These meyer lemon sweet rolls are everything you need for breakfast in bed! Filled with sweet and tangy meyer lemon curd and topped with crunchy sugar – these morning buns are the perfect cross between a flaky pastry and a doughy cinnamon roll.
Oof. Guys. I told my mom I would have this meyer lemon sweet rolls recipe up last week and here it is, Mother’s Day, and I’m only just getting it out. Not exactly doing my best in this quarantine life. Especially for the woman that birthed and raised me, listens to me complain on a daily basis, and sent me Easter baskets all the way through law school.
My mom found a way to make every day memorable. Whether it was filling plastic easter eggs and staying up until 2 am to finish wrapping “Santa” presents. Or even just a family pizza night, where she was rolling out individual-sized crusts for us and letting us make our own bad decisions on pizza toppings.
She taught me that any night can be made a “special” night by merely declaring it to be so, and filling it with family and good food and mildly vicious games of Sorry. But she taught me a lot more than just how to slide your last little plastic figure into Home and how to say sorry when you’re not sorry at all…
She taught me how to measure flour properly. How to read a recipe. How it is okay to fail and it is okay to keep trying.
She taught me how to snuggle puppies, how to swim, how to sell (and hoard) girl scout cookies, and what the heck a “stack-and-wack” means. She taught me the difference between a green blue and a purple blue. #quilter
For 18 years, she listened to me complain about clothes that were too scratchy or too tight or had too big of a tag, while she tried to teach me how to wear grown-up clothes. (I’m sure she was laughing on the inside when I told her I wanted to be a lawyer and she thought of all the uncomfortable suits in my future.)
She taught me acceptance, in listening to every worry, every woe, every uncertainty, and every moment of indecision without even a hint of judgment.
She taught me infinite patience, after watching 17-year-old me back her Ford Expedition into the garage door, causing it to screech like a banshee when it tried to go up or down.
She taught me strength when she held me tight through the loss of numerous hamsters. When Dakota was gone. When Dad was gone. Even when I know she must have been hurting as much as I was.
She taught me how to find joy in the pursuit of knowledge in every trip to the library, every visit to the museum, and every night spent reading on the couch. The infinite wisdoms and escapes and experiences to be discovered through literature.
She taught me how to be an intelligent woman in a man’s world. How to be confident in my own skill, and the meaning of quiet strength. And how to never settle for anything less than the respect I earned.
She taught me what it means to be an incredible mom. What it means to be selfless. What it means to be supportive and loving and exceedingly kind. In every soccer game she side-lined in nothing less than blizzard conditions. In the sheet pans of nachos she made for the tornado of teenagers invading her house every Friday night. In every 10th, 100th, and millionth pile of dirty socks she picked up off the stairs. In every over-the-top science project. In all the cookies and pool days and birthday parties and every single hug and kiss good night.
So while I know that every day and all days should be an ode to moms everywhere, today, I especially want to say Happy Mother’s Day, Mom. I wish I was there to make you a pile of these sweet rolls. Love you always.
What are meyer lemon sweet rolls?
These sweet rolls are right between a doughy cinnamon roll and flakey pastry. They have a slightly crisp exterior with crunchy sprinkles of lemon sugar, and a soft, fluffy middle with swirls of lemon curd throughout. They’re not as sticky as lemon sticky buns and not as flaky as a lemon danish braid. Somewhere in the middle
How do you make meyer lemon curd?
This recipe for meyer lemon curd is my go-to lemon curd recipe. It has never failed me and you can easily substitute lemons or limes for a different flavor.
mikaela | wyldflour
9 Meyer Lemon Sweet Rolls
These meyer lemon sweet rolls are everything you need for breakfast in bed! Filled with sweet and tangy meyer lemon curd and topped with crunchy sugar - these morning buns are the perfect cross between a flaky pastry and a doughy cinnamon roll.
Save RecipeIngredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 package instant or rapid-rise yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
- 1/4 cup (50 g) white granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (250 mL) milk (any fat % will work)
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, + 1/4 cup additional for kneading
- 1/3 cup meyer lemon curd
- 1/2 cup (100 g) white granulated sugar
- 4 teaspoons meyer lemon zest
- 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon of the reserved lemon sugar (see instructions)
Instructions
- Mix the dough! Use a wooden spoon or spatula to stir 2 cups flour, yeast, sugar, and salt together in a large mixing bowl. (You can also mix with an electric mixer's paddle attachment.)
- Heat milk in the microwave between one and one and a quarter minutes, until about 110 degrees Fahrenheit (very warm, but not hot). Do not heat above 115 degrees, or you may kill the yeast.
- Add the milk to the flour mixture and stir for 30 seconds. Add the room temperature butter and egg and stir until just mixed. Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups flour and continue stirring until a ball of dough starts to form around your spoon and the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. (If using a mixer, switch to the dough hook attachment.)
- Knead the dough! Sprinkle a couple tablespoons of flour on your clean countertop and turn the dough out onto the surface. Using floured hands, knead the dough for two minutes, adding flour to the surface and to your hands, as needed, to prevent it from sticking. You want the dough to be tacky, but not so sticky that it is pulling away from the dough ball and sticking to your hands. Use either a clean greased bowl, or your mixing bowl with a piece of plastic wrap spread across the messy bottom, and place your dough ball back into the bowl. Cover with a clean towel or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 45 minutes. (If my house is below 70 degrees, I put the bowl in my oven, close the door, and turn the oven light on. But for the love of everything sweet, do NOT forget when you go to preheat your oven.)
- Make the lemon sugar! While the dough is proofing, mix 1/2 cup sugar with the lemon zest, using the back of a spoon or fork to smush the zest into the sugar. You'll see it start to tinge slightly yellow. Remove one tablespoon of the lemon sugar and set aside in a separate bowl to be used for topping. The large portion of lemon sugar will be used in the filling.
- Prepare a pan! Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper. Make sure both will fit in the oven or that you have two racks in the oven.
- Prepare the rolls! When the dough is done proofing, turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Roll the dough out to a 12" x 18" rectangle. Spread with the meyer lemon curd, leaving a 1/2" strip along one of the long edges dry. Sprinkle the larger amount of lemon sugar over the curd. Starting at the long edge that has lemon curd all the way to the edge, start to gently roll the dough up (just like cinnamon rolls). Roll until you get to the bare edge. Use a clean finger, dab water along the bare edge of dough. Pinch the edge to the main roll to help seal it shut.
- Cut the rolls! Roll your log so that the seam you just pinched is on top, facing up. Using a serrated knife, slice the log into 9 rolls. In order to get the pyramid-style rolls pictured above, you will actually slice the log into 7 equal pyramids and 2 "corners." (see picture above.) To make the first cut, start at one side of your log. Angle your knife such that it slices from the top corner of the log, angling down and across the log to a point about 2-3" in from the bottom corner of your log. (That is, you've just cut a triangle off one end of your log.) Now, angle your knife perpendicular to your original cut and start your cut about 1/4-1/2" from the ending point of your last cut. This will create a pyramid. Continue cutting in this manner until you reach the end of the log, where you will create another corner triangle. Move each pyramid and triangle to the baking sheets and tip 90 degrees, so the pyramid is upright and the original seam is now pointing sideways. Very slightly, tap your finger on top of the pyramid once or twice to help flatten the bottom a smidge and get the pyramid to rest a little such that you can see each of the spirals pointing upwards.
- Let them rise! Cover the rolls gently with plastic wrap and let rise another 25 minutes. While they rise, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Bake time! Brush each roll lightly with melted butter and sprinkle each roll with the reserved lemon sugar. Bake for 22-25 minutes until edges of the rolls start to brown. Some of the lemon curd may ooze out while they rise or bake - this is perfectly fine! It will brown on the pan and then break right off, when you lift the baked rolls off the pan. Serve warm and store any leftovers in an airtight container or plastic bag at room temperature for up to 48 hours.
Notes
If you're not up to homemaking meyer lemon curd, then feel free to substitute with some store-bought lemon curd!
Calories
Fat
Carbs
Protein
Comments