Blueberries and Cream Sweet Rolls!
Fresh and Fluffy Blueberries and Cream Sweet Rolls
So simple. So delish. These rolls will quickly become a family favorite!
Nothing rings in blueberry season like these delicious rolls. They are really easy to make and won’t last long.. because you will inhale them. I mean eat them…
During blueberry season we harvest gallons and gallons of blueberries! I always make the usual jam, pie filling, blueberry crisp, and all those things! This year I knew I wanted to try something different and decided on some dessert rolls! I used the dough recipe for my cinnamon rolls and then made basically like a blueberry pie filling! Let me tell you it came out amazing!! I made a cream cheese frosting to go with the rolls and added a little lemon zest… Sweet filling, soft dough, brightness from the lemon… perfection. I meant to try just a bite of one before taking pictures and accidentally inhaled the whole thing. So here’s how I made them.
Making the dough. First add one cup of warmed milk to a bowl and add 2 1/4 teaspoons yeast. I like to also give it a pinch of sugar. This is called blooming the yeast. Doing this will make sure the yeast is good and active. If your yeast doesn’t bubble up, make sure the milk wasn’t too hot, or that your yeast wasn’t too old. I like to store mine in a jar, in the fridge. Once bloomed, add 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup melted and cooled butter, vanilla (really I just measure with love here, haha), 3 eggs, and a big pinch of salt. I like to give that a whisk and then add the flour. I use 4 1/2 cups of flour, but when I tell you we had a humid day!! The dough did not want to work with me. It was sticky even after I added a few tablespoons more flour. So take note that if it’s really humid out, your dough may be stickier than usual. That’s ok! Just add a little more flour until it’s workable. Typically you want a nice soft dough that is lightly sticky. I then turned it out onto a floured surface and kneaded while adding a little dusting of flour each time it started sticking to my hands. After about 5+ minutes of kneading it was time to let it rise! You want to let it double in size. This could take an hour or so depending on how warm the room is.
Making the blueberry filling. Add a cup and a half fresh blueberries to a sauce pot. Frozen blueberries will also work. Add a half cup of sugar, the juice of half a lemon, and one tablespoon of cornstarch. Bring to a boil and then simmer. Continue to stir and smash the berries as they soften. Once it starts to cool it will thicken pretty quick!
Preheat the oven to 350°F, once the filling has cooled, add your cream! I added about a 1/4 a cup to mine. You can use light cream, heavy cream, milk, whichever you prefer. Mix that in really well and the color is GORGEOUS! Punch down your risen dough and roll it out into a large rectangle. Evenly spread out the mix onto your dough, leaving a little edge to help seal the dough once you roll it. Carefully roll up your dough on the long edge, just like cinnamon rolls.
Once you’ve rolled up your dough, you can seal the edge if you want using a little bit of water. I didn’t do this and it turned out fine! I like to cut off the edges and then cut the roll into even pieces. I got 10 pieces that were about an inch thick. I was gifting some of these to a friend, so I put them in 2 separate dishes. You could also use a 9×13 baking dish. I ended up putting 4 in one dish, and 6 in another. After you put them in the dish, let them rise one more time.
Was this messy? Yes!
But, see how good they look!!
Do you see that rise?? From left to right, they filled out the pan!
Time to bake! I put them in my preheated oven and baked for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown and the dough springs back when lightly pressed on. The delicious filling gets all gooey between the rolls of the fluffy dough! Delish! I made a cream cheese frosting using cream cheese, powdered sugar, cream, and lemon zest! Once the rolls had cooled off just a little, I added the icing! I WISH I got better pictures of the inside of the roll… but once I opened one and took a bite… it was done for. Seriously!! I didn’t mean to eat the whole thing in 4 bites… it just happened hahaha.
Ingredients
Method
- Bloom the yeast in the warmed milk for a few minutes or until it bubbles up. Adding a pinch of the sugar helps. You can do this in a large bowl if using a hand mixer or in the bowl of your stand mixer.
- Add the rest of the dough ingredients and mix on low until the dough comes together. Then mix on medium to knead the dough for a few minutes. Or you can turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead by hand (my preferred method!). Knead until the dough is nice and soft and elastic. If the dough feels sticky while kneading, add a little flour at a time as needed.
- Time to rise! Form a ball with the dough and add to a greased bowl. Cover with a towel or dough cover and let rise until doubled in size. This is best to do in a warm spot. About an 1 hour.
- While the dough is rising get started on the filling. Add blueberries, sugar, lemon, and cornstarch to a saucepan. Give it a mix and bring to a boil on the stove. Once boiling, turn on low and stir. Lightly crush the berries as they soften. Turn off the heat and let cool. The mixture will be pretty thick now. Once slightly cooled add the cream, a little at a time and mix in well. You'll want the mixture to be able to spread without running too much.
- When the dough has doubled in size, punch it down and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough out into a large rectangle. You want it to be about 1/4 an inch thick. Spread the blueberry and cream mixture over the dough, leaving a little space at the edge for sealing. Carefully roll the dough on the long side and pinch the edge to seal the log. Using a dough cutter or knife, I like to cut off the ends and then cut about 1 inch rounds. Place in a greased 9×13 baking and let rise a second time. This rise doesn't take long, so preheat the oven to 350 °F while waiting. Once the oven is preheated and the rolls have filled in more space, go ahead and bake!
- The rolls will bake for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown and the interior of the rolls springs back when pushed down. Go ahead and make the icing. Mix all icing ingredients until well combined and smooth. It may take a little more or less powdered sugar to get it to the consistency you like! You can even add a little lemon juice to the icing if you want! Sometimes I add both zest and juice for extra tang.
- Once the rolls are done and have cooled off slightly, top with your icing! They are best served still warm and topped with some extra blueberries, if you want! Enjoy!