How do you make cinnamon rolls taste better? Answer – Blueberries!
If you happened to catch my IG stories over the weekend, you may have caught a glipse of me making these Bluberry Cinnamon Rolls. I was bummed because I had been planning to make these for a little while and then totally forgot to grab one of the ingredients. My husband (who was very excited to try these) was kind enough to run out and grab my missing piece. I’m so glad he did because these turned out to be SO GOOD! They are definitely an indulgence, and I will admit that I ate one straight out of the pan.
Ingredients and Substitutions for Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls
- Yeast
- milk
- Sugar
- butter
- salt
- eggs
- flour
- brown sugar
- cinnamon
- powdered sugar
- cream cheese
- vanilla extract
- blueberries
How to Make Homemade Cinnamon Rolls with Blueberries
(full recipe card below)
How to Mix the Dough
- Dissolve the yeast in milk with 1tsp of your sugar. Let it sit until the mixture begins to foam. It will be about 5 minutes.
- Add in the remaining sugar, butter, salt, eggs, and flour.
- Mix until a dough forms.
- Grease a large glass bowl, and place the dough inside. Cover completely and set in a warm place in your kitchen. Allow it to rise for 1 hour or until it doubles in size.
Rolling the Dough
- Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl until it makes a fine sand.
- Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface until it reaches about 15” x 12”. You want it to be about 1/4” thick.
- Spread your softened butter over the surface and then sprinkle with your cinnamon sugar mix.
- Spread your blueberries evenly throughout.
- Tightly and carefully, roll your dough up into a tight roll.
Cutting the Dough
- Cut the dough into 1 1/4”-1 1/2” slices.
- Place the cinnamon rolls into a greased 13” x 9” baking dish.
- Preheat your oven to 350F.
- Cover the rolls loosely with a kitchen towel and allow them to rise for about 30 minutes (until they double in size)
- Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until they are cooked through and just starting to brown.
How to make Homemade Icing for Cinnamon Rolls
- Mix together the icing ingredients with an electric mixer until it is creamy and smooth.
- Once the cinnamon rolls have come out of the oven, place the icing on while they are still hot.
- If you’d like, you can also top with additional warmed blueberries.
What is cinnamon roll icing made of?
Cinnamon roll icing is made of a combination of cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, and salt.
Can you buy icing for cinnamon rolls?
Yes, Pillsbury makes a cinnamon roll icing that’s sold in containers in the cake frosting section of most grocery stores.
How long does cinnamon roll icing last?
Cinnamon roll icing, when stored properly, lasts up to 4 days in the refrigerator.
Tips for Amazing Blueberry Rolls
- If the yeast does not foam after about 5 minutes, you need to throw out the batch and start over with new yeast. It means it did not activate and it will not rise.
- If you want to help the dough rise quicker, you can warm your oven to 200F and then shut it off and leave the dough in there. It will rise quicker than at room temp.
- The additional warmed blueberries on top are completely optional. They still taste great without them!
Storing Blueberry Rolls
Blueberry Rolls are best stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Rather than just covering the baking dish in the refrigerator, remove them and place them in a separate airtight container. They’ll stay fresher longer.
Can Blueberry Sweet Rolls be made ahead of time? Do they freeze well?
Absolutely. You can make them up until you put them in the baking dish. You can place them in the fridge, covered and let them rise in the fridge overnight. You can also freeze them. You would do the same as the fridge method, except cover them tightly and place them in the freezer. When you wanted to make them, allow them to thaw and then rise at room temp for about 30 minutes.
Blueberry Cinnamon Roll Variations and Flavorings
There’s several ways you can customize your blueberry cinnamon rolls.
- Replace the blueberries with a different berry (think raspberries, blackberries, or strawberries).
- Add nuts – pecans and walnuts would both taste great.
- Instead of adding blueberries on top, you could make a blueberry compote to drizzle.
- Omit the cream cheese topping and add a caramel style drizzle instead.
FAQs for Blueberry Cinnamon Roll Bake
Cinnamon buns are usually covered in a caramelized topping with nuts. Cinnamon rolls are topped with a cream cheese based frosting. Another notable difference is that when baking cinnamon buns, the technique used is often to flip them upside down out of the pan so that the glaze from the bottom of the buns is on top.
Blueberries and cinnamon are excellent together. The sweet blueberries pair perfectly with the warm cinnamon spice. It’s even better with warmed blueberries.
Blueberry Cinnamon Roll Bake is excellent on it’s own, but if you want a little extra protein, I recommend serving it with bacon or sausage. They’re also excellent paired with your favorite cup of coffee or hot cocoa.
Berries of all kinds go really well with cinnamon rolls. Blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, and raspberries all taste great with cinnamon rolls.
Interested in Similar Recipes? Try one of these:
Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 1/4 tsp active yeast
- 1 cup milk warmed to 105-110F
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup butter softened
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 4 cups all purpose flour
Filling
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3 tbsp cinnamon
- 3 tbsp butter softened
- 1 cup blueberries
Icing
- 6 tbsp butter softened
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup cream cheese
- 1 tsp vanilla
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Dissolve the yeast in milk with 1tsp of your sugar. Let it sit until the mixture begins to foam. It will be about 5 minutes.
- Add in the remaining sugar, butter, salt, eggs, and flour.
- Mix until a dough forms.
- Grease a large glass bowl, and place the dough inside. Cover completely and set in a warm place in your kitchen. Allow it to rise for 1 hour or until it doubles in size.
- Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl until it makes a fine sand.
- Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface until it reaches about 15” x 12”. You want it to be about 1/4” thick.
- Spread your softened butter over the surface and then sprinkle with your cinnamon sugar mix.
- Spread your blueberries evenly throughout.
- Tightly and carefully, roll your dough up into a tight roll.
- Cut the dough into 1 1/4”-1 1/2” slices.
- Place the cinnamon rolls into a greased 13” x 9” baking dish.
- Preheat your oven to 350F.
- Cover the rolls loosely with a kitchen towel and allow them to rise for about 30 minutes (until they double in size)
- Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until they are cooked through and just starting to brown.
- Mix together the icing ingredients with an electric mixer until it is creamy and smooth.
- Once the cinnamon rolls have come out of the oven, place the icing on while they are still hot.
- If you’d like, you can also top with additional warmed blueberries.
Notes
- If your yeast does not begin to foam after 5 minutes, you need to throw it out and start over. It means the yeast is bad and did not activate.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
SO GOOD! I made these for my first Mother’s Day hosting my mom and MIL to meet my new baby. I got so many compliments that I decided to make them again for our church group and everyone loved them there as well! I proofed them overnight in the fridge instead of making everything in the morning and it work excellently!
Can I make these the night before and bake them in the morning?
Yep! You can make them the night before. Just make them up until you’ve rolled them and placed them in the pan. Then cover them and put them in the fridge overnight. Take them out in the morning and let them sit at room temp while the oven preheats. Then bake them as normal.
This looks amazing!! Always looking for a new crowd pleaser breakfast idea. Can’t wait to try this out!!