Happy Easter weekend everyone! Hopefully you are taking time to connect with family, whether by phone, facetime, skype, zoom — you name it! This year it’s jut going to be my husband, Kory and me but that’s ok. Easter is still a great excuse to bake and bake well. I would suggest cinnamon rolls — but why stop there? Lets up the anti with blueberry cinnamon rolls! yum!
Lets talk about dough
This recipe is a riff on my traditional cinnamon roll dough. I’ve made many different types of cinnamon rolls from this dough — carrot cake, fall edition, cinnabon dupes — you name it, you can put it in this dough. It’s so easy to whip up, requires no kneading (if you have a stand mixer) and your cinnamon rolls can be ready in about 4 hours — although I do recommend an overnight rise for the best flavor possible.
This is an enriched dough, which basically means it has sugar, butter and eggs as well as yeast. This combo creates a rich fluffy dough, and a lot of it. You could consider halving the recipe to create a smaller batch (9 instead of 18 rolls) but why would you do that to yourself? Ha! Just give the extra to your neighbors 🙂
This dough will also be sticky when you are done kneading it — thats ok! We don’t want it to be too dry, so slight stickiness is ok. You dough should be smooth though and easily formed into a ball.
Filling Foundations
So now that you’ve got your dough good to go — lets talk about the filling. For these blueberry cinnamon rolls, you guessed it, I used blueberry preserves. Don’t have blueberry preserves? No problem. You can use frozen blueberries, tossed with a bit of cornstarch and sugar and boom. Blueberry filling. Too easy. I also added just a touch of cinnamon sugar to my filling, but you absolutely dont have to.
I would also recommend using the *best* blueberry preserves that you can find. For me, this means Bonne Maman Blueberry preserves, but if you can’t find this brand at your store try to use all natural preserves — ideally with no sugar added. You can also mix up the flavors. Don’t like Blueberry? no problem, this recipe will work with whatever your favorite jam, jelly, or preserve is.
Putting it all Together: Assembly
After your dough has had about an hour to proof and double in size, its time to assemble these blueberry cinnamon rolls. Start by flouring your board (or countertop) and gently roll out the dough. Ideally the dough is a rectangle (18×12 inch) and of even thickness across.
Once you have the dough rolled out, spread a thin layer of your blueberry preserves across the dough. I used about 1/2 the jar to cover the dough and then added a bit more where it was a bit thin. Remember, we will be rolling it up , so if you over do it with the preserves it will just spooge (technical term) all over your counter top. I then topped it with a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar.
Roll up the dough, from the long side (18in side) towards you. Pinch the seam together, across the bottom at the end, then roll the log over, seam side down. Cut into 18 even pieces (approximetly 1 to 1.5 inch wide). Place rolls into two 9 inch round pans (should fit about 9 rolls in each pan, just touching) cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours – overnight would be better. I usually prep these the night before I want to bake them so I get the best flavor development possible
Once you’re ready to bake, remove the rolls from the fridge and allow to warm up at room temp for about a hour. Bake ’em off, glaze them warm and watch them disappear!
I hope you have a fantastic easter weekend and perhaps these blueberry cinnamon rolls will be a part of it. 🙂
XO Danielle
Want to see more cinnamon roll recipes? Click here!
Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls
Bite into spring time heaven with these blueberry cinnamon rolls slathered in cream cheese frosting. A different take on your average breakfast rolls — these are sure to please anytime!
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Milk
- 1/2 Cup Water
- 1 Cup 2 Sticks Unsalted Butter
- 5 1/4 Cups All Purpose Flour plus more for rolling
- 1/4 Cup Sugar
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 Packages Active Dry Yeast
- 2 Eggs beaten
- For the Filling:
- 1/2 Cup Blueberry Preserves
- 1/4 Cup White Sugar
- 1 Tbsp Cinnamon Ground
- For the Cream-Cheese Frosting:
- 1 8 oz Block of Cream Cheese
- 3-4 Cups Powdered Sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp. Milk
Instructions
- In a small sauce pan, combine water, milk, and butter. Heat on low heat until butter is melted and mixture is luke warm. If liquid is too hot, set aside to cool.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. Using your dough hook attachment, mix to combine.
- Add cooled water/butter/milk mixture and mix on low speed to combine. Once combined, add eggs one at a time, mixing to combine.
- Turn speed up to medium and knead dough for 5-10 minutes or until the dough is soft but not sticky. You may need to add more flour as you go, depending on how humid your weather is. Add flour 1/4 cup at a time, allowing the dough to mix well in between.
- Once your dough is smooth, place in a large greased bowl, cover and set in a warm location to allow dough to rise & almost double in size (about 1 hour).
- Remove risen dough from the bowl and knead lightly on a floured surface. Halve the dough and place one half off to the side.
- Roll out dough to a 18×12 Inch rectangle and brush with blueberry preserves. Combine Sugar and Cinnamon and sprinkle evenly over the blueberry preserves. Roll into a log, starting with the log edge. Cut into 16-18 Cinnamon Rolls and place into two greased 9×2 inch round pans (8-9 rolls in each).
- Cover cinnamon rolls with plastic and place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, or over night.
- In the morning, remove cinnamon rolls from refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature for at least 1 hour. The Rolls should rise slightly.
- Preheat your oven to 350 Degrees F. Bake Cinnamon Rolls for 20-25 Minutes or until the rolls are puffed and golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly. Turn out from Muffin Pan and cool completely. Frost with Cream Cheese frosting and serve immediately.
- For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk or beat to combine. Slather all over cinnamon rolls & devour.
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