Vegan Lemon Blueberry Rolls

Vegan lemon blueberry rolls - soft, sticky vegan sweet rolls filled with juicy blueberries and topped with a tangy lemon glaze. With step by step photos!

When recipe brainstorming recently, I realised that it had been quite some time since I last baked any bread (Easter to be precise with my chocolate orange hot cross buns). Obviously that had to be remedied and I have been really loving blueberries recently and thus these lemon blueberry rolls were born.

The rolls themselves are a soft, flavourful dough enriched with coconut oil, almond milk and lemon zest. They are filled with a mixture of fresh blueberries and blueberry jam for a deliciously sticky filling that isn't overly sweet; and the buns are topped with a drizzle of tangy lemon glaze.

They are totally vegan/dairy/egg free as I used coconut oil and almond milk in the dough rather than butter and dairy milk; but it is completely indistinguishable from non-vegan enriched bread dough and is just as soft and delicious.

The filling simply involves mixing some cornflour and lemon juice to a slurry then stirring in shop bought blueberry jam and fresh blueberries. I used St Dalfour wild blueberry preserve which contains no added sugar and is sweetened only with fruit juice concentrate.

As with most enriched buns, these are best eaten freshly baked, but will keep for up to two days in an airtight container.

How To Make Vegan Lemon Blueberry Rolls:

(For ingredients and full instructions see the recipe card below)

*For the best results make sure that you follow the recipe closely. As always, I highly recommend using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup conversions. Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough for baking and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them.*

Obviously you need to start by making your bread dough. Place the almond milk and coconut oil in a pan and heat gently until the coconut oil has melted. Remove from the heat and check the temperature; it shouldn't be so hot that you can't comfortably hold your finger in it, otherwise it can kill the yeast. If it is too hot then set it aside until it has cooled to lukewarm.

Meanwhile, place your flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Yeast doesn't like to touch salt directly so add them on separate sides of the bowl, then stir it all together and make a well in the middle.

Pour in the cooled coconut oil mixture and add the lemon zest, mix it all together with a wooden spoon until it comes together into a rough dough.

Tip it out onto an un-floured surface and give it a good knead for about 10 minutes. It should be sticky at first but become smooth and elastic as you knead it. A dough scraper comes in very handy here! You can also pop the dough in a stand mixer to knead instead if you prefer.

Once kneaded, shape the dough into a ball and place in an oiled bowl. Cover and set aside to rise for about two hours in a warm place, until doubled. You can also place it in the fridge to rise overnight if you like.

Punch down the risen dough and knead briefly to burst any big air bubbles then roll it out on a lightly floured surface to an approx 12x18inch rectangle.

To make the filling, stir together the cornflour and lemon juice in a bowl until smooth then stir in the blueberry jam and lemon zest followed by the fresh blueberries.

Spread the filling in a thin, even layer over the rolled out dough then carefully roll it up from one of the long edges into a sausage.

Use a sharp knife to carefully slice the log into nine pieces then arrange them cut side down in a 23cm/9inch square tin lined with baking parchment. This bit is quite messy so if you lose any filling just spoon it back into the rolls once they are in the tin.

Cover with clingfilm and set aside to rise for about 1 hour, until puffy. Bake the risen buns for 30-40 minutes.

Leave the lemon blueberry rolls to cool in the tin for a bit then carefully lift them out using the baking parchment and place on a wire rack. Drizzle with lemon glaze and dig in!

More Vegan Bread recipes:

• Vegan Hokkaido milk bread
• Vegan brioche
• Vegan banana bread cinnamon rolls
• Pumpkin bread rolls
• Vegan wholemeal maple cinnamon rolls

If you tried this recipe why not tag @domestic_gothess on Instagram and hashtag it #domesticgothess

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5 from 5 votes

Vegan Lemon Blueberry Rolls

Vegan lemon blueberry rolls - soft, sticky vegan sweet rolls filled with juicy blueberries and topped with a tangy lemon glaze.

Course Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine baking

Keyword rolls

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Resting time 3 hours hours

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 9 people

Calories 405kcal

Author Domestic Gothess

Ingredients

Dough:

• 250 ml (1 cup) unsweetened almond milk
• 50 g (¼ cup) coconut oil
• 450 g (3 + ¾ cups) strong white bread flour
• 10 g (3 tsp) fast action (instant) yeast
• 65 g (⅓ cup) caster sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• finely grated zest of 2 lemons

Filling:

• 2 tsp cornflour (cornstarch)
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 280 g (1 cup) blueberry jam/preserves
• finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• 300 g (2 cups) fresh blueberries not frozen

Glaze:

• 100 g (1 cup) icing (powdered) sugar
• 4 tsp fresh lemon juice

Instructions

• Place the almond milk and coconut oil in a pan and heat gently until the coconut oil has melted. Remove from the heat and check the temperature; it shouldn't be so hot that you can't comfortably hold your finger in it, otherwise it can kill the yeast. If it is too hot then set it aside until it has cooled to lukewarm.
• Meanwhile, place your flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Yeast doesn't like to touch salt directly so add them on separate sides of the bowl, then stir it all together and make a well in the middle.
• Pour in the cooled coconut oil mixture and add the lemon zest, mix it all together with a wooden spoon until it comes together into a rough dough.
• Tip it out onto an un-floured surface (you don't want to add extra flour and make the dough too dry) and give it a good knead for about 10 minutes. It should be sticky at first but become smooth and elastic as you knead it. A dough scraper comes in very handy here! You can also pop the dough in a stand mixer to knead instead if you prefer.
• Once kneaded, shape the dough into a ball and place in an oiled bowl. Cover and set aside to rise for about two hours in a warm place, until doubled. You can also place it in the fridge to rise overnight if you like.
• Punch down the risen dough and knead briefly to burst any big air bubbles then roll it out on a lightly floured surface to an approx 12x18 inch rectangle. If you are struggling to roll it out and it keeps springing back then let it rest for 10-15 minutes and try again.
• To make the filling, stir together the cornflour and lemon juice in a bowl until smooth then stir in the blueberry jam and lemon zest followed by the fresh blueberries.
• Spread the filling in a thin, even layer over the rolled out dough then carefully roll it up from one of the long edges into a sausage.
• Use a sharp knife to carefully slice the log into nine pieces then arrange them cut side down in a 23cm/9inch square tin lined with baking parchment. This bit is quite messy so if you lose any filling just spoon it back into the rolls once they are in the tin.
• Cover with clingfilm and set aside to rise for about 1 hour, until puffy. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Bake the risen buns for 30-40 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 94C/201F on a probe thermometer. Cover them loosely with tin foil partway through baking if the tops start to colour too much.
• Leave to cool in the tin for 30 minutes then carefully lift them out using the baking parchment and place on a wire rack.
  
• To make the glaze, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and gradually stir in the lemon juice until it forms a thick but pourable glaze. Drizzle the glaze over the tops of the buns and serve. Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to two days.