Preserved Lemon Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

These preserved lemon cinnamon rolls are full of bright, bold flavors that transport you from your breakfast table to the Middle East. A few unique touches like pistachios, orange blossom water, and preserved lemon peel will bring the markets of Marrakesh to life in your favorite pastry.

According to Ksenia Prints from At the Immigrant's Table, though adding strong Middle Eastern flavors like preserved lemons to your desserts may seem like a surprising choice, it can add a lovely burst of unexpected flavor to familiar dishes. Take a cue from Alton Brown, who uses preserved lemons in his lemonade, and give this funky, unique condiment a try in sweeter preparations. These buns have the comforting, fluffy, familiar texture you expect from cinnamon buns, but with a few Moroccan-inspired additions, the filling has a unique tang with an almost-umami-like depth. Because preserved lemons are essentially pickles, they develop a funkiness that cannot be captured in any other way. When this flavor interacts with the sugar, the cinnamon, and the orange and lemon notes in our icing and filling, the result is a multi-faceted, complex dessert that adds a vegetal tang to the sweetness. 

These cinnamon buns will be at home in any fancy breakfast spread or festive brunch. Watch people's faces transform as they try to place that unique, aromatic flavor. So grab a jar of preserved lemons and let's get started on these cinnamon buns.

For the dough to make these cinnamon buns, you'll need active dry yeast, granulated sugar, warm whole milk that is no more than 115 F, all-purpose flour, salt, eggs, softened butter, and the chopped peel of a preserved lemon. If you're not sure about how to use preserve lemons, the reason we only use the peel is because the pulp is very salty, and using the two together can be quite overwhelming. For the filling itself, you'll need more granulated sugar, cinnamon, and more of the preserved lemon peel. For the topping and glaze, you'll be using melted butter, powdered sugar, milk, orange blossom water, pistachios, and fresh lemon juice and zest.

Grease a 9x13-inch pan.

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Bloom the yeast and sugar in the warm milk for 5 minutes.

Mix the flour, yeast mixture, and salt. Add the eggs and butter.

Knead until smooth.

Fold in half the preserved lemon peel.

Proof the dough for 1 hour until it's doubled in size.

Mix the sugar and cinnamon together.

Stretch the dough into a 10x14-inch rectangle. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar and remaining preserved lemon peel over the dough.

Roll the dough tightly and cut it into 12 pieces.

Place the rolls in the greased pan. Proof for 1 hour.

Brush the rolls with melted butter before baking.

Bake for 25 minutes until golden.

Whisk the powdered sugar, milk, orange blossom water, and the juice and zest from half a lemon together.

Drizzle the glaze over the warm rolls.

Top with the remaining lemon zest and chopped pistachios and serve.

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Preserved lemons are essentially pickled lemons that have been cured in salt and fermented. They are a staple in North African recipes, specifically from Morocco, and are common throughout the Middle East. And the best part is, they're also incredibly easy to make at home.

To make preserved lemons, simply pack whole or cut lemons in a jar with salt and your favorite pickling spices. Many people preserve the entire lemon when dealing with small specimens, but if you are using large, commercially sold lemons, slicing or cubing is best. And of course, any lemons used should be organic, as you'll be eating the peel. The ratio should be done by weight, with equal measurements of lemon and salt used in the brining process. The hard part is waiting a few weeks or even months before trying them.

If you're curious about how to use preserved lemons, you have many options. The most typical use is in preserved lemon paste, in which they are blended with oil and water, or as a condiment in a Tunisian tuna fricasse. In general, preserved lemons go very well with fish, whether tuna or salmon. They provide a great umami boost to any dish, and are especially effective in salad dressings or when you want to add a burst of bright, funky flavor to sauteed greens or veggies. We also love adding them on top of pizza, especially in combination with bright, springtime flavors like asparagus, spinach, or arugula.

If you want to take these cinnamon buns in another direction, there are a few adaptations you can make to change up their taste. Because the flavors in the recipe as written are bold and unusual, we recommend that you exercise a bit of restraint when going off in adventurous directions. You can always add some seasonings, but it's much harder to take them away.

One change we like in these cinnamon buns is to add a few pinches of cardamom to the cinnamon-sugar mixture. It really brings out the Middle Eastern flavors and also adds a fragrant note to these buns that works well with the nearly floral quality of the preserved lemon. You can also switch the orange blossom water, which is quite a restrained flavor, with the more powerfully-scented rose water in a similar ratio.

For the nuts, if you're not a fan of pistachios, toasted almonds will also add a nice flavor. If using almonds, consider adding some chopped apricots to the filling of the buns as well. And finally, you can also steep some saffron in the milk used in the icing and in the buns themselves, which will add its special color and fragrance to the buns.

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