A delicious summer twist on our classic Copycat Cinnabuns recipe, these Lemon Curd Sticky Rolls are perfect for brunch, afternoon playdates, or a light summer dessert. (Basically, there is no excuse not to have these lemon rolls in your life ASAP.)

I first shared this Lemon Sweet Rolls recipe on my friend Amanda’s blog.

Lemon Sticky Rolls Recipe

It has recently come to light that my daughter and I have opposite tastes when it comes to nearly all desserts.

She doesn’t really care for chocolate or cake – and I would live off of them if I could. I don’t think herbs like basil belong in snacks, and she can’t get enough of everything pesto-flavored.. even popcorn!

However, on rare occasions, our dessert preferences align and we find something that we both enjoy, like homemade cinnamon rolls… which leads to me making each and every sweet roll variation I can think of!

On our recent trip to NYC, she fell in love with a brunch spot called Sarabeth’s which is renown for it’s brunch expertise, including delicious specialty preserves like lemon curd and marmalade. We didn’t pick up a jar while we were having brunch because they didn’t have the one she really wanted and we knew that there was a location in the Lord and Taylor’s around the corner from the Langham where we were staying… but of course, we swung by on our last day in NYC and it was closed until noon! She still talks about the delicious preserves and even though I’ve tried buying almost every type of marmalade or curd available at our grocery store, nothing has come close.

So, we decided to try to make our own lemon curd and take it up a notch by rolling it up into some homemade lemon sweet rolls! This sweet roll recipe is easy enough for kids to help make – but they will definitely need help!

These lemon sweet rolls have a vibrant citrus flavor that is cut with the chewy-caramelized dough. They were such a special Sunday morning treat and my daughter begged for me to send them as lunch box treats for her all week.

Of course, I liked them with the lemon glaze and she liked them without – but we both agreed that the lemon sweet rolls were a lot of fun to make and even better to eat! We will definitely be making them again.

This video is for our homemade cinnamon rolls recipe, so while it doesn’t show the making of the lemon curd, the dough and assembling of the recipe is the exact same as this recipe so I thought it might be helpful to share here:

Ingredients for Lemon Sweet Rolls

• 3/4 cup warm water
• 2 1/4 teaspoon yeast (1 packet)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup olive oil or other high-smoke oil
• 4 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup lemon curd

For the homemade lemon curd:

• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 6 Tablespoons butter

For the lemon glaze:

• 1/2 cup powdered icing sugar
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons lemon juice, as needed
• Pinch sea salt

Tip: if you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can use regular milk for this recipe (no need to add vinegar). I like keeping the powdered buttermilk on hand, just in case.

Kitchen Tools You May Find Helpful:

• Large mixing bowl
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Stand mixer with kneading attachments
• Rolling pin
• Cutting board
• Sharp knife
• Whisk
• Pot
• 9″ x 12″ casserole dish
• Mason jar

How to Make Homemade Lemon Sweet Rolls

Grease and line the casserole dish and set aside.

To make the dough, combine the warm water, yeast, salt and 2 Tablespoons of the sugar in a large bowl.

Allow the mixture to “proof” (bubble) for 5 minutes before continuing with the recipe. At this time, I like to prepare the lemon curd so it is well chilled by the time I need it.

To make the lemon curd, combine the lemon juice and sugar in a saucepan, whisk well, then add in the eggs. Heat over medium-low heat and start to whisk in the butter.

Allow the mixture to bubble for about 2-3 minutes until starting to thicken before removing from heat. Allow to cool (you can transfer into a mason jar after it has cooled a bit to continue chilling in the fridge).

Returning to the dough, add the remaining sugar, buttermilk, egg, and vegetable oil and stir well.

Add in the flour, 1 cup at a time, until well incorporated.

Knead the dough for 5 minutes, then cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and allow to rise, about an hour.

Punch down the dough and then roll out on a floured surface into a large rectangle about 1/2″ thick. (Use flour to prevent the dough from sticking to the rolling pin as well.)

Spread the lemon curd over the rolled dough and then roll one long side of the rectangle towards the other, forming a tight log.

Cut the log into 2″ sections to form the sweet rolls.

Place the buns in the prepared casserole dish and cover with tinfoil, allowing to rise one last time, approximately 1-2 hours.

Heat the oven to 350F and bake the rolls for 17-20 minutes, until tops are lightly golden brown and rolls are cooked throughout.

We also added a lemon drizzle to make these rolls extra sticky!

Just combine the lemon juice, icing sugar, and a pinch of salt and then drizzle on the rolls while hot or cold. I like to drizzle half of the rolls so that guests have an option as to how they prefer their roll.

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This Delicious Lemon Rolls recipe is the perfect summer brunch addition for those who love lemon curd or lemon meringue pie. It’s a fun alternative to cinnamon buns – plus leftover lemon curd is always a bonus.

For more delicious brunch recipes, check out our Triple Berry Yogurt Cake recipe or our Pineapple Prosecco Party Punch recipe.