Sticky Lemon Rolls from TheKitchn.com

I didn't used to like breakfast.  It was the only meal that you couldn't eat french fries at, and it involved getting up early and doing a lot of prep work when you were tired and cranky.  I like to think of breakfast as more of an acquired taste - like good wine or coffee, and let me just say that in the past few years, my taste for breakfast has definitely grown.  Now, it's something that I want to eat at any time of the day.  Breakfast burritos for dinner?  Yes please!

This past year I've become especially obsessed with breakfast pastries - quiches, breads, sticky buns and holiest of the Holy Grails, cinnamon rolls.  When I saw that TheKitchn.com had developed a recipe for a different kind of cinnamon roll (that is to say, one without cinnamon) I knew I had to give it a whirl.  Sticky lemon rolls with lemon cream cheese glaze?  Please.  Just shoot me now, because it isn't going to get any better than this.

Oh, hello there, lemons.  You're about to get so delicious.

Let's get those dough ingredients together and bust out that dough hook!  I love the dough hook.  I need to make more things that use it.

Because it's a yeast dough, you're going to have to cover it up and let it rise.  Shh, the dough is sleeping.

When it's doubled in size...

Ooh, yeah baby.  Sexy fluffy dough.

You're going to gently take it out and knead it a big.  Gently, though.  Why would you punch your dough?  That's so violent, and too much could make your finished rolls tough.  Just press it out into your big 'ol rectangle.  More like, suggest that the dough flatten out into the big 'ol rectangle.  That's it.  Suggest.

Then you're going to cover it all up in softened, but not melted, butter.  Melting would make it messy, and softened butter works juuust fine.

Buttery, flat-ish and rectangularly suggested dough.

You're going to spread some of that sweet and tasty filling on top of all that.  Or, if you're baking with your brilliant mother like I was, have her spread some of that sweet and tasty filling on top.  You can stand back and take poorly lit pictures of it and then do the dishes afterwards.

Roll it all up and get ready to cut your lemony jelly roll into equal pieces.  12 equal pieces, to be exact.  (This is baking, you should be exact.)

Place them gently into your baking pan.  Mmm, they smell yeasty and lemony already.

We put ours in the fridge overnight because we got a late start, and then Mom got up early and set them on the counter for an hour to come to room temperature and rise a bit before baking.

And then you bake them until they are golden brown and your house smells indescribably delicious.

But something is still missing here...

Oh yes.  Lemon cream cheese glaze, where have you been all my life?

Spread it on there reeeal good.

Then you can dish 'em up and hope that they'll last the morning, at least.

They're tangy and sweet and yeasty and lemony and tart and creamy and I'm drooling again just writing about this.

Or you should do the right thing and devour them while they are warm and the glaze is drippy and wonderful.  As I said, it's the right thing to do.

Sticky Lemon Rolls with Lemon Cream Cheese Glaze

Makes 12 large breakfast rolls

From http://www.thekitchn.com/ or go here to check it out in its original form!

Lemon Roll Dough

1 envelope (0.25 ounces, or 2 1/2 teaspoons) yeast

3/4 cup milk, warmed to about 100°F or warm but not hot on your wrist
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, very soft
1/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 lemons, zested
2 eggs

Sticky Lemon Filling
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon freshly-ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
2 lemons, zested and juiced *
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, very soft

Lemon Cream Cheese Glaze
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup powdered sugar
1 lemon, zested

In the bowl of a stand mixer sprinkle the yeast over the warmed milk and let it sit for a couple minutes. With the mixer paddle, stir in the softened butter, sugar, vanilla, and one cup of the flour. Stir in the salt, nutmeg, and lemon zest. Stir in the eggs and enough of the remaining flour to make a soft yet sticky dough.

Switch to the dough hook and knead for about 5 minutes, or until the dough is elastic and pliable.
(If you do not have a stand mixer, stir together the ingredients by hand, then turn the soft dough out onto a lightly floured countertop. Knead the dough by hand (see this video for explicit instructions) for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the dough is smooth, pliable, and stretchy.)

Spray the top of the dough with vegetable oil, and turn the dough over so it is coated in oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a towel and let the dough rise until nearly doubled - about an hour.
In a small bowl, mix the sugar with the nutmeg and ginger, then work in the lemon zest with the tips of your fingers until the sugar resembles wet, soft sand. Stir in the juice of 1 lemon. (Reserve the juice of the second lemon for the glaze.)

Lightly grease a 13x9 inch baking dish with baking spray or butter. On a floured surface pat the dough out into a large yet still thick rectangle — about 10x15 inches. Spread evenly with the softened butter, then pour and spread the lemon-sugar mixture over top. Roll the dough up tightly, starting from the top long end. Cut the long dough roll into 12 even rolls, and place them, cut side up, in the prepared baking dish.

Cover the rolls with a towel and let them rise for an hour or until puffy and nearly doubled. (You can also refrigerate the rolls at this point. Cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap, and place it in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. When you are ready to bake the rolls, remove the pan from the fridge, and let them rise for an hour.)

Heat the oven to 350°F. Place the risen rolls in the oven and bake for 35 minutes or until a thermometer inserted into a center roll reads 190°F.

While the rolls are baking, prepare the glaze. In a small food processor (or with a mixer, or a sturdy whisk),
whip the cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add the lemon juice and blend until well combined. Add the powdered sugar and blend until smooth and creamy.

When the rolls are done, smear them with the cream cheese glaze, and sprinkle the zest of 1 additional lemon over top to garnish. Serve while warm.