I still remember the first Mother’s Day where my siblings and I attempted to make breakfast for my mom and grandma. We made strawberry shakes and, if I remember correctly, eggs with toast. This didn’t involve any “messy” ingredients, yet we somehow managed to wreak havoc in the kitchen. There were smears of yogurt everywhere, and three crazy kids “running” the kitchen. What should have been a relaxing day for my grandmother was actually a very stressful one, because she knew she’d have to help clean the mess afterwards.

Fast forward 20 years later, here I am making a mess in the kitchen yet again for Mother’s Day. At least this time it is with reasonably “messy” ingredients. My strawberry cinnamon rolls are filled with strawberry jam and cinnamon. The strawberry jam will stick to everything and the flour will manage to get onto every surface. It will be a beautiful mess. And using the strawberry jam is well worth it.

Strawberries and cinnamon, you might question. The combination sounds odd, right? I think of cinnamon as a winter ingredient, and strawberries as a summer one. Yet they somehow work perfectly together as a seasonal transition combo, just right for spring. I had the unlikely combination when I visited California in March. I was at a Mexican restaurant and it was going to be my first time trying Mexican horchata (rice milk with cinnamon), so I asked the attendant to surprise me with a drink mix containing horchata. He made a concoction with horchata and strawberries, and told me it was his favorite. I took one sip and fell in love. The drink was fruity and light, with a bit of warmth from the cinnamon. So good!

Rose shaped roll steps: cut semicircles, apply filling, stack semicircles, roll stacked semicircles, bake in a muffin tin.

My first batch of these strawberry cinnamon rolls turned out too sweet. I had made a powdered sugar glaze that was somewhat overwhelming. This made me reconsider the ingredients for the glaze icing. Powdered sugar in a glaze is used to increase both sweetness and viscosity. I added a lot of powdered sugar in the original glaze because I wanted a thicker icing. For this glaze recipe, I used cashews because I can get a higher viscosity with the cashews without unwanted additional sweetness. Then I was able to add as much or as little sweetness as I wanted using maple syrup.

I like to think of this recipe as a seasonal spin on cinnamon rolls that is great for spring, summer, and early fall. The sweet roll dough recipe will be my go-to recipe for cinnamon rolls with and without strawberry jam. It is quick and easy because it uses no yeast, and uses ingredients I usually already have in the pantry. I am also looking forward to creating variations of the glaze icing, which is healthier than normal powdered sugar glaze icings. I am so excited to make these strawberry cinnamon rolls with a strawberry lime glaze for my mom and grandma for Mother’s Day. And now, I no longer need to ask them for help when cleaning up!

Rose Shaped Strawberry Cinnamon Rolls {Vegan, No Yeast}

By Tiffany Makes

This recipe is for vegan sweet rolls with a strawberry/cinnamon filling. The strawberry cinnamon rolls are made with no yeast or eggs, and is leavened with homemade non-dairy buttermilk and baking soda. The glaze icing is made using cashews and maple syrup instead of powdered sugar, to have better control of the sweetness and viscosity. These rose shaped desserts can be made for your mom to celebrate Mother’s Day, your significant other to celebrate Valentine’s Day, or your friends to enjoy at Sunday brunch!

Yield: 12 rose shaped rolls or 10 regular rolls

Prep time:

15 mins

Cook time:

20 mins

Idle time:

0 mins

Total time:

35 mins

Ingredients

Sweet Roll Dough

Dry

• 3 cups (405 g) unbleached all purpose/plain flour
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp salt

Wet

• 1 cup (240 mL) dairy-free buttermilk
• ¼ cup (60 mL) coconut oil – melted
• 3 tsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Dough Fixes (Optional, as needed)

• 1 tsp dairy-free milk or water (add in 1 tsp increments)
• 1 tsp unbleached all purpose/plain flour (add in 1 tsp increments)

Filling

• 6 tsp coconut oil – melted
• 1 cup strawberry jam
• 3 tsp raw sugar
• ½ tsp cinnamon

Strawberry Lime Glaze (Optional)

• ½ cup cashews – soaked
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• 6 tsp coconut oil – melted
• 6 tsp freeze dried strawberry powder
• 3 tsp lime juice (about ½ lime)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp non-dairy milk or filtered water (optional, as needed)

Instructions

Sweet Roll Dough

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
Sift together all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Create three wells in the dry mix.
Add the coconut oil, maple syrup, and vanilla individually into each well. Pour the buttermilk over the entire mix and use a fork to mix until just combined. Try not to overwork the dough.
Form the dough into a ball. If the dough is crumbly, mix in non-dairy milk or water ½ tsp at a time. If it is sticky, add in more flour ½ tsp at a time.
Place the dough ball between two sheets of wax or parchment paper. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough into a rectangle about ¼ inch (0.5 cm) thick.

Roll Options

Regular Rolls

For the filling, brush the melted coconut oil onto the dough. Spread the strawberry jam onto the coconut oil. Mix together the cinnamon and sugar, and sprinkle over the jam.
Roll dough into a log along its longer side. Pinch edge to seal.
With the seam side down, use a serrated knife to cut the log crosswise into 1.5 to 2 inch (4 to 5 cm) slices.
Place the rolls into a greased baking pan with the cut cross section facing up. Brush remaining coconut oil onto the rolls.
Bake the rolls for 25 to 30 minutes until lightly golden brown. Let the rolls cool slightly before removing from baking pan.

Rose Shaped Rolls

Cut out circles in the dough with a 2.5 inch (6.5 cm) circle cookie cutter. (You should get 36 circles from the dough.) Then cut the circles in half to create semicircles. (You should end up with 72 semicircles.)
For the filling, brush coconut oil onto each semicircle. Add about ½ tsp of strawberry jam on top of the oil. Mix together the cinnamon and sugar, and sprinkle over the jam.
Take 6 semicircles. Place them next to each other, with the piece on the right overlapping half of the piece on the left. Repeat with remaining semicircles.
Carefully roll each stack of semicircles from left to right into a rose.
Place the rose shaped rolls into a greased muffin tin. Brush remaining coconut oil onto the rose shaped rolls.
Bake the rolls for 15 to 20 minutes until lightly golden brown. Let the rolls cool slightly before removing from muffin tin.

Strawberry Lime Glaze (Optional)

Place all the glaze ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. If needed, add filtered water to thin the glaze to your desired consistency.
Drizzle glaze onto the strawberry cinnamon rolls.
Enjoy immediately!

Notes

1. Melt a total of ½ cup coconut oil for this recipe.
2. Create freeze dried strawberry powder with freeze dried strawberries by grinding with a food processor or mortar and pestle.
3. Recipe adapted from Minimalist Baker’s Easy Cinnamon Rolls Recipe.