Lemon sweet rolls with cream cheese honey frosting

Spring yeast buns :). Soft, fluffy sweet rolls with a lemon filling and a creamy frosting made with cream cheese and honey. The idea for the honey frosting came from one of the readers of Moje Wypieki. The whole preparation process is simple and probably already familiar to you from classic cinnamon rolls. These are spiral-shaped rolls baked close together in one pan and pulled apart after cooling. If you’re not a fan of Philadelphia-style frosting, you can simply make a lemon glaze instead :).

Makes 12 buns.

Ingredients for the lemon sweet rolls:

• 540 g strong white bread flour
• 80 g caster sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 10 g instant dry yeast or 20 g fresh yeast
• 75 g butter, melted
• 250 ml milk
• 2 large eggs

Mix the flour with the dry yeast (if using fresh yeast, prepare a starter first). Add the remaining ingredients and knead the dough, adding the melted butter near the end of kneading. Knead thoroughly until the dough becomes soft and elastic. Place the dough into a lightly floured bowl, cover with a kitchen towel and leave in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1.5 hours.

After rising, roll the dough out into a rectangle measuring 40 x 30 cm, lightly dusting the work surface and rolling pin with flour if necessary. Brush the rectangle with melted butter, sprinkle with sugar, and grate the lemon zest directly over the dough (only the yellow part of the peel). Roll the dough tightly from the longer side into a log. Using a sharp knife, cut into slices about 3–3.5 cm thick* (12 equal pieces). Arrange the rolls in a 23 x 33 cm baking pan lined with baking paper — the buns should touch each other while rising. Cover with a kitchen towel and leave to rise again for about 30 minutes, until doubled in size.

Bake in an oven preheated to 180°C for about 18 – 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool slightly. Spread the slightly warm buns with the cream cheese frosting, pull apart and serve.

Ingredients for lemon filling:

• 60 g butter
• 70 – 80 g caster sugar
• zest of 3 lemons (preferably unwaxed)

Melt the butter and let it cool slightly.

Ingredients for cream cheese frosting:

• 40 g butter, melted and cooled
• 160 g cream cheese, such as Philadelphia
• 4 tablespoons Greek yogurt
• 4 tablespoons runny honey

All ingredients should be at room temperature. Place all ingredients into the bowl of a mixer and beat until smooth and combined.

Method for bread machine users:

Place all the yeast dough ingredients into the bread machine in the following order: liquid ingredients first, then dry ingredients, and finally the yeast. Select the ‘dough’ programme (kneading and first rise). Once the programme has finished, remove the dough, knead it lightly, and continue according to the main recipe above.

* Another useful trick is to use a piece of thread or string: slide it under the rolled dough and pull the ends together across the top to cut neat rolls.

Enjoy!