Berries are one of my favorite things and I was inspired by a beautiful bunch at the store. They are one of my dad’s favorite things, and so I decided to pair them up with something else he loves: coconut! These Blackberry Toasted Coconut Sweet Rolls make a perfect breakfast or brunch!
Homemade rolls do take some time to make, but they are completely worth it. The trick with these is making them the day or night before. This way, you do not have to wake up in the middle of the night to get these going. Just prep them in advance, throw them in the oven, and your house will smell like heaven in no time!
Whether for breakfast or brunch, some type of pastry or dough product is easy to find. Sweet rolls are definitely…sweet. But the tartness of the blackberries and nuttiness of the toasted coconut help cut through the sugar. The result is a sweet and tangy roll full of flavor!
The glaze is my favorite part of a roll, so this batch makes a LOT! The glaze can easily be halved if you do not like a lot.
I typically have to double the recipe because people are known to eat three or four per person in our house. They are just too irresistible! Plus, you will want leftovers. And if you fight over the inside pieces like we do, you will want extra “center” rolls. 🙂 These Blackberry Toasted Coconut Sweet Rolls are sure to be a hit in your house!
Ingredients
Dough
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 package active dry yeast (1/4 oz, not instant yeast)
- 1/2 cup warm water (as per yeast package directions, typically 100-110F)
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter melted
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 large egg
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
Filling
- 8 oz cream cheese (1 package) room temperature
- 1/2 cup coconut toasted
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter melted
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 pint blackberries
- 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
Glaze
- 4 oz cream cheese room temperature
- 1/3 cup milk room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- blackberries and toasted coconut for garnish
Instructions
- Scald your milk by heating 3/4 cup of milk over medium high heat in a skillet. Once the milk is simmering, turn the heat off. You should have approximately 1/2 cup left. Measure out the 1/2 cup milk and discard the rest.
- In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water as per package directions for the correct temperature to ensure that you keep your yeast alive (typically between 100-110F).
- In a large bowl, mix the 1/2 cup milk, sugar, melted butter, salt, and egg. Let it sit if the temperature of this mixture is over 110F otherwise it will kill the yeast. Once at 110F or below, add the yeast mixture and mix to combine.
- Add in 2 cups of flour and mix until smooth. Add additional flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough is easy to handle (the amount of flour that you need will vary).
- Roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 to 10 minutes. Place the dough into a greased bowl (you can use 1-2 tsp of vegetable oil to coat the bowl you mixed everything in). Cover bowl with saran wrap and then a kitchen towel. Let sit until the dough has doubled in size, approximately 60-90 minutes.
- When dough has doubled in size, punch it down. Then put it back on a floured surface and using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 15x9 inches.
- Toss the blackberries in the cornstarch. The cornstarch will help absorb the berry liquid so the rolls do not get too wet. If you have exceptionally large berries, you can cut those in half.
- Mix the filling of cream cheese, vanilla, butter, and sugar together in a medium bowl. Spread the mixture over the dough in a thin layer. Depending on the exact size of your dough, you may need a little more to coat it all.
- Sprinkle the toasted coconut over the cream cheese mixture. Add more as desired. Spread out the blackberries across the dough.
- From the long edge, tightly roll the dough all the way to the other long edge and pinch dough together to seal. Be careful not to push down too much and push the blackberries across the dough. Make sure that you are slightly lifting the dough as you roll to keep the blackberries in place.
- Using a serrated knife, cut the log in half. Then cut each half into half again so that you have four equal pieces. Lining up two pieces at a time, cut each into three rolls so that you have a total of 12 rolls.
- Coat the bottom of your 9x13" baking dish with some additional melted butter and sugar to coat. Place the cinnamon roll slices close together (four rows of three) in the dish and let them rise until the dough has doubled again, approximately 45 minutes. (If you are making these the night before, once the rolls have doubled in size, cover them in plastic wrap and place them in the refrigerator. In the morning, pull them out to warm to room temperature before baking).
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Once the rolls have doubled in size, place them in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until they are starting to brown.
- While the rolls are baking, prepare the icing. Whisk the cream cheese in a stand mixer until creamy. Add the milk and whisk in until combined. Add in the powdered sugar and whisk until smooth. If the cream cheese is lumpy, you can heat this mixture at any point in a microwave safe bowl for 10 seconds at a time until smooth again.
- When the rolls are done, let them cool slightly and then top with the icing. Garnish with additional blackberries and toasted coconut as desired. Serve warm.
These look really good. Cream cheese and coconut make everything better 🙂
really yummy recipe.. Blackberry and coconut is a partnership made in heaven.. Making the dough the night before is a great tip
I’m not usually big on sweets.. but these made me SO HUNGRY!!! And they’re gorgeous!
Oh how gorgeous! I’m thinking I’d be a big it if I brought this to a brunch! So yummy!
This looks scrumptious and perfect for brunch parties! Saving this to try for my next get together!
Luci’s Morsels | fashion. food. frivolity.
Blackberries bring back such fond memories as we used to pick them from behind my grandparent’s house. Great looking recipe. Thanks for sharing.
How amazing does this flavor sound? I love your idea of making the dough the night before, what a luxury it would be to wake up and pop these in the oven!
These are extremely yummy appearing sweet rolls. Wish I had one right now to go with my coffee. A will try recipe, for sure. Thanks.
Oh! This looks so yummy!