These blueberry cinnamon rolls are what brunch dreams are made of. Soft brioche bread dough, rolled up with cinnamon, sugar and blueberries. They take a little pre-planning for the overnight proof, but they're more than worth it! Topped with a maple cream cheese glaze. Try them - you won't regret it!
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Ingredients
The ingredients for these rolls can be divided into three parts: the dough, the filling and the glaze.
For the Dough
This dough is the same brioche dough as my classic Brioche Cinnamon Rolls. You'll need:
- Milk - full fat milk or whole milk. This will need to be warmed to 104°F/40C to enable you to activate the yeast.
- Dry active yeast - when yeast is called for you can almost always substitute with fresh yeast. This recipe has not been tested with fresh yeast.
- Flour - you'll need a combination of all purpose flour (or plain flour) and bread flour (or strong flour) for this recipe. This will help with the gluten and the structure of the rolls.
- Sugar - superfine granulated sugar or caster sugar will work in this recipe.
- Salt
- Eggs
- Butter - unsalted butter, softened at room temperature. You can use salted butter here, but you may find it adds a saltiness to the dough. If using salted butter, you may want to reduce the amount of salt added.
Blueberry Filling
The filling here is a combination of fresh blueberries with cinnamon and a quick blueberry sauce. You'll need:
- Blueberries - fresh blueberries are best in this recipe, but you can also use frozen blueberries. If using frozen, allow these to defrost first.
- Sugar - superfine granulated sugar or caster sugar.
- Ground cinnamon - the key to any cinnamon roll!
- Butter - unsalted butter, softened at room temperature in order to spread easily over your dough. Again, this can be substituted with salted butter, but this may add saltiness to your overall roll.
Cream Cheese Glaze
This quick cream cheese glaze is only three ingredients:
- Powdered sugar - also known as confectioner's sugar or icing sugar.
- Maple syrup - your syrup will shine through in this glaze. If you use a dark maple syrup with a deep flavour, you'll be better able to taste the maple in the overall bun,
- Cream cheese - soft, spreadable cream cheese. My recipe are always made with soft spreadable cream cheese due to ingredient availability. You can make this glaze using block cream cheese, however, this will need to be softened until spreadable and your glaze may require a bit of milk to thin enough to spread.
How to Make Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls
For a detailed guide to making this brioche dough, see my Brioche Cinnamon Rolls Recipe.
A Couple Quick Dough Tips
This dough is an overnight bread dough, requiring a bit of pre-planning. The key to any brioche based dough is to ensure you've kneaded the dough well before beginning to add the butter. In the case of these rolls, knead the dough for 15 minutes before adding the softened butter bit by bit. Then knead for a further 15-20 minutes once the butter has been incorporated.
Brioche dough is a soft dough, which tends to run a bit wetter than other bread doughs. It should be pulling itself from the sides of the bowl, but don't worry if it's still leaving some sticking to the sides and especially the bottom.
Blueberry Filling
To make the filling for these rolls, you want to start by placing half of the sugar and half of the blueberries in a small saucepan. Cook this over a medium heat for about 10 minutes allowing the blueberries to soften and start to burst, releasing their juices.
Remove the blueberry sauce from the heat and add the remaining blueberries, stirring to coat in the syrup. Let this cool completely. Tip: it's best to make the filling when you're making the dough and allow it to cool overnight. Warm fillings will make the dough difficult to handle!
Rolling Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls
Once the dough has proofed, roll out on a well floured work surface until about 12" wide and 15" long. Dollop softened butter over the surface and spread evenly with an offset spatula.
Stir together the remaining sugar and the cinnamon - sprinkle over the butter. Then finally spread the blueberry mixture over the top. Top Tips: this won't spread evenly since it still has loads of full berries in it. Aim to over fill the bottom of your dough rectangle - as you roll up, the filling will naturally spread out. Make sure you get a good spread along the width of the dough to ensure each roll ends up with a good amount of blueberry filling!
Once rolled, use flavorless dental floss to trim off the ends. Then, using the floss, cut 9 rolls. Place these in a parchment lined 8" square baking pan and cover to proof for 2 hours, until doubled in size.
When ready, brush with an egg wash made of the remaining egg yolk and a splash of milk. Bake for about 25 minutes, until risen and golden. Let cool about 10 minutes before glazing.
Maple Cream Cheese Glaze
The glaze for these rolls is a nice thick maple cream cheese frosting. It'll taste almost like a blueberry cheesecake in cinnamon roll form!
Simply whisk together the cream cheese, maple syrup and powdered sugar.
Troubleshooting consistency: if you're struggling with the consistency of this glaze, you can adjust this easily. Too thick - add a splash of milk. Too thin - add a tablespoon of powdered sugar and mix (repeat until you reach your desired consistency).
Spread the glaze over the buns and serve.
FAQs
These rolls, just like any other classic cinnamon roll, are best eaten fresh. These will be at their best to serve about 15 minutes after coming out of the oven! You can keep leftovers - allow these to cool and then cover with plastic wrap or store in an airtight container. They won't be at their finest, but they're still perfectly edible for a day or two.
Yes! You can certainly use frozen blueberries in this recipe. I'd recommend allowing them to defrost first, before cooking with the sugar. Cinnamon rolls are a great way to use frozen blueberries!
I wouldn't recommend using dried blueberries in this recipe - these won't have the juices necessary to release a nice syrup.
If you like this recipe, try some other blueberry fuelled favorites:
- Blueberry Brown Sugar Pavlova
- Easy Small Batch Blueberry Jam
- Blueberry Jam Cake
- Strawberry Blueberry Shortcake Trifle
Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Ingredients for Dough
- ¼ cup full fat milk or whole milk, warmed to 104°F (40C)
- 2¼ teaspoon dry active yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup all purpose flour or plain flour
- ¾ cup strong white bread flour
- 1 tablespoon superfine granulated sugar or caster sugar
- 3 eggs
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened at room temperature
Ingredients for Blueberry Cinnamon Filling
- ¼ cup superfine granulated sugar or caster sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 8 oz fresh blueberries or frozen blueberries, defrosted
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter softened at room temperature
Ingredients for Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 cup powdered sugar or icing sugar, sifted if lumpy
- 2 oz spreadable cream cheese or soft cheese
- 2 tablespoon maple syrup
Instructions
Instructions for Dough
- Begin by activating the yeast in the warm milk. Sprinkle the yeast along with 1 teaspoon of the sugar into the warmed milk, stir and set aside for 10 minutes until foamy.
- Add the flours, remaining sugar and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Give this a stir.
- Add the foamy yeast to the flour, immediately followed by 2 whole eggs and one egg white (reserving the remaining yolk for an egg wash later - see note). Begin kneading on a low setting for about 15 minutes until a dough has formed and is starting to pull itself away from the sides of the bowl.
- Add the softened butter in small bits, about a tablespoon at a time. Once incorporated, continue kneading on a low setting for a further 15 minutes until the dough is again beginning to pull itself away from the sides of the bowl (see note).
- Scrape the dough into a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to proof slowly for about 8 hours (overnight).
Instructions for the Blueberry Filling
- In order to making the filling, place half of the blueberries and half of the sugar (2 tablespoons) in a saucepan over a medium heat. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the blueberries begin to release their juices.
- Remove from the heat and add the remaining blueberries. Set aside to cool completely. (see note)
Instructions for Filling and Rolling
- After the first proof, scrape your dough out of the bowl and onto a well floured work surface. Press the dough into a rough rectangle and then roll out with a floured rolling pin to be about 12" wide by 15" long.
- Dollop softened butter over the surface of the dough and spread in an even layer.
- Mix together the ground cinnamon and remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Sprinkle this over the butter and then add the blueberry filling, spooning over the top. (see note)
- Begin rolling the dough from the bottom to the top, forming a log of dough. Then using flavorless floss cut about 1½" off each end, trimming the uneven dough.
- Divide the dough into 9 and use the floss to cut. (see note)
- Place the rolls in a parchment lined 8" square baking pan and cover with a clean kitchen towel to proof for about 2 hours until doubled in size.
- Near the end of your second proof, pre-heat the oven to 350°F (175C/155C Fan) and prepare an egg wash by lightly beating together the reserved egg yolk with a splash of milk.
- Brush the rolls with the egg wash and place in the centre of the preheated oven to bake for about 25 minutes until risen and golden.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes while you make the glaze.
Instructions for the Glaze
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, maple syrup and cream cheese until smooth and spreadable. (see note)
- Spread over the warm buns and serve.
Myrtle Mincin
These look so delicious! Can't wait to try them!! 😀 xoxo