Mixed Berry Sweet Buns

I recommend these sweet buns when you want something special for breakfast or brunch. They’re made with a yeast dough filled with lemon and cardamom sugar and topped with mixed berries. These breakfast rolls get an extra sweet surprise with lemon cream cheese glaze. These are the ultimate lemon rolls for spring and summer.

Making soft, fluffy sweet buns from scratch may take some planning, but isn’t it ALWAYS worth the effort? This recipe is a good one because the sweet roll dough is super easy to work with, and after the first rise, you roll it out and sprinkle it with the lemon sugar filling and fresh berries. Gild the lily with a tangy sweet lemon cream cheese glaze. These sweet, tangy, gooey, lemon blueberry sweet rolls are perfect for weekend brunching.

I’ve got a few go-to recipes for sweet buns that only come out a few times a year, and everyone anticipates them, like these orange rolls or these cinnamon walnut raisin sticky buns. When I make a batch of breakfast rolls, the family knows it’s a special occasion.

Why you’ll love this recipe:

• These blueberry sweet rolls are like nothing you’ve tried before, loaded with fresh mixed berries and a sweet lemon cardamom filling.
• The lemon cream cheese glaze is irresistible.
• The yeast dough is easy to work with.
• Use any berries you like for the filling.

Nothing makes people happier than when you pull out a big platter of homemade sweet buns. The luscious fillings, the sweet glaze — they’re like a siren call to even the most curmudgeonly folk.

These tempting lemon rolls with purplish berry filling are perfect for Spring and Summer. I can think of several holidays that call for a showstopper dish like this one. Easter comes to mind… and Mother’s Day. Father’s Day. 4th of July….

Serve them with eggs and bacon with a side of fruit, but I guarantee these lemon sweet rolls will be the show-stopping centerpiece of your breakfast or brunch.

Ingredients For Sweet Roll Dough

• All Purpose Flour
• Sugar
• Yeast
• Nonfat Dry Milk (I used powdered Carnation)
• Salt
• Large Egg + Water To Measure 1 Cup
• Vanilla
• Butter

The basic sweet roll dough is adapted from the King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion Cookbook.  What I like about this sweet roll dough is it’s VERY straightforward.  All of the ingredients go into a bowl, it gets mixed and you let it rise. Easy.

Making Sweet Roll Dough

1. Measure out the dry ingredients and add them to a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer.
2. Crack an egg into a one cup glass measure.
3. Fill the remainder of the measuring cup with water until it measures one cup.
4. Add the vanilla and butter to the bowl and mix in the stand mixer or by hand until you have a soft, smooth dough.
5. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean dish towel to rise until doubled in size (about 1 to 1 ½ hours).

While the dough is rising, make the luscious lemon and berry filling.

Ingredients For Lemon Berry Filling

• Softened Butter (for spreading on the dough)
• Sugar
• Lemon Zest
• Cardamom
• Powdered Vanilla (optional)
• Mixed Berries

Cardamom is a subtly sweet spice with a floral flavor and aroma making it the perfect choice for the lemon berry filling in these sweet buns.

Cinnamon would overpower the delicate flavors where cardamom doesn’t.

I also use powdered vanilla in the recipe.  Vanilla extract won’t work in this application, so you can skip it if you don’t have any.  But if you do — you definitely want it.  It adds warmth and roundness to the buns, so they’re not overly tart.

Prepping Lemon Berry Filling

1. Leave the butter on the counter to come to room temperature. The butter will be spread over the sweet roll dough before adding the lemon sugar.
2. Make the sweet filling by combining the sugar, lemon zest, cardamom and powdered vanilla in a bowl and mix until you have a sandy-looking mixture. Set aside.
3. Rinse the berries and cut them into small bite-sized pieces.  Blueberries generally don’t need to be cut, but strawberries can be pretty big. Chop the fruit so they are about equal in size.

When the sweet roll dough has risen, punch it down and roll it out on a lightly floured surface.

You want to get it to about 11″ x 20″ or if you’re limited on counter space, like I am, you can roll out two sheets of dough into 11″ x 10″.

Note: if you’re new to working with pastry, this might be easier to manage, anyway.

Filling the lemon sweet rolls

1. Spread the softened butter in an even layer over the pastry, leaving one inch uncovered on the long side facing you. {I use a large, offset spatula for this.}
2. Sprinkle the lemon sugar filling evenly over the butter layer.
3. Evenly distribute the berries over the sugar.
4. Carefully fold the long side over and roll the dough into a cylinder. Finish with the seam side down.
5. Use a sharp knife to cut the dough into equal-sized pieces.  {The easiest method is to cut the dough in half, then cut each half in half and so on. Each piece should be about 1 to 1 ½” wide.

Baking The Sweet Rolls

1. Place the lemon berry sweet buns into a prepared baking pan (works well in a 13″ x 9″ pan or two 9″ cake pans).
2. Cover with a dish towel to rise for an hour.
3. Bake until lightly golden brown. If your oven has hot spots, rotate the rolls halfway through baking to ensure even cooking.

For the glaze

While the breakfast rolls are in the oven, make the lemon cream cheese glaze. This sweet-tart topping is the perfect gooey crown for the rolls. Lightly sweet with just enough tang to know that “it’s lemon,” this glaze is thick, but not too thick. It’s pourable and spreadable.

1. Use a hand mixer to beat the room-temperature cream cheese until it’s smooth and creamy.
2. Add the lemon juice and powdered sugar and beat again until smooth. Set aside.

When the blueberry breakfast rolls have cooled, turn them onto a serving or cake platter and pour the lemon cream cheese glaze evenly over the top.  Use an offset spatula to gently spread the topping over the rolls so that it oozes over the sides.

Variations:

• Use other fresh berries like raspberries or blackberries.
• Skip the fruit and make lemon rolls for a bright citrus-forward flavor.
• Substitute lemon for lime or calamondin for a fun twist.

These breakfast rolls won’t last once they’re served. Guaranteed.

I shared this batch with my landscapers, who installed a new Sylvester palm tree in my front yard (it took a heavy piece of construction equipment and five guys to get the behemoth into the spot). During a break, I set out a platter with the sticky buns and asked for their honest feedback.  There wasn’t a crumb left on the plate, if that tells you anything.

FAQs

More sweet bun recipes you’ll love:

• Apricot Almond Fruit Pastry
• Raspberry Almond Cream Cheese Braid

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