Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. Who’s with me in that?
Pastries, jumbo muffins, buttermilk pancakes, gooey cinnamon rolls, french toast, crumb-filled coffee cake, granola parfaits, buttery croissants, veggie omelets, coffee, coffee, and more coffee. Oh, and these and these. And when it’s breakfast-for-dinner night? Forget about it. It feels like Christmas and my birthday all in one day. Does it get any better?
Most of the time I’m a fruit and yogurt gal. (Did I mention coffee too?) There’s not much time for anything else in the morning as Kevin’s running out the door and I’m catching up with my inbox and planning out the day’s work. However, when we both have time to sit down together, I love to whip up some homemade sweet rolls. You could say… I’m addicted.
Baking with Yeast Guide
Today’s fruity sweet roll comes from my Easy Cinnamon Roll recipe. It’s an easy yeasted roll recipe that is perfect for the baker who wants to learn how to bake with yeast for the first time. What makes them so easy? Well, they only require one rise!
You’ll find that the typical sweet roll or homemade bread recipe requires two rises – a first rise of about 1-2 hours, then a second rise for another two hours or overnight. I developed a sweet roll recipe that bypasses the first rise all together. With a growing to-do list everyday, I am always looking for ways to cut down time on recipes without sacrificing taste or texture.
Let’s discuss the filling. It’s a simple mixture of frozen blueberries, sugar, and cornstarch. Make the filling before you make the dough so the blueberries have to absorb the sugar and cornstarch. Using frozen blueberries is important. Fresh blueberries won’t release their juices like frozen blueberries do. If you have a plethora of fresh blueberries to use up, I suggest making these muffins.
Using frozen blueberries means that you can bake these glorious sweet rolls in the dead of winter, too!
Since the blueberries are frozen, they will make the dough cold after you fill it, cut into rolls, and allow to rise. Even though this recipe is developed from my Easy Cinnamon Roll dough, today’s rolls will take longer to rise since the dough is cold as a result of the blueberries. Does that make sense? The rise time is about 2 hours. Still much shorter than most typical recipes.
The rolls need a warm, draft-free environment to rise. Here’s what I do: Heat the oven to 200F. Turn off the oven. Place the rolls inside for 2 hours. That’s it!
When the rolls are rising, the frozen blueberries release their juices and fill the bottom of the pan with a layer of sweet blueberry juice. As the rolls bake, the blueberry juice thickens and bakes up into the bottom of the roll. A layer of thick blueberry goo at the bottom of the pan. I mean, it’s practically heaven.
After the rolls have risen and you’ve baked them, it’s time for a glaze. I made an easy sweet lemon glaze to pair with the fluffy dough and juicy blueberries. A drippy, zesty coating that pairs perfectly with the doughy rolls. I love lemon and blueberry together! The glaze is a simple mix of powdered sugar, a touch of cream, and the juice of a lemon. There’s really no science behind it. You truly can control its lemon flavor and thickness– use more/less lemon juice, more/less sugar, and more/less cream. I use half-and-half, but heavy cream or milk will do the trick.
Completely drench the rolls with the glaze right before serving. 😀
Other sweet rolls you’ll love:
- Easy orange sweet rolls
- Maple pecan sticky buns
- Big giant cinnamon rolls
- Easy slow cooker cinnamon rolls
- Strawberry rolls with sweet lemon glaze
- Lemon sweet rolls
- Pumpkin cinnamon rolls
- Banana chocolate chip cinnamon rolls
- Cake batter cinnamon rolls
- Easy cinnamon rolls (from scratch)
Blueberry Sweet Rolls with Sweet Lemon Glaze
- Prep Time: 3 hours, 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours
- Yield: 11-12 rolls
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Soft & fluffy homemade sweet rolls filled with juicy blueberries and covered in a sweet lemon glaze. These are unbelievable!
Ingredients
Rolls
- 2 and 3/4 cups (345g) all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled)
- 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 packet Red Star Platinum Yeast or any instant yeast (1 packet = 2 and 1/4 teaspoons)*
- 1/2 cup (120ml) water
- 1/4 cup (60ml) milk
- 2 and 1/2 Tablespoons (40g) unsalted butter
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
Filling
- 1 and 1/3 cups (225g) frozen blueberries, not thawed*
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
Sweet Lemon Glaze
- juice from 1 large lemon*
- 1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1–2 Tablespoons (15-30ml) milk, half-and-half, or heavy cream
Instructions
- Make the filling first: Combine the frozen blueberries, sugar, and cornstarch in a bowl. Gently toss around and let sit while you prepare the dough.
- Make the dough: Set aside 1/2 cup of flour. In a large bowl, toss the remaining flour, sugar, salt, and yeast together. Set aside.
- Heat the water, milk, and butter together in the microwave until the butter is melted and the mixture is hot to touch. About 115°F (46°C)-120°F (49°C). Stir the butter mixture into the flour mixture. Add the egg and only enough of the reserved flour to make a soft dough. I only needed 1/3 cup, but you may need the full 1/2 cup. Dough will be ready when it gently pulls away from the side of the bowl and has an elastic consistency.
- On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough for about 5-6 minutes. Place in a lightly greased bowl (I used non-stick spray) and let rest for about 10 minutes.
- Fill the rolls: After 10 minutes, roll the dough out in a 14×8 inch rectangle. Pour the sugared blueberries on top and gently spread them to cover the dough surface. Roll up the dough tightly. Cut into 11-12 even pieces and place in a lightly greased 9-inch round pan. I used a pie dish, lightly sprayed with nonstick spray.
- Loosely cover the rolls with aluminum foil and allow to rise in a warm, draft-free place for 2-3 hours. Here is what I do: heat the oven to 200°F (93°C). Turn oven off. Place rolls inside oven and allow to rise.
- After the rolls have doubled in size, preheat the oven to 375°F (191°C). Bake for 25-30 minutes until lightly browned. I covered the rolls with aluminum foil after 15 minutes to avoid heavy browning.
- Make the glaze: Right before serving, top your blueberry rolls with glaze. Mix all of the glaze ingredients together. If you prefer a thicker glaze, add more powdered sugar and then add salt to cut the sweetness, if desired. If you’d like it thinner, add more lemon juice or cream. Pour over sweet rolls.
- Rolls are best enjoyed the same day, but stay fresh in a covered container for 5 days in the refrigerator.
Notes
- Overnight Instructions: This dough can be made the night before through step 5. Cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and allow to rest in the refrigerator overnight. The next morning, remove from the refrigerator and let rise, about 1 hour. Continue with step 7.
- Yeast: If you replace Red Star Platinum with an active dry yeast, the rise time may be 50% longer.
- Blueberries: You must use frozen (not fresh) blueberries in this recipe. Do not thaw.
- Lemon Glaze: Leave out the lemon juice if you do not prefer lemon glaze. Replace with 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract instead.
- Reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
Keywords: blueberry sweet rolls
Can’t get enough! Dare I say better than regular cinnamon rolls??
Oh, breakfast is definitely my favorite, too. It’s the only time of day when you can eat lots of sugar and call it a “meal!” 😉
Lemon and blueberries is the perfect combination! Love this!
Ahhhhh, love these! Blueberries are one of my favorite fruits and, like you, I’m also obsessed with cinnamon rolls. These look like fluffy, gooey, breakfast perfection! You do deliver, right?? 😉
Beautiful rolls, Sally! Funny that you should post these today. I am relinking my Strawberry Sweet Rolls tomorrow because I did some recipe development for Pillsbury and have a shortcut version of my rolls that I did for them on their site. And am giving links to both. Was just digging those up RIGHT before I popped over here and had rolls on the brain – and then see these beauties!
I love that you used blueberries. They’re not as well-represented as strawberries are. And I love that it’s a shortcut recipe but doesn’t sacrifice taste or texture. Great job! 🙂
I can’t wait to see your recipe tomorrow for Pillsbury, Averie! Love your strawberry version. They are gorgeous!
Wow, these look amazing! I have to give this recipe a try. I don’t have a lot of experience using yeast in baking so starting with this would be perfect. And to get to eat a blueberry sweet roll at the end would be just perfect!
Jess, this is a great beginner’s recipe. You’ll find them very easy to make with only 1 rise. Hope you enjoy!
Sally, these are beautiful! I love blueberries so much and I love that this is a quick and easy recipe! Score!
I love breakky! Especially pancakes! These look amazing! 🙂
The blueberry goo at the bottom of the pan sounds divine!! I love lemon and blueberry together too, it is such a great combo!
Yes! Lemon and blueberry are a match made in heaven. So good!
Breakfast is my favorite too. Normally, blueberry pancakes top my breakfast list, but these babies may just edge them out! After making your raspberry sweet rolls, I absolutely cannot wait to try these. 🙂
I love those raspberry rolls. 🙂 And I hope you enjoy these, Amanda!
Sally, you are officially my favorite person EVER! 😉 I saw the little thumbnail for this recipe on facebook, did the conga, and then raced to your website to check it out! It looks INCREDIBLE. At first glance I was kind of bummed because I haven’t been able to find good fresh blueberries yet this summer, but then you said to use frozen. Awesome! I have a sort of embarrassing love of frozen blueberries (meaning my mouth is dyed purple much of the time after I go through an entire bag in one sitting). And the lemon glaze is about the best idea in the world. 😀 I’m SO excited! All the photographs are stellar, but that last one with the blueberry goo and the perfect puffy roll is my favorite.
You did the conga! I officially love you Caley lol. So glad you love these already! And that last photograph – I love it too, I dug right into that plate after shooting!
They look delicious! I obviously will try this recipe. I can only use frozen berries here in Germany because of the supply problem:) Thanks for sharing this step explicitly.
Greetings,
Yasemin from breadpassion.com
Let me know how you like them Yasemin! Thank you!
I don’t know about anybody else, but I am ready to lick the blueberry goo from the bottom of that pan!
I like where you’re going with that! The goo was the best 🙂
I want one of these for breakfast!!! You should make a cookbook of just sweet roll recipes. I would buy it!
I love that suggestion! 🙂
Thanks so much Colleen!
i’m a big breakfast girl too–these look awesome sally! love all your creative ideas 🙂
Sally, I love, love, love your website and recipes. You’re the best!!!!
Thank you very much, Vesna!
Yum! What beautful cinnamon rolls! Love the combo of bluberry and lemon! I want one or two rolls right now!
Holy sweet gloriousness I must have these. I wish I cooked for more than myself most of the time! Making rolls always leaves me with so many leftover.
Girl, you did it again! These look incredible! I love the combo of blueberry and lemon, so perfect. Have a great weekend!
Thanks Sarah! Hope you have a great weekend too!
Oh Sally, these blueberry rolls looks fantastic! This sounds the perfect breakfast right now – I am loving everything blueberry right now and what a perfect combination with the lemon glaze – yum!
These look amazing, Sally! I love reading your posts! They always teach me so much! I’m only just beginning to feel confident with creating my own baking recipes, and your smarts always help!
I’m so glad you are gaining confidence in the kitchen Lisa, that’s wonderful!
Yum, these look positively divine, Sally! Love the gorgeous purply-blue colour bursting through when you pull ’em open. What a great shot!
I love all of the blueberries sticking out of these. Lovely!
First of all, Sally, I am so sorry to hear of you and your family’s loss. That is just heartbreaking to hear and I hope you take the time you need to cope. These gorgeous cinnamon rolls look perfect for comforting you during this tough time. Thank you for sharing the recipe, and all of your other gorgeous rolls!
Georgia, thank you so much for your kind words. She was my mom’s best friend – seeing a parent so sad is heartbreaking. I really appreciate you being so thoughtful and kind!
Sally, you just do this again and again – post the most amazing looking recipes! Not only does the recipe sound incredible, your photos are so appealing! It makes me wish I could be there sharing breakfast with you (even though I couldn’t eat these rolls!)
Blueberry and lemon? Killer combo!!
Thank you Michelle – that is so sweet of you to say about the photos and recipe!
Your rolls always look the best! Seriously! These blueberry ones look to die for. Plus my hubbys favorite berries are blueberries so I think these would be a hit at our house 🙂
You should make these for your hubs, Heidi! Have a great weekend. =)
how dang amazing do these look!
Thanks Julianne!!
Yet another amazing sweet roll recipe from you!!!!
Gorgeous, Sally! And your pictures are amazing!
Thanks Jamie! Have a great weekend!
Oh my goodness, these look delicious! I love that you posted this on a Friday because this looks like the perfect Saturday morning breakfast 🙂
That was my mindset for the post. 🙂 Thanks Emily!