Blueberry Lemon Cinnamon Rolls are soft, buttery, easy sweet rolls with fresh blueberries, cinnamon, and lemon zest with cream cheese icing.
This is a fresh twist on Classic Cinnamon Rolls full of refreshing flavor from the sweet berries and tangy lemon. It’s the perfect Breakfast Recipe to serve for a Birthday brunch, Easter, or any special occasion.
The simple addition of juicy blueberries and lemon zest makes these breakfast rolls completely different from regular cinnamon rolls. The citrus and sweet blueberries give a more complex taste with a nice tartness to it. Fresh fruit ingredients make a bright flavor that’s perfect for the spring and summer.
There’s nothing like waking up to enjoy Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls. To enjoy this recipe sooner, you can prep the dough in advance, and then just put the unbaked rolls in the fridge until morning. That way, you can just finish up the last few steps in the morning instead of having to wake up super early to make them.
After they’ve baked, the rolls are topped with Cream Cheese Frosting. Everyone is sure to love the combination of soft rolls with a gooey center, sweet blueberries, lemon, and rich frosting. It will wake you right up and have everyone starting the day in a great mood. If you want even more blueberry goodness, serve with some Fresh Blueberry Jam!
Cinnamon rolls can seem intimidating if you’re new to baking. Making the dough from scratch and rolling it out does take a little work. But, as long as you follow a few easy tips below you’ll get the perfect fluffy breakfast rolls every time!
More Cinnamon Roll Recipes
Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls (Copycat)
Slow Cooker Cinnamon Rolls
Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread
Slow Cooker Cinnamon Roll Casserole
Cooking Tips
- Warm Milk: When you heat the milk mixture be careful not to scald the milk. You only want it at 110 degrees, which is warm to the touch. Then you can add the dry yeast to the warm milk to make the yeast mixture.
- Dough: When you add the flour to the dough mixture, cover the stand mixer in a clean towel. Otherwise, the flour is likely to make a mess of the whole kitchen. Be careful not to add too much flour to the dough, or the rolls will turn out too dense.
- Shape and Fill: Roll the dough out on a floured surface. If you don’t have enough counter space, you can do this on 2 baking sheets. You still want to prep the surface with flour. When you add the filling use room temperature butter, not melted butter.
- Bake: Use cooking spray to prep a large baking dish so that the dough doesn’t stick to the pan. They only need 18-20 minutes of baking time. You can watch the oven as you bake rolls, and take them out as the edges are starting to become golden brown.
- Frost: Let the Blueberry Lemon Cinnamon Rolls cool for a few minutes as you make the cream cheese glaze. You can add frosting to the warm rolls and serve them while they’re still melty and gooey.
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VARIATIONS ON BLUEBERRY LEMON CINNAMON ROLLS
- Brown sugar: Instead of cinnamon, you can make sweet rolls with a brown sugar filling. Just sprinkle brown sugar in the filling instead of the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
- Glaze: Instead of the cream cheese frosting, you can top the Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls with a simple lemon glaze. To make the sweet glaze mix together 1 ¾ cup confectioners sugar, ¼ cup fresh lemon juice, the zest of 1 lemon, and 1 teaspoon melted unsalted butter. If the mixture is too thick, you could add a little bit of milk, or if you don’t mind adding some more sour flavor extra lemon juice. Drizzle the glaze over the cinnamon rolls and enjoy.
- Blueberry Pie Filling: Get even more blueberry flavor by topping the rolls off with blueberry filling. You can buy canned pie filling or make your own by adding 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, ½ cup water, ½ cup sugar, and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice to a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, then whisk 2 tablespoons water and 2 tablespoons cornstarch together. Mix in the cornstarch slurry in to thicken the sauce. Pour it over the rolls right before serving.
MORE BLUEBERRY RECIPES
Blueberry Crumb Muffins
Blueberry Crumb Bars
Blueberry Muffin Bread
Blueberry Banana Bread
How to Store
- Serve: You can keep these sweet rolls at room temperature for 2-3 days without frosting. Cover them in plastic wrap or tin foil to keep them fresh. Frosted rolls need to be refrigerated because of the cream cheese.
- Store: To refrigerate, place the rolls in an airtight container and store in the fridge for 1 week. Reheat them for a few seconds in the microwave or enjoy them cold.
- Freeze: Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls can also stay good in the freezer for up to 3 months in an airtight container. Thaw them in the fridge overnight and then reheat them in the oven on low heat for 10 minutes before serving.
Ingredients
Cinnamon Roll Dough:
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1/2 cup butter , room temperature
- 6 1/2 cups flour , divided
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 packets instant rapid rise yeast
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
For the Filling:
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup butter , room temperature
- 2 cups blueberries , halved
Cream Cheese Icing:
- 12 ounces cream cheese , (1 ½ packages) softened
- 1/3 cup butter , room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 5 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
Instructions
Cinnamon Roll Dough:
- In a small saucepan heat the milk and butter to 110 degrees (warm to touch).
- Into your stand mixer add the yeast and milk and whisk and let sit for 1 minute.
- Add 6 cups of the flour, sugar, salt, eggs and lemon zest to the stand mixer.
- PRO TIP: COVER YOUR MIXER WITH A CLEAN DISH TOWEL.
- Attach the dough hook and turn the mixer on speed 3-4 (low to medium).
- Let it go for 5-7 minutes, you want the dough to become a ball that doesn’t stick to the walls of the bowl.
- If you find sticking, add flour ¼ cup at a time until it pulls away (no more than another cup)
- Take the dough out, grease the stand mixer bowl and put it back in.
- Cover the dough with your dish towel you used to keep the flour in the stand mixer.
- Let sit for 10 minutes while you set the oven to preheat oven 350 degrees and you make the filling.
- In a medium sized bowl, mix the sugar and cinnamon.
- Using a large even surface, add ½ cup of flour and roll it out onto the surface to coat the rolling pin and the surface.
- Roll out the dough into a large rectangle about a ½ inch thick (if your space is limited do this in two halves).
- Spread the butter over the dough (use your hands) and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the butter.
- Sprinkle over the blueberries.
- Roll the dough tightly to form a long log and using a piece of thread slice off pieces.
- The dough will make 18 large cinnamon rolls.
- Place the rolls into buttered baking pans or jelly roll pan.
- Place the rolls into a warm place for 20 minutes (I have a second oven, so I heat it to warm when I start the recipe, then turn it off and open the door for a couple of seconds then close the door. The residual warmth is perfect for these rolls).
Cream Cheese Icing:
- In your stand mixer beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract until creamy.
- Add the powdered sugar, milk and lemon zest, beating until light and fluffy.
To Finish:
- Bake the rolls for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.
- Spread the cream cheese frosting over the rolls and serve warm or at room temperature.
Nutrition
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Made this recipe for the first time, with all the steps I made it the night before and baked the following morning. Allowed the rolls to sit at room temperature for approximately 3 hours before baking, not the greatest outcome. Flavors were there but was like eating a sweet bread rather than a cinnamon roll.
Some notes from the author would have been helpful, e.g “do not prepare night before and refrigerate”. Prep time, if you’ve never made cinnamon rolls before, tack on an additional 30 minutes. Not sure I’ll be making this again as I generally don’t have enough people in the house on a regular basis for 18 servings.