ¼ cup Orange Juice
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• Pinch Salt
• ~2 cups Confectioners / Icing / Powdered Sugar

Instructions

• Stir yeast and sugar into warm water, allow to stand for 10 minutes – it should get very bubbly.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine flour and salt. Pour in yeast mixture, orange juice, and zest. Stir well to combine.
• Dump dough out onto a floured surface, knead until soft and elastic, 5-10 minutes.

  (OR: mix it in a stand mixer with a dough hook for 5 minutes or so - That's how I do it!)
• Once dough is fully kneaded, place in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise for one hour, or until doubled in size.
• Generously grease or spray a 9x 13″ baking pan.
• Once dough has doubled in size, roll dough out on a floured surface. Aim to make it a large rectangle, say 15 x 20″ or so.
• Spread the strawberry jam all over the dough, avoiding the outer 1" or so. If your jam is very thick, heating it up can help make it more spreadable.
• In a mixing bowl, combine strawberries with sugar, corn starch, and salt. Evenly sprinkle over the jam.
• Starting with one of the longer edges, tightly roll the dough up.
• Using a very sharp knife, slice the roll into 12 even rounds.
• Carefully place each roll into the prepared pan, spacing them evenly.
• Cover pan with plastic wrap, allow to rise one more time – about 45 minutes. While waiting for the buns to rise, heat oven to 350F.
• Once final rise is over, pop the pan in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown and perfect.
• Allow to cool for a few minutes while you make the glaze:
• Mix together softened butter, orange juice, vanilla extract, and salt, until smooth.

  Add about ½ cup of powdered sugar, whisking until smooth.

  Add remaining powdered sugar, about ¼ cup at a time, until you have a thick, paste. If it's not smooth, microwave for 15 seconds and stir well.
• Drizzle or spread over hot strawberry orange buns, allowing it to melt and ooze a little.

  If glaze has thickened, microwave for 15 seconds and stir again, immediately before drizzling.

Nutrition

Calories: 316kcal | Carbohydrates: 69g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 5mg | Sodium: 220mg | Potassium: 136mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 35g | Vitamin A: 92IU | Vitamin C: 24mg | Calcium: 17mg | Iron: 2mg

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