Quick and easy lemon sweet rolls made start to finish in under 90 minutes! Make these your new weekend breakfast tradition. So sweet and tangy!
Try our 90 minute caramel cinnamon rolls for a delicious variation! Made with the same sweet dough!
Watch our step by step video!
Lemon sweet rolls are one of my FAVORITE desserts. The filling and frosting alone is spoon-licking worthy! If you love lemons as much as I do you will love these. My son said he prefers these to cinnamon rolls. These are a meld of two amazing recipes: our favorite quick sweet dough for the base and a yummy lemon filling/frosting from an old cookbook that my grandma gave me when I was 13. The recipe was actually for orange rolls, but I just swapped out the orange zest and juice for lemon!
Made using our favorite sweet dough they only rise for 30 minutes which is less than half the time of other basic dough recipes. Once you try it you'll be using it for all of your favorite bread recipes.
Flavored with both lemon juice and lemon zest they are sweet and tangy. The perfect meld of flavors.
How to Make Quick and Easy Lemon Sweet Rolls
scroll down for printable recipe
Make a batch of sweet dough and let it sit for 10 minutes. While the dough sits make the lemon rolls filling/frosting.
Butter, powdered sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice. That's it! Whip until fluffy.
How many rolls will this recipe make?
12.
Spread HALF of the lemon filling/frosting over dough, roll up and slice into 12 lemon sweet rolls. Set the rest of the frosting to the side.
Place on a greased baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.
Spread with frosting while still warm.
Can these sweet rolls be made the night before?
Yes. Make them to the point of placing them on the pan. Wrap with plastic wrap and set the pan in the refrigerator or freezer overnight. Thaw on the counter until room temperature then let rise for 30 minutes before baking the next day.
More lemon recipes that you will love:
Quick and Easy Lemon Sweet Rolls Printable Recipe
Quick and Easy Lemon Sweet Rolls
Ingredients
- ¾ cup milk
- ¼ cup butter softened
- 3 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp. instant yeast
- ¼ cup white sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup water
- 1 egg
Filling & Frosting
- ½ cup butter
- 3 cup powdered sugar
- ¼ cup lemon juice (juice of 2 lemons)
- 2 Tbsp. lemon zest (zest of 2 lemons)
Instructions
- Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Mix in butter; stir until melted. Let cool until lukewarm.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 ¼ cup flour, yeast, sugar and salt; mix well. Add water, egg and the milk mixture; beat well.
- Add the remaining flour, ½ cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has just pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, 2-3 minutes.
- Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let rest for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together frosting ingredients.
- Roll out dough into a 12x9 inch rectangle.
- Spread dough with half of the lemon frosting. Roll up dough and pinch seam to seal. Cut into 12 equal size rolls and place in lightly greased baking sheet.
- Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until browned. Spread remaining frosting over warm rolls.
Notes
Can these easy lemon sweet rolls be made the night before?
Yes. Make them to the point of placing them on the pan. Wrap with plastic wrap and set the pan in the refrigerator or freezer overnight. Thaw on the counter until room temperature then let rise for 30 minutes before baking the next day.Nutrition
Other recipes using this quick sweet dough:
90 Minute Cinnamon Rolls with Caramel Frosting: Our 90 minute cinnamon rolls with caramel frosting come together in 90 minutes! Soft, cinnamon rolls covered in decadent caramel frosting. Easy to make and a definite crowd pleaser!
Candy Cane Cherry Braided Bread: This delicious cherry filled candy cane braided bread is drizzled with a sweet vanilla icing! It’s the perfect treat for the holidays.
Cinnamon Roll Dessert Pizza: Cinnamon roll dessert pizza! Delicious sweet dough topped with butter and a gooey brown sugar and cinnamon topping. Then finished off with a vanilla glaze.
Mary says
So these look delicious but I tried this recipe and the dough didn’t rise at all. I followed the recipe exactly
Brandy says
Hi Mary! That's very odd. I'm wondering what happened with the yeast. Did you finish making them? I'm interested to see if they puffed up while baking at all. They should have doubled in size in the pan.
Chloe says
Hi!
My dough did not rise at all either. Was very tough to work with. Also followed the recipe exactly. Not sure what happened.
Brandy says
Hi! Did you use instant yeast?
Melissa Collins says
Do these need to be stored in the refrigerator after baking?
Brandy says
Hi Melissa! I keep them covered on the counter for up to 3 days.
Jenny says
Hey if I don’t have instant yeast, how would I make it using regular yeast?
Brandy says
Hi! I like proofing my regular yeast in warm water before adding it to a recipe. If you'd like to do this, take that 1/4 water from the recipe (make sure it's warm for this part) and mix it with the yeast. Let it sit until bubbly and then add it to the recipe. You can also add a little extra regular yeast (1/2-3/4 tsp.) but I usually keep the measurements the same.
Jill says
Can you freeze for longer then over night
Brandy says
Yes! Here is more information on freezing cinnamon rolls. I've had frozen rolls in my freezer for up to a month! The process is the same for lemon rolls or cinnamon rolls: https://www.joyfullythriving.com/fresh-cinnamon-rolls-from-the-freezer/