(Blue)Berry Sweet Rolls

Hello everyone! I haven't blogged in awhile. We've just been busy with life and spending much needed time with family. God has been so good and so faithful to us during this season of our lives. In mid April my dear cousin went home to be with the Lord. While we have been so comforted knowing that we will see her again we miss her dearly and know that her young children and husband miss her even more so. Please keep them in your prayers if you think of us! There's so much I could write about and tell you, but I'll save that for another post. For now I'll hold the memories and moments that God has carried us through close to my heart.

I think I mentioned on Facebook that  I have a fajita salad recipe/post coming up soon. I'll have that up probably next week. Until then, you must try these Blueberry Sweet Rolls. I have the blue in parenthesis because you can you any berry you like!

Blueberry Sweet Roll.

I have made three batches of these Blueberry Sweet Rolls in the past three days. Three. Once for DH's birthday. We (the children and I) ate most of them. So I had to bake him another batch, which of course the kids and I also shared. The third batch I baked for bible study, I'm happy to say I stayed away from them and didn't have a single one from that batch. They are really that good. I like these because they aren't overly sweet. They are a little tangy from the fruit and lemon. The dough is nice and soft. These rolls are a little dangerous because unlike a true cinnamon roll that's really sweet and decadent from the sugary filling these seem a little lighter and have fruit. That being said, eating a few rolls at one sitting still is not going to be good for you. I wouldn't judge you if you did though.

  

If you don't like cream cheese, you can use a simple powdered sugar glaze with lemon in it for these. But shame on you, just kidding. Seriously though, cream cheese is a gift.

It only takes about 90 minutes to make these Blueberry Sweet Rolls, since there's only one rise. The dough comes together very easily with pantry ingredients. I find that frozen berries work really well, and I always have those on hand for smoothies. You can use any berries you like, cut up strawberries, raspberries, black berries, a combination of berries. This recipe is also easily doubled. I have not frozen these rolls unbaked yet. I suspect they would freeze just fine before the rise. Just put them in the fridge to thaw. Before baking use the boiling water method that I noted at the bottom of the recipe to help the rolls rise.

 Here are some pictures from the last (doubled) batch of Blueberry Sweet Rolls that I made. I apologize for these pictures. It's been a while since I've taken pictures, and I'm using a very old laptop. I don't even know if the colors on MY screen are accurate, who knows what it looks like on your end!

See how this edge of the roll is pinched to seal? If you don't leave that edge of dough clear of the sweet filling, it will not seal for you. I promise. Ask me how I know. Actually, if you check my Instagram here, you'll see what I mean...  filling all busting out the sides. No good. You want to keep as much filling in there as possible.

Double batch of Blueberry Sweet Rolls ready for the oven.

I mentioned that this was a double batch right? Well that baking dish in the front there is smaller than 9x13 inches, so the poor rolls are already crowded. Take note, use a 9x13 pan, or the rolls will have no room to spread and the centers will have no where to go but up. Like in the next picture.

HAHA! It looks so funny. It's okay, we'll cover that right up with icing. However you can leave these plain and wait for them to go stale and make French toast, or bread pudding. That's when you make an extra pan, so you have extras!

How about that recipe now? 

(Blue)Berry Sweet Rolls

(About 90 minutes, 12 rolls)

Dough

3/4 cup (180 ml) milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
2-1/4 teaspoons instant yeast, one package
3-1/4 cups (405 grams) all purpose flour, plus more for rolling out dough
1/2 teaspoon (3 grams) salt
1/4 cup ( 60 ml) warm water
1 egg

Filling

2-1/2 cups blueberries, divided (frozen)
1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1-2 teaspoons MYO vanilla extract or paste
1/4 cup water
zest from one lemon (divided, use half for the filling and half for the icing)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1-2 teaspoons corn starch (optional)

Icing

1/2 block of cream cheese, softened (4 ounces)
4 tablespoons, 1/2 stick butter, softened
zest from half a lemon
1 teaspoon MYO vanilla extract or paste
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1-2 tablespoons milk
Pinch of salt, if using unsalted butter

1. Heat the milk until little bubbles form around the edge of the pan. Turn off the heat, stir in butter. Set aside.
2. In a big bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer, stir sugar, yeast, 2 cups of flour (a little over half the flour),and salt together.
3. Beat the egg into the warm water.
4. Stir milk, and egg mixture into the flour mixture. Stir.
5. Gradually add flour to the mixture until the dough comes together. Add more flour if needed, I've used up to 3/4 cup more flour depending on humidity and flour.
6. Once the flour comes together, knead it for about five minutes. I use my stand mixer, so I can prepare my filling while it kneads. 
7. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and let it sit for 15 minutes.
8. After fifteen minutes put the dough on a lightly floured surface. 
9. Shape the dough into a rectangle, then roll it out to a (approximately) 12x14 inch  rectangle. 
10. Spread the filling onto the dough, leaving about 2 inches of room on a 12 inch side plain so you can pinch the dough together. If you spread the filling over all the rough, it will not stay pinched.
11. Sprinkle the dough with the reserved frozen berries.
12. Roll the dough from the 12 inch side that has filling, and pinch at the seam when finished. 
13. With a sharp knife, cut the roll in half once, then cut each half into halves. Cut the pieces into three rolls. They should be about one inch thick.
14. Place each roll into a 9x13 inch baking dish that has been greased, or buttered. Put any berries that fall out over the rolls. 
15. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled. (See note below if it's cool in your home)
16. Preheat oven while the rolls are rising to 375 degrees F.
17. Bake the rolls for about 20 minutes until a little brown.
18. Once baked, let the rolls sit for about 10 minutes before icing them.

Filling:

1. In a small pan heat half of blueberries, the sugar, vanilla, and water.
2. Bring mixture to a boil.
3. Once the sugar is dissolved and the mixture has thickened slightly, stir in lemon zest, lemon juice
4. At this point if the mixture is not thick like a syrup you can use the corn starch to thicken it even more. I like my filling to be the consistency of a jam or thick syrup so it's easier to roll into the dough. 
5. Set the filling aside to cool in the refrigerator.
6.  The filling can also be made a day ahead and kept in the refrigerator. The longer it cools the thicker the consistency will be.

Icing:

1. Beat the cream cheese using a stand mixer or hand mixer.
2. Beat in butter, until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in lemon zest, vanilla, and lemon juice.
4. Slowly add powdered sugar until incorporated. 
5. Beat until fluffy, adding milk to desired consistency.

• Don't roll these too tight or the filling will ooze out, and the center of the rolls will pop up when in the oven.
• If it is cool in your home place a baking dish on the bottom rack of your (cold) oven. Place the uncooked rolls on an oven rack above the water, cover the rolls with a kitchen towel. Close the oven door to trap in heat and let the rolls rise according to the recipe directions. I use this method if my filling is very cold, or I add extra frozen berries also.
• Use any berries you like, raspberries, blackberries, or a combination.
• You might have noticed that I don't have weight measurements for the filling and icing ingredients, that's because I usually just eye ball the amounts for those. It's pretty fool proof.

 

Thanks for reading Give Peas A Chance!

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