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Lemon Raspberry Rolls

Categories Breakfast, Dessert, Easy Recipes, Side Dish

I love the combination of lemon and raspberry! It’s perfectly sweet and tangy and those flavors fit perfectly into a sweet roll! These delicious lemon raspberry rolls can be made all in one day or made the night before and baked the next morning.

The dough has lemon flavoring and lemon zest in it. Then the center is filled with raspberry jam, you can use seedless or seeded jam for the centers. I fill mine with seedless but if you like the seeds then use a seeded jam. The frosting is a lemon cream cheese glaze and brings all of the flavors together.

If you like a little sour with your rolls you can squeeze a little lemon on the top of the lemon raspberry rolls for a little punch but they are perfectly sweet and decadent without the lemon juice on top too.

What you need to make lemon raspberry rolls:

Makes 15-16 small rolls or 8 extra large rolls

For dough:

  • 1 1/4 cups warm water
  • 1 tablespoon active yeast
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup melted butter
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1 lemon – zested or about 1 tablespoon zest
  • 1 teaspoon lemon extract
  • 4.5 cups flour

For filling:

  • 1/2 cup raspberry jam – seedless or seeded

For lemon cream cheese glaze:

  • 1 tablespoon butter – softened
  • 4 ounces cream cheese – softened
  • 1 1/2 tablespoon milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • pinch of salt

Instructions:

  1. In a mixing bowl, add warm water and yeast.
  2. Let yeast activate for 3 minutes.
  3. Add the sugar, melted butter, salt, eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice and mix together.
  4. Add flour 1 cup at a time, mixing briefly after each cup.
  5. Once the dough starts to come together slowly add the last few cups of flour until the dough is manageable and not longer super sticky, You may need slightly less than 4.5 cups or slightly more.
  6. After all the flour has been added, knead the dough for 5 minutes or until dough feels smooth and elastic.
  7. Let dough rise in a covered bowl for 30-45 minutes.
  8. Prepare a large baking dish with cooking spray.
  9. Once the dough has doubled in size, on a lightly floured surface roll out the dough onto a large rectangle, so it is about 1/3 to 1/2 of an inch thick.
  10. Now spread the raspberry jam on the dough.
  11. Starting on one end, begin rolling the dough into a long log, some of the jam will run out and that is okay, just try to keep most of it in the rolls.
  12. Slice to rolls into about 1 inch thick rolls, you can go thicker if you want larger rolls.
  13. Place the sliced rolls on the greased pan. Leave space between each roll so they can rise. I like my rolls to touch each other because they end up softer but some people like un-touching rolls so adjust to how you like them, they will double in size.
  14. ***If you are making these the night before then cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight. Pull out in the morning and place still covered rolls into a warmed oven, not above 120 degrees. Allow to rise for 30 minutes. Remove the plastic covering and leave the rolls in the oven while you turn the heat to 350 F.
    Bake for 20 minutes or until the tops get golden brown and the dough feels baked.
  15. ***If you are freezing the rolls for later– place sliced rolls on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet not touching each other. Freeze for a few hours then once frozen put into a zip lock bag. Pull them out whenever you want to bake them. When you pull them out of the freezer place in a warm oven for 1 hour to 1 hour and 20 minutes then bake for 20 minutes at 350 F.
  16. To make them immediately, allow to raise for about 45 minutes or until the dough is nearly doubled.
  17. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the tops get golden brown and the dough feels baked.
  18. In a small bowl. blend together the glaze ingredients.
  19. Once the rolls have slightly cooled pour glaze over the top. Enjoy!
Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Lemon Raspberry Rolls

Sweet, tangy, soft and delicious sweet rolls! Topped with a lemon cream cheese glaze!
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Rise Time1 hour 30 minutes
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: Baked goods, Breakfast, Dessert
Keyword: Breakfast, Dessert, Lemon, Raspberry, Rolls
Servings: 16 small rolls

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups warm water
  • 1 tablespoon active yeast
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup melted butter
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1 lemon – zested or about 1 tablespoon zest
  • 1 teaspoon lemon extract
  • 4.5 cups flour
  • for filling:
  • 1/2 cup raspberry jam – seedless or seeded
  • For lemon cream cheese glaze:
  • 1 tablespoon butter – softened
  • 4 ounces cream cheese – softened
  • 1 1/2 tablespoon milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • pinch of salt

Instructions

  • In a mixing bowl, add warm water and yeast.
  • Let yeast activate for 3 minutes.
  • Add the sugar, melted butter, salt, eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice and mix together.
  • Add flour 1 cup at a time, mixing briefly after each cup.
  • Once the dough starts to come together slowly add the last few cups of flour until the dough is manageable and not longer super sticky, You may need slightly less than 4.5 cups or slightly more.
  • After all the flour has been added, knead the dough for 5 minutes or until dough feels smooth and elastic.
  • Let dough rise in a covered bowl for 30-45 minutes.
  • Prepare a large baking dish with cooking spray.
  • Once the dough has doubled in size, on a lightly floured surface roll out the dough onto a large rectangle, so it is about 1/3 to 1/2 of an inch thick.
  • Now spread the raspberry jam on the dough.
  • Starting on one end, begin rolling the dough into a long log, some of the jam will run out and that is okay, just try to keep most of it in the rolls.
  • Slice to rolls into about 1 inch thick rolls, you can go thicker if you want larger rolls.
  • Place the sliced rolls on the greased pan. Leave space between each roll so they can rise. I like my rolls to touch each other because they end up softer but some people like un-touching rolls so adjust to how you like them, they will double in size.
  • ***If you are making these the night before then cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight. Pull out in the morning and place still covered rolls into a warmed oven, not above 120 degrees. Allow to rise for 30 minutes. Remove the plastic covering and leave the rolls in the oven while you turn the heat to 350 F.
  • Bake for 20 minutes or until the tops get golden brown and the dough feels baked.
  • ***If you are freezing the rolls for later- place sliced rolls on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet not touching each other. Freeze for a few hours then once frozen put into a zip lock bag. Pull them out whenever you want to bake them. When you pull them out of the freezer place in a warm oven for 1 hour to 1 hour and 20 minutes then bake for 20 minutes at 350 F.
  • To make them immediately, allow to raise for about 45 minutes or until the dough is nearly doubled.
  • Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the tops get golden brown and the dough feels baked.
  • In a small bowl. blend together the glaze ingredients.
  • Once the rolls have slightly cooled pour glaze over the top. Enjoy!

Here are a few other roll recipes you might be interested in:

Overnight Orange Rolls RECIPE HERE
Overnight Cinnamon Rolls RECIPE HERE
Lower Carb Cinnamon Rolls RECIPE HERE
Pizza Roll Ups RECIPE HERE