Lime Rolls

These delicious, pillowy soft rolls bring cinnamon rolls into summer time with bright citrus flavor. If you love key lime pie, I think you will enjoy these!

I recommend preparing the lime curd, lime sugar, and dough at least day in advance (each one can be made up to 3 days in advance).

Full Ingredients List

250g Sugar, separated
130ml Fresh Lime Juice, separated
Lime Zest, separated
3 Large Eggs
Salt
208g Butter, separated
473ml Whole Milk
120ml Vegetable Oil
7g Yeast
540g Flour, separated
1\2 teaspoon, heaping Baking Powder
1\2 teaspoon, scant Baking Soda
Vanilla
120g Cream Cheese
180g Powdered Sugar

Lime curd

100g Sugar
120ml Fresh Lime Juice (usually 4-5 limes)
Zest from 4 Limes
3 Large Eggs
1\2 teaspoon Vanilla
Pinch of Salt
57g cold Butter, in chunks

Place the sugar and zest into a small pan and rub with your fingers until the oils release from the zest and the sugar has the texture of wet sand
Add the eggs and a pinch of salt, whisking until well combined
Whisk in the lime juice
Set over medium low heat and cook, stirring regularly until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spoon, usually between 20-30 minutes
Remove from heat and stir in the butter, one chunk at a time until the butter is fully incorporated
Strain with a sieve into a bowl and cool for about 30 minutes before covering with plastic wrap or parchment pressed into the surface to avoid a skin forming. Refrigate until ready to use

Lime Sugar

50g Sugar
Zest from 1 Lime

Add the sugar and zest to a bowl and rub with your fingers until the oil releases and the sugar appears like wet sand. Cover and store until ready to use

Prepare the Dough

473ml Whole Milk
120ml Vegetable Oil
100g Sugar
7g Yeast
480g Flour, plus
- 60g Flour, set aside (Total 540g)
1\2 teaspoon, heaping Baking Powder
1\2 teaspoon, scant Baking Soda
1\2 tablespoon, heaping Salt

In a medium sauce pan, combine milk, oil, and sugar and place over medium low heat. Heat until scalding, just below boiling.
Add to the bowl of your stand mixer, (or a large bowl if mixing by hand) and allow to cool until about 105-110F
Stir in the yeast until at least mostly dissolved/mixed
Stir in 480g flour, either on low speed, or using a wooden spoon if doing it by hand until fully incorporated. The dough will be loose and wet
Cover and allow to rise for 1 hour
Combine remaining 60g flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to the rested dough
Mix in the remaining flour until fully incorporated. The dough will be sticky, this is normal
Cover and refrigerate overnight (up to 3 days). You can choose to roll the dough same day, but refrigerating overnight makes it -much- easier to work with.

Forming and Baking the Rolls

Lime Filling

50g Lime sugar (recipe above)
123g Butter, softened
1 teaspoon Vanilla
pinch of Salt

Combine sugar, butter, vanilla, and salt until fully incorporated, set aside until ready to spread over dough

The Main Event

Dust your surface lightly with flour and turn the dough out, dust the top lightly with flour
Roll the dough out in a rough rectangle, about 30x10inch. It should be thin (1\8-1\4 inch). If it springs back a lot, roll out as much as you can, allow it to rest 5-10 minutes and then roll out the rest of the way
Spread the lime filling evenly over the dough, leaving about 1 inch on the long end close to you free
Spread your preferred amount of the lime curd over the butter mixture, leaving that 1 inch free
Roll the dough tightly towards you, pinching to seal and leaving the sealed edge down, it will be slippy due to the curd
Using a very sharp, thin knife, or unscented dental floss, cut the rolls into about 1inch thick rolls
Liberally butter a 13×9 pan and place the rolls into the pan (you may have a few extras you can bake separately)
Cover and let rise 20-30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 375f
Once your rolls have rested and your oven is preheated to 375f, bake the rolls 15-20 minutes until golden brown and fully baked
While the rolls bake, make your cream cheese frosting

Cream Cheese Frosting

120g Cream Cheese, softened
28g Butter, softened
180g Powdered Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla
About 1 tablespoon Lime juice (1 lime)
Zest from 1 Lime, optional
1 tablespoon Lime Curd, optional

Cream together the cream cheese, butter, and optional lime zest
Add powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until fully incorporated and smooth
Stir in optional Lime Curd
Add lime juice until frosting is desired consistency
When the rolls come out of the oven, spread the frosting over the rolls.