1cup plus 5 tablespoon (296 g)butter, at room temperature
2cups (250 g)powdered sugar
2-3tablespoonwhole milk, divided
¼cupfreeze dried strawberry powder**
¼cup freeze dried tangerine powder**
food coloring, if desired***
Instructions
For the Rolls:
Make the dough according to the recipe instructions through the first bulk rise and refrigeration. Remove half the dough from the fridge and leave the rest for another application (see the Breads or Breakfast recipe sections for ideas).
Divide dough into 8 equal pieces (roughly 3 ounces each). Roll into tight rolls and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet a couple of inches apart. Press down on top of each roll with the palm of your hand to flatten into about ½-inch thick round rolls.
Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled in size, ½ hour to 45 minutes. It may take longer, depending on your environment. A great trick is to heat your oven to the lowest possible setting (mine is 170° F). Turn it off and place your rolls into the warmed oven. It will NOT kill the yeast and will provide a perfect rising temperature for proofing. Just remember to take them out before preheating the oven.
For the Streusel:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat together the softened butter and powdered sugar on medium high until smooth, 2-3 minutes.
Add the flour mixture and two tablespoons of milk and beat just until combined. Keep a few tablespoons of milk aside for adding individually to each flavor/color.
Divide into two bowls. Add strawberry powder to one and tangerine powder to the other, followed by a teaspoon or two of milk in each. Add food coloring, if using, at this time. Stir with a spoon to combine well. You'll eventually need to get your hands in there and knead the dough to incorporate everything well.
Roll dough out between two sheets of parchment to roughly ¼ of an inch thick. Cut with a round 3-inch cutter (such as a biscuit cutter). To make shells, you'll use the edge of the biscuit cutter (see video and pictures). To make a grid pattern, cut with a sharp knife going one way and then the other.
When rolls have fully risen, preheat the oven to 350° F. Brush rolls with egg wash, being careful so as not to deflate rolls. Use a bench scraper to carefully slide underneath each scored round of streusel, lift it up, and carefully slide off the bench scraper and onto each roll. Press lightly to adhere to the egg wash.
Bake rolls at 350° F for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown and they spring back when lightly pressed.
Allow to cool to warm before serving. Rolls will keep well wrapped at room temperature for 2-3 days, or can be frozen, well wrapped, for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in fridge and refresh or reheat in a 300° oven, fully wrapped in foil, until warmed through (about 15 minutes). The streusel will eventually soften on the rolls as they sit.
Notes
*You can either halve the dough when making the recipe, or make the entire dough amount and use the other half for something else (this is what I do). There are many options under "Breakfast" or "Breads" for using the rest of the dough. **You can use any freeze dried fruit powder you'd like. To make, place freeze dried fruit in the bowl of a food processor and process into a fine powder. ***For my strawberry streusel, I didn't add any food coloring, but because the tangerine fruit powder was so light in color, I added a little bit of orange gel food coloring.