Name: Lemon Knots with Lemon Glaze
Prep time: 1 h
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 2 h 15 min
Yield: 24
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: Dough:; 1 cup sugar; 1 teaspoon salt; 2 Tablespoons yeast; 1–1/2 Tablespoons lemon zest; 7–1/2 cups all purpose flour; 2 cups milk; 1 cup butter; 2 large eggs; 1 teaspoon lemon extract; Glaze:; Juice from 1 large lemon; 1–1/4 cups powdered sugar

The weather is warming up and making a nice, light lemony pastry seemed like a great idea! As it turns out, it was! The only downside is how many of these we have eaten in the last couple of days!

a glazed lemon knot on a white plate with a pink napkin and a fork and knife. In the background is a antiqued cake plate with lemon knots on it with a few small vases of lavender behind it on a marble board and a white washed wood background.

We had a really good time playing with the dough and figuring out how we wanted to shape it. The first batch we made, we had 8 or 10 different shapes and sizes. Once we baked those, we started making decisions. The shape and size we decided on was a 3-ounce rolled up braid. These have been great the last couple of morning with a cup of coffee. And, it turns out, they freeze really well! I would freeze them unglazed. We froze a couple with glaze on them; and when we heated them up, the glaze sank into the roll.

Lemon knots on a cooling rack with three of them iced and one not.

What are lemon knots?

Lemon knots are simply a sweet dough flavored with lemon, braided, and rolled up. It's not a difficult dough to make, but you do need to make sure you have everything you need measured out and ready to go.

Lemon knots on a antiqued cake plate with lavender in the background.

It's best to add the salt and yeast at different stages because the salt can kill the yeast if they are added together. I prefer using a yeast specifically recommended for sweet doughs. It's listed at the bottom of the page.

a glazed lemon knot on a white plate with a pink napkin and a fork.

How do I braid dough?

It's a lot easier than you think! The most important part is to not over think it. All you need to do is measure out three 1 ounce balls of sweet dough.

Next, you need to roll them out to about 12 inches long. If they tear, it's okay! Ball it back up and set it aside to work later (it needs to rest!). Just measure out another one ounce piece and roll it out.

Take your three strands and line them up like the photo above. You are going to pinch the top ends together to ensure your braid does not come apart as you are working with it.

Now, you're going to take the far left strand (let's call it #1, the one in the middle #2, and one on the far right #3) and place it over #2. Then, You need to tuck it under #3. You are going to repeat this process always starting from the far left and placing over #2 and tucking under #3.

Now that you have gotten to the end of your braid, pinch the ends together and flip it over. The end you started with should be closest to you now.

Ends pinched when done with braiding.
Braid flipped over.

Roll your braid. It should form a wheel like shape. Tuck the end under the bottom and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet!

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