Strawberry Cheesecake Sweet Rolls

For the filling: Combine strawberries, sugar and cornstarch in a 10″ skillet; bring to a boil, stirring constantly, crushing the berries lightly with the back of a wooden spoon. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to cook and stir until mixture has thickened. The mixture will be chunky. Remove from heat; let cool completely.

For the bread dough: Combine 1 1/2 cup flour, sugar, salt and yeast in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add water, milk, cream cheese; beat until mixture is combined. Add 1/2 cup flour, egg, lemon zest, vanilla, butter extract and cheesecake oil; beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes or until a soft dough forms. Dough will be sticky.

Turn dough onto floured board; knead in remaining 1/2-1 cup flour until dough is smooth and elastic – about 5 minutes. I used about 2 1/2 cups of flour total in this dough – that includes kneading. You want the dough to be slightly sticky – adding too much flour will dry the bread out.

Cover dough and let rest for 10-15 minutes.

Combine graham cracker crumbs and sugar in a small bowl; spread crumb mixture out on a piece of wax paper.

Divide dough into 12 equal pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece into a 15″ rope. Brush each rope with melted butter; roll the rope in the graham cracker crumb mixture, coating well.

Form ropes into a coil, tucking ends under. Place coils on baking sheets sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Sprinkle coils with any remaining graham cracker crumb mixture, if desired. Cover lightly with plastic wrap; let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, 30-45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly press center of each roll with your fingers to make a hole for the filling; fill indentation generously with strawberry filling (I fill the center, then mound and slightly spread the filling on the top of each roll).

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove coils to a wire rack and cool completely.

For the glaze: Combine glaze ingredients, adding milk a little at a time to achieve desired drizzling consistency. Lightly drizzle glaze over cooled rolls.

Makes 12.