One of our favorite treats when we were growing up was my mom’s cinnamon rolls. When she made bread, she would often make extra dough for Sunday morning sweet rolls, and nothing gets the family out of bed and to the table faster than the aroma of fresh baked bread laced with cinnamon (well, maybe bacon frying). The rolls were inexpensive, delicious of course, and I have to admit that when I smell cinnamon, I am home, wherever I am.
Swirled Cinnamon Bread
Sometimes, she would roll the whole thing up, often adding raisins, and bake a loaf of swirled cinnamon bread, and we loved that as well. No better toast in the world.
Bake a little comfort
If you’ve had a tough week, this is comfort bread at its best. It not only gives you a boost, baking these makes your whole house inviting with the scents of spice.
Enrich the dough
You can pretty much use any soft bread dough to make cinnamon rolls, but sweetened and enriched works best. Let the dough rise a bit, roll it out to a rectangle, and fill with cinnamon, sugar, and butter. Roll up, proof, bake, and there you are. Here, I’ve used honey, butter, and eggs to give the dough that boost of flavor and texture, and the cinnamon was left on the shelf to give ginger a chance to star.
Add more texture
Swap white whole wheat flour for the traditional all-purpose flour for added flavor and texture, and a bit of fiber as well. No, it’s still not health food, but it is a bit better for you, and no, they don’t come out heavy or dense. Instant yeast used here is a bit quicker than active dry yeast, saves you a step.
Let’s change it up
As much as I love cinnamon, it’s fun to switch things up a bit. Here I enlisted ginger, a family favorite, and added some lemon to give it another lift. The ginger in the filling is in three different forms: crystalized, ground, and fresh. These are very ginger forward, and extremely tasty. For special, add a little glaze and sprinkle a bit more ginger on top, gilding the lily. The lemon appears in both the dough and the filling, and if you choose to glaze you can add a nice amount of lemon flavor there as well.
Give yourself a break
Easy to make, they freeze well too so you can have a few stashed in the freezer at the ready. You can also make them the night before, rest the formed rolls in the refrigerator overnight, and bake them off in the morning. Then, the aroma of freshly baked bread and spices will call them all to the table on a Sunday morning without you uttering a word.
Ginger and Lemon Sweet Rolls
Dough:
- ¾ cup 2% milk, or plant milk, scalded
- ¼ cup butter
- ¼ cup local honey
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 1 cup white all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 pkt. Instant yeast
- Zest of a lemon
Filling:
- 1/3 cup softened butter
- 1/3 cup chopped crystalized ginger
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla paste or extract
- 1-inch knob fresh ginger, grated on microplane
- ½ tsp. cardamom
- ¾ tsp. ground ginger
- Zest of another lemon
Glaze (optional):
- 1 cup 10X confectioners’ sugar
- Limoncello or lemon juice to thin
Scald the milk and add the butter and honey. Let cool to room temperature or just pleasantly warm so as not to kill the yeast (between 100 and 110 degrees F.). Check with a thermometer. Mom always said to be on the safe side, just a bit warmer than baby bath water. If it won’t hurt the baby, it won’t hurt the yeast.
While the milk is cooling, mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl to wait, and mix all filling ingredients together. If you like, you can add a handful of toasted walnuts or pecans to the filling ingredients at this stage.
To make the dough, add the eggs to the pleasantly warm liquid ingredients and combine with the dry mixture and mix well, then knead for seven to eight minutes. Place in a warm, greased bowl, cover with a towel, and let rise for about a half hour.
Butter an 8 ½” by 11 ½” baking dish, or similar size round baking tin and set aside.
Turn the dough out on a floured board and let sit for 10 minutes. Roll out to about 10”X14” rectangle. Spread with the filling mixture evenly over, then roll up fairly snugly.
Cut the roll into 12 even sections. The easiest way to do this is to cut in half, then each half in half, and each quarter into three. You can get them pretty even by doing this. Place in the prepared pan; they should touch each other. Cover and let rise again for about an hour.
Bake in a preheated 375-degree oven for about 25 minutes, rotating once to ensure even browning. Let cool to warm, and while cooling make the glaze by mixing the sugar with just enough juice or spirits to make a runny drizzle. After glazing lightly, you can sprinkle on a bit more crystalized ginger and some lemon zest.
Sylvia’s kitchen tip:
I learned this from my mom, and it’s a great technique. After mixing the dough in your ceramic bowl, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and immediately fill the bowl with hot tap water. Let this sit while you knead. Once kneaded, clean out the bowl, all the dough scraps come out easily now because of the soak, and you have a nice warm bowl in which to proof your dough.
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Thank you, Dorothy, for handy tips and the sweet rolls!
Joanna x
Thanks for stopping by Joanna! I’ll save you a roll next time.
Never have I ever turned down a sweet roll! Oh how delicious these look, lemon rolls are so light and fresh tasting. And adding ginger is a tasty twist! Lovely post Dorothy!
Thank you Jan! The lemon and ginger are really good together.
This looks so interesting! I wonder if you could make these and use Rhubarb in place of Lemon? Ginger & Rhubarb are a big British flavor combo.
I LOOOOOVE Rhubarb!
Rhubarb is lovely paired with ginger. But, it has a lot of water in it. I think you might cut the rhubarb really small and precook it first, then include it in the filling.
Wonderful recipe. BTW what is the equivalent of a packet of instant yeast? I buy it in bulk and keep it frozen.
That would be 2 1/4 tsp. I buy mine in bulk too, so I have committed this to memory! Thank you Elizabeth!
Thanks.
You always add a new twist to the tried and true recipes, Dorothy. That’s what makes you special.
Oh, thank you my friend! What a sweet comment. I love shaking things up a bit!
Mouthwatering! Doubt I could stop with one, with this incredible mix of ginger, lemon and cardamom with brown sugar! 🙂
I know! The stop button might not work with these!
They look delicious
Thank you Marilyn! Not a crumb left.
We love cinnamon and I bet the lemon livened it up they sound delicious, Dorothy 🙂 x
Thank you Carol! It was a nice twist on the old, but I still love the old recipes, make no mistake!
Me too, Dorothy x
😋😍
Looks delicious. It brought some old memories to the surface. When my grandmother made pie(s) she always twisted up scraps and sprinkled cinnamon and sugar on them. During my summers at my grandparents, for many years I slept in a small bedroom on the second floor with a grate in the floor to let heat rise. Whatever my grandmother was baking in the morning certainly caused me to bail out of bed quickly. It’s amazing how home made cinnamon or ginger lemon rolls in this case bring back great memories.
My mom did the same things with the pie dough, and sometimes she used the scraps with a bit of jam. We didn’t have much growing up, but mom always made sure there were little treats for us, and a treat at that time was just that, something special.
Ah, cinnamon!!!!
This spin on cinnamon rolls has my mouth watering. Anything with limoncello is A ok with me.
I know! It’s the nectar of the gods!
Double ginger! Fabulous!
Here’s to new ways of making things. I always know you will do that for us. Thank you.
Lemon and Ginger in a sweet roll. Yes, please!
Sweet rolls are such a comfort food and I don’t plan on ever giving them up! 😋
What a nice variation on cinnamon rolls! I like the addition of lemon zest.
These sound heavenly! Great tip on filling the bowl with hot water!
Jenna
It works like a charm and gives the yeast a nice warm place to nestle.
It’s been too long since I’ve had one of these and they look (and sound) so dang delicious. I might even attempt to make these, drooling the entire time. Thanks for sharing
Thank you! It is worth the time, and these are relatively simple to make.
I make gingerbread then serve it with a lemon satin sauce because these are two flavors I adore, but never ever thought of putting them together in sweet rolls. What a tasty idea.
Thanks Ally, your gingerbread sounds lovely!
Mmm! I love ginger and lemon together. Pretty sure I caught the aroma of this off my laptop as I was reading!
Yes, you probably did, I had a fan aimed in your direction! 💕❤️
Looks like a delightful texture there.
Thanks Kevin, they were soft and pillowy!
These look incredible! I am saving to make later because my kitchen is a mess because I’m getting cabinet door replacement in Hatboro, PA. I’ve never filled the bowl with hot water to make them rise, great tip thank you for sharing!
The tip is second nature to me, and I realized when I was doing it this time, I’d never passed it along. That little soaking makes the bowl quick and easy to clean, and warms it beautifully so the yeast gets a boost!
Good luck with your cabinet doors!
I grew up having a “sweet roll” for breakfast on most school days as they were an easy way for my mother to get us feed and out to the bus stop. It wasn’t until I moved from Texas that everyone referred to them as cinnamon rolls. Your ginger and lemon ones sound like a wonderful change of flavors.
There is nothing better than a good cinnamon roll Dorothy! Yours make me want to grab one right off the screen!
It’s pure comfort, with memories attached!
An awesome coffee compliment.❤️☕️☕️
Perfect with a double shot of espresso!
Oh my Dorothy, these look absolutely mouthwatering! I would get out of bed and to the table immediately smelling the aroma of these freshly baked cinnamon rolls 😋 Cinnamon is home for me too! An interesting twist with the ginger 😁
Thank you Ribana! The ginger is definitely unexpected, but very welcome!
Yum! These Lemon Sweet Rolls look like a real treat! 🙂
Thanks! They were a real treat.