Lemon Blueberry Poppyseed Streusel Cinnamon Roll

Lemon brioche, poppyseed cream cheese, lemon blueberry compote and buttery streusel, this Lemon Blueberry Poppyseed Streusel Cinnamon roll is perfect for brunch!

Can you make this Cinnamon Roll in advance?

If you want to bake it the night before, you definitely can; just make sure to let it cool completely and then wrap it up in plastic. However, it is best fresh so, you can make the dough the night before. Then wrap it in plastic on a quarter sized baking sheet and leave it in the fridge overnight. In the morning shape the roll and then bake it!

Do you have to grind poppyseeds?

Especially in German baking it is common to either grind or cook (or both) poppyseeds in order to allow them to release their flavor. I use an old small coffee grinder/spice grinder to blend them up. A large blender will have a hard time blending the smaller amount of poppyseeds.

What is streusel?

There are many types of streusel but it is usually made from butter, sugar, flour, vanilla and salt. It’s often found on top of a coffee cake or a muffin and in German baking it can be found on many pastries.

What pan should be used for a giant cinnamon roll?

This giant cinnamon roll can be baked in either a tall sided springform pan, a cast iron dutch oven or a large cast iron pan. For it to look exactly like the photos you’ll want to use a 9″ springform pan like this one. I don’t recommend using a glass pan as it will affect the way the dough bakes.

You may also like…

• Cinnamon Roll Wreath
• Chocolate Cinnamon Roll
• Lemon Poppyseed Bun

Tips for making a Lemon Blueberry Cinnamon Roll

• Make sure the egg and butter for the dough are both at room temperature and make sure the salt doesn’t directly touch the yeast.
• To cut down on time in the morning, I recommend making the dough the night before. Once the dough is fully kneaded and wrapped up on the quarter sized baking sheet, it can be kept in the fridge for anywhere from 1 hour to overnight. In the morning take the dough out of the fridge and continue with assembling!
• This dough takes a while to knead and it is quite soft. Don’t be scared to turn up the speed a little once it has come together but know that it will take a bit and it’s ok if it’s still a bit sticky once done kneading.
• When making yeasted dough, ensure that you allow your mixer to fully knead the dough, until it forms a smooth ball and the sides of the bowl are cleaned. This will happen twice while kneading the dough, once before the butter is added and once after.
• When rolling out the dough, try to make it as rectangular as possible. This will help when it comes shaping and cutting the twist. I use a bench scraper to keep reshaping into a rectangle as I roll it because it can be tricky to reshape at the end.
• Once you start rolling up the strips of dough, move quickly and don’t stop. It’ll get a little messy but don’t stress, just keep calm and carry on.
• If you are baking this in a cast iron pan, the roll will spread more but it will still be delicious!
• Depending on where the heat in your oven comes from, make sure to bake the babka in the middle. If you have heat coming from the top and bottom make sure to place it just below the center rack.

Ingredients

• Lemons: Lemon zest and and juice are in most elements of this cinnamon roll. I recommend using medium/large juicy lemons. If yours feel a bit small or dry don’t be afraid to add a little more.
• All Purpose Flour: Any all purpose flour will work for this! I have not yet tried any other flours with this recipe.
• Sugar: This recipe uses granulated sugar in the dough, filling and the streusel. There is also powdered sugar in the lemon glaze.
• Yeast: In this recipe, instant yeast is used. However, if you are using active dry, simply whisk it in with the warm milk and let it sit for 10 minutes first and then add in the remaining ingredients.
• Salt: Fine sea salt is used to balance out the sweetness and enhance the flavors.
• Milk: The dough use milk as the liquid in the dough; however, it will also work with non-dairy milks such as almond milk.
• Eggs: I use standard large eggs from the store. There is one whole egg in the dough.
• Butter: The butter is used in the dough and the base for the streusel! I recommend Kerrygold salted butter for this.
• Vanilla: A little vanilla extract is used in the dough and the streusel to enhance the flavors.
• Cream Cheese: This recipe uses cream cheese in the filling and I love it but there aren’t really great substitutes. However, if you can’t find cream cheese I recommend doing about 2/3 of the filling from this Lemon Poppyseed Twist.
• Blueberries: I like to use frozen wild blueberries for the topping of this twist. That being said any frozen blueberries will work and fresh will work too!
• Poppyseeds: Poppyseeds add a bit of a deep nutty flavor to the filling of this cinnamon roll. I recommend buying them from a bulk store or this package online as buying them from the spice section can be a bit pricey.

How to make a Lemon Blueberry Poppyseed Cinnamon Roll

Lemon Brioche

• In the bowl of a stand mixer, add in the sugar and the zest of a lemon. Rub the zest into the sugar with your fingers until combined and fragrant.
• Add in the flour and yeast, and whisk to combine.
• Sprinkle in the salt. Then add in the egg and warm milk.
• Use a dough hook to knead everything together on medium low speed for 15 minutes until the dough has smooth edges and the bowl is clean.
• Add half of the butter in and knead again until incorporated (about 5 minutes). Add in the second half of the butter and knead once more until smooth. The dough should pass the window pane test *see notes section for more info.
• If baking same day, keep the dough in the bowl and cover with a lid or plastic wrap and place somewhere warm to rise.
• If prepping the dough the night before, line a quarter sized baking sheet with a sheet of plastic wrap. Shape the dough into a rough rectangle that is about an inch thick. Top the dough with another sheet of plastic wrap.
• Place the dough on the sheet pan into the fridge overnight.

Lemon Blueberry Compote

• In a medium pot, add in the frozen blueberries and lemon juice. If using fresh, cover the pot with a lid so the blueberries can break down before burning.
• Place the pot over medium heat and cook down, stirring occasionally until a bit thicker and reduced. The bubbles will look a bit thicker rather than the small foamy ones you see at the beginning. This usually takes a solid 10 minutes and the compote should weigh 250-260 once cooked down.
• Once thick, remove the pot from the heat and transfer to a shallow large bowl to cool down.

Poppyseed Cream Cheese Filling

• Grind the poppyseeds in a spice grinder until they begin to kind of clump together.
• In a medium mixing bowl add in the cream cheese, sugar, salt, lemon zest, lemon juice and poppyseeds.
• Beat or stir to combine. You don’t need it to be light and fluffy just completely mixed.

Streusel

• In a medium bowl, add in the very soft or melted butter. Then add in the sugar, vanilla, and salt and use a fork to mix until combined.
• Add in the flour and use the fork to mix completely.

Assemble

• Preheat the oven to 350 F and place a rack in the center of the oven. Or just below if the heat comes from the top of the oven.
• Line your pan with a sheet of parchment paper.
• Once the dough has doubled in size, or the next morning, knock any air out of the dough. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to about 18″ x 10″.
• Spread the poppyseed cream cheese over the entire surface of the dough.
• Cut the dough into 5, 2″ wide strips. Starting with one of the center strips, roll the strip up into a spiral. Overlap the end of the first spiral with the start of one of the edge strips and roll again. Move quickly alternating between center and edge strips until all of the dough has been rolled up into one large roll.
• Place the roll spiral side up into the lined pan. Set aside for about 20-30 minutes until it has gotten a little puffy (might take longer if your home is cold).
• Press down on the top of the roll so that it expands closer to the edges of the pan. It doesn’t need to fully reach the sides, just make sure the surface is flat and the dough gets closer to the pan.
• Spoon all but 1/4 cup of the blueberry compote over the surface and all the way to the edges of the roll.
• Sprinkle the streusel on top of the compote and use your hands to press the streusel down into the compote and roll. This time the dough should basically reach the sides of the pan.
• Spoon the remaining compote randomly over the top of the roll.
• Bake the roll for 25 minutes in the hot oven. Then rotate 180 degrees and bake for another 20 minutes.
• Don’t worry if it’s still a little jiggly on top. Remove the roll from the oven and place on a rack to cool for about 10 minutes.

Glaze

• While the roll twists, whisk together the lemon juice and powdered sugar to make a thick glaze.
• Use the parchment paper to transfer the cinnamon roll to a plate or whatever you plan to serve it from.
• Spoon the lemon glaze over the top of the roll and use the back of a spoon to spread it out.
• To create clean cuts, let the roll cool completely but otherwise use a serrated knife to cut slices out of the roll and serve warm.

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