Jess In Retrospect: yummy blueberry buns

Blueberry Buns

It's finally feeling autumnal guys! While I'm typing this it's grey and rainy outside and I'm on my sofa all cosied up with my cup of tea - I'm loving it :) The colder weather definitely always inspires me to bake (and eat) lots of sweet treats so this week I wanted to share my recipe for blueberry buns with you. These make your whole apartment smell amazing and bring a little fruity twist to your regular cinnamon buns :)

Here's what you'll need:

for the filling:

● 175g blueberries (frozen)

● 3 tbsp sugar

● pineapple juice

● 2 tbsp cornstarch

● some lemon juice

for the dough:

● 2 cups of milk

● 1/2 cup sunflower oil

● 1/2 cup sugar

● 3 tsp dry yeast

● 4 cups of flour

● 1/2 cup of flour

● 1/2 packet of baking powder

● pinch of salt

extras:

● cinnamon (optional)

● sugar

Let's start by making the filling. First off, defrost your blueberries. Make sure you catch all the lovely blueberry juice in a container while doing this. Once your berries are defrosted, mix the blueberry juice with enough pineapple (or other tropical) juice to make about 1 cup of liquid. Add the starch to it and make sure it's properly dissolved.

Meanwhile put your blueberries in a small pot with the sugar and some lemon juice, mix well and bring to a boil, then add the starchy liquid and boil down to a thick, jam-like consistency. Set aside to cool down completely.

In another pot bring the milk, oil and sugar to a boil (be careful and watch this like a hawk as the milk boils over soooo quickly!) then leave this to cool down until tepid then add the yeast and leave the mixture to work for about 30 minutes.

After that, add the milk mixture into a big mixing bowl with the four cups of flour and knead well. The dough will still be quite sticky, dont worry about it, we're gonna add some more flour later. Cover your dough and leave to rise in a warm place for about an hour - the dough should have risen considerably by then.

While you wait for your dough, mix 1/2 a cup of flour with 1/2 a packet of baking powder and a pinch of salt. Add this to your dough after it has risen and knead well. If your dough is still super sticky, add a bit more flour as you go.

Half the dough and roll it out on a floured surface. You want it to be a thin rectangle shape. Spread half of the blueberry filling onto your dough then sprinkle generously with sugar and cinnamon. Start rolling from the small side so you get quite a few swirls in :) With a sharp knife/ bread knife cut the roll into slices of about 4-5cm. Add your slices to a greased oven dish.

Repeat with the second half of the dough and the rest of the filling.

Leave the buns to rise once more for half an hour in a warm place. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 180°C. Finally, bake your blueberry buns for 15 - 20 minutes.

Et voilà! Perfectly fluffy blueberry cinnamon buns for the win :) If you fancy it, you can add frosting on top as well but I didn't go for it this time :) Let me know what you think about this recipe. Will you try it?

Lots of Love,

Jess xx