Blueberry Cream Cheese Sweet Rolls
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Simple Pleasures
These sweet rolls are bursting with blueberry flavor in each bite! They’re filled with a spread of cream cheese and a homemade blueberry compote where you can see the whole blueberries on it, making these perfectly satisfying and not overly sweet. A pretty purplish cream cheese icing bring these to a whole new level! Oh, and these are perfectly made the day before, another big yes for these soft gooey rolls!!
Sweet rolls is something we can crave most mornings. Pretty sure you can crave them too. I love the idea of just grabbing a piece of something for breakfast without too much thought, but still being something so delicious that will make you smile! Any messiness or sticky fingers won’t matter, just the idea of connecting with a simple pleasure, even if for only a few minutes before starting the day. Those minutes stay in your heart and help you carry on with anything that comes up!
Even though you have to roll up your sleeves and roll out the dough to make these rolls, you’ll have a sweet breakfast bursting with blueberry flavor for the days ahead. That’s because they will stay soft and fresh for a long time, making these rolls recipe perfect for making overnight.
You can make the blueberry compote and the cream cheese glaze many days in advance. It will actually be better for the recipe, and let’s face it, less that chaotic for you!
Why are fresh rolls good the next day?
There are different ways to keep rolls good and fresh for the next day, but for me the best way is using the tangzhong method. If you have made yeasted dough recipes from me then you already know this (ok, ok, you can move on to the next paragraph). This is a method where you cook some of the flour with water until a pudding like consistency, helping the dough retain more moisture for longer.
This, plus not over baking are two keys in having sweet rolls that are super soft, fluffy and never stale when baking overnight.
The details and steps for making Blueberry Cream Cheese Rolls
I happened to have some blueberry compote from my Blueberry Heart Shaped Doughnuts when I made these, so by then the compote had been hanging in my fridge for a few weeks. Exhibit A that you can make this part in advance! It is done in less than 10 minutes from start to finish.
You’ll need a bit of the blueberry compote for making the cream cheese glaze, so it would be better to make the glaze at any moment after making the compote. It can be done 1 or 2 days ahead.
For making the sweet dough, you should start by mixing the flours, then take out 3 tablespoons and mix with ½ cup of water to make the sponge as stated in the recipe below (tangzhong).
While the sponge is cooling down, gather the rest of the ingredients. I sometimes put it in the fridge and stir it every 5 minutes or so until it looses the heat.
Next you will mix everything according to the steps below to make the dough. The mixer does the hard work for you!
Put the dough to rise in a warm area. Treat it nicely and wrap it with a cozy throw blanket, cardigan or kitchen towel. She would love that and rise beautifully!
While the dough is rising, take out the cream cheese that’s going to be used for the filling. Not that I need a reason to add cream cheese to anything, but here it works as a layer that will help in preventing the dough from absorbing some of the liquids of the filling. Also, take out the blueberry compote so it’s spreadable.
When ready, stretch the dough, spread the cream cheese and the blueberry compote on top. Not gonna lie, it’s a bit messy when rolling the dough and cutting the rolls because the compote will stain everything. But it’s just a matter of handling the rolls carefully. I used a small spatula to help me in transferring the cut rolls to the baking dish.
Let the rolls second proof for about 30 to 45 minutes, until they look puffy and have grown about half its original size. This could take less time if you spent a long time cutting the rolls.
While the rolls are proofing, preheat oven to 400°. And no, they are not going to bake at that temperature! But I’ve been having great results when baking yeasted dough with this tweak of preheating the oven to 400° and then dropping the temperature to 350°. The high temperature helps the dough have a nice last expansion, allowing heat to travel better through the center, baking the rolls properly without over-baking.
After the rolls and your oven have cooled down, store the rolls in it overnight, NOT in the fridge. The next morning take them out of the oven and preheat your oven to 300°. You are going to warm the rolls for about 10 minutes, just enough for making the cream cheese glaze oozy.
If not making that morning, take the glaze out of the fridge as soon as you open your eyes. That way it will be soft enough to spread over the rolls.
Because of the cream cheese, glazed rolls can be out for one day. After that, store them in the fridge and reheat in a countertop or regular oven. You can always glaze just the rolls you are going to serve that day.
How to reheat glazed rolls
This is my trick when reheating rolls that have already been glazed. You don't wan’t to expose the cream cheese glaze to heat because it will melt.
I cut the glazed top of the roll as thin as possible. Then I place the roll in a 325° oven and warm for 7 to 10 minutes, you will have to check on them. When they are on that last minute, open the oven and place the glazed tops on top of each roll and let them get warm for the remaining time. If you happen to have some leftover glaze, warm it up in the microwave and pour over warmed rolls.
What you’ll need:
Lately I have been making the case for a good reliable kitchen scale. It’s really the best way to make a recipe using the exact amounts I used. This kitchen scale is the one I have, it’s fully digital and has the tare function! This allows you to bring the scale to zero and keep measuring and adding ingredients in the same bowl. No need to transfer or use different bowls for each ingredient.
It’s way easier to use a long straight rolling pin because the dough will be perfectly leveled.
An offset spatula to spread evenly the cream cheese.
A round white baking dish. You can use a squared white baking dish as well.
3 recipes I think you’ll love if you’re loving this one:
Golden Rum Raisin Cinnamon Rolls
Almond Sweet Rolls with Honey Caramel Glaze
Blueberry Heart Shaped Doughnuts
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Feeling this recipe as the perfect way to kickstart spring! I promise you won’t be disappointed. The effort is totally worth it! Making them can be a nice way to spend some fun time with the people you love. My favorite simple pleasure!
If you make them don’t forget to take a pic, flaunt it with everyone and tag me on Instagram @devamadeo or Facebook @DevAmadeo. See you on the next one!
(Remember to leave your email when you make a comment to receive a notification as soon as I get back to you. Don’t worry, this will not add your email to my email list.)
Blueberry Cream Cheese Sweet Rolls
Ingredients
Blueberry cream cheese filling
◯ Cold water – ½ cup, 118g
◯ Cornstarch – 1 TBSP, 8g
◯ Blueberries – 2 cups, 248g
◯ Raw sugar – ⅓ cup, 67g
◯ Freshly squeezed lemon juice – 2 TBSP, 20g
◯ Cream cheese, softened - 4 to 6 oz., 112g to 168g
Sweet dough
◯ Unbleached all-purpose flour - 2 cups, 290g
◯ Unbleached bread flour - 2 cups, 290g
◯ Water - ½ cup, 118g
◯ Butter - 8 TBSP, 113.5g, melted and cooled down
◯ Buttermilk, at room temperature - ¾ cup, about 182g
◯ Fine sea salt - 1 Tsp, 6g
◯ Eggs, large and preferably organic and cage free - 2
◯ Natural granulated sugar - ½ cup, 105g
◯ Instant yeast - 1 packet, 11 g
◯ Vanilla extract - ½ Tsp
◯ Extra butter to grease the pan
Cream Cheese glaze
◯ Cream cheese, softened but not warm - 4 oz, 112g
◯ Confectioner’s sugar, sifted - 2 cups, 250g
◯ Butter, softened - 4 TBSP, 57g
◯ Blueberry compote - 1 to 3 Tsp, from the filling recipe above
Note: If not using a scale, spoon and level your measuring cup, never overpack it with flour.
Details
Yield:
about 8 to 10 large rolls
Total time:
4 hours, including proofing times
Active time:
10 minutes for preparing the dough ingredients, 5 minutes for making the blueberry compote, 10 minutes for making the cream cheese glaze
Baking time:
20 minutes
Equipment:
stand mixer, medium baking dish, rolling pin
Steps:
Blueberry filling:
In a small saucepan combine the water with the cornstarch and dissolve. Incorporate the rest of the ingredients and turn the heat on in medium heat. Let it boil, then cook for 3 to 4 extra minutes, until you see the liquid is thickening. Retire from heat and let it cool.
This can be made a few days ahead and will be good in the fridge for weeks.
Take the cream cheese out when rising the dough for the rolls.
Making the dough:
In a large bowl mix the 2 cups of all purpose flour with the 2 cups of bread flour.
In a measuring cup mix ½ of water with 3 tablespoons of the flour mixture. Heat in the microwave until you have a smooth pudding-like paste. Start with two 15-second intervals and keep heating in 10-seconds intervals if necessary to prevent scorching the mixture. Set aside to cool down.
With a paper towel oil with vegetable oil the inside of a large bowl. Place parchment paper on baking tray (see notes above) and butter it well.
In a mixing bowl pour the 8 tablespoons of melted butter, the ¾ of buttermilk and mix the teaspoon of fine sea salt. Add the 2 eggs, the ½ cup of sugar, the instant yeast, the ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract and the cooled down sponge. Mix using the whisk attachment.
Pour 3 cups of the flour and mix until combined. Switch to the hook attachment and add the remaining flour. Knead in medium-slow speed (#2 in the Kitchen Aid) for 10 minutes. Dough should not stick to the walls but it will stick to the bottom. Transfer to oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and loosely wrap bowl with a puffy kitchen towel or throw blanket. Place in a warm area of your home where there is no air draft (I always place it in my nightstand besides my bed and close the door). Let the dough rise and double in size, about 1 ½ to 2 hours.
Stretching and making the rolls:
When the dough is ready, dust with enough flour a clean flat surface. Punch the dough (it will deflate) and turn it out over the surface. Dust flour over your rolling pin and over the dough, making sure the corners and all dough areas do not feel tacky. Using your hands (you may dust and rub some flour into them as well) stretch the dough into a rectangle as much as you can. Then roll it into a rectangle of approximately 20” x 18”, dusting more flour on your rolling pin and over the dough as needed.
Spread the softened cream cheese, leaving clear about ¼” of all four borders. Next spread the blueberry compote over cream cheese area with small and gentle strokes to prevent dragging it.
Working from the longest side, pull up the dough and roll into a log as tight as you can. To prevent ruining the sugar mixture, I like to pull up the dough and kind of drop it over it instead of rolling in a pushing-forward motion. Pinch the seam at the end and, if not already, accommodate it below the log. Using a piece of dental floss or a very sharp knife cut rolls into 1 ½”.
Remember, this process can be a bit messy because of the consistency of the filling. You can use a small spatula to help you pick up each roll after you cut it.
Transfer each roll to a prepared baking tray or dish, leaving some space between them. Loosely cover with plastic paper again or a kitchen towel. Wrap again with a piece of thick cloth and put them again to rise until puffy and almost double in size, about 30 to 45 minutes. (Note: if you see bubbles forming on the surface of the dough, they could be over proofing and it’s time to bake them.)
When approaching the last 20 minutes of proofing, preheat oven to 400°.
Baking the rolls:
When ready to bake, place roll in the preheated oven. Wait 1 minute and drop temperature to 350°. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until top is golden brown and the center looms matte and not shiny. If the rolls still look a bit raw but they’re turning dark brown, cover with aluminum foil during the last 5 minutes of baking. Try to not bake over 22 minutes. They will still keep cooking a bit after you take them out.
If making the day before:
Take out rolls and let them cool down completely (let the oven cool down completely as well). After that, let the cooled down rolls in the cooled down oven, covered with a kitchen towel.
The next morning take the rolls out of the oven and preheat it at 300°.
Place rolls in the oven (or just the rolls you are going to eat) and warm them for about 7 to 10 minutes. Pour glaze over rolls. Decorate with tiny pieces of pistachios, almonds or more blueberries. Serve warm.
Rolls with cream cheese icing should be in a dry cool place for up to 1 day. After that they should be in the fridge.
See notes above on how to warm already glazed rolls.
Making the cream cheese glaze:
Place cream cheese in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer and using the whisk attachment or the beaters if using an electric hand mixer, beat it in medium-slow speed, just until light and airy with no large lumps.
Start adding the confectioner’s sugar, waiting until an addition is incorporated before adding more. Scrape down the bowl to make sure all the cream cheese is incorporating well.
Add the softened butter, about a tablespoon at a time.
Add about 1 teaspoon of the blueberry compote and mix. Add a bit more for a more saturated color. Make a last addition and stop the mixer for a kind of swirled look.
As always, if glaze is to runny add a bit more of sugar; if it’s too stiff add a bit of liquid like drops of lemon juice or a milk. You can always check my guide on how to make a simple glaze.
Spread glaze over warmed rolls.
