Whole Wheat Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls (a Rosebud Remix)

 

Consider this the remix of an old, classic song.

Or, just as my way to get rid of all the half-used bags of whole wheat pastry flour in my pantry.  I mean, seriously.  My inventory-taking skills when it comes to my baking products/canned goods/non-perishable food supply is somewhat lacking.  You would think that I would check to see if I have these things before I head to the store where inevitably (and certainly, if a commonly-used product is on sale), I will end up with yet another bag of something that I might eventually bake with, forgetting that I already have, like, three other of the same types of bags in the pantry already, all opened and half-gone.  This was how it was with the whole wheat pastry flour.  (The tiny bags of powdered sugar are the worst, though.  Right now I have at least four of them in there, waiting to be used. *shamefully hanging my head*)

All right.  On to the Rosebud Remix.  You know how close I am with my family.  And you might know how amazing my two late grandmothers were in the kitchen and how blessed our family is with the gifts they left us of their homemade recipes.  If I ate meat, I could cook you (from scratch) homemade chicken and dumplings, biscuits and gravy, and a mean pot roast with my eyes closed.  When I ate meat, I ate these things consistently, being a “wholesome Midwestern girl.” (Ha.)

In a way, though,  I miss those things.  I’ve come up with a decent vegetarian biscuits and gravy since (although, I have to admit I now have a better version that my future brother-in-law asks for whenever I am in town…maybe when I’m feeling a little in need of major comfort food, I’ll share it here with you.)

But Rosebud, the mother of my mother, was the bread-maker.  I’ve got her sticky buns, her white bread (one of the best things about life, I think), and her wheat bread.  And her original cinnamon rolls (which was one of my earliest posts.)

But the other morning, realizing that I had a surplus of blueberries and whole wheat pastry flour and a mean craving for a cinnamon roll (so that I could sit, legs propped on my coffee table, with a coffee and the second book of the Game of Thrones series for maybe six hours), I decided to adapt her recipe for a somewhat lighter and healthier version.  Now, there’s still sugar and butter and a creamy sweet glaze, but I still wanted my cinnamon roll to taste like a cinnamon roll…or else, what’s the point?  I wasn’t sure if it would work, but it did.

So here it is…a Rosebud Remix.

 

Whole Wheat Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls (a Rosebud Remix)

Servings: 18-24, depending on how big you make your rolls

 

Ingredients

For the rolls:

4 and 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

3/4 cup warm water, plus an additional 1 cup of room temperature water

1 and 2/3 cup skim milk

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon salt

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

9-10 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1/4 cup butter (4 tablespoons), melted

1 egg

For the filling:

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 cups fresh blueberries

For the glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons skim milk

1 pinch of salt

 

Instructions

1. For the rolls: Add the yeast to  3/4 cup warm water, set aside and let sit for about 5 minutes, or until foaming.

2. While the yeast is dissolving, mix the additional 1 cup of water, milk, sugar, salt, and 3 tablespoons softened butter in a mixer fitted with the dough hook until smooth.

3. Add the dissolved yeast solution to the mixer, mixing on low speed until combined.

4. Add 5 cups of pastry flour, mixing until smooth.

5. Mix in the remaining flour (I used only 9 cups total) and knead (with the mixer) using the dough hook on low speed for 10 minutes.  You want the dough to form a nice ball that pulls away from the sides of the mixer.  Add more flour if you need it.

6. Remove the dough from mixer bowl and place in greased bowl; cover with a towel.

7. Let the dough rise for about 1 and 1/2 hours in a warm place, covered, or until doubled in size.

8.  After the dough has doubled in size, punch it down to remove excess air and roll out in a long rectangle: approximately 12×36″.

9. Brush the rectangle with the melted butter.

10. For the filling: In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar and cinnamon.

11. Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar evenly over the dough.  Lightly press the fresh blueberries into the dough in an even layer.

12.  Roll up the dough tightly to form a cylinder shape and cut  in 1 and 1/2-inch slices.

13. Spray a large pan (I used a roasting pan) with cooking spray.

14. Place the slices into a large pan and cover; let rise until double (about another hour).

15. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

16.  In a small bowl, whisk the egg and brush lightly over the surface of the rolls.

17.  Bake the rolls for approximately 25 minutes or until the tops of the are golden.  Let cool slightly before glazing.

18.  For the glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, vanilla, milk, and salt until smooth.

19. Drizzle the glaze over the tops of the cinnamon rolls.

 

 

Source:  A Curvy Carrot original.