Lemon Cream Cheese Pull Aparts Recipes

LEMON CREAM CHEESE BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.
• Press 1 can crescent roll dough into the bottom of the prepared baking dish, stretching to the edges.
• Mix the zest of 1 1/2 lemons and juice from 2 lemons together in a bowl. Beat cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar into lemon zest mixture using an electric mixer until smooth and creamy; spread over crescent roll dough layer.
• Unroll the second can of crescent roll dough and layer over cream cheese mixture, gently stretching dough to the edges. Brush melted butter over crescent roll dough layer. Mix remaining lemon zest and 3 tablespoons sugar together in a bowl; sprinkle over butter.
• Bake in the preheated oven until top is golden brown, about 30 minutes. Allow to cool for about 20 minutes. Lift dessert from baking dish using foil; transfer to a cutting board. Cut into squares, leaving on foil. Return dessert to the baking dish and refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour.

LEMON-SCENTED PULL-APART COFFEE CAKE

Steps:

• Make the Sweet Yeast Dough.
• Mix two cups (nine ounces) flour, the sugar, yeast and salt in a medium bowl with a rubber spatula. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan or in the microwave, combine the milk and the butter and heat until the butter is melted. Remove from the heat, add the water and let rest a minute until just warm (120 to 130°F). Stir in the vanilla extract.
• Pour the milk mixture over the flour-yeast mixture and, using a rubber spatula, mix until the dry ingredients are evenly moistened. Attach the bowl to the mixer, and fit the mixer with the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition just until incorporated. Stop the mixer, add 1/2 cup (2 1/4 ounces) of the remaining flour and resume mixing on low speed until the dough is smooth, 30 to 45 seconds. Add 2 more tablespoons flour and mix on medium speed until the dough is smooth, soft, and slightly sticky, about 45 seconds.
• Lightly flour a work surface and knead the dough gently until smooth and no longer sticky, about one minute. Add an additional 1-2 tablespoons of flour only if the dough is too sticky to work with. Place the dough in a large bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and let it rise in a warm place (about 70°F) for 45-60 minutes or until doubled in size. An indentation made with your finger should keep its shape.
• Meanwhile, make the lemon sugar filling. Mix the sugar, lemon zest and orange zest. It'll draw out the citrus oils and make the sugar sandy and fragrant.
• Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a 9″x5″ loaf pan.
• Gently deflate the dough with your hand. Flour a work surface and roll the dough into a 20″ by 12″ rectangle. (I suggest using a ruler and getting this as accurate as possible, for a prettier loaf that will fit better in the pan. I also suggest making sure both sides are floured, so that the dough will be easy to lift up later.) Use a pastry brush to spread the melted butter evenly and liberally over the dough.
• Use a pizza cutter to cut the dough crosswise in five strips, each about 12″ by 4″. Sprinkle 1 1/2 tablespoons of the lemon sugar over the first buttered rectangle. Top it with a second rectangle, sprinkling that one with 1 1/2 tablespoons of lemon sugar as well. Continue to top with rectangles and sprinkle, so you have a stack of five 12″ by 4″ rectangles, all buttered and topped with lemon sugar. (I suggest carefully sprinkling the sugar and pressing it in lightly to keep it from falling off.).
• Slice this new stack crosswise, through all five layers, into 6 equal rectangles (each should be 4″ by 2″.) Carefully transfer these strips of dough into the loaf pan (I would like the pan with parchment paper for easier removal), cut edges up, side by side. it might be a little roomy, but the bread will rise and expand after baking. Loosely cover the pan with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place (70 °F) until puffy and almost doubled in size, 30 to 50 minutes. When you gently press the dough with your finger, the indentation should stay.
• Bake the loaf until the top is golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. (To avoid a doughy middle even though the top may be browned, I recommend using a cake tester to make sure it's done, and covering the top with foil if it's browning too quickly. The internal temperature should be about 190 °F) Transfer to a wire rack and let cool in the pan for 10 to 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the cream cheese icing. Beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar in a medium bowl with a wooden spoon until smooth, then add the milk and lemon juice. Stir until creamy and smooth.
• The recipe recommends you tilt and rotate the pan while tapping on a table to release the loaf. I suggest carefully running a knife around it. Flip the loaf over onto a cooling rack, then flip onto another rack so that it's right side up. Spread the top of the warm cake with the cream cheese icing, using a pastry brush to fill in all the cracks. (You might want to put a pan or piece of wax paper under to catch any drips.) Best if served the first day.
• SOME TIPS:
• Read the recipe all the way through so that you understand all the steps before starting. The construction phase is a bit more complicated than a simple monkey bread or even a simple cinnamon roll.
• Make sure you have really fresh yeast, otherwise you may have trouble. The recipe does not contain a proofing period before adding all the other ingredients.
• Draw a diagram of the cutting in order to have it make sense. You may want to draw a rectangle with the cutting in order to see the dimensions more clearly. The resulting smaller rectangles (4-by-2 inches) are delicate, especially with the filling. A suggestion is to turned the loaf pan on its side (short side down) and stacked gently.
• The recipe asks you to remove the cake/bread when it is golden. This does not necessarily mean that the inside has completed cooking. The minimum internal temperature for breads is 185°F but 190°F for this bread would be better. (The maximum would be around 199°F to 200°F.).

LEMON CREAM CHEESE PULL APARTS

Steps:

• Cut 8 of the rolls into 4 equal pieces each and set aside. Combine 1 cup sugar and lemon zest. Dip each piece of dough in melted butter and then in sugar zest mixture. Place in the bottom of a well sprayed bundt pan. Combine filling ingredients and blend until smooth. Pour half of the filling mixture over the rolls in the bundt pan. Repeat above process with 8 more rolls. Cut last 8 rolls and dip in butter and sugar zest mixture. Layer on top. If you have any sugar zest mixture left, sprinkle on top of rolls. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until about one inch below the top of the bundt pan. Remove wrap and bake at 350°F 40-50 minutes. Cover with foil last 20 minutes of baking to prevent over browning. Remove from oven and invert immediately onto serving platter. While bundt is baking, prepare the topping. Combine lemon juice and sugar in small sauce pan. Bring to a boil. In a separate bowl, whisk egg until well blended. While stirring the egg, slowly add the hot lemon mixture to the egg so the egg does not cook. Pour the mixture back into the sauce pan and bring back to a boil. Stir constantly until mixture begins to thicken. Remove from heat and add butter. Let cool and drizzle over warm bundt.

LEMON PULL-APART COFFEE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°. In a large bowl, combine the first 5 ingredients. Separate biscuits and cut each into quarters; toss with sugar mixture. Arrange in a greased 9-in. round baking pan., Bake until golden brown, 20-25 minutes. Immediately invert onto a wire rack. In a small bowl, mix confectioners' sugar and lemon juice until smooth; drizzle over coffee cake. Serve warm.

LEMON PULL-APARTS

Steps:

• Mix grated lemon rind with sugar. Cut rolls in half and place in a 12-inch sprayed deep dish pizza pan or 9 x 13-inch sprayed baking pan. Drizzle 1/4 cup melted butter over rolls. Sprinkle with lemon rind/sugar mixture, reserving 1/2 of mixture to sprinkle on just before baking. Cover with sprayed plastic wrap. Let rise until double in size. Remove wrap. Sprinkle on remaining mixture. Bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes. Remove immediately from pan and place on cooling rack. Combine glaze ingredients and mix well. Drizzle over pull-aparts.

BLUEBERRY CREAM CHEESE PULL APART

Steps:

• Cut rolls in half and place cut side down in a sprayed 9-inch round baking pan.
• Cover with plastic wrap and let rise 30 minutes.
• Remove wrap, brush rolls with melted butter and sprinkle with blueberries.
• Combine softened cream cheese, egg, 2 tablespoons sugar and lemon juice and spread over rolls.
• Combine brown sugar, remaining white sugar and lemon zest and sprinkle over cream cheese mixture.
• Cover with plastic wrap again and let rise until double in size.
• Remove wrap, place pan on a baking sheet to catch drips and bake at 350°F 20 minutes.
• Cover with foil to prevent over browning and bake an additional 7-9 minutes.
• Allow to cool for 10 minutes.
• Combine icing ingredients and drizzle over rolls.