I had been wanting to make a fruit-based sweet roll for awhile and so I went for it. They were my Mother’s Day present to myself. Sweet rolls, filled with jam, and topped with a vanilla cream cheese glaze is my idea of a happy Sunday morning. Especially since I started them the night before and built in a make-ahead/overnight option for anyone who doesn’t relish getting up at 5am to start baking. I’ve had my eye on the Food and Wine Raspberry Swirl Sweet Rolls, but it makes a huge batch. Nice as it sounds, we don’t want or need a sheet-pan full of jelly rolls for our little family of three. So I came up with these.
Like I did in the recent Soft and Chewy Coconut Milk Bread, I used coconut milk in this dough. I had a partially open can and thought it would be a nice complement with the fruity filling. However, I couldn’t taste any hint of coconut in the finished rolls. Bummer for me since I was hoping I would, but a blessing for anyone who’s not into coconut. I’m going to try buttermilk next time.
I used oil rather than butter because I’ve found that oil tends to produce softer bread than butter, which I find creates crustier bread. Case in point is this Challah. It’s so soft and tender that it’s croissant-like and was made with oil. But don’t worry, after the initial two hour rise and I rolled out the dough, I added a nice smear of butter before rolling it up. Oil in the dough, butter on the dough. A win-win.
After buttering it, I generously spread about one cup strawberry preserves over the top. In the rolling process, lots of jam escaped and it seemed like more jam was on my pastry slab than inside the cylinder, so I recommend going with about 3/4 cup. It won’t all stay in but lots does. Jelly rolls are messy to make and eat, and that’s the fun of it.
After rolling up the cylinder, starting with a long side, I sliced it into 9 pieces, but you could make 8 to 10, depending on your preference.
Put them in a baking dish and allow them to rise for about an hour before baking. Or, if you’re treating this as a make-ahead recipe, you can refrigerate the pan. The next day, allow the rolls to rise for about an hour before baking.
The vanilla cream cheese glaze turned out ridiculously good and took 30 seconds to whip together. I recommend making extra because it makes a wonderful fruit dip. I used granulated sugar, and although I normally use confectioners’ sugar in frosting and glazes, I wanted to avoid that crunchy phenomenon that happens after powdered sugar glazes are exposed to air. I was so happy when this glaze stayed softer and didn’t crust over. It’s the little things.
If you’re a fan of jelly rolls, cream cheese danish, or any combination of jelly, dough, and cream cheese, you’re going to really enjoy these. The dough is easy to work with and the rolls are soft, tender, and buttery. They’re loaded with sweet strawberry jam, which adds flavor, sweetness, and moistness. And stickiness.
The scent of bread and strawberry jam wafting through your house while they bake is irresistibly wonderful. I made them as an overnight option on Saturday night and it was such a treat to wake up and just pop them in the oven for Sunday morning brunch.
We had lots of members of the Clean Plate Club that morning.
Related Recipes:
Overnight Buttermilk Soft and Fluffy Cinnamon Rolls – My favorite recipe of all-time for soft, fluffy, pillowy perfect cinnamon rolls. Readers who’ve tried the recipe write with high praise and success. If you need a go-to cinnamon roll recipe, try this one Tried this recipe? Leave a review! Consider leaving a 5 star rating if you’ve made and loved one of my recipes!
Browned Butter Buttermilk Banana Bread with Strawberry Butter – Use your leftover buttermilk for this easy quickbread, full of richness of flavor from the browned butter, softness from the bananas, and fluffiness from the buttermilk
Strawberry Jelly Rolls – You’d never guess these start out as white dinner rolls and within 15 minutes, are transformed into little jelly rolls
Soft and Chewy Coconut Milk Bread (vegan) – Soft and fluffy, yet just dense enough and slightly chewy, making it my favorite sandwich, snacking, and toasting bread
Cinnamon Swirl Bread – This cinnamon swirl bread is as close to cinnamon buns as bread gets. Filled with a sweet cinnamon-sugar and butter mixture that’s swirled throughout, this is a tender, buttery, sweet loaf that even new bread-makers can successfully tackle
Cinnamon Sugar Crust Cream Cheese and Jelly Danish Squares – Uses one of my favorite shortcuts, with a jelly and cream cheese sandwiched between two flaky layers
Nutella Cinnamon Rolls with Vanilla Glaze (Shortcut Recipe) – A can of crescent rolls never tasted so good as when they’re stuffed with Nutella and rolled up. Ready from start to finish in 15 minutes, no joke
Cinnamon Raisin English Muffin Bread with Cinnamon Sugar Butter – If you’ve never made bread before, this is a goofproof, foolproof, no-knead recipe that’s perfect for first-time bread makers. You’ll never have a need for storebought English muffins again
Honey Dinner Rolls – My favorite dinner roll recipe, lightly sweetened with honey, soft and chewy. A family favorite and a very goof-proof yeast recipe because this dough loves to rise
Healthy Oatmeal Raisin Rolls – Hearty oats, chewy raisins, cinnamon-and-sugar combine to create these texture-filled, chewy and hearty rolls
Strawberry and Sprinkles Buttermilk Pancakes – Soft, fluffy, light, and loaded with strawberries and sprinkles
Thanks for the entries in the Kitchen Aid 5-Quart Stand Mixer Giveaway! Since my blog makeover, I’ve been told that my comment replies are going into spam. Please check your spam folder and un-spam them if necessary. Thanks! Have you ever made sweet rolls or another type of rolls or bread? Do you have a favorite recipe? Please share recipe links to your favorites.
