In a small saucepan, add the diced strawberries, sugar, and lemon zest & juice. Simmer on medium-low heat for 10-15 minutes, until the strawberries soften and release a lot of their juice.

In a small bowl, whisk the cornstarch with one tablespoon of cold water until it’s smooth.

Bring the saucepan to a boil, add the cornstarch slurry, and boil for 1 minute. Stir constantly, until it’s thickened. Set aside to cool completely to room temperature.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the warm milk, active dry yeast, and granulated sugar. Set aside for 10 minutes until it’s frothy on top, to activate the yeast.

Add the eggs, salt, and vanilla extract and mix.

Add the flour and mix with a large spoon just until there are no clumps of dry flour, after one minute.

Cut the softened butter into small squares & add it to the dough. Mix either in the mixing bowl with a large spoon or with a dough hook attachment in a stand mixer until it starts to form a sticky dough, after 1-2 minutes.

Knead by hand on a work surface dusted with flour for 8 full minutes, or knead in a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment for 5-6 minutes, until the dough springs back to its original shape when you indent it with your finger.

Shape the dough into a ball. Place the dough ball back in a clean mixing bowl, and cover with a kitchen towel or dinner plate. Let it rest in a warm spot (like in the oven with the light off) for 2 hours, until it doubles in size.

Grease a 9x13 baking dish. Set aside.

In a small bowl, mix brown sugar filling by combining the brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

Spread the softened butter evenly over the dough. Then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly on top, gently pressing it down into the dough with your hands.

Cut the dough into twelve 2-inch (5cm) long strips. (Cut along a long edge, not a short edge. I find a pizza cutter is much easier than a knife for this.)

Roll each strip of dough in a spiral. Aim for rolling it pretty tight so it doesn’t have any gaps, but not so tight that the center pops up when it expands & bakes.

Arrange the rolls in your prepared baking dish. Rolling the dough can get a little messy, so scoop up any strawberry filling from the counter onto the tops of the rolls.

Cover with plastic wrap (which retains moisture better than a towel) and let them rise at room temperature for 30 minutes, until they puff up.

In a bowl, mix the melted butter, ground freeze dried strawberries, flour, and sugar with a spoon or fork until it forms a thick, crumbly mixture.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the rolls just before they go in the oven. Bake the rolls for 30-35 minutes, until they're puffed up and golden. A wooden skewer inserted into the bread part of the rolls should come out clean (since the filling will still be wet even after it’s done baking). Let the rolls cool for at least 15 minutes.

Optional: Prepare the glaze by whisking the powdered sugar, lemon zest, salt, milk, and reserved strawberry filling in a bowl until it’s smooth. Drizzle onto the cinnamon rolls & enjoy!!