Lemon Rolls

Eight lemon buns topped with lemon cream cheese frosting.

5 from 2 votes

Lemon rolls are a deliciously tangy twist on a classic breakfast treat. Easy to make, these sticky lemon buns come topped with a delectable lemon cream cheese glaze. They are quite an indulgence.

Prep Time30

Cook Time20

Proving4

Total Time4 50

Course: Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine: World

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings:

Calories: 535kcal

Author: Jane Coupland

Ingredients

For the Rolls

450 g Strong bread flour
75 g Butter (room temperature)
60 g Caster sugar
180 ml Whole milk (lukewarm)
2 teaspoons Fast-action dried yeast
½ teaspoon Salt
¼ teaspoon Ground cardamom
¼ teaspoon Ground nutmeg
Zest of a lemon (finely grated)
1 Egg (lerge, free-range)
2 Egg yolks (large, free-range)
115 g Sultanas (or raisins)
4 tablespoons Lemon curd (thick)
30 g Pistachio nuts

For the Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

80 g Cream cheese (full-fat, preferably Philadelphia)
40 g Butter (room temeperature)
60 g Icing sugar
2 teaspoons Lemon juice

Instructions

Make the Lemon Rolls

Put the flour, butter, sugar, milk, yeast, salt, cardamom, nutmeg, the egg and the 2 egg yolks plus the finely grated zest of a lemon into the bowl of a stand-mixer (or a large mixing bowl).
Knead until the dough feels smooth and elastic. This will take around 8-10 minutes by hand or 6-8 minutes using a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.
Place in a clean bowl and cover with a clean tea towel and leave for 2-3 hours until doubled in size.
Knock the dough back and roll it out on a lightly floured worktop to make a rectangle approximately 25cm x 45cm. Trim any wonky edges to make a neat rectangle (it will be easier to make even sized rolls).
Spread the lemon curd over the rectangle of dough.
Cut the dough into 8 long strips (lengthways), each approximately 3cm wide.
Roughly chop the pistachio nuts and sprinkle them over the lemon curd along with the sultanas.
Roll each strip up (firmly, but not too tightly) to form a spiral, tucking in any nuts and sultanas that escape as you do so.
Lay each spiral inside a rectangular baking tin (20cm x 30cm) lined with baking parchment.
When all 8 lemon buns have been rolled and placed in the tin cover them loosely with clingfilm and either transfer to the fridge to prove slowly overnight or leave on the side for 1-2 hours until doubled in size. If stored in the fridge you will need to remove them from the fridge 1 hour before baking them.

Make the frosting and Bake the Rolls

Make the frosting by beating the butter, cream cheese, lemon juice and icing sugar together until smooth. Store in the fridge for at least 1 hour or until required.
When ready to bake the rolls brush beaten egg over the top of each one and bake for approximately 20 minutes in a preheated oven (200c/ 400F) until just golden on top (dpn't overbake them).
Let the buns cool for 10 minutes then spoon the frosting over the top and spread out. These buns are best served warm.

Video

Notes

Use thick lemon curd rather than a runny one.
Don’t be tempted to swap the 2 egg yolks for an extra whole egg. The yolks add richness to the dough and ensure that the buns are soft and fluffy.
You can use regular dried yeast or fresh yeast. Just convert the amount accurately (this recipe uses 2 teaspoons of fast-action dried yeast which weighs 7g). Also, adjust the recipe accordingly to activate the regular dried yeast or fresh yeast (stir ½ teaspoon of the sugar into the lukewarm milk and then add the dried or fresh yeast and let it bloom (turn bubbly) before continuing with the recipe.
Use a baking tin of adequate size – I used a rectangular tin approximately 20cm x 30cm. There needs to be enough room for the rolls to rise and expand prior to baking and then continue to expand in the oven.
Roll the dough out and neaten the edges to ensure that all of you lemon curd buns are of a similar size. If you do not trim the edge then a couple of them will be much smaller than the rest of the batch.
Don’t overbake these buns as it will dry them out and they will lose their soft and fluffy texture. It’s better to underbake them than to overbake them.

Storage and Reheating Instructions

Ideally, these iced lemon buns should be eaten on the same day, within 30 minutes of being baked. However, they can certainly be eaten cold after that.

If there are spares, these can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for a day. They can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost fully, then reheat as required.

If you have a microwave then heat each bun on a low setting for around 20 seconds, then in bursts of 10 seconds until heated sufficiently. Alternatively, wrap the sides of each bun in foil and heat in a low oven (150C/ 300F) for 8-10 minutes.

Nutrition