Go Back
Print
overhead shot of frosted sweet rolls on cookie sheet with lemon wedges in between rolls

Lemon Sweet Rolls

These lemon sweet rolls are soft and fluffy and topped with a lemon cream cheese frosting and lemon curd for the ultimate lemon filled roll!

Course Breakfast, Brunch
Servings 12

Ingredients

For the Dough:

  • 4-1/2 cups all purpose flour, divided
  • 2-1/4 teaspoons rapid rise instant yeast, (or 1 packet if you buy packets)
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon lemon zest
  • 1 cup milk, warmed (approximately 110ºF)
  • 1/3 cup unsalted butter, very soft, almost melted
  • 2 eggs, room temperature

For the Filling:

  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon lemon zest
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, very soft, almost melted

For the Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting:

  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons lemon zest
  • 1/4 cup lemon curd, for swirling with frosting

Instructions

For the Dough:

  1. In a stand mixer fitted with dough hook, stir together 4 cups of the flour, yeast, sugar, salt and lemon zest on medium speed, until combined.

  2. Add in the milk, butter, and eggs and continue to mix on medium speed until combined.

  3. Turn the mixer down to the lowest speed (this is "stir" on my mixer), and mix for 7 minutes (to knead the dough) until the dough is smooth and elastic.

  4. If needed, add more flour, a little at at time. The dough should be slightly pulling away from the sides of the bowl but still a little tacky to the touch. You don’t want too much flour or your rolls will be dry.

  5. Lightly grease and flour a large mixing bowl. Put dough ball in bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place for up to one hour, or until dough has almost doubled in size. (Sometimes this happens in 30 minutes or so).

  6. Remove dough from bowl and roll out on a floured surface, until dough is about 1/4” thick and forms a rectangle about 22”x18” in size.

For the Filling:

  1. In a small bowl, mix together sugar and lemon zest until thoroughly mixed.

  2. Spread softened butter over rolled out dough, leaving about 1/4” border at top and bottom (the longer sides) of the dough.

  3. Sprinkle sugar mixture evenly over butter.

  4. Roll up dough, starting from the 22” side, making sure to keep the roll tight (try not to lose any filling out the edges).*

  5. Slice roll into 12 pieces using sharp knife.

  6. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place cut rolls on baking sheet, about two inches apart with the seam side facing in. (see photo above)

  7. Cover with a light weight towel and let rolls rise for an hour in a warm place. They should double in size.
  8. Preheat oven to 375ºF. While it’s preheating, make frosting.

For the Frosting:

  1. Beat together butter and cream cheese until smooth & creamy, about 5 minutes.
  2. Add vanilla, lemon zest, lemon juice and powdered sugar, mix on low speed until combined, then on medium high speed for about 4 minutes or until light & fluffy.

  3. Bake rolls (at 375º) for about 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. (See photo below of unfrosted roll to see what they should look like). Remove and let cool on pan for about 10 minutes.

  4. Frost rolls with frosting. Then place small dollops of lemon curd over frosting and gently swirl into frosting, not mixing all the way.

  5. Enjoy! If there’s any left over, store at room temp in an airtight container.

Recipe Notes

*After spreading the butter and sugar mixture onto the dough, I like to cut my dough into long strips and then roll up each strip individually. (See photo above). I've found that it gives a much tighter roll. I use a pizza cutter to cut my dough into the strips.