These blackberry cinnamon roll tucks are soft and flavorful, and so beautiful they look like they’re from a bakery! The fresh blackberries paired with the cinnamon and brown sugar give these rolls the perfect balance between sweet and tart.
These rolls are part of my new series called “NFL Game Day” where I am making different game day foods that represent NFL teams! These blackberry cinnamon roll tucks are for the Baltimore Ravens. Blackberries to represent the Raven’s team color of purple, and tucks for the Raven’s iconic kicker, Justin Tucker. Last weekend Tucker kicked the NFL record for the longest field goal of 66 yards! So, today we are making cinnamon roll “tucks” :).
To me, game day foods are anything that is relatively easy to eat, and is slightly different than your normal meals / snacks. These tucks are just a step above cinnamon rolls. They are rolled differently, though its little extra work for an incredible result.
how to make blackberry cinnamon roll tucks
- The first step is making our dough. It is a simple cinnamon roll dough that has to rise for a couple hours (but can also raise overnight — see below). Once our dough is ready, it is rolled out into a big rectangle about 12″x15″, just like you’re making cinnamon rolls.
- Now we spread softened butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon on the dough. It should be evenly spread all the way to the edges.
- The star of these rolls is the fresh blackberries. If you can’t find fresh blackberries, you can use frozen, just get off all the excess water and juice you can. Mash up your blackberries then spread them onto the dough, on top of our cinnamon and brown sugar.
- From here we fold the dough into thirds, hamburger style (the elementary way of saying fold from the short ends).
- Now the dough is folded it needs to be cut into small strips. You can use a knife or a pizza roller to do this, I prefer a pizza roller. The strips should be about 1″-1.5″ wide. You should get about 8 strips out of your dough.
- The blackberry juices will start to flow out of the dough. That’s ok. This is a messy process but well worth it.
- Take each strip and cut it into three separate pieces MAKING SURE to leave a 1/2″ section at the top that is NOT cut. Using those three strips, braid the dough and pinch it off at the bottom. Then, starting from the top that is not cut, roll the dough up, like you’re rolling a crescent roll.
- Transfer the “tucked” strips to a greased muffin tin and bake until golden brown.
- Our simple icing is made from powdered sugar and milk, and should be drizzled on each roll right after it comes out of the oven.
- Eat while they’re hot! Or warm them up for a few seconds in the microwave if they’re cold. 🙂
how to make these overnight
If you are planning on serving these at an early morning brunch and don’t want to wake up early for the dough to rise, the dough for these rolls can be made the night before! Usually, the dough is made then left out to raise for an hour, then rolled out, filled, and left out for another hour. But there is another way. The dough can be mixed up the night before then put directly in the fridge. Then in the morning when you wake up, take the dough out of the fridge and let it warm up on the counter for 20 minutes. Then you can proceed on with the normal recipe! This cuts out half of the raising time and all of the dough mixing time for that day!
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blackberry cinnamon roll tucks
ingredients
dough
- 1/2 cup milk
- 3 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 3/4 – 2 cups flour
filling
- 1 cup fresh blackberries or frozen
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 4 tbsp butter softened
- 2 tsp cinnamon
icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 tbsp milk
instructions
- Add milk and butter to a small bowl. Microwave just until butter melts. The milk should be warm, but not hot. If it is hot, let it cool for a minute. Add the milk and butter mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Add brown sugar, yeast, egg, and salt. Mix until just combined.
- Add 1 3/4 cups of flour and mix with a dough hook for 1 minute. If the dough is still sticky, add a tablespoon of flour at a time until it is no longer sticky. Let the dough mix for 5 minutes.
- Transfer the dough to a greased bowl. Cover and let it rise in a warm area for 60-90 minutes, until it has doubled in size.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle, about 12"x15". Spread the softened butter all over the dough, leaving a 1/2" border. Sprinkle on the brown sugar and cinnamon and use your fingers to evenly spread it across the dough.
- Use a fork to mash the blackberries. Transfer the blackberries to the dough, trying to leave most of the juice behind (I like to use a fork or slotted spoon for this). Spread the blackberries evenly across the dough.
- Fold the dough into thirds, folding the short ends in. Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough into 8 strips, about 1.5" wide.
- Take each strip and use the knife or pizza cutter to cut the dough into three strips MAKING SURE to leave a 1/2" at the top that is NOT cut. Take the three strips and braid the dough, pinching it at the bottom.
- Roll each strip into itself (like you're rolling a crescent roll), with the non-cut part in the center. Transfer the rolls to a greased muffin tin.
- Preheat the oven to 375. Let the rolls rise for 30 minutes. Transfer to the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes, until rolls are golden brown.
- Transfer the rolls to a cooling rack and making the icing. Combine powdered sugar and milk and whisk to combine. Start with 1 tbsp of milk and add more if the icing isn't runny enough. Drizzle the icing over each roll and enjoy while they're hot!
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