These Lemon Sweet Rolls with Lemon Drizzle are the most delicious, sweet and tangy homemade sweet bread rolls. The Sticky Buns, filled with a Brown Sugar Lemon filling and topped with a decadent Lemon Caramel, are perfect for the Holidays!
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Why we love this recipe
Making my own bread has quickly become an addiction for me. Whether it is working with my sourdough starter or having fun with sweet breads like an Apple Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread, some cute little Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls, Coffee Cinnamon Rolls or a classic Cinnamon Scrolls, the satisfaction always is the same.
Bread is such a basic, traditional, every day item that we unfortunately often only buy out rather than make. Although some recipes do require a fair bit of experience and practice, such as Sourdough, Sweet Breads are so easy to make.
Why buy it, when you can make it!?
Lemon Brioche Rolls
This Lemon Sweet Rolls Recipe is very close to a Brioche one. What is a Brioche? It is a classic French Sweet Yeast Bread that is made with Eggs and Butter.
Brioches are baked goods that are richer than breads because they have fat in them - which also gives them a delicious lightness and fluffiness to them.
Just like a Brioche, these Lemon Sweet Rolls are enriched with Eggs and Butter. But this recipe uses more Flour and Milk than the one used for my Chocolate Brioche Bread Wreath.
You will find many sweet rolls recipes that have a lot of complicated and long steps . This is not one of those! These Lemon Buns are really easy to make because all the ingredients gets mixed together at the same time, and the dough is only kneaded once.
No need to let the sweet rolls prove for a bite before adding more flour, or pre-knead the dough before adding the butter! That means that this recipe is not only ridiculously easy to make - it is also a super quick one!
Ingredients
As opposed to my No-Yeast Cinnamon Rolls, you will need some Instant Dry Yeast to make this recipe. After re-hydrating the yeast in milk, you will have to prepare the other ingredients:
- Milk: use Full Cream over a light Milk for the best flavours
- Instant Dry Yeast
- Brown Sugar
- Eggs
- Butter: unsalted & melted
- Plain / AP Flour
- Salt
Beat the Eggs with the Melted Butter, then mix the Flour with the Sugar. Mix all of those ingredients together and knead for 5 to 10 minutes, then you are done!
You will also need those utensils:
- a large Mixing Bowl
- a Rolling Pin
- a Pastry Brush
- a large, Deep Baking Dish - I recommend using a Ceramic or Stoneware one.
Depending on the warmth of your kitchen, these Lemon Sweet Rolls will have proved within 1 to 2 hours. It's then time for the Lemon Filling!
Lemon Filling
Once your Sweet Rolls have proved, they are ready to be filled! Just like Cinnamon Scrolls use a Buttery Cinnamon Filling and Red Bean Sweet Rolls use Red Bean paste, this recipe uses Lemon Zest and Lemon Juice in its filling to get a real intense Lemon Flavour.
This filling is made with:
- Butter
- Brown Sugar
- Lemon Zest & Juice
To make the Lemon Filling, you will need to Cream the soft Butter, Sugar and Lemon Zest, then add the Lemon Juice. It will create a soft, buttery, tangy filling that should be really easy to spread on your bread dough rolled in a rectangle.
If you want to get the most out of your Lemons, you can also pre-beat the Brown Sugar with the Lemon Zests to extract all the oils - and flavour - out of them before mixing it with the soft Butter.
How to make a Lemon Sauce
The last step of this recipe - the Lemon Drizzle - is totally optional - but highly recommended. If you love the taste of lemons as much as I do, you will definitely want to add this Lemon Drizzle over your Lemon Sweet Rolls.
This Lemon Syrup gives your sweet bread a super intense lemony, tangy flavour to really makes them special! To make this Lemon Drizzle, simply press the juice of one lemon and let it simmer in a pot with Brown Sugar until you get a thick syrup.
Add some butter to create and super decadent, rich sauce - and that's it! Lemon Drizzle: done!
More Breakfast Recipes:
- Traditional Chelsea Buns by Jacqui at Recipes Made Easy
- 3 Ingredients Banana Pancakes
- Savoury Cheese Pancakes
- Classic French Crepes
- Cinnamon Babka
- Cinnamon Roll Bread Loaf
Made this recipe?
Let us know if you liked it by leaving a comment below, and tag us on Instagram @a.baking.journey with a photo of your creation!
Recipe
Easy Lemon Sweet Rolls
Ingredients
Sweet Rolls
- 1 cup (250ml) Full Cream Milk
- 1 pack Instant Dry Yeast
- 4 tbsp (50 gr) Brown Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 1/4 cup (60ml) Melted Butter
- 3 1/2 cup (500gr) Plain Flour
- 1 pinch Salt
Lemon Filling
- 1/4 cup (60ml) Soft Butter
- 2 tbsp. Brown Sugar
- 1 Lemon - Zest
- 1/2 Lemon - Juice
Egg Wash
- 1 Beaten Egg
- 1 tbsp. Full Cream Milk.
Lemon Drizzle
- 1 Lemon - Juice
- 3 tbsp Brown Sugar
- 2 tbsp (30gr) Butter
Disclaimer
I highly recommend using the measurements in grams & ml (instead of cups & spoons) for more accuracy and better results.
Instructions
Sweet Rolls
- Warm up to milk to be lukewarm. Add 1 tablespoon of Brown Sugar and when dissolved, add the pack of Instant Dry Yeast. Quickly mix and set aside.
- Melt the butter. When cool, whisk with the Eggs.
- When the Milk and Yeast starts to foam / bubble, place the Plain Flour and the rest of the Brown Sugar in a large bowl. Make a well and pour in the Butter and Eggs mixture, then the Milk and Yeast. Whisk with a fork until all combined, then add the salt.
- Knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes (see note 1). Transfer the Sweet Roll dough into a slightly greased clean large bowl and cover with a tea towel. Set aside to prove for 1 to 2 hours in a warm place, or until the dough has doubled in size.
Lemon Filling
- Using a hand mixer, cream the soft Butter, Brown Sugar and Lemon Zest until it ressemble a thick paste. Add the Lemon Juice and quickly beat to incorporate to the butter. Set Aside
To assemble the Lemon Sweet Rolls
- Punch the proved dough to remove the air then transfer onto a lightly floured surface. Bring back the dough into a ball, then using a rolling pin, roll the sweet dough into a large rectangle.
- Uniformly spread the Lemon Filling over the Rolled Dough. Starting from the longest side of the rectangle, roll the dough on its length to get a long, thick tube of dough.
- Lightly grease a square, deep baking pan (see note 2). Carefully slice the dough into equal-sized rolls, and place them in the baking pan. Leave a little bit of room in between each roll so that there is space for them to prove. Depending on the thickness of your rolls, you should get between 9 to 12 rolls.
- Prepare the Egg Wash: beat one Egg with the Milk. Using a Pastry Brush, generously brush the egg wash all over the Lemon Sweet Rolls.Set aside and leave to prove for another hour.
- Preheat your oven on 180'C. Put the Lemon Sweet Rolls in the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool down.
Lemon Drizzle
- When the Lemon Sweet Rolls have cooled down, prepare the Lemon Drizzle. Squeeze the juice of one lemon and place on the stove in a small pot with the Brown Sugar. Simmer on low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, or until it starts to thicken. Add the Butter and whisk well until fully incorporated. Set aside to cool for a few minutes, then pour oven the Lemon Sweet Rolls.
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