Blueberry buns, in various degrees of doneness

Post-rolling, the night before.



Post-baking, the morning of.



Post-icing, pre-eating.



Blueberry Buns

Dough:
6 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg, slightly beaten
zest of 1/2 lemon (you'll use the other half below)
3 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 cup whole milk or buttermilk, at room temperature*

* Forgot to check if we had enough milk before beginning this project at 10:00 p.m. We didn't. So I made do with 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup plain yogurt. Worked like a charm.

Filling:
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries*

* I started with 2 cups of frozen blueberries and then ran them briefly under hot water to remove any ice and speed up the thawing process.

Glaze:
3 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons plain yogurt
juice of 1/2 lemon
zest of 1/2 lemon

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the sugar, salt and butter on medium-high speed until smooth. Add the egg and lemon zest and mix until incorporated.

Add the flour, yeast and milk and mix until a dough begins to form. Switch to the dough hook and knead, on low, for about 8 minutes. The dough will be smooth and silky. (Aside: Annie notes that you may need to add a little extra flour or liquid to achieve this texture, but I lucked out with the measurements above.)

Lightly grease a large bowl with butter, transfer the dough to the bowl and turn once to coat the top. Cover with plastic wrap or a tea towel and let rise, in a warm spot, until double in size (about 2 hours).

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 12-inch by 14-inch rectangle. Sprinkle the sugar, then the cinnamon, then the berries evenly across the dough's surface. Starting with the narrow edge, roll the dough into a log. Pinch the seam shut and then roll the log so that the seam side is facing the counter. Slice into 9 pieces.

Instead of baking the rolls individually on a baking sheet, I jammed mine into a 9-inch square pan. It was cozy in that pan, let me tell you, but everyone managed to find a seat. Place each bun, cut side up, with larger buns in the corners and smaller ones closer to the centre. Cover with plastic wrap and place the pan in the fridge before you head off to bed.

When you wake up, remove the pan from the fridge and loosen the plastic wrap. Let the buns come to room temperature and proof (2-3 hours) before pre-heating your oven. (Aside: I noticed that my buns rose quite a bit overnight, so next time I am tempted to skip the "room temperature" step and head straight for the oven.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown. Let the buns cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. (Aside: Annie suggested a 20-30 minute baking time, but my "bun-based" approach seemed to take longer.)

While the buns are cooling, whisk the icing sugar, yogurt, lemon juice and zest together in a small bowl until smooth. Glaze the buns and then wait 10-15 more minutes, if you can, before digging in.

Yields 9 large buns.

Source: A slight variation on the Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls over at Annie's Eats, which Annie adapted from Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice.

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