Every monkey bread recipe I’ve ever seen is made with butter and brown sugar resulting in a caramel covered pull apart bread. This recipe intrigued me because of its main ingredient. Lemon. Lemon? Yes indeed. It is a bright fresh citrus bread drizzled with butter, lemony sugar and a sweet glaze. Lemon is so vibrant and clean. With the beautiful powdery snow around here lately, this monkey bread seemed a perfect complement to the fresh white landscape. This bread looks and tastes like you slaved away making it, in fact, it is so quick and easy you won’t believe it. But absolutely delicious.
This monkey bread is sweet and tart, moist and warm, crusty and soft all together. Ooooh it is so good.
The base for this sweet treat is Rhodes Dinner Rolls. Let them thaw until not frozen, but still cold.
Then, cut in half and place in a greased (I used butter) baking dish.
Drizzle with melted butter. Mmmmm. You know how I love butter.
Then we’re going to zest a lemon.
And mix that zest with some regular granulated sugar. Which infuses the sugar with the lemon flavor. Look at those gorgeous flecks of bright yellow lemon!
Sprinkle half the lemon sugar over the rolls and allow to rise until double. They are going to get nice and fluffy and the lemon sugar will essentially dissolve into the bread as it rises. Yum!
When all puffed up nicely, sprinkle the other half of your lemon sugar on top of the rolls and then bake.
Remove from the oven when nice and golden, slide out of the pan onto your serving platter and drizzle with a little lemon glaze.
Pull apart and enjoy!
Warm, crusty on the outside, soft and perfectly lemony on the inside! Dee-licious!
The lemon sugar gets a little caramelized with the lemon and is just amazing around the edges. Oh buddy. That’s the good stuff.
Lemon Monkey Bread
(from Creations by Kara)
12 Rhodes dinner rolls, thawed but still cold
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons butter, melted
Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1. Cut rolls in half and place in a greased 9×13″ pan.
2. Drizzle with the melted butter.
3. Mix lemon zest and sugar together in a small bowl. Sprinkle HALF of the lemon sugar mixture over the rolls. Cover and let raise till doubled.
4. Sprinkle remaining sugar mixture on top. Bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes. Remove from pan.
5. Combine glaze ingredients. Drizzle over rolls while still warm.
Mmmmmm….this looks so yummy! Thanks for sharing. Imagine all the other fruity options there are for monkey bread. You’ve opened up a whole new realm of fruity monkey bread goodness
I know!! I can’t decide if that’s a good thing or not.
All I can find are Rhodes heat and serve 6 pack…I need the dough that has to rise though right??
Correct. You need the frozen rolls that come in a bag. Not the heat and serve ones.
Thank you! I wonder why they are so hard to find (any brand)? Tried two grocery stores…I think people are looking for the easy way to make rolls these days.
This looks sooo good that I will keep looking.
Not sure what stores are around you, but I’ve found them at Albertsons, Safeway and Walmart in the past. Good luck hunting!!
Go to Rhodes web site. I put in my zip code and it directed me to several places in my area.
I found them at Walmart.
Awesome! Thanks for the tip!
Reblogged this on muddledsoul and commented:
I might have to make some Lemon Monkey Bread this weekend………..
YUM!! Going to make these tomorrow!
Enjoy!!
I went shopping for the St. patrick’s Day Holiday I didn’t think my local grocery store had the rolls but it did so I’m going to give it a try
So glad your store had them! Enjoy! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
I made these!! They turned out just great and the family loved them now I have to make them for Easter Sunday before church. I’m going to have all of my kids at home! you know the older they get, the harder that gets! maybe a little sweet might be the just the right thing to do the trick…. Thanks again BakerLady
You are so welcome! Glad they were loved by all!
They are rising as I type. My mouth is watering from zesting the lemon! Looking forward to the finished deliciousness!
Thanks for visiting! Try not to eat the whole batch!
Can you use a Rhodes bread instead of the Rhodes rolls? Can i just cut up the bread into 12 rolls?
I’m not sure I know what Rhodes bread looks like, but as long as it’s just a plain roll type dough, I don’t see why it wouldn’t work.
I’m trying it with the frozen bread loaf on sunday…. did you try it and did it work?
You just need to cut it up and it will be just fine!
I have a question — is there any other way to make a lemon sugar topping without using zest? I really really dislike the taste of lemon (or any citrus) zest. Any suggestions, I’m stumped.
I cannot think of another way to infuse the flavor of lemon into the sugar besides the zest. I don’t think an extract would work. If you aren’t a fan of the flavor of citrus though, these probably won’t be your cup of tea.
What about lemon pudding, or any other type of pudding.
You could try a lemon pudding I suppose, but I don’t know what kind of results you’ll get. Let me know!
Try True Lemon crystals. You should be able to find them in the bakery aisle of your grocery store.
Thanks for the tip! I’ve never seen those before.
I think lemon flavoring (the type that is lemon oil cut with another oil) or just straight food-grade lemon essential oil (which is basically what the zest contributes) would work if you don’t like the zest.
How about True Lemon? I originally found it in the aisle with powdered drink mixes that you can simply open and pour into your bottle of water to flavor it. However, it can be used in baking too.
The box says, “The essential lemon oils and juices are cold-pressed and crystallized to capture the the lemon’s flavor at the peak of freshness so True-Lemon always tastes like fresh squeezed lemons.” More info on it can be found at http://www.truecitrus.com.
Sounds like that might work really well. Give it a whirl and let me know how it goes!
Lemon Oil
This sounds great, but I don’t shop at Walmart. I usually make my rolls from scratch, so are these Rhodes rolls more like white bread or brioche? I normally aim at brioche, but I don’t put as many eggs in the dough… so they have a sweet undertone and they are light. Would that work with this?
Another question…. when do you serve them? Is this a brunch item? If not, what is your favorite meal to serve them with?
You can get Rhodes rolls at any grocery store. Not just Walmart. Rhodes are just a light white bread roll if you bake them straight up. I served this monkey bread as a brunch/morning snack. They would be great at a ladies breakfast/brunch or for any kind of baby/bridal shower. They’re also great just as an afternoon snack.
i can’t wait to try this. Lemon, lemon zest, lemony -who could ask for more?
I agree!
this look AMAZING! I LOVE lemon! but we don’t have those dinner rolls out here – is there a recipe for them somewhere so I can make my own?
A basic soft white roll recipe would work. Try this one from allrecipes.com – http://allrecipes.com/recipe/pillow-soft-dinner-rolls/
thank you, will try that recipe, was thinking something like that, we don’t have the frozen rolls here in Ireland either
I am so going to make this tomorrow when I get off work. This is by far looking like something my co-workers would love.
Loved them!
So glad you did!
This looks great and I can’t wait to try. Could you tell me how many this would serve. I have a family of 7 and wonder if I need to make 2 pans.
I think it ended up being 3 rolls across and 5 (or 6) down in the pan. So, unless you think your family is going to eat more than 2/3 each, I would say one pan will suffice. But it’ll probably get licked clean.
I’m making this tomorrow and can hardly wait!!
Enjoy!
I am making this for Easter breakfast. I thank you and so does my family:)
Mmmmmm. I love special Easter treats! Thanks for stopping by!
Yum. I have to bring food to a morning ladies meeting next week and these look perfect. Thanks.
This lemon monkey bread sounds delicious! Have you tried making this recipe in a bundt pan? Do you think it would work? I’d love to make this dish but prefer the presentation of a traditional round monkey bread dish.
I haven’t made it in one, but I’m sure it would work great, just be sure to sprinkle the lemon sugar and butter all around like you would a traditional monkey bread. Let me know how it goes!
I made a few alterations – accidentally bought buttermilk rolls in the fridge section, quartered the rolls and tossed them w/ the lemon & sugar, doubled the recipe, and put it in a bundt pan. Aside from accidentally dumping the whole dish on the counter b/c I was trying to flip it with hot pads on… turning my beautiful bundt into a heap of lemony rolls, it was delicous! Thanks for your great recipe
Glad you could salvage it and got lemony deliciousness. When will someone create hotpads that fit like gloves? (sigh)
Can you substitute the brand of rolls. I can’t find Rhodes in my area. This looks do delicious.
Any frozen pre-made roll dough should work. Or even just a basic yeast dough from scratch.
Pingback: Lemon Monkey Bread « Bakerlady « NurishingNuggets
I made these tonight for an Easter dinner I’m having tomorrow with the in-laws. I couldn’t resist trying one and they were absolutely delicious. I was hesitant on putting the glaze on them because I didn’t really like the taste but am so glad I decided to put it on. It really pulled together the lemony taste. I will def be making these again soon!
i want to make this for easter dinner but i want to make them today (Saturday) how well will these keep and how do they taste cold
I didn’t eat any cold – just nuked the leftovers in the microwave for a couple seconds before eating them. I think they’d be just fine at room temperature though.
These were even better than I expected. So yummy they are addicting. My only issue was once bake how do you get them out of the pan without squisking them? They are so soft and moist when I tilted the pan to slide them out they kind of bunched up. I did not want to turn them upside down and loose the sugar on top and then try to flip them back over. This was the hardest part besides leaving them alone and not eating them all myself.
I slid a large spatula underneath and all around the edges to loosen them up, then slid/pushed them out of the pan onto a platter.
I did that and then just held a wire rack lightly and fliped turned out great!!
i made these last night and WOW they were wonderful and so easy to make they just melt in your mouth and i can see why you would want to eat them warm. My husband isn’t really into sweets but i had him try one and i heard ummmmm these are really good so i guess if you haven’t made them yet you need to i am adding this to my list of very favorite things to eat
thanks for sharing this recipe!! oh and did i mention they were really easy to make and the next time i make them i think i won’t cut the roll in half i want a bigger roll there that good!!
So glad you guys enjoyed them! Bigger is always better…right?
We made this yesterday and my family pretty much demolished an entire pan. A huge, huge win.
Glad they were a hit! Thanks for stopping by!
These were absolutely delightful! I made a pan a few days ago just as the recipe states to do it. Then today, I changed it up a bit by using cream cheese in the glaze….3 oz. cream cheese, 3 or 4 T. Confectioner’s sugar, 2-3 T. milk and a little vanilla along with a little lemon zest if you like. I could eat these every day! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Ooooh, the cream cheese drizzle sounds amazing.
Made these just now… YUM! Thanks.
You are welcome! Glad you enjoyed them!
You are so welcome. Have one for me.
This was so good, Thank you!!
These sound delish!. I usually make my monkey bread the easy way with refigerated bisquit dough. I think this would work by substituting the cinnamon sugar with the lemon sugar. This will be happening in my house this weekend. Oh yeah. Thanks for the great idea.
I’ve been meaning to try it with the biscuit dough too!
Wonder if they would be good with orange ?
I’ll bet they would be! Give it a whirl!
Pingback: Lemon Law Attorney in Davis, California | | Top Online ResourcesTop Online Resources
I do this with orange, and it’s a family favorite. I’ll have to mix it up next time and serve lemon!
I’ll bet orange is really good!
Yum! Made this with the biscuits ~ took it to work! HUGE hit! instead of using the bundt pan, I put 6 pieces of the dough into a muffin tin. Thanks for posting, this is a nice switch from the carmel monkey bread!
Don’t you love major success with work treats?!
I would like these to be ready to bake first thing in the morning. Is it possible to let them rise with the lemon and sugar in the fridge overnight? If not, any ideas?
I think another reader did that with success. I would make sure you have time to let them come to room temp about a half hour before baking though.
I make my monkey bread the night before. I use the frozen bread rolls right out of the package add the ingredients and bake in the morning. Beware, this will rise by morning so set in on something to catch overflows.
I found the rolls in 36 pack at Walmart, thank you! If I bake them in a metal pan instead of glass, should I change the temp/time you gave? I am so excited, since I am no baker!!
I would just keep my eye on them during the last 5 minutes or so – if they start looking too brown, take them out.
So glad you found the rolls!!
Can’t wait to try these! I love anything lemon !
Hope you enjoyed them! Lemon is delicious isn’t it?!
I made lemon flavor last night and I tried orange today. OMG!!!! Both are soooo yummy I simply substituted orange zest and juice for the lemon. These little balls of citrusy goodness are just to good to resist.
Thanks for the recipe!
melanie
Mmmm. I’ll bet the orange were delightful.
Pingback: Provocare « Alfabet ReCreativ
Oh my stars, I think I just tasted heaven!
Mmmmmm. I’m jealous of you right now!
YUM! This looks delicious! I would love to invite you to share this, and any other posts, on my Creative Thursday Link Party at http://www.michellestastycreations.blogspot.com. Have a great weekend.
Pingback: Lemon Monkey Bread - Clever Housewife
Well, I just saw this recipe/blog on a FB post. And although I didn’t read all the comments, the lady who didn’t like the zest….what about lemon koolaid? And just use biscuits in a can if you get desperate and don’t want to go hunt the frozen bread dough. That is how I first made traditional monkey bread when I was a child. Some of the lemon koolaide mixed with the same amt of sugar. Mix a little, taste it and see what happens…….And someone else might have just said this……….
Wondering if i could put some cream cheese in the rolls before baking as well
I’m sure you could and it would be awesome!
First off, I have made these and they are AMAZING!! BUT this time, If I was planning on making these the night before and baking in the morning…would that work?! Or would they go flat in the fridge? Help please!!
Here’s what I would do. Make them until step 3 and then put them in the fridge overnight. In the morning, take them out about a half hour before you want to bake them and let them come to room temp. They should rise as they’re sitting out and be ready to bake. I’m guessing if you let them rise the night before they wouldn’t stay risen in the fridge.
Absolutely wonderful! These will definitely be a regular item at our house from now on! I couldn’t find the frozen Rhodes rolls either so I used the Bridgeford brand that I always use to make rolls. I can’t imagine them being any better. I was also out of powdered sugar so I used cream, lemon juice and a little of the left over sugar mix and heated it up. Thank you so much!
Sounds delicious! So glad you enjoyed them.
I found this recipe on Pintrest and I’m glad i did! They are absolutly amazing!!! Thank you!
I’m so glad you found me! I agree – this stuff is crazy good!
Saw this yesterday and HAD to make it today. So easy and yummy!!!
Glad you tried it and loved it! Thanks for visiting!
These are the best things in the world! A little taste of monkey bread heaven
Thanks so much!!
You are welcome! Lemony heaven indeed!
These were awesome! Can’t wait to make again. One question, would you store them in the fridge or just covered on the counter?
Just covered on the counter if it is only going to be a few days. In the fridge longer than that.
Thanks for sharing this recipe, it’s soooo good! =0D
Glad you love it! I do too!
Pingback: Braided Spaghetti Bread « Bakerlady
Never heard of anything other than regular monkey bread! This is seriously going to be baking in my home tonight! I’m sure the lemony sweet n’ tangy will so be worth this 107* weather and having the oven on. Thanks for this new twist on monkey bread!
You will love it! Enjoy!
just pulled a pan of these out of the oven, mmmmm! my husband is jealous because hes at work all night so he doesnt get to enjoy them warm and fresh from the oven. bummer. cant guarantee there’ll even still be any left when he gets home tomorrow morning lol.
Save him at least one!! Poor guy! They are awesome even a couple days later with a little nuke in the microwave.
I’ve made these with a lemon as written… I’ve made them with a beautiful Australian orange (because that’s what was in season and in stock at my local store) Oh, my! They are Deeelicous either way!! The package of Rhodes I used was a 36ct. … 3 pans of rolls! Yes, I had happy neighbors!! Next, I’m thinking LIME!!
Orange and lime? Genius!!
After making several pans using halved rolls, I tried quartering the dough. Tossed them in a big bowl with the melted butter till they were all coated then half the sugar/zest. (The butter sets up against the cold rolls (so toss quickly!)) I randomly put them in the pan to rise and finished as directed. I’ve found that as soon as the smaller size roll pieces start to brown its best to take them out of the oven. Otherwise, once cool, they tend to be a bit dry. …. These never last long enough to freeze “left overs”. What an awesome delicious recipe!!! And my neighbors still love to see me on their front porch with a pan in my hands!
Yuuum! What an awesome neighbor you are!
Will sure give this a try. Sounds wonderful,can’t wait.
Amazing, I will definitely be trying this!
Mmmmmm yummy! Enjoy!
Pingback: Country Blueberry Monkey Bread | Bakerlady
Pingback: Lemon Monkey Bread « Kathy's Cookbook
Do u hve to use powdered sugar
It’s not powdered sugar in the recipe, it’s granulated sugar.
I just looked at it again thx. Can u use Splenda as the substitute
I’m sure Splenda would be just fine.
I’m mkn these on Thursday as a treat for my boyfriend he loves lemon so whn I told him I’m sure he couldn’t wait.
I hve parkerhouse rolls. They are already in pieces. So I wouldnt need to cut them again correct.
I also hve a bunt pan so I would fill it half way. Should I let them rise b4 hand. Would I use all 24 rolls
You want each roll to be about half the size of a normal dinner roll. Fill your bundt pan however you normally would for monkey bread and yes, the powdered sugar is just in the glaze.
Ok thx im going to mke them for the 1st time this eve for him. He loves lemon flavored cakes,pies,bread
I see where the powdered sugar comes n its for the glaze
I seen this recipe and I had to try these! However,I love lemon but I had an orange on hand and decided that would be good as well! Lol so they are rising as I type, can’t wait! I use the Rhodes dinner rolls all the time for pepperoni rolls, hamburger sliders you name it…Thanks for sharing!
Yummmmm taste just like a lemon donut. So delicious. Thank you for sharing. I made these for my birthday & ate a piece just after I put the glaze on. Partly because I didn’t want to wait. Haha! Thanks again
Made Lemon Monkey Bread last week. They are FAB! Going to have them at Christmas for guests , along with cinnamon rolls. (Found a great recipe from A Pioneer Woman on the Food Network.) Love EASY and yummy recipes!! Thanks, I will be making these forever…..
Wow! You can make your own dough. A lot cheaper, easy too. These are great.
Pingback: Top Ten of 2012 | Bakerlady
Pingback: Lemon Monkey Bread « Epicurean Vegan
Just wanted to share that I made these about two weeks ago for my family (5 of us) to eat after dinner. My plan was to have the rest for breakfast. We ate the entire 9×13 pan (except for the 4 that I gave fresh from the oven to my neighbor for loaning me her lemon zester when I couldn’t find mine)!! There were none for breakfast!
AND, my kids have been asking and asking for me to make them again. So, there is no school today for MLK, Jr. Day…it is snowing like crazy out…and I have lemon monkey bread in the oven. Happy happy day! Thank you for sharing this awesome recipe!!!
Hoooray for awesome yummy lemon deliciousness!
I soooooo love lemon! I be these would be good for a little snack treat with a tall glass of iced tea, especially in the summertime.
Mmmmmm yes!
I made half of lemon and half of orange. I didn’t bother make a glaze. It’s sweet enough. It’s so good!! Next time ill try lime! Mmmmm!!
This looks delicious! Definitely need to try these sometime.
How long does it take the rolls to thaw and rise? Thanks!
It’s about an hour.
I just made these this morning…. Ohhh my goodness, they are SO delicious! Gooey, sticky, sweet citrus bread! What more can a girl ask for?!
I sure can’t think of anything else you could want.
I made this tonight and it’s amazing. I made them for my coworkers to enjoy tomorrow morning but I’m afraid they won’t last the night at my house! Thanks for the recipe!
I have the same problem with making things for my husband to take to work. It’s always a challenge to keep my hands off for even one night!
Hi, I live in Mexico and I can’t find the dinner rolls, what can i use instead, or do you have a recipe to make them from scratch?
Greetings from Sunny Baja Sur!
I would try making them from scratch, or a tube of refrigerated biscuit dough. Here’s a from scratch recipe. http://www.food.com/recipe/easy-dinner-rolls-40633
How long do you usually wait for the dough to rise?
It takes about an hour.
I’m gonna try these tomorrow. They sound so yummy!
Mmmmmm they are suuuuuper yummy! Enjoy!
I bet these taste at least as good as they look! I’m definitely going to try them.
Enjoy! They do taste every bit as good as they look!
Eating now! Delish!! I wanted to enjoy this ASAP in the morning, so I let the dough rise overnight in the fridge. This morning I finished the recipe and baked. Worked perfectly. This is a keeper!
Good to know it’s easily made overnight! Thanks!
These were amazing. My boys have a dairy allergy so I substituted the butter and still couldn’t believe how tasty they were. I also made another batch with real butter, made them, let them rise on the counter and put them in the fridge over night before baking in the morning. they still turned out heavenly!!! I’m about to try another batch with cinnamon sugar. thanks for such an easy and yummy recipe!!!
How long do they take to rise?
About 30-45 minutes.
Hi, I’ve been looking for the Rhodes dinner rolls, but can’t find them. I did find some Brigeford Parkerhouse dinner rolls. Do you think that will work? Thanks in advance! I’m hoping to make this for Easter brunch.
I’m making these right now, for an Easter dessert. The sugar/lemon mixture is delicious, my daughter and I had to taste it before we sprinkled it on the dough
Can’t wait to taste the finished dish!!
It looks like you made these in a rectangle or square pan. I’ve made the usual monkey bread in a bundt pan before…do you think this would work in a bundt? I think it might look pretty!
I think it would work in a bundt pan just fine!
Pingback: Rantings & Ravings » Blog Archive »
Pingback: Lemon Monkey Bread | chew out loud
Hey do we get those roles in India?? If not, suggest a replacement !
They are rising now … I love anything citrus, especially lemon. Can’t wait to try them. Thanks for posting this recipe on Pinterest!