Raspberry Lemon Brioche Rolls with Whipped Ricotta Cream.
These Raspberry Lemon Brioche Rolls with Whipped Ricotta Cream are the perfect summery sweet roll. Buttery brioche dough, swirled with sweet summer raspberries and lemon sugar. Then generously topped with creamy vanilla whipped ricotta cheese. There’s nothing not to love about these raspberry swirl rolls, every bite is melt in your mouth delicious. These rolls are a great make-ahead breakfast or a special summertime afternoon snack. Just be sure to enjoy them warm, right out of the oven.
Happy Tuesday guys! This is one of those recipes that I’m overly excited to share. Normally I would save a recipe like this for a Friday, so that you’d have them just before the weekend. But then I thought about it, and well, I’m very much into the idea of these rolls as a Tuesday treat. I mean c’mon, we all need a Tuesday treat every once in a while!
That and, as I mentioned, I’m really excited about this recipe and didn’t want to wait any longer to share. Plus, these are easy enough to bake up on a weekday. And while they might be a “breakfast” food, these raspberry swirled rolls make for an extra special afternoon snack too.
Trust me, there’s really nothing better than a random sweet roll on a summer afternoon day. No special occasion needed.
The story.
Honestly, I’m not really sure what the story behind the rolls originally was, but I’ve never created any other recipe like them. Which is one of the many reasons I’m so excited to share them. Sure, we have a lot of cinnamon roll recipes here on HBH. And we definitely have some fruity layered cakes, but never have I made a sweet roll where the main flavor is fruit.
Typically, I’m all about cinnamon when it comes to my swirled rolls, but I tend to reserve those for the holidays. These are my summer swirl roll! When the concept first came to mind, I knew I had to jump at it…they just sounded so delicious. I meant to share the recipe before Father’s Day, but I didn’t want to break tradition. So instead, I shared my last-minute recipe for buckeye CRUNCH bars (which so many of you have already made and loved).
So here we are today! A random June Tuesday, with the best raspberry lemon brioche rolls.
Here are the details.
First, these are not your typical sweet rolls. I wanted them to be extra soft and hinted with lemon.
To make the dough, simply mix flour with a bit of instant yeast, a touch of cardamom, and a pinch of salt. Add warm milk, a touch of honey, eggs, salted butter, and some lemon zest. Then mix until smooth, let the dough rise until doubled in size, usually about an hour.
While the rolls rise, mix up the filling. It’s simply granulated sugar and lemon…yes, lemon sugar!
Once the dough has doubled in size, roll the dough out, spread with butter, then top with some of the lemon sugar. Add lots of fresh raspberries, then roll the dough up into a log, cut into rolls, and place them into a baking dish. Now you can either let the rolls rest, get puffy, and then bake. Or you can keep the rolls in the fridge overnight to rise and bake in the morning. Either option works, it just depends when you’d like to enjoy your rolls.
While the rolls bake…
Whip the ricotta into cream. This is very simple. Take ricotta cheese and whip it in the food processor until creamy, then add powdered sugar and a splash of vanilla.
Simple, simple…and so very creamy.
Note: If you don’t have a food processor, I would recommend topping with whipped cream or whipped cream cheese. Either would also be good!
And now you wait for the rolls. As the rolls bake, the kitchen will fill with the sweet smells of summer…buttery raspberries and lemon wafting throughout your kitchen.
Next, pull the rolls out of the oven and take in their beauty. I almost didn’t frost these because I love the raspberry swirl so much. But in the end, the ricotta cream was too good not to use.
Just before topping with cream, toss those remaining raspberries in with the leftover lemon sugar. Now spread the cream over the rolls and top with the lemon berries.
YUM.
And you see? Just like that Tuesday went from boring to fun…and so delicious. So what do you guys think? Can we do some baking this afternoon? Sounds like the perfect plan to me.
Looking for other summer brunch recipes? Here are some favorites:
Buttery Raspberry Crumble Bars
Berry and Cream Cheese Croissant French Toast Bake
Blackberry Lavender White Chocolate Scones
Baked Blackberry Ricotta French Toast
Lastly, if you make these raspberry lemon brioche rolls with whipped ricotta cream, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Raspberry Lemon Brioche Rolls with Whipped Ricotta Cream
Great make-ahead breakfast or summertime afternoon snack...the perfect sweet summer roll!
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 - 4 cups all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast
- 3/4 cup warm whole milk
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, melted
- 2-3 tablespoon lemon zest
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 6 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing
- 4 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
Ricotta Cream
- 8 ounces whole milk ricotta cheese
- 1/2-1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
-
1. To make the dough. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 3 ½ cups flour, cardamom, cinnamon, salt, and yeast. Add the milk, honey, eggs, butter, and 1 tablespoon lemon zest. Using the dough hook, mix until the flour is completely incorporated, about 4-5 minutes. If the dough seems sticky, add the remaining ½ cup of flour. It's better to have a stickier dough rather than a dry dough, so add flour 1 tablespoon at a time.
2. Cover the bowl and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
3. To make the filling. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and remaining 1-2 tablespoons lemon zest. Line a 9x13 inch baking dish with parchment.
4. Lightly dust your work surface with flour. Turn out the dough, punch it down, and roll it into a rectangle about 10 x 16 inches. Spread 6 tablespoons softened butter evenly over the dough. Sprinkle the 1/2 cup of the lemon sugar evenly over the butter and lightly push into the butter. Sprinkle over 2 1/2 cups raspberries. Starting with the long edge closest to you, carefully roll the dough into a log, keeping it fairly tight as you go. When you reach the edge, pinch along the edge to seal. Using a sharp knife, cut into 12-15 rolls. Place the rolls in the prepared baking dish. Cover and let rise 20-30 minutes or transfer to the fridge to rise overnight (see notes).
5. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Bake the rolls for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown.
6. Meanwhile, make the cream. Whip the ricotta in a food processor until smooth and creamy. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla, pulse to combine. The cream can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days.
7. Toss the remaining 1/2 cup raspberries with the remaining 1/4 cup lemon sugar. Spread the cream over the warm rolls. Sprinkle with berries. Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Overnight Rising: Cover the rolls and transfer to the fridge to rise overnight. In the morning, remove the rolls from the fridge and let come to room temp while the oven preheats. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the rolls for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown.
To Use Active Dry Yeast: Mix 1 tablespoon active dry yeast with the warm milk and honey. Let sit 5-10 minutes, until bubbly and foamy on top. Add the flour and follow the directions as listed for the remainder of the recipe.
To Make Gluten Free: Use an equal amount of your favorite gluten free flour blend in place of the all-purpose flour. I recommend Cup4Cup gluten free flour.
Our Favorite Recipes
Grilled Street Corn Salad with Avocado “Mayo”.
This is a great summer breakfast recipe. Can use any/all berries and it’s perfect.
Love that! Thank you for trying this recipe, Joyce!! xTieghan
I am wondering if these could be made with blueberries?
Hi Laura,
Yes blueberries would be delish! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Hi Tieghan!
These look delicious! My husband doesn’t care for cardamom, is there another spice you would recommend for this recipe?
Thanks,
Grace
Hi Grace,
I would recommend using some nutmeg. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Looks amazing. Now I just need to get some rasberries🤗🤗🤗
Yes!! I hope you love this one, Johanna! xTieghan
Looks amazing! I am looking for more ways to use my sourdough discard; do you think there’s a way to substitute that into the recipe in place of the yeast?
Hey Courtney,
Sorry I haven’t tested this with sourdough discard so I’m honestly not sure how it would turn out! Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
This look so amazing! I can’t wait to bake them tomorrow morning. Quick questions! Can I freeze some of them? What is the best way to store them? Thank you!
Hi Paggie,
Sure you can freeze! I like to store in an airtight container. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Ugh these look amaaaaaazing! And seem like a great baking project – unfortunately, I don’t have a stand mixer 🙁 do you recommend any other way of mixing the dough together that will still give same results? Thank you Tieghan – another amazing recipe!
Hey Zoha,
You can use a wooden spoon to mix by hand, just put some elbow grease into it:) xTieghan
The imagines show you making 8, not 12. Is there a way to do 8 instead? How does baking time etc differ?
Hi Kira, I just baked these rolls in a smaller pan and then baked off the remaining rolls in another pan. If you’d like to make less rolls, I would recommend halving the recipe and making 6 rolls. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
Hi. This looks delicious. Dontoubthinknincould cut this recipe in 1/2 and still work?
Hi Danielle,
Yes that should work! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Hey this looks amazing! I’m coming from the UK and I was just wondering whether the conversion between US customary cups and metric is correct? It says 3.5 cups of flour / 937.5 grams but the standard conversion is 1 cup of flour to 120 grams? Thanks for your help!
Hi Jasmine! I would use the 120 grams for each cup of flour! I apologize, I need to correct the metrics on my site! I hope you love this recipe and please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
If you don’t have a food processor to whip the ricotta, would a Kitchen Aid whipping attachment get similar results?
Hey Gail,
Yes that would work or just use a whisk! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Hi, Tieghan,
I loved your recipe so much! I tried it for my blog with Cherries and Lemon Sugar. Also, I have used Lemon Whipped Cream on top and it tasted delightful. Thank you so much for this recipe! You are a constant source of inspiration for me 🙂
Amazing!! Thank you so much Anjali! I hope I can continue to be a source of inspiration for you! xTieghan xTieghan
Good morning! For the raspberry cinnamon rolls what do you recommend doing if I only have active yeast?
Hi Heather,
You will need to dissolve the active yeast into the warm water and honey to start, let that foam and then continue with the recipe. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
These are so fragrant and delicious! I am sure they would be great on their own, but the whipped ricotta is just an amazing addition! Thanks for yet another great recipe
Thank you Elena! xTieghan
I made these today and oh so good! My raspberries were frozen and so on the rise before putting them in the oven I allowed them to rise for 40 minutes because the frozen raspberries made the dough cold. They didn’t really rise much but did well in the oven. The frosting didn’t turn out for me as the ricotta was partially skim milk (didn’t realize it needed to be whole fat ricotta) so it was a thin glaze. Still tasted great! One of our family favorite Half Bakes Harvest recipes.
That is so amazing to hear! Thank you for trying this recipe, Nicole! xTieghan
Just a note about the metric weights: the flour is way off. The recipe says to use 937.5 grams of flour, which is almost 8 cups of flour! The actual weight of 3.5-4 cups of flour is 420-480 grams. I definitely used on the higher end of that spectrum to get the right consistency for the dough.
Very excited to finish this because the recipe looks amazing!
Hi Clay! I am so sorry about that! I will recheck all of the metrics! I hope you loved this one! xTieghan
Hi, I was wondering if you had an email we could contact or you’d be able to email [email protected]
Regards,
ShopEnda
Hi! Yes, please contact me at the email below! Thanks! xTieghan
[email protected]
Hi Tieghan! This looks great, and I love the idea of using a mixer to do the hard work. What speed do you usually run the mixer on with the dough hook in?
My husband made these and they turned out absolutely amazing. Thank you for such a great recipe!
Love that! Thank you so much for trying this, Noel! xTieghan
Can’t wait to make these! Is it possible to freeze the dough and bake at a later date? Trying to figure out if possible, as I don’t want my rolls to go bad in case I can’t eat them all in a timely manner. If so, at what stage of prepping could I freeze the dough and for how long?
Thanks so much!
Hi Hayley,
You could form the rolls and freeze the entire baking pan, remove from the freezer and bring back to room temperature before baking. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Could I use room temperature coconut oil for the filling instead of butter? Or do you have any other filling suggestions if I don’t have butter on hand?
Hi Evelyn,
So sorry but you need the butter for this recipe:) I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Hi, Tieghan! This is sooo good, and as i’m making these the smell is absolutely divine. I just had a quick question, would it work the same if I greased my baking dish rather than using parchment? Thanks! <3
Hi Isabel,
Yes that is totally fine to do!! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
These were FANTASTIC! So soft and flavorful!
Thank you so much Nik! xTieghan
My first HBH recipe I created! Loved making it. I hardly ever bake since I have no one to eat it all, but it was perfect for the holiday weekend! I loved being creative with it when presenting it / photographing it (on my IG @emmytrenks). HBH is such an inspiration! The flavors were wonderful and just perfect for summer. We ALL enjoyed this one!! Thank you!
Thank you so much Emily!! I am so glad this turned out so well for you! I hope you continue to enjoy my recipes! xTieghan
Thanks for this recipe! I made it and it was delicious. I made a half quantity and it was still a little too much for two people (we finished it but now we’re so stuffed we can’t move!).. if I wanted to freeze some would I do that before or after cooking? And how would you recommend thawing / adjusting cooking time? Thanks!
Hi Anna,
So glad you enjoyed the recipe! I would freeze before baking, bring it back to room temp, and then bake as directed. I hope this helps! xTieghan
Tieghan, we are very excited to try these! Do you have any thoughts on how they might freeze if we wanted them to make a quick trip with us to a beach house? Roughly: make Friday, freeze, travel 3 hours in cooler Saturday, bake Sunday?
Hi Kristen,
I think that would work well! Just bring them back to room temp before baking. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Do you know if making this with frozen strawberries would be too juicy? I’m just thinking about how strawberry crisps get too juicy without flour mixed in.
Hi Denise,
I haven’t tried this with frozen strawberries, but think it would be okay. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
I have a question. When you convert it to grams the flour says 937g. I thought that was way to much. But I went ahead with the recipe. But I’m currently mixing the dough and it’s insanely dry. I’m hoping I can salvage it somehow! Was it really that many grams?
Hi Josabeth! I am sorry about that, but it is not correct. The flour should be 420-480 grams. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
So stinking good! I’ll definitely be making this again and again. Thank you!
Thank you so much Alex! xTieghan
LOVE this recipe! Our raspberries are just ripe, and in the past I’ve either frozen or made jam..( other than eating fresh) .but having a new way to bake with them…ooooh and that brioche …soooo good. Thank you Tieghan, yet again, for another outstanding and beautiful recipe!.
Thank you so much Meg!! I am so glad you enjoyed this one! xTieghan
Hello! These look beautiful! Is it possible to substitute the butter for either shortening or lard or a combination of the two? Or even an oil? We can’t use butter in this house!
Hi Ally, I think an either amount of either should work well. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
These rolls were delicious. They were the summeriest of summer breakfast treats! I especially loved the hint of lemon in the dough. I am pretty sure I ate most of them myself, but my family loved them as well. Thank you!
Thank you Andrea!! I am so glad this turned out so well for you! xTieghan
Tieghan! These were amazing! I made them at home, froze them right before they would have gone in the oven, drove them to the beach for family vacation and baked them for our first breakfast… the whole fam was stunned into silence by the deliciousness! I forgot ricotta but had cream cheese on hand for the icing. They were still heaven but I’m excited to try with ricotta next time! 11/10 Thank you’
Thank you so much Kristin! I am so glad this recipe turned out so well for you! I hope you continue to enjoy my recipes! xTieghan
Hey!
Would there be a way to use lemon juice or lemon extract instead of zest? I’d love to get the lemony flavor but don’t have any lemons. Thanks!
Hey Kate,
Sure either of those options would work! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Hello, this recipe looks wonderful. Could I use blueberries? If I do, would cardamom still taste good or should I substitute it with another spice?
Thank you!
Hey Camila,
Yes blueberries would work, I would keep the recipe as is. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Hey Tieghan!
I was thinking of trying this out with the Every Day Bread Dough recipe instead, would that work if I used the baking directions for the cinnamon roll bread? Also if that does work, I was curious if I would just add the cinnamon, cardamom, and lemon zest to the bread dough and proceed that way?
Hey Sonia! Yes, I think the everyday bread dough would work great! You can add those seasonings right to the dough. That will be wonderful! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
Delicious for my afternoon snack today. I made a cream cheese frosting and it very much complemented the lemon raspberry flavors! Sharing with neighbors because I don’t think they will be as good on the second day as the raspberries will probably make the rolls soggy. But great eaten fresh!
Hey Becky,
Thanks so much for making the recipe, I am so glad it was enjoyed! xTieghan
I am a vegan. Is there any way to make this vegan friendly?
Hey Joy,
I have not tested this, but you can certainly give it a try with your favorite vegan substitutes. I hope you love the recipe, let me know how it turns out! xTieghan
Hi, these look amazing! I was just wondering, if I don’t have a food processor, would a regular hand mixer work to make the ricotta cream?
Hey Carly,
Yes, that will work. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Made this today and my suspicions were as expected. Baking the raspberries made so much juice, my baking dish was full and the rolls were soggy half way up from the bottom. Also, make sure you’re using good yeast. Mine was apparently old because after 2hrs I still hadn’t hit double size. I may attempt this again another time, but right now I’m a little deflated and sulky.
…any suggestions?
Hey Sandor,
So sorry to hear this, I am thinking your yeast caused your issues. You want to be sure to use good yeast so your dough can correctly rise and then I don’t think you would have had as many issues with the raspberries. I hope this helps for next time! xTieghan
I would love to make this! If I want to bake it for a lunch, can I still make it the evening before, or will the overnight rise be too long then?
Hey Julia,
Totally fine to make these the day before, cover and keep in the fridge. Bring back to room temp before baking. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
This might be my favorite HBH recipe so far…and that is saying a lot! So easy, so delicious and looks beautiful too!
Hey Kiley,
I am so glad you have enjoyed the recipe, thanks so much for making it! Have a great week! xTieghan
LOVE how these turned out!!! The perfect amount of sweetness
Hey Lakyn,
Thanks so much for making this recipe, it makes me so happy that it was enjoyed. Happy Friday! xTieghan
Delish!
Thanks Brooke!