Homemade Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls

These delicious blueberry cinnamon rolls consist of a soft fluffy dough, filled with cinnamon sugar and blueberry jam filling, and topped with a blueberry cream cheese frosting. 

I love a good cinnamon roll. And I love fruit in a cinnamon roll - perhaps this began with my love of Chelsea buns or Apple Cinnamon rolls. So it only made sense to take classic cinnamon rolls fill them with a sweet blueberry filling, and top them with a blueberry glaze. 

These cinnamon blueberry rolls are a great addition to a weekend brunch or special occasions.

Recipe Development Notes

When I first started looking at making a blueberry cinnamon roll, I knew I wanted to keep the traditional cinnamon-butter-sugar filling and add in juicy blueberries. But just adding in blueberries would probably not work, and I wanted a recipe that could be made throughout the year. 

This meant I needed to make a sweet blueberry filling that could be made from fresh or frozen blueberries. So I started with the blueberry compote I made for my New York Cheesecake, reduced the sugar content, and added in corn starch to thicken it up.

I also wanted to top these blueberry cinnamon rolls with a blueberry glaze or a blueberry cream cheese frosting, but I also didn't want it to be overly sweet, so I tweaked my regular cream cheese frosting and dropped the amount of icing sugar to my taste. 

Ingredients

Here are notes on the ingredients used, please refer to the recipe card for full quantities.

• Blueberries - fresh blueberries or frozen for the blueberry jam filling or thick blueberry sauce. I like to use frozen as they are convenient and typically better priced than fresh, and available year round. 
• White sugar sweetens the blueberry jam. If you want to decrease the sugar content I wouldn't drop it below 25 grams or 2 tablespoons. You can always taste the jam before you add in the corn starch to gauge if it needs the additional 25 grams or 2 tablespoons. White sugar also gives the bread dough a touch of sweetness and kick-starts the yeast during the blooming process. 
• Corn starch thickens the blueberry sauce, making sure it doesn't just sit in the bottom of the baking dish. 
• Lemon juice adds just a little bit of brightness to the blueberry filling and is used to dissolve the cornstarch before adding to the hot sauce. 
• Butter is used for the bread dough to add richness and flavor, and in the cinnamon sugar filling, as well as for the cream cheese frosting. I use New Zealand butter, which is similar to European butter. Use room temperature butter for the dough and frosting. 
• Brown sugar for the cinnamon filling gives it its sweetness. You can use light brown sugar or dark brown sugar.
• Plain flour (all-purpose flour/standard grade flour) refers to flour that has a protein content of approximately 9.5-12%. I find that all-purpose flour works perfectly well for sweet rolls. You can use bread flour for these rolls, however I like the softness that the all-purpose flour gives these blueberry rolls. 
• Active dry yeast is used as the leavening agent for these yeasted sweet rolls. It can be replaced with instant yeast. 
• The egg adds richness to the bread dough. I use a size 6 egg, which is a medium US/European egg, or a large Aus/SA egg. 
• Milk also adds richness to the bread dough. I typically use whole milk or full-fat milk, but you can get away with a lower-fat version. 
• Cream cheese (I use Philadephia block cream cheese, full-fat) for all my cream cheese frostings.
• Icing sugar, powdered sugar, or confectioner's sugar for the frosting or icing. 
• Ground cinnamon for the cinnamon filling. This is the main driver behind the cinnamon roll flavor. I also like to add just a touch of mixed spice to give depth to the flavor. This is an optional extra and can be substituted with a pumpkin spice mix.

Reduced-Sugar Variation

This cinnamon roll does contain a fair amount of sugar. But since I knew that going in, I knew I wouldn't want to add too much sugar to the blueberry jam filling. Which is why it only contains a quarter cup.

If I was going to drop or reduce the sugar content then I would cut the sugar in the jam to 25 grams or 2 tablespoons, and only make half of the blueberry frosting.

Small-Batch

For a small batch of rolls - to make only 6, simply half the recipe using the "½x" button on the recipe card. Keep in mind that you will need a much smaller baking pan. For half batches of cinnamon rolls, I use my 26 cm x 18 cm (10"x 7") casserole dish.

Make Plain Blueberry Rolls

If you want a plain blueberry roll, you can skip out the cinnamon sugar filling. But I would increase the sugar in the blueberry jam to 75 grams or 6 tablespoons.

Step-By-Step Instructions

Blueberry Jam Filling

Step 1 - Combine the blueberries and sugar in a medium-sized pot. Cook the blueberries over medium-high heat for 20 to 30 minutes. Or until a spoon or rubber spatula leaves a nice thick line in the bottom of the pot when dragged across the bottom. 

Step 2 - Stir together the cornstarch and lemon juice, then pour into the blueberry mixture. Pour the lemon-cornstarch mixture in, and stir through. Cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes until the jam is nice and thick. 

Step 3 - Pour the blueberry jam filling into a heat-proof container and allow it to cool completely.

Cinnamon Sugar Filling

Step 4 - Melt the butter (either in a heat-proof container in the microwave or on low heat in a small saucepan). Stir the brown sugar and cinnamon sugar through the melted butter until well combined. Set aside. 

Blueberry Cream Cheese Frosting

Step 5 - In a large mixing bowl, beat together the room-temperature cream cheese and butter until they are well mixed and there are no lumps of cream cheese or butter in the mixture. Add in the blueberry jam filling, then beat together until well combined. Add in the icing sugar and beat together until combined. The cream cheese frosting will be soft. Set aside. 

Top Tip - Make the blueberry jam filling, the cinnamon sugar filling, and cream cheese frosting a day or two before you make the rolls. Simply store them in airtight containers in the fridge.

Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls

Step 5 - Heat the milk until lukewarm. Either in a small heat-proof container in the microwave or in a saucepan on the stove over low heat. Add the white sugar and yeast to the warm milk. Stir together. Allow the yeast to bloom for 5 to 10 minutes. The milk yeast mixture is ready when it is foamy and/or releasing gas bubbles. 

Step 6 - In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl, stir together the flour and salt. 

Step 7 - Add the egg, room temperature butter, and milk yeast mixture to the flour mixture. Using the dough hook attachment, knead the dough until you hit the window-pane stage, scraping down the sides of the bowl a couple of times if needed. The window pane stage is reached when you can take a small ball of dough and stretch it between your fingers until you can see light through it and it doesn't tear easily.

Step 8 - Transfer the bread dough to a large bowl that has been lightly greased with a neutral vegetable oil. Cover the bowl in plastic wrap or cling film or a clean kitchen towel. All the dough rises in a warm spot for 1 to 1.5 hours or until the dough has doubled in size. 

Top Tip - If you have stored the cinnamon sugar and blueberry jam filling in the fridge, take them out of the fridge now while the dough is rising. This will allow them to come to room temperature and will make spreading the fillings easier. If the cinnamon sugar is still a bit hard, pop it in the microwave for 10 second intervals. We just want to warm it up and not melt it.

Step 9 - Grease and/or line a 13 x 9-inch baking dish with baking paper or parchment paper

Step 10 - On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out into a large rectangle using a rolling pin. About 40cm (16 inches long) by 23cm (9 inches). 

Step 11 - Spread the cinnamon filling mixture over the bread dough using the back of a spoon, a palette knife, or an offset spatula until it covers all the dough, leaving a border of 1.5cm or ½ an inch.

Step 12 - Repeat the process with the blueberry jam filling. Remember to keep aside 2 tablespoons if you haven't yet made the frosting.

Step 13 - Along the long end, starting with the side closest to you, roll the dough into a tight log. Using a sharp serrated knife, cut into 12 equal pieces. Alternatively, you can slice the dough into 12 equal strips along the long end. Roll each strip up. Place the rolls cut side up into the prepared baking dish. 

Top tip - you can also use unflavored floss to cut the rolls, once the dough has been rolled into a log, slide a long piece of the floss under the dough. Cross the edges over each other and then pull tightly.

Step 14 - Cover the baking dish with plastic wrap, cling film or a clean kitchen towel. Set aside in a warm place for the second rise. This will take about 20 to 40 minutes.

Step 15 - While the dough rises, preheat the oven to 180°/355°F. 

Step 16- The dough is ready to be baked when you gently press the dough and an indent forms that slowly bounces back half the way. 

Step 17 - Bake the cinnamon blueberry rolls for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven or until beautifully golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow the rolls to cool slightly while you make the frosting. 

Step 18 - Drizzle or spread the cream cheese frosting or spread it over the top of the warm rolls. Allow to cool before serving.

Expert Tips For This Recipe

• You can make the blueberry filling, cinnamon filling, and cream cheese frosting the day before you make the blueberry cinnamon rolls. 
• The cornstarch must be mixed into the lemon juice before being added to the sauce, if not it will just form lumps and not dissolve properly. 
• Use a room-temperature egg for the dough. If you need to bring the egg to room temperature quickly, simply pop it into warm (but not hot) water for 15 minutes. 
• I recommend using a stand mixer when making the dough, however it can be done by hand. This will take a decent amount of kneading. You might be tempted to add more flour to make it easier to knead, try to not add too much. You may also want to knead the dough for several minutes before adding in the room temperature butter one piece at a time, then kneading through the dough. 
• The dough is finished kneading when you can pull a golf ball size of dough and gently stretch it between your fingers without it tearing quickly. You should be able to stretch the dough until you can see light through it. 
• Make sure your oven is fully preheated before popping the rolls in. The heat is required to boost the yeast into action which allows the bread dough to rise during the baking process. 
• Use a kitchen scale to weigh out your ingredients - this is the most accurate way to bake. However, if you don't have a scale, make sure you fluff up the flour, then scoop it into the measuring cup with a spoon before leveling off.
•  If using a fan-forced or fan-assisted oven, the temperature needs to be decreased by 20°C or 25°F. The same if using an air-fryer. 

Storage and Freezing

These cinnamon blueberry rolls can be stored in an airtight container, in the fridge for a week.

These cinnamon blueberry rolls freeze really well. Simply place them in an airtight container, and freeze them for up to a month. Allow the frozen rolls to thaw in the fridge overnight before serving.

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