Blueberry Breakfast Bliss

So my friends my latest addiction - Pinterest - has captured my heart and stimulated my palate. Every day, I see hundreds of images pass before my eyes tempting me with fun gadgets, dazzling DIY decorating ideas, and of course, tempting foods. I have to be careful perusing the pages of pins, because if I’m hungry, I want to make everything I see. I have to say thanks to the folks who created Pinterest; I’ve discovered many like-minded people with exceptional taste, and more importantly, tons of recipes to try.

While I was on this amazing social media site the other day, I stumbled upon a photo of a Blueberry Cheese Roll that caught my eye. The photo spoke to me. The thing I love about Pinterest, when you see something that you are interested in, you can repin to your own boards. So that's exactly what I did... I repinned the Blueberry Cheese Roll in my “Gotta Make” board, and printed out the recipe with the intention of making within a few days. Which obviously I am did.

Luckily, the ingredients for this recipe are so simple that I remembered what I needed when I was at Publix (our local grocery store). There are only four ingredients, blueberries, cream cheese, sugar and crescent rolls. This morning I made a batch and let me tell you... they were everything I anticipated and more!    

Seriously, even on the busiest morning, these are so easy to make for breakfast – a total of about 30 minutes from start to finish.  The best part, my husband and I were very pleased by the results.  One bite and your day is already beginning on a blissfully happy note.

I felt the desire to write about what a find this recipe is. So, I made a second batch, photographing the process and the ingredients. The upside, now I have breakfast ready for tomorrow morning’s eats.  Once again, making was easy-breezy. This time around, I added my own little twist – lemon zest in the cream cheese mixture. One other change I made to the recipe; I upped the heat during the preheating stage and when the rolls were ready to bake, I reduced to the temperature as directed in the original recipe.

How easy was this? Let me share the details:

Step one: Pre-heat oven to 400°

Step two: mix cream cheese, sugar and lemon zest

Step three: unroll crescent roll dough, divide into four rectangles and press seams together

Step four: spread mixture onto rectangles

Step five: add blueberries

Step six: press opposite corners together

Step seven: turn heat down to 375° bake for 11 to 13 minutes

That’s it – I told you it was easy! 

The actual recipe:  Blueberry Cheese Rolls:

Ingredients:

1 pkg. (8 oz.)   Pillsbury Crescent Rolls

4 oz.                Cream Cheese softened

2 T.                  Sugar

½ C.                 Fresh Blueberries divided

                        Zest of one lemon 

Directions: Original version (with my variations)

Heat oven to 375° (I heated to 400° and turned down to 375° when I placed them in the oven). Unroll dough into four rectangles: firmly press perforations together to seal. Combine cream cheese and sugar, (I added the zest of one lemon); spread onto dough rectangles to within ½ inch of edges. Top evenly with blueberries.  Bring opposite corners of rectangles together; press together to seal. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 11 to 13 min. or until golden brown. 

I was really pleased with this breakfast roll recipe. It went beyond my expectations in taste and preparation. I liked the addition of the lemon zest from the original version. The zest gave the cream cheese mixture an essence of cheesecake, and of course, lemon complements blueberries nicely. The other highlight; after baking - the blueberries are plumper and burst in your mouth. They also add an element of happiness to the pastry. 

You know, there is just something about Pillsbury Crescent Rolls. Coming from the Midwest, they are a staple in our culinary history. To be honest, I’ve never actually just baked and eaten a crescent roll. I have enjoyed them in a ton of different recipes, but never alone, as a bread component to a meal. The thing about crescent rolls; to me they add a level of comfort to a recipe.  My mom made a fabulous Veggie pizza using Pillsbury Crescent Rolls as the pie base, which also has cream cheese in it as well. Hmmm... Now that I think about it, this Blueberry Cheese roll recipe is probably appealing to me because two of the main ingredients are in many of my favorite family recipes.  By the way, that veggie pizza recipe... it’s awesome!  No photos but I’ve shared the recipe at the bottom of this entry.

There have been several recipes that I’ve made because I saw them on Pinterest. I’ve discovered a great group of people who have extraordinary taste. I think the success of this social network is because of the images, they speak in volumes! When I look at a photo of a dish it screams, “Make me!” For example, the other night I made a Roasted Vegetable Orzo salad with Ina’s Easy Lemon Chicken. It was incredible!  The photo captured my attention and the description captivated my palate. I’m so glad I made this - the salad was bright, had a lovely texture and it was great the next day.  I actually started with the orzo and found a main dish to make with it. I highly recommend if you‘re not a member of Pinterest, join today! If you are, enjoy the ride, its inspirational and helped me more than once deciding what’s for dinner.

As I promised: 

Mama’s Veggie Pizza

1 pkg.               Pillsbury Crescent Rolls

1 8 oz. pkg.       Cream   Cheese

½ C.                  Sour Cream

2 t.                    Fresh Dill – Chopped

1                       Red Bell Pepper - diced

1 C.                   Chopped Broccoli – raw

1 C.                    Chopped Cauliflower – raw

½ C.                   Matchstick Carrots

Any other favorite – crunchy vegetables

Step one: unroll crescent rolls and pinch together seams to make one sheet of pastry. Bake at 375° as directed on package. Let cool completely.  This is the only baking portion of the process.

Step two: mix together soften cream cheese, sour cream, pinch of salt and pepper, and fresh dill.  Once pizza crust is cooled, spread mixture to cover, leaving a small edge for crust.

Step three: chop raw vegetables and evenly layer vegetables on top the cream cheese layer.

Step four: Set in refrigerator for 15 minutes before cutting into squares.  Serve and enjoy!

This recipe is a great appetizer for parties, and it travels really well! I have to admit, sometimes I don’t wait for an invitation to a party - I make it for John and me, and we have our own party for two. 

Until next time... happy eating!

SRQ Foodie