Delicious Freshly Milled Lemon Poppy Seed Rolls

There's something about tearing into a lemon roll that makes everything feel right. These lemon poppy seed rolls are what happens when you stop settling for the dense, overly sweet versions that pass for citrus baked goods. You get pillowy soft texture with a little crunch of the poppy seeds, bright lemon with gooey centers, topped with a simple lemon glaze. The secret is freshly milled flour, which brings a depth and natural sweetness that all-purpose just can't touch. You don't need to be a bread wizard to nail these. The dough is forgiving, the shaping is simple, and the payoff is absurd. Let me show you exactly how to make rolls that'll have people asking what bakery you raided.

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 25

Rise Time 2

Total Time 3 25

Servings rolls

Calories 497kcal

Ingredients

Dough:

1 1/2 cups warm water 330 grams
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup olive oil 100 grams
1/2 cup honey 130 grams
5-6 cups fresh milled flour - I like to use a blend of 50/50 hard red and hard white wheat for this recipe 675-810 grams
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1 tablespoon instant dry yeast
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Lemon Curd Filling:

⅓ cup fresh lemon juice 82 grams
½ cup maple sugar or sugar 100 grams
4 egg yolks
1 ½ tablespoons lemon zest
¼ cup butter 58 grams

Topping:

½ cup heavy cream 116 grams

Glaze:

1 ½ cups powdered sugar 150 grams
1 tablespoon melted butter
2 ½ tablespoons lemon juice
2-3 tablespoons heavy cream

Instructions

Prepare the lemon curd by combining all of the ingredients, except the butter, in a medium saucepan, over low heat.
Use a whisk to constantly stir the mixture until it thickens. This will take about 10 minutes. Make sure to constantly stir and do not boil it. This will curdle the eggs.
Remove the lemon curd from the heat once it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Add in the butter and stir until melted.
Place in a different bowl and set in the fridge to chill while you make the dough.
For the dough, combine the wet ingredients and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer (water, salt, oil, lemon juice and honey).
Next add half your flour and the poppy seeds. Mix until well combined.
Let the dough rest in the mixer for 10 minutes before proceeding. This will make a softer loaf and helps to hydrate the fresh flour.
Add yeast and the rest of your flour. I like to add the flour slowly, 1/2 cup at a time and watch how the dough reacts. You don’t want to add too much flour. Add just enough to where a soft dough forms and the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
Knead dough until smooth and elastic. This takes about 6-8 minutes with a mixer and 10+ minutes if you are kneading by hand. Do the window pane test to ensure the kneading has been done properly.
Move the dough to a large bowl and place somewhere warm. I like to use my barely warmed oven (preheat for a few minutes and then turn it off). Allow the dough to rise until double in size, in a warm spot that takes 30-45 minutes. If rising on the counter, cover the dough and it may take longer to double in size.
Once the dough has risen, turn out onto an oiled or lightly floured surface. Roll into a 13 x 18 inch rectangle.
Spread the lemon curd over the dough.
Prepare a 9×13 casserole dish or 2 round cake pans or 2 10 inch cast iron skillets (I line these with parchment paper if using them) by greasing them with butter or olive oil.
Cut the the dough using a pizza cutter. This recipes makes 12 sweet rolls. I like to start by cutting the dough rectangle in half, then each half in half and so on, to get 12 equal strips of dough.
Roll up each dough strip and carefully place them in the baking dish or pans. They should be touching each other, but some gaps are fine, they will rise and spread.
Any filling that gets lost, just toss on top of the sweet rolls once they are in the pans.
Cover and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 30-45 minutes.
Pour the heavy cream over top of the risen rolls.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.
Prepare the glaze by adding all of the ingredients together and mixing until smooth.
Spread on top of the sweet rolls after baking.

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