Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls
I’ve loved playing around with my quick yeast cinnamon rolls recipe, and this week I wanted to make blueberry cinnamon rolls!
Blueberries give this recipe such fun, summery spin, and it’s the perfect way to start any day.
Packing These Cinnamon Rolls with Blueberry Flavor
To give these blueberry cinnamon rolls an intense blueberry flavor, I use blueberry jam in the filling and top them with fresh blueberries and a blueberry glaze.
While you could make a blueberry compote from scratch, blueberry jam is so much easier!
It has such a perfect consistency for this and makes it a lot easier to roll the dough.
How Much Flour Am I Supposed to Use??
Now, the amount of flour you start with is set at 4 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour.
But as you add in your wet ingredients and the eggs, a sticky dough ball forms and you might need to add in additional flour.
I find kneading an additional 3-4 Tbsp of flour into the dough at the stage is the perfect amount.
It makes it easier to handle and knead by hand, but it’s still a tiny bit tacky and soft. You need just enough flour to make the dough workable.
If you add too much flour you can end up with dense, chewy cinnamon rolls that are difficult to roll.
This is why you want to be careful with how much flour you add.
We want these to turn out fluffy and soft!
Making these Cinnamon Rolls by Hand vs. Stand Mixer
This recipe can be made by hand or with a dough hook / stand mixer.
My first couple batches of cinnamon rolls were made when I was home for the holidays, and I didn’t have a stand mixer.
It is definitely easier to make using a stand mixer, but a little elbow grease never hurt anyone.
I also find it’s easier to get the consistency of the dough right if you knead by hand.
I’ve found that starting the dough in my stand mixer and finishing the kneading process by hand gives me the best results.
The dough should be a bit tacky but not sticky once it’s ready to be rested.
Whichever method you use to make the dough, just be sure to knead or mix the dough until it gets an elastic texture and pulls away from the bowl or counter.
Once you get to this point, stop and let the dough rest for about 10-20 minutes.
This little break allows the gluten to relax a bit and makes the dough easier to roll out.
Topping these Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls
The finishing touch on any cinnamon roll has to be its topping!
A cinnamon roll isn’t complete without some type of melty glaze or frosting.
I decided to top these blueberry cinnamon rolls with a delicious vanilla and blueberry glaze!
I drizzle half of the vanilla glaze over the rolls, then stir in a bit more blueberry jam to make a purple glaze!
While using two glazes isn’t totally necessary, it is double the fun 🙂
While I was tempted to use my cream cheese buttercream or my American buttercream, for some reason a vanilla frosting just felt right.
You can use a more traditional frosting if you prefer your cinnamon rolls that way, though!
Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls – Substitutions and Swaps
While I love this recipe just the way it is, I know you might not have all these ingredients on hand!
Below are some swaps and substitutions that can be made in this recipe.
- All Purpose Flour – I haven’t tested this recipe out with gluten-free flour, but it should work if you use a good blend like King Arthur’s GF flour. Just be sure to knead the dough a bit longer to help give it structure.
- Instant / Rapid Rise Yeast – You can use active dry yeast in place of the instant yeast in this recipe, just be sure to activate the yeast with warm water and sugar before adding it, and allow the dough to rise for a bit longer (active yeast takes longer to rise than instant).
- Unsalted Butter – If you only have salted butter on hand, you can use it in place of the unsalted butter in this recipe. Just be sure to omit the salt that this recipe calls for. You can also use vegan butter in its place!
- Whole Milk – Most alternative milks work fine in this recipe, including soy, oat, and almond milk.
- Granulated Sugar – I don’t recommend changing the type or amount of sugar used in the dough.
- Large Eggs – This is an enriched dough, so it uses eggs. You can use a vegan egg replacer in its place to make eggless blueberry cinnamon rolls.
- Brown Sugar – You can use light or dark brown sugar to make the filling for these cinnamon rolls. I prefer using light in this recipe!
- Blueberry Jam – I like to keep this recipe simple by using blueberry jam in the filling! I use a cup of my favorite blueberry jam, but you could really use any flavor of jam you have and make these any fruit flavor!
Tips for Making the Best Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls
- Use a ruler to make sure your dough is rolled out to the right size (14in x 18in) and cut into even pieces.
- Use dental floss to easily cut each cinnamon roll rather than a knife.
- Cut 12 equally sized cinnamon rolls from your log to make sure they all bake evenly.
- Bake the cinnamon rolls in a greased rectangular pan (mine is 9 in x 13 in)
- Try to let the cinnamon rolls cool for about 10-20 minutes, then add the glaze. This will allow it to perfectly melt over your cinnamon rolls!
- Store leftover cinnamon rolls or cinnamon rolls made ahead of time in an airtight container to keep them fresh.
Making These Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls in Advance
If you want to make these blueberry cinnamon rolls ahead of time, by my guest! I’m all about working ahead and making life easier.
This recipe can be made the evening before and baked the following morning.
You can refrigerate these cinnamon rolls after they have been cut in a greased or lined pan.
Cover the cinnamon roll pan tightly with plastic wrap, making sure the seal is airtight.
If the cinnamon rolls are exposed to air, they can dry out, and no one wants dry cinnamon rolls!
The morning you want to bake them, take them out 1 hour before you plan to bake them, then follow the recipe instructions to bake.
You can also bake the cinnamon rolls, then let them cool and freeze them individually.
This is what I do with our leftover cinnamon rolls.
I leave the leftover rolls unfrosted, then tightly wrap each roll in a layer of plastic wrap, then foil.
I move individual cinnamon rolls from the freezer to the fridge the night before I want to eat them.
Then in the morning, I unwrap the cinnamon roll and heat it up in the microwave until it’s warm and gooey (usually about 30 seconds!).
Let Me Know What You Think!
If you try this recipe for blueberry cinnamon rolls, I’d love to hear what you think! Please leave a rating and a comment with your thoughts.
You can also tag me on social media @chelsweets or use #chelsweets so I can see your creations!!
Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Blueberry Cinnamon Roll Filling
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar 100g
- 1 tsp cornstarch 2g
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon 2g
- 1/4 tsp fine salt 2g
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened 113g
- 1 cup blueberry jam 300g
Cinnamon Roll Dough
- 4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour + about 1/2 cup 550g-615g
- 4 1/2 tsp or 2 packets instant dry yeast 14g, 1/2 oz.
- 1 tsp fine salt 6g
- 1 cup whole milk 240ml
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter 113g
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar 100g
- 2 large eggs, room temperature 112g
Blueberry Cinnamon Roll Glaze
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature 113g
- 2 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste 8g
- 1/4 tsp fine salt 1g
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar 190g
- 3 Tbsp whole milk 45ml
- 3 Tbsp blueberry jam 55g
- 1/2 cup fresh blueberries, to garnish 95g
Instructions
Blueberry Cinnamon Roll Filling
- In a medium sized bowl, mix together 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, 1 tsp cornstarch, 1 tsp ground cinnamon and 1/4 tsp salt and set aside. Cover and set aside.
Cinnamon Roll Dough
- In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 4 1/4 cups of flour, 2 packets of instant dry yeast and 1 tsp salt.
- In a separate bowl, combine 1 cup milk, 1/2 cup softened butter and 1/2 cup granulated sugar. Heat for 1 minute in the microwave and stir to combine the ingredients. The butter should be melted.
- Slowly pour the warm milk mixture into the flour mixture and mix on medium speed with a dough hook or by hand. Scrape around the edges with a rubber spatula to make sure all the flour gets incorporated.
- Add in 2 large eggs, one at a time. Mix on a medium speed until a sticky dough ball forms.
- Continue to mix the dough on a medium-low speed for 2-3 minutes until the dough becomes more elastic.
- Keep mixing the dough and add additional flour 1 Tbsp at a time until the dough is tacky but no longer sticky (usually takes me 3-4 additional Tbsp of flour). It should pull away / / no longer stick to the side of your mixing bowl once it's ready to rest.
- Cover your bowl with plastic wrap and set aside. Let the dough to rest for 10-20 minutes to allow the gluten to relax. This will make it easier to roll out.
- Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll it into a large rectangle that's about 14 in x 18 in. The dough should be about 1/2 cm thick.
- Spread 1/2 cup of softened butter evenly across the dough, leaving 1/2 inch of dough on the long side of the rectangle uncovered. This will help you seal off the roll and keep it tight).
- Spread 1 cup of blueberry jam on top of the buttered section, then sprinkle the brown sugar filling over the buttered/jam section.
- Roll the dough horizontally toward the uncovered strip.
- Cut 12 equal pieces and place in a greased 9 in x 13 in pan using dental floss. It sounds weird but it gives you super clean cuts!
- If you are making these cinnamon rolls the night before, cover the cinnamon rolls with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight.
- If you make these the morning of, at this stage you can let them proof in a warm place for about 30 minutes. I like to preheat my oven to 200 F, turn it off, then place my cinnamon rolls into the oven to proof because my apartment is always cold.
- If you make these cinnamon rolls the night before, take them out of the fridge 1-2 hours before you want to bake them. Place the rolls in a warm place to thaw and proof.
- Once they have risen, preheat your oven to 350 F / 175 C. Bake for 26-30 minutes, or until rolls are golden brown. Rotate the pan halfway through to help them bake evenly.
Blueberry Cinnamon Roll Glaze
- To make the glaze, stir together 1/2 cup of butter, 2 tsp vanilla extract and 1/4 tsp salt and mix with a spoon or electric mixer until combined.
- Add in 1 /2 cups of powdered sugar and 2-3 Tbsp of whole milk. Stir until the glaze is smooth.
- Let the blueberry cinnamon rolls cool for 10-20 minutes, then spoon the glaze over the cinnamon rolls.
- Pour half the glaze over the cinnamon rolls, then mix 3 Tbsp of blueberry jam into the remaining glaze to give it a beautiful purple color. Drizzle the remaining glaze over the cinnamon rolls.
- Garnish with fresh blueberries and enjoy warm!
Video
Notes
Using the Right Type of Yeast: Active Dry vs. Instant Yeast
Be sure you are using instant yeast! It comes in small packets that can usually be found in the refrigerated section of your grocery store. You can use active dry yeast in place of the instant yeast in this recipe, just be sure to activate it in a small bowl with 2 Tbsp of warm water and 1 tsp sugar before adding it into the dough and allow the dough to rise for longer (active yeast takes longer to rise than instant).Making These Cinnamon Rolls in Advance
This recipe can be made the evening before and baked the following morning. You can refrigerate these cinnamon rolls after they have been cut in a greased or lined pan. Cover the cinnamon roll pan tightly with plastic wrap, making sure the seal is airtight. The morning you want to bake them, take them out 1-2 hours before you plan to bake them to let them warm up and rise a bit. Then follow the recipe instructions to bake in step 16.Nutrition
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I cannot wait to try this!! I literally read all the notes to make sure that I didn’t skip anything important. For sure this would be a hit!! Also will try this out with strawberries too. ?
Is it possible to make the blueberry filling with fresh blueberries? We just picked 12 pounds and I need to use them up
@Rachel, I just made this recipe last night with frozen blueberries and I would imagine you can use fresh the same way. For the jam, I put 600g blueberries, 400g sugar, and 1 TBSP lemon juice in a saucepan. Bring it to a boil, stirring occasionally, then leave it at a roiling boil for 15-30 minutes until it reaches the desired consistency. Make sure to stir frequently during that phase.
Here’s where I messed it up, though. I would highly recommend making that in advance so it has time to chill and set up in the fridge. I didn’t give mine enough time and it was a little too runny. The filling oozed out a bit during rolling and cutting. The rolls were still delicious, but it makes quite a mess and is less aesthetically pleasing.
Myeap, same happened to me!
I just made these last night and they are absolutely delicious! I ended up using blueberry preserves from Trader Joe’s instead of blueberry jam and it still turned out great. Thanks for the recipe, Chelsey! Please check out my cooking page that I posted the rolls on: @cookingwithreetz 🙂
The filling ingredients calls for 1/2 cup packed brown sugar. But then the instructions shows to add 1 cup packed brown sugar. To make sure I have my ratios correct for the filling, can you confirm which is correct?
@Allison, I was wondering the same thing but I’m pretty sure it’s 1/2 cup brown sugar. 1 cup seems like a lot with the blueberry jam but that’s just me.
OMGG. I’ve been following you on tik tok for like ever, and then I found this recipe. I made it for my family and we LOVEEEEE IT. Mine probably didn’t look as nice as yours ? but tastes amazing. Thank you for this luv, ur my fav baker.
If halfling the recipe do you half everything? How big does the rectangle need to be?
Mine came out mushy in the middle. I tried cooking them longer and the still seemed undercooked inside. I am sure it was some mistake I made. The rest of the rolls were phenomenal! I will definitely try this recipe again!
Your directions show 1/2 of powdered sugar for the icing but the recipe shows 1 1/2 cups. This site doesn’t respond to viewer comments often.
Hi DelBrie,
So sorry for any confusion! The recipe card is always the latest and greatest, so always follow that. Sometimes I’ll update recipes after a few years, but I’m not able to update the video! I currently respond to comments every week, so if you have any questions in the future please let me know 🙂