Lemon-Blueberry Sweet Rolls start with a soft, sweet dough, are filled with lemon-infused sugar and blueberry filling, and then are topped with a sweet lemon glaze.
Lemon-Blueberry Sweet Rolls
I make and eat cinnamon rolls so often at home that a few weeks ago, I decided it was time to switch things up. After a couple of weeks of testing and perfecting, Lemon-Blueberry Sweet Rolls finally hit the table—and my boys haven’t let me go back to plain cinnamon rolls since!
These sweet rolls are a game-changer! They’re sweet, buttery, tart, and bursting with fresh, juicy blueberries. To top it off, they’re covered in a sweet-tart lemon glaze that makes every bite vibrant and irresistible.
Ingredients
- Whole Milk: Use whole milk; lower-fat milk may give less tender rolls.
- Active Dry Yeast: Leavens the dough, making it rise.
- White Granulated Sugar: Sweetens the dough and feeds the yeast.
- Unsalted Butter: Cool the butter to room temperature to avoid killing the yeast.
- Vanilla Extract: Use pure vanilla for the best flavor.
- Egg Yolk: Use extra egg white in Meringue Cookies.
- All-Purpose Flour: Avoid over-flouring to keep the rolls soft; the dough should be slightly sticky.
- Fine Sea Salt: Balances sweetness and enhances flavor.
- Lemon Zest/Juice: Rubbing zest into sugar releases more flavor.
- Fresh Blueberries: Pat blueberries dry to prevent sogginess.
- Heavy Cream: Keeps the rolls extra moist during baking.
- Frosting/Glaze: Adjust lemon juice for a thinner or thicker glaze.
Quick Tip
Activated yeast forms a bubbly foam on the surface. If there’s no foam, start over, or the rolls will be dense. Yeast often fails to activate due to old yeast or overly hot milk.
How To Make Lemon Blueberry Sweet Rolls
- Make Dough: Heat the milk, mix in the yeast, then combine with butter, sugar, vanilla, egg yolk, flour, and salt.
- Knead & Rise: Knead until smooth and a little sticky. Let it rise until it doubles.
- Prep Filling: Spread butter on rolled-out dough. Mix sugar with zest and juice, then sprinkle it over the butter. Add blueberries on top.
- Roll & Slice: Roll dough into a log, cut into pieces, and place in greased pan. Let rise.
- Bake: Brush warm heavy cream over the rolls and bake.
- Glaze: Stir together glaze ingredients. Spread the glaze on the warm rolls.
Quick Tip
Humidity, altitude, and other factors can play a huge role in dough structure; you may need an extra 1/4 cup to 3/4 cup extra flour! Add flour gradually (and slowly) until the dough gathers around the dough hook and can be kneaded into a ball without being too sticky.
Lemon Blueberry Sweet Roll Tips
- Sweet rolls take time, even with hands-off steps. Rising and baking times vary with altitude, humidity, and more.
- You might need more or less flour. Add 1/4 to 3/4 cup slowly until the dough is slightly sticky and forms a ball.
- Use a ceramic or glass pan to avoid a metallic flavor from the lemon.
- You’ll need a stand mixer; a hand mixer won’t work.
Storage
Leftovers?
Keep leftovers in a sealed container on the counter for 1-2 days or in the fridge for 5 days. Microwave for 10-15 seconds to warm.
Freeze unglazed rolls in a sealed container or wrapped in plastic and foil for up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight, then warm and glaze.
More Baked Treats
- Peanut Butter Brownie Bites with a chocolate ganache topping
- Chocolate Muffins Costco copycat
- Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats with chocolate cereal
- Edible Cookie Dough with food-safe flour
- Simple Hawaiian Roll Cinnamon Rolls
Lemon-Blueberry Sweet Rolls
These soft, sweet rolls have a lemon-sugar and blueberry filling and a sweet lemon glaze—pure deliciousness in every bite!
Equipment
- Medium pot
- stand mixer
- 9 x 13-inch baking pan glass or ceramic
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 1 cup whole milk I wouldn’t recommend a lower fat
- 2-1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast not instant
- 1/3 cup + 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar divided
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled to room temperature
- 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour plus additional flour if needed
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
For the Filling
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large lemon
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- 1/3 cup heavy cream slightly warmed
For the Frosting/Glaze
- 1 large lemon
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter melted
- 1-3/4 cups powdered sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Make the Dough
- Heat the milk in a medium pot over low heat until it reaches 100°F. Remove from heat and add the yeast and 1/2 teaspoon sugar. Give it a quick stir. Let sit until foamy, about 5–10 minutes. (If the mixture doesn’t foam, you may need new yeast, or too-hot milk could have killed the yeast. Start over or the rolls won’t rise).
- While the yeast is proofing, melt the butter and let it return to room temperature. Once cooled, whisk in vanilla extract and egg yolk until smooth. Pour this mixture into the base of a stand mixer along with the remaining 1/3 cup sugar. Pour the activated yeast and milk mixture into the bowl of the stand mixer. Mix everything until combined. Add flour and salt on top.
- Mix on low speed with the dough hook until thick and slightly sticky (~2 minutes), scraping the sides with a spatula as needed. Knead on medium speed until the dough gathers around the hook, (~5–6 minutes). If the dough is not gathering around the hook, you can slowly add additional flour (1/4 cup up to 3/4 cup extra). You want the dough to be slightly sticky and tacky. Resist the urge to add too much additional flour, as this will take away from the softness of the dough, but the dough should gather around the dough hook and not stick to your fingers.
- Remove the dough and shape it into a ball (it will be a little sticky!). Grease the mixing bowl with cooking spray or butter and return the dough to the bowl, turning to coat with the spray or butter. Cover with plastic wrap or a towel and let rise until doubled. This takes roughly 45 mins to 1 hour 15 minutes. Placing the dough in a warm (but not too warm) environment will make it rise a bit faster.
- Lightly flour a clean surface and roll out the dough. Try to get a rectangle shape that is approximately 15 x 12 inches (with the 15-inch side facing you). Avoid overworking the dough.
For the Filling
- With a table knife, spread the butter evenly over the dough (leaving a 1-inch border on the dough). In a small bowl, combine sugar and lemon zest of 1 lemon (about 1 tablespoon). Rub together with your fingers until fragrant and zest is broken down. Add 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice and mix. Sprinkle this lemon sugar over the butter. Sprinkle and gently press the blueberries evenly over the lemon sugar mixture.
- Using a very sharp knife (I use a bread knife), cut the roll of dough into 12 equal slices and place (cut side up) in a well-greased 9×13-inch ceramic or glass pan (avoid metal pans if possible; metal pans will sometimes make the sweet rolls taste metallic and react with the acid).
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Cover the rolls in the pan and allow them to rise until nearly doubled, about 20–30 minutes.
- Warm the heavy cream for 15–20 seconds in the microwave (not hot, just not cold/straight from the fridge).
- Using a pastry brush, brush the heavy cream over the risen rolls and allow it to soak in and around the rolls.
- Bake sweet rolls at 375°F for 30–35 minutes, until rolls are lightly golden brown at the edges and the centers are cooked through.
For the Frosting/Glaze
- While the rolls are cooling, prepare the glaze. Whisk together the lemon zest of a lemon (about 1 tablespoon), 3 tablespoons lemon juice, melted butter, powdered sugar, and salt.
- Allow sweet rolls to cool at room temperature for 5–10 minutes, then spread the glaze evenly over the rolls. Enjoy warm!
Video
Recipe Notes
Storage: Store leftovers in a sealed container for 1–2 days or in the fridge for 5 days. Freeze unglazed rolls in a sealed container or wrapped in plastic and foil for up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight, then warm and glaze.
Nutrition
Serving: 1Sweet Roll | Calories: 379kcal | Carbohydrates: 63g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 50mg | Sodium: 161mg | Potassium: 106mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 39g | Vitamin A: 421IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 38mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These look amazing! Can I use frozen blueberries? Would I need to do anything different?
Edit cinnamon rolls #6. Can you replace or reduce sugar?
I wouldn’t recommend replacing. You can reduce if you’d like but they won’t be as sweet or flavorful
Chelsea,
These lemon rolls are fabulously paired with blueberries. Loved reading your entire post. Awesome clicks and your step-by-step instructions are very helpful. My girls will fancy making this after I handover your recipe to them. Thanks!
Hasin
I am so happy to hear this Hasin! Thanks so much for your comment! 🙂
Blueberries are a forever favorite! My mouth is watering already!
🙂