Orange Rolls

orange roll on spatula above rolls in baking dish

Buttery dough sprinkled in an orange cinnamon sugar and topped with a bright orange glaze makes these orange sweet rolls a breakfast favorite.

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 30

Total Time 1

Servings rolls

Calories 369kcal

Author Ryan Beck

Ingredients

Rolls

½ cup warm whole milk
¼ cup orange juice
1 tablespoon instant yeast
2 tablespoon honey
3 large eggs
½ cup unsalted butter, melted
3 ½ - 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
¾ teaspoon kosher salt

Filling

½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoon orange zest (2 oranges)
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Orange Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoon orange juice
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the milk, orange juice, instant yeast, honey, eggs, butter, 3 ½ cups flour and salt. With a dough attachment, mix the ingredients until the flour is incorporated, about 4-5 minutes. If dough is too sticky, add flour 1 tablespoon at a time but it's better to be on the sticky side. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 1 hour or until it has doubled in size.
In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, cinnamon and orange zest for the filling. Set aside.
Lightly dust your work surface with some flour. Remove dough from mixing bowl and punch down. Roll the dough to about ¼" thick and a rectangle about 10x16 in. It doesn't have to be perfect. I use a 9x13 baking dish as reference. Spread the softened butter evenly over the dough. Sprinkle the filling over the butter and lightly push into the butter.
Starting with the long edge close to you, roll the dough into a log, trying to keep tight throughout. With a sharp knife, cut 12 rolls. Place the rolls in a greased or parchment-lined 9x13 baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and transfer to fridge to rise overnight. (You can let rise for 1 hour at room temperature in a pinch)
Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake the rolls for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown on top and the middles are done.
While baking rolls, make the orange glaze. In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, orange juice, orange zest and vanilla extract. Add more orange juice to thin out or more sugar to thicken.
Drizzle the glaze over the rolls before serving.

Notes

Don't overheat the milk. When it says warm milk, that means between 100 and 115°F. Anything warmer than that will kill the yeast. If you don't have a thermometer, you can test the milk by dipping your finger it it. It should feel warm, but not hot enough to make you recoil.
Use melted butter in dough. The softer the butter the better it incorporates into the dough which means tasty rolls.
Use room temperature butter for filling. Room temperature butter is much better for the filling. If you use melted butter, it just oozes out when rolling up, which means losing filling which isn't the goal.
Dental floss. If you have dental floss, use it to cut the dough so it doesn't compress it like a knife.
Chill the dough overnight. Not only does chilling overnight break up making the rolls over two days, it allows for the rolls to really double in size.

Nutrition