Lemon Raspberry Rolls: big beautiful brunch rolls
Lemon raspberry rolls are the prettiest Spring cinnamon roll sister yet: with a slick of raspberry jam and lemon infused sugar rolled up in super soft overnight roll dough, topped with lemon cream cheese frosting and more berries, these are lovely lovely rolls that will win hearts for brunch.
Like my lemon blueberry rolls, there’s whole berries tucked into the rolls for extra flavor and a bright pop of color. This variant of my favorite overnight roll dough will let you make the dough up to 3 days ahead, then lazily put the rolls together in a few minutes when you want to bake. I don’t have time to wait around for cinnamon roll dough to rise
| Active time | Total time | Yield | Difficulty |
| 25 min | 8 hr 50 min | 15 rolls | Medium |
We’ve had the mildest Winter this year since I’ve lived here, getting almost no snow. On the downside, that makes me worry for a potential fire season, but on the upside, Spring has been in the air for some time, making me dream up all kinds of recipes like these raspberry sweet rolls.
Why raspberry rolls will put a skip in your step
- Berries!: Bright berries always bring a smile, and of all the berries, raspberries have to be the prettiest. There is literally no dessert that’s not made prettier by a few of their delicate bright pinky red selves scattered up top.
- Lemon sugar: Sure cinnamon sugar in a sweet roll like this is everyone’s favorite for a good reason, but the bright refreshing taste of the lemony sugar in these rolls is much nicer for warmer seasons like Spring and Summer. Save the cinnamon sugar for cozy months!
- So so soft: This dough is one of my favorites because of how soft it bakes up. If you’ve struggled with cinnamon roll dough that bakes up dry or hard, you will not have that problem here. Countless pans of rolls have led me to tweak this dough so that it’s perfect for tender rolls every time.
Ingredients for Lemon Raspberry Rolls
Overnight Roll Dough
- Water
- Instant yeast
- Granulated sugar
- Whole milk
- Butter
- Salt
- Eggs
- Vanilla paste or vanilla extract
- Lemon zest
- All-purpose flour
Filling
- Raspberry Jam: homemade jam (click for recipe) or good quality store-bought
- Granulated sugar
- Lemon zest
- Butter
- Raspberries: fresh or frozen
Lemon cream cheese icing
- Cream cheese
- Lemon juice
- Powdered sugar
- Butter
- more raspberries
Equipment needed
- 9 x 13 pan
- Dental floss or a serrated knife for cutting the rolls
- Rolling pin
- Kitchen towel or a pastry cloth
Step by step process for making raspberry rolls
- Make the dough: Dissolve the yeast in the water with a pinch of the sugar. Melt the butter and add the milk just until the milk is warm. Break in the eggs and mix them with the milk with the sugar, lemon zest, vanilla, and salt. Dump the milk mixture and the yeast into a stand mixer bowl with the flour with the dough hook. Run the mixer until the dough makes elastic strands that form around the dough hook. The dough will be sticky, but almost all of the stickiness will go away during chilling. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill it overnight in the fridge.
- Roll and fill: Roll out the dough on a lightly floured kitchen towel into a large rectangle. Mix the lemon zest with the sugar, rubbing the zest to release more lemon flavor. Spread the dough with a thin slick of raspberry jam. Sprinkle all but about a tablespoon of the lemon sugar over the surface of the jam.
- Cut the rolls: Roll the dough over itself on the long edge into a tight roll. Place a piece of dental floss under the dough log, crossing the ends over each other. Pull on either end to cut through the dough. This is the cleanest way to cut the rolls, though you can also use a serrated knife you’d use for bread.
- Rise: Cover the rolls and set them aside the rolls to rise for 1 hour.
- Add raspberries: Just before baking, stuff each roll with a few raspberries. Also drizzle butter over the tops of the rolls and the rest of the lemon sugar.
- Bake: Bake the rolls for 22-25 minutes until the edges are just starting to brown and the rolls are firm to the touch.
- Frost: Mix the frosting ingredients together. Spoon over a layer of the frosting, and then top the buns with more berries.
Tips for making the best raspberry rolls
- Do not add more flour: The dough will be tacky, and that’s okay. Cold sweet roll dough is actually easier to roll out than room temperature dough. It will only need a sprinkle of flour to roll out. It’s the weird paradox of this dough, but trust the process. Too much flour and you’ll get dense, dry rolls, and nobody wants that.
- Too much jam = soggy buns: It’s tempting when you make jam filled rolls to add too much jam, but don’t do it! Overfilled rolls are difficult to cut and it can cause the dough to get soggy.
- Tuck the berries in, don’t roll them up: Tucking whole berries into the folds of the dough once you’ve cut them up and they’ve risen will keep these rolls looking the best. Delicate raspberries look best whole anyhow, but also if you roll up the raspberries with the filling, you’ll get lumpy looking rolls that will be difficult to cut evenly.
More cinnamon roll variations to try
Raspberry Lemon Rolls
- Total Time: 8 hours 50 minutes
- Yield: 12 rolls 1x
Description
Filled with raspberry jam and whole berries with zingy lemon cream cheese frosting, these raspberry rolls are perfect for Spring and Summer or any time you want to have something bright and sunny for brunch.
Ingredients
Scale
Overnight Roll Dough
- 2 tablespoons warm water (30 mL)
- 2 tsp instant yeast
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar (50 g)
- 3/4 cup whole milk (177 mL)
- 4 Tablespoons butter (57 g)
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla paste
- Zest of 1/2 lemon
- 2 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (360 g)
For assembling the rolls
- 1/4 cup raspberry jam
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar (100 g)
- Zest of 1/2 lemon
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
Lemon Cream cheese icing
- 2 oz cream cheese, softened (56 g)
- 6 Tablespoons powdered sugar (45 g)
- 2 Tablespoons butter (28 g)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract or paste
- 1/2 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
Instructions
Make the dough
- Sprinkle the yeast on the warm water in a small bowl with a pinch of the sugar. Set aside for about 5 minutes until the yeast is foamy.
- Warm the milk in a small pan on the stove until you see bubbles around the edges. Cut up the butter and add it to the pan to melt.
- Crack your eggs and use a fork to whip them into the butter and milk mixture, then add in the sugar, salt, lemon zest, and vanilla and then stir to combine. Check the temperature with your finger (the milk/egg mixture should be just warm to the touch.).
- Put the flour into a large bowl or your stand mixer bowl. Make a well in the center with your hands, then pour in the milk mixture then the yeast mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon or the dough hook attachment itself to make a rough dough.
- After that, with a dough hook on your stand mixer, beat the dough for about 5 minutes on low speed (2 on a Kitchen Aid ) until you get an elastic sticky dough that pulls away in strands from the sides of the bowl.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and set in the fridge to rise overnight or 4 hours minimum.
Stir with a wooden spoon or the dough hook attachment itself to make a rough dough.
Make the rolls
- Melt the butter for the roll assembly.
- Mix the lemon zest with the sugar in a small bowl. Rub the zest into the sugar until you can smell the lemon.
This will release more lemon flavor.
- Sprinkle some flour on a clean kitchen towel or pastry cloth , then scrape out the cold dough on top of the flour. Sprinkle flour over the top of the dough.
- Quickly roll the dough into a rectangle about 12″X16″.
- Brush a 9″x13″ pan with a little butter.
- Spread a thin layer of jam over the rolls.
Scatter the lemon sugar over the surface, saving about 1 tablespoon of the sugar for the tops of the rolls. - Roll up the dough over itself along the long edge into a tight log.
- Eyeball or use a measuring tape to mark the dough for cutting the rolls into 12 pieces.
- Run a length of dental floss under the dough. Cross the ends over each other with opposite hands and pull on the floss to cut a roll.
- Set the cut roll in the prepared pan.
- Continue cutting the rest of the rolls.
- Cover the rolls with a clean tea towel and let them rise at room temperature for 1 hour.
- Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350F (180 C).
- Tuck a couple berries into the tops of the rolls. Drizzle over the rest of the butter and the rest of the lemon sugar.
- Bake the rolls for 22-25 minutes until golden brown and set.
- Set the pan on a wire rack to cool while you make the icing.
Scatter the lemon sugar over the surface, saving about 1 tablespoon of the sugar for the tops of the rolls.
Drizzle over the rest of the butter and the rest of the lemon sugar.
Make the icing
- Beat all the ingredients together into a smooth thick icing.
- Spoon the icing over the tops of the rolls, and top each roll with a few more berries.
Rolls are best eaten the same day that they’re made, but you can freeze them without the icing in an airtight bag for up to 1 month. To reheat, warm them in a pan in a 300F degree oven for 15 minutes. From there you can ice them. 
Notes
Prep now, bake later: The dough can be made up to 3 days ahead of time. Wrap the bowl with plastic wrap and pull it out when you’re ready to bake.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- + overnight chill time:
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Morning breads
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
