We all love cinnamon rolls, but these blueberry cinnamon rolls take this home cooking classic to the next level. It's simple, delicious and fresh take on your childhood classic.
The base recipe is adapted from The Joy of Cooking's recipe for cinnamon rolls with some tweaks to make these modern and refreshing.
Contents
Ingredients & Substitutions
Don't be overwhelmed by the long list of ingredients. Many of the ingredients are repeated through multiple steps of the recipe. There's only 13 unique ingredients and most of them other than the cream cheese, lemon and blueberries are household staples.
Substitutions
Vegan Cinnamon Rolls? Although I've never made cinnamon rolls vegan, I 100% trust Minimalist Baker and here is her recipe. Add the blueberries before baking on the filling and then make the berry sauce as written in my recipe and add it to her sauce.
Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls? This recipe from Mama Knows Gluten-Free is a great base to work off. For this recipe, you can use my blueberry frosting and blueberry filling recipes as is with the dough recipe from Mama Knows Gluten-Free.
Frozen vs Fresh Blueberries - If needed, you can use frozen blueberries for both steps of the dish. If you're going to use frozen berries, make sure that you thaw them by running them under lukewarm water and then drying them completely.
There are some ingredients you can leave out if needed - if you don't have a lemon you can skip the zest and juice in the blueberry sauce. Replace it with an equal amount (1 tablespoon) of water instead of lemon juice and prepare as normal. I like the addition of lemon juice and zest because I don't like overly sweet desserts.
If you don't want to use blueberries, you can make this recipe as normal cinnamon rolls but then it's essentially just the classic recipe from the Joy of Cooking.
How-To & Time Saving Tips
The Dough
In a stand mixer with a dough hook, add in ¼ cup of water and 2 ¼ teaspoons of active dry yeast. Let sit until the yeast is bubbly - about 5 minutes.
Add in the ½ cup of All-Purpose Flour, ⅓ cup Sugar, ¼ cup milk, 2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 1 teaspoon of salt. Mix on low speed until completely combined and then gradually add in 2 - 2 ¼ cups of All-Purpose Flour. Mix for 1 minute or until the dough has come together.
Once mixed, let the dough stand for 15 minutes, then knead on medium-low speed for 5-7 minutes, until the dough is smooth, elastic and no longer sticks to hands.
TIME SAVING TIP! While your dough is resting, you can wash the dishes you've made so far and wipe down the stand mixer. We're also done with the milk, eggs, flour and yeast - so put those away to clean up your work station.
Add in 6 tablespoons of unsalted butter (85g) that's very soft. Knead the butter into the dough until it's smooth and not slimy. Transfer to a large greased bowl and cover with a towel. Let it rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 ½ hours.
The Filling & Assembly
While the dough is almost done rising, in the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together 1 stick of Unsalted Butter (115g), ½ cup of packed Brown Sugar, 1 tablespoon Ground Cinnamon and ¼ teaspoon of Salt. Set the filling aside.
Grease a 13x9 inch baking dish. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a 16 x 12 inch rectangle. Spread the dough with the filling and place 1 cup of Fresh Blueberries over the filling.
Starting with the long side, roll up the dough into a tight cylinder. Cut cross-wise into 12 equal slices. Place the cinnamon rolls cut side up in the buttered baking dish and let rise for 1 hour while covered with plastic wrap or a towel or in the refrigerator overnight.
Once ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake the cinnamon rolls for 25-30 minutes if they're room temperature or for 40-45 minutes if baking straight from the refrigerator. Let cool on a cooling rack for 15 minutes.
Frosting
TIME SAVING TIP! While the buns are baking, combine 1 cup of Fresh Blueberries, 2 tablespoons White Sugar, ½ tablespoon of Lemon Zest and 1 tablespoon of Lemon Juice in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook over medium heat until the blueberries have burst and the sugar has melted. Set aside to cool.
In a food processor, combine 4 ounces of Cream Cheese, 3 tablespoons Unsalted Butter, 1 teaspoon of Vanilla, 1 ½ cups of sifted Powdered Sugar until smooth. Once combined, add in the cooled blueberry sauce and process until smooth.
Once the buns are cooled, spread the blueberry cream cheese frosting over the cinnamon buns. Serve warm.
Tips for Perfect Results Every Time
The best way to make sure you have perfect results from any recipe is to read the recipe over at least once in full before you start to make sure you have all the ingredients and that you know when you'll be multi-tasking (if you want to save time).
This recipe isn't hard and has very little hands on time but the resting time totals about 2 and a half hours - make sure that you've set aside enough time to finish the recipe.
Make sure you properly knead and rise your dough! The key to delicious and fluffy cinnamon buns is just enough kneading and proper rising time. Here's a guide on how to know when dough is properly kneaded.
This recipe makes more frosting than you need - don't throw away the excess. It's delicious as a fruit dip but it also freezes well! Store it for your next batch (or just halve the recipe). If you love frosting and sweets, you can put it all on but it really does make quite a bit.
It's important to use your judgement when deciding the rolls are done. A good time estimate is 25-30 minutes if room temperature or 40-45 minutes if coming right from the refrigerator. They should look golden brown like the image below.
Store leftover blueberry cinnamon buns in an airtight container on the counter for up to 5 days.
Yes! You can store the frosting and buns separately, and when you're ready to eat them, just bake them at 350 until thawed. Alternatively, you can store the frosted buns in the freezer and let them thaw and then blitz them in the microwave for 10-30 seconds.
If you like your cinnamon rolls warm (who doesn't?) you can either microwave them for 10-20 seconds or you can throw them in the air fryer for a few minutes. You can always throw them in the oven, too, but I find that dries them out.
Yes - if you want a head start on cinnamon roll baking, you can follow the steps up until just before the second rise. You can complete the second rise in the fridge overnight and then bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown.
Want more delicious dessert recipes?
Matcha Banana Bread
White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
Apple Dapple Cake
Dalgona Matcha Latte
Egg White Oats
Did you try this recipe?
Let me know how it turned out by leaving a review below! If you loved it, be sure to leave a 5 star review, and if not, let me know how I can improve it for the future!
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Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Dough
- ¼ cup Warm Water
- 2 ¼ teaspoons Active Dry Yeast
- ½ cup All-Purpose Flour
- ⅓ cup White Sugar
- ¼ cup Milk 2%
- 2 Eggs Large
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 2 cups All-Purpose Flour up to 2 ¼ cups if needed
- 6 tablespoons Unsalted Butter room temperature
Filling
- 1 stick Unsalted Butter softened
- ½ cup Brown Sugar packed
- 1 tablespoon Ground Cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup Fresh Blueberries
Blueberry Frosting
- 1 cup Fresh Blueberries
- 2 tablespoons White Sugar
- 1 Lemon
- 8 ounces Cold Cream Cheese cubed
- 6 tablespoons Unsalted Butter softened
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla
- 3 cups Powdered Sugar
Instructions
Dough
- In a stand mixer with a dough hook, add in ¼ cup of water and 2 ¼ teaspoons of active dry yeast. Let sit until the yeast is bubbly - about 5 minutes.
- Add in the ½ cup of All-Purpose Flour, ⅓ cup Sugar, ¼ cup milk, 2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 1 teaspoon of salt. Mix on low speed until completely combined and then gradually add in 2 - 2 ¼ cups of All-Purpose Flour. Mix for 1 minute or until the dough has come together.
- Once mixed, let the dough stand for 15 minutes, then knead on medium-low speed for 5-7 minutes, until the dough is smooth, elastic and no longer sticks to hands.
- Add in 6 tablespoons of unsalted butter that's very soft. Knead the butter into the dough until it's smooth and not slimy. Transfer to a large greased bowl and cover with a towel. Let it rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 ½ hours.
Filling + Assembly
- While the dough is almost done rising, in the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together 1 stick of Unsalted Butter, ½ cup of packed Brown Sugar, 1 tablespoon Ground Cinnamon and ¼ teaspoon of Salt. Set the filling aside.
- Grease a 13x9 inch baking dish. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a 16 x 12 inch rectangle. Spread the dough with the filling and place 1 cup of Fresh Blueberries over the filling.
- Starting with the long side, roll up the dough into a tight cylinder. Cut cross-wise into 12 equal slices. Place the cinnamon rolls cut side up in the buttered baking dish and let rise for 1 hour while covered with plastic wrap or a towel or in the refrigerator overnight.
- Once ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake the cinnamon rolls for 25-30 minutes if they're room temperature or for 40-45 minutes if baking straight from the refrigerator. Let cool on a cooling rack for 15 minutes.
Frosting
- While the buns are cooling, combine 1 cup of Fresh Blueberries, 2 tablespoons White Sugar, ½ tablespoon of Lemon Zest and 1 tablespoon of Lemon Juice in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook over medium heat until the blueberries have burst and the sugar has melted. Set aside to cool.
- In a food processor, combine 4 ounces of Cream Cheese, 3 tablespoons Unsalted Butter, 1 teaspoon of Vanilla, 1 ½ cups of sifted Powdered Sugar until smooth. Once combined, add in the cooled blueberry sauce and process until smooth.
- Once the buns are cooled, spread the blueberry cream cheese frosting over the cinnamon buns. There will be frosting left over - place as much frosting as you like and freeze the frosting for your next batch. Serve warm.
Love how vibrant that blueberry frosting is! Can't wait to try this soon!
It really does sell the dessert! Thanks, Michelle!
OK. I'm off to get blueberries RIGHT NOW so I can make this amazing dish! I can't wait to try this amazing dish!
Thanks so much, Jenn! Hope you love it 🙂
I have blueberries in my fridge I need to use up asap! Now I know what to bake with them. 😉
No better use for them in my books 😉
This is so perfect!! Love the frosting! So pretty and delicious!
Thank you so much, Toni!
What gorgeous cinnamon rolls! I would never have thought of doing the blueberry icing -- so delicious and yum!
Thanks so much Patty!