This Strawberry Roll recipe is easy to make and downright decadent. Soft, fluffy, oozing with sticky, sweet strawberry filling & covered in swathes of zingy lemony frosting. And it’s ready in a little over 1 hour….Grab your rolling pin because it’s time to get baking!
200g / 1½cupfresh strawberries chopped finely, measured after chopping. Don't be tempted to use more. Things will get messy later if you do.
4 tablespoons / ¼ cupsugar, it must be sugar. Do not swap for a liquid sweetener
2 tablespoonsarrowroot powder, this can be subbed for 1½ tablespoons corn starch
1lemon zest only , the juice will be used for the frosting
For the dough
500g / 4 cupsall purpose flour or bread flour, in the UK use strong flour
10g / 1 very slightly heaping tablespooninstant yeast, sometimes called quick yeast or fast action yeast
10g / 1½teaspoonssalt
110g / ½cupsugar
4 tablespoons / ¼cup vegan butter, or coconut oil (see recipe notes). Melted before measuring and allowed to cool . Don't add it while hot as it will kill the yeast
240mls / 1 cupplant-based milk, plus an extra 1 - tablespoons as necessary
Add the strawberries, sugar, arrowroot and lemon zest to a pan and cook down over a medium heat stirring frequently until it is thick and gloopy. It only takes around 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
For the dough
Add the flour, yeast, salt and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer. If you don't have a stand mixer you can mix and knead the dough by hand.
Next add the milk, butter (be sure the melted butter has cooled to room temperature) and vanilla.
Mix with the dough hook on the speed recommended for bread dough in your mixer. My Kitchen Aid Pro specifies to use setting 2.
After a minute or so check to see if you need to add a little extra milk. I usually end up having to add another 2 tablespoons, but it will vary from flour to flour and also depending on the humidity wherever you are. You might need to add a little more. The dough should be soft but not too sticky as it needs to be roll-able. If you accidentally add a little too much milk just add a tablespoon or two more flour.
Continue kneading in the machine for about another 5 minutes until soft and smooth. If you are kneading by hand you will probably need to keep going for at least 10 minutes.
Once smooth and supple, transfer to a greased bowl, cover with a damp towel or cling wrap and leave to rest for about 15 minutes.
Once the 15 minutes is up, turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and roll out into about an 9 x 14 inch rectangle. Stretch the corners out a bit with your hands as you go to help make the rectangle shape. Be sure to add back the bits of dough you cut off into the middle and roll it a bit more to incorporate them and save waste.
Spread the cooled strawberry filling evenly over the dough then roll up tightly starting along the long edge.
Slice the roll up into 8 even pieces. If you want them super neat cut off the uneven ends and discard. I never bother because I don't like to waste it. I find a sharp serrated knife best for this. I believe some people use dental floss. If you do make sure it is a vegan dental floss and isn't flavoured!
Preheat oven to 350°F
Place each roll into a greased dish or pan. I lined mine with baking parchment to be sure they didn't stick. I used an 8 x 12 pan but a large pie dish would do or anything similar. Cover with a damp towel or cling wrap again and place them on the stove top or very near the preheating oven to keep them warm and leave for 30 minutes.
Bake in the preheated oven. After around 22 minutes they should be just about cooked through. If you want them super soft and squidgy remove now. If you want them slightly crusty on the outside they will take around 30 minutes. So basically anytime between 22 and 30. Just keep an eye on them and remove when they are as you like them .
Remove from the oven and place the pan on a wire rack and allow to cool a little. You can frost them after about 10 minutes if you want to eat them warm. Or see my recipe note if you will be eating them later.
To make the frosting, add lemon juice very very gradually to the powdered sugar, stirring as you go. At first it won't seem enough liquid for all of that sugar but it's plenty. Keep stirring while adding a small drop or two of juice until it's thick but drizzle-able. You might not need all of the lemon juice.
Once frosted a sprinkling of lemon zest is optional but looks really pretty!
Video
Notes
If you don't have any butter you can make my vegan butter recipe. The great thing about it is that you need melted butter for this recipe so you can whip up my butter in 2 minutes flat and just not bother setting it. Use what you need in this recipe right away, then pour the remainder into a little pot and set it in the fridge to use as and when you need it on another day. I know most people like to frost the whole pan of Sweet Rolls while they are warm from the oven. I think that’s ok if you are eating them right away, but if you aren’t, I find that the frosting kind of disappears and they go a bit wet. I like visible swathes of frosting on mine so if we are not eating them right away, I let them cool then make the frosting later. The frosting is literally just powdered sugar and lemon juice so it’s really quick and easy to stir together right when you want it.StorageThese Sticky Lemon Strawberry Sweet Rolls will keep for 2 - 3 days in an airtight container although they really are best when eaten on the day of baking. They can be reheated in a microwave for 15 - 20 seconds which makes them really soft and almost like freshly baked again.